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CNN Live At Daybreak
Tom Joyner Comments on Current Events
Aired August 05, 2002 - 06:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What's the buzz going to be at the water cooler this morning, the hot topic of conversation on the commuter train, the subject of curiosity among the cubicles? For this we turn to one of our favorites, Tom Joyner, host of the "Tom Joyner Morning Show." He joins us live from Dallas.
Hi -- Tom.
TOM JOYNER, HOST, "TOM JOYNER MORNING SHOW": Yes.
COSTELLO: What are people...
JOYNER: I'm feeling -- I'm feeling pretty good today...
COSTELLO: You look...
JOYNER: ... because tonight Monday Night Football comes on, yes (ph).
COSTELLO: All ready?
JOYNER: I am so ready.
COSTELLO: What...
JOYNER: I am...
COSTELLO: What....
JOYNER: Oh, John Madden...
COSTELLO: What team do you root for?
JOYNER: You know -- you know what, John Madden should call baseball. He -- if he called baseball, I'd probably be more interested. See this guy over here has a gold chain on and it's blinding him. And so this guy and the ball hit him, boom, and I -- oh I love it. I love it. I am so hyped.
COSTELLO: I think you're just a little crazy this morning, Tom. Hey,...
JOYNER: Monday Night Football tonight, baby. COSTELLO: I totally understand. I do. I love football myself. But let's talk about something more serious, shall we? The "Fortune"...
JOYNER: Yes.
COSTELLO: "Fortune" magazine put out its list of the most powerful black executives. Were you surprised that there were 50 on the list?
JOYNER: Look at this list, no, what this list -- what this list shows us, these are the top black executives who are -- who are handling major corporations -- CEOs of major corporations -- AOL Time Warner, Fannie Mae. There's even a woman -- a black woman who's the CEO of Diner's Club.
What this says is this speaks to the success of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement wasn't about whether or not you're going to eat a hamburger next to someone at a lunch counter or whether you're going to ride on the back of the bus, it was about access. And if we have access and if the -- and if the playing field is level, I'm not saying that the playing field is level,...
COSTELLO: Yes.
JOYNER: ... then we can -- then we can all shine and do...
COSTELLO: You know...
JOYNER: ... and do well. And...
COSTELLO: ... it's interesting you say that because somebody was cited in the article as saying that one of the worries with a list like this is it creates an illusion that the problem has been solved.
JOYNER: No, the problem definitely has not been solved. But it is a -- it is a positive -- it is a positive spin to what the Civil Rights Movement was really, really all about.
Something else that the -- that it pointed out and that is that it takes 30 years -- 30 years for a person to be groomed to become a CEO of a major corporation. Well the Civil Rights Movement was maybe 40 years ago, took us another decade, but that's what happened and that's -- and that's really -- and that's really good. I like that a lot.
COSTELLO: Yes. Well let me ask you one more thing because there was a quote from Mr. Parsons who is the CEO of AOL Time Warner. He says that being on a list like this and being known as a -- quote -- "African-American CEO," he says, "it's an annoyance. Of course your priority is the shareholders and 90,000 employees, but there are also countless numbers of people outside who, for whatever reason, race being the biggest, are rooting for you and not." It sounds like he wishes that he wasn't on this list and that his blackness shouldn't be a factor.
JOYNER: No, I don't think that's what he's saying at all -- no, no, no. I think he's...
COSTELLO: What's he saying?
JOYNER: He's saying -- he's saying that there are -- that it is -- that if -- that you have to do twice as much at the top or to get to the top because the -- because the playing field is not level and that you have these people who are working against you. No, he's not saying that that's not what he really wants, no, no, no, not by any stretch.
COSTELLO: Well I wish he was here to debate you. That would be fun, wouldn't it?
JOYNER: I wouldn't want to debate him.
And one other story that's really troubling for me because it's near and dear to my heart as I'm a product of a historically black college and university and that's Grambling State University. Grambling State, which is a school that most people know about when it comes to HBCUs, is in serious trouble. They've got some accounting problems, some improprieties going on. And they got -- they have to get an approved audit done by September 26 or they lose their accreditation. If they lose their accreditation, that means that a lot of financial aid won't come to that school. Ninety percent of the black students that are at Grambling State are on financial aid.
Grambling State says that they're open, that school will start soon, band practice, football practice will happen, the Bayou Classic will happen. And -- but it -- but because of these improprieties, Carol, it really does not look good. And I wish that someone would step in and help Grambling. When I say someone, the only someone I can think that could help them is the federal government because sure the people who are responsible for this should be dealt with, but the students are the ones that are suffering and -- as a result of this. And...
COSTELLO: Yes, what about these guys on the "Fortune" magazine list, they could step in and help too, right?
JOYNER: Well what they need right now is a good accountant because their problem -- their problem is not -- is not financial, I mean the lack of funds. They are a lack of funds, but there's been -- just like -- just like these major corporations that have gone under because of accounting improprieties. I mean there's some things like there's a -- there's a Grambling Foundation, which is their fund raiser, which has gone bankrupt and some of that money has been said to have been invested in a bar.
COSTELLO: Ooh!
JOYNER: Yes, it's bad. And...
COSTELLO: Sounds like a mess. Well,...
JOYNER: It's a real mess. They need your prayers.
COSTELLO: OK. Thank you, Tom Joyner, we'll see you again next week.
JOYNER: OK.
COSTELLO: Let you get back to your radio show.
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