Tom's Letter

This didn't have to happen like this but it did. I
said it before and I'm saying it again, we black
folks have to stop criticizing one another because
we don't agree. Just because we now have a black
man that has a chance to go all the way to the
White House doesn't mean he has a bullet proof
vest against other black folks scrutinizing him.
Barack Obama has to be and should be looked
at from every angle possible!


"Well, you did it. This isn’t the way you wanted it to happen, but it happened anyway. Just like I knew it would," begins an open letter from veteran radio personality Tom Joyner to Tavis Smiley.

It's the latest in ongoing drama that followed Joyner's announcement Friday that Smiley will end his twice-a-week commentaries on the syndicated morning show.

When the news broke, folks speculated that he couldn't handle the backlash he's been getting from blacks over his criticism of Barack Obama. Although Smiley released a statement saying he was leaving to focus on future projects under his company, The Smiley Group, Inc., Joyner isn't buying it.

"We all know that isn’t the real reason he’s leaving the show," Joyner writes in the open letter, posted on the radio industry blog Urbansite.com. "The real reason is that he can’t take the hate he’s been getting regarding the Barack issue — hate from the black people that he loves so much. He needed to feel the love. We all do, whether it’s from our radio audience or from people we know personally. He wasn’t feeling any love, so he quit."

As previously reported, Smiley sent a letter to EUR and other media outlets stating that he did not “quit” the Tom Joyner Morning Show effective immediately.

"In July I will celebrate my 12th anniversary with the show, and as I discussed with Tom, it is my intention to take on the issues of the day in my commentary twice every week with the same energy, passion and commitment until the end of June," Smiley wrote.

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