Civil Rights Leaders Al Sharpton & Tavis Smiley Square off Over Barack Obama and a Black Agenda

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton got into a spirited back and forth with TV talk show host Tavis Smiley on his radio show on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010... The conversation had people riveted and talking about the issue at hand and the pettiness and egos that seemed to be front and center in a conversation between two gentlemen who see themselves as good examples to follow...

The dispute was over President Obama and whether or not he was going to have a black agenda. Tavis Smiley has been very outspoken about the lack of commitment the president has made to Black people and key issues unique to the community. Sharpton feels Tavis has been wrong in his approach.

Tavis felt Sharpton and Charles Olgetree, who was also on the phone, weren’t pressing Obama enough... Sharpton felt Tavis was off the mark for his approach and accused him of ‘distorting their words…I gotta be honest a lot of this felt like egos got in the way... It felt like a case of hurt pride and postering for the sake of being the HNIC. Take a listen and lemme know what you think…Hopefully both men will show leadership and set an example for others in the community on how you can have a blow up and still get along and show genuine love...This could’ve been handled off the air...