Thomas Roberts And Melissa Harris-Perry Want To Create ‘I Am Other’ (Watch)

MSNBC anchors Thomas Roberts and Melissa Harris-Perry this morning talked about the state of race relations, minority relations, and America’s broken social contract, and decided to challenge their own network to create an “I Am Other” programming focus.

Roberts led the charge, asking, “don’t we need to do a lot more about our social contract with each other in this country when it comes to being others?”

Because as we look at this we can use this as a great pivot point to talk about race relations in this country.

But, being an “other” — whether it’s LGBT — because you’re then suspected of being a pedophile and a rabid disease carrier.

And if you are a woman, well, you certainly don’t have a right to your own body and your own reproductive health — because if you do then you’re a slut that wants to sleep around and use abortion as birth control.

And then, if you’re Hispanic — well you’re just a taker, you’re not a maker and you want to come here and have anchor babies, and you just want to lay off the land.

Isn’t that the — and I want to challenge this network: we have to have an, “I am other” agenda and have a forum for it, because others need to unite to talk about this and figure out where we are going as a country.

The social contract that we have currently negotiated — that is so wrong — and how this is happening in a country where we have this huge group of people that — it’s supposed to be a melting pot — but we treat each other with such disdain it’s not even funny.

Harris-Perry responded — “I will absolutely take you up on that challenge.” She called for “a long-term town hall special” and later tweeted her promise.

Touré at the end couldn’t hold back — “Can I get in on that?”

Conservatives, including Mediaite’s resident right wing media critic Noah Rothman, were furious. Rothman claimed Roberts went “ballistic,” and offered an even more typical right wing response via Twitter:

Off The Freaking Rails. I have no words for this @ThomasARoberts rant. It is.. truly unreal. http://t.co/Bem0o6Mhuz

— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) July 15, 2013

But it looks promising:

#IamOther @Toure @MHarrisPerry let’s make it happen!

— Thomas Roberts (@ThomasARoberts) July 15, 2013

 

Alright @ThomasARoberts the “I Am Other” campaign is born. #MSNBC

— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) July 15, 2013

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/oEq8yWLeTxw

On a personal note, I have to say that watching Roberts and Harris-Perry this morning with my husband by my side, I was extremely impressed and proud.

Thomas Roberts and Melissa Harris-Perry have proven themselves to be leaders in the progressive community.

I hope MSNBC is listening.