Hell 2 Da Naw Naw Award: In Defense Of Steve Harvey

I'm quite sure I'm taking an unpopular opinion here but hear me out before you condemn me. I want you to think logically and not EMOTIONALLY as I explain this to you.

Entertainer Steve Harvey was widely condemned earlier this week for taking a meeting with President Donald Trump. While details about what was actually discussed between the two were scarce, Harvey would later go on to say that he "felt obligated" to take the meeting according to Fox News:

“Change can only happen if you sit at the table… If you’re not at the table you can’t even… suggest what we should be doing. Therefore, it was very important for me to take the meeting." - Steve Harvey

The backlash Harvey received was swift and harsh. From MY perspective, I understand the outrage but I also recognized that it was strictly emotional....and a lot of it unnecessary.

There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with sitting down face to face, man to man, with someone you disagree with, even VEHEMENTLY, to hear their point of view. It's the adult and proper thing to do. So many people rushed to judgement against Steve before he could even get a chance to explain what happened. Again, Steve was asked and respectfully CHOSE to meet with him, what good have NOT taking the meeting have done for anyone? Could Mr. Harvey made better choices in terms of recognizing a "photo op" and met with him privately? Sure. But hindsight is 20/20 and when you let the emotion drain out of you, you can take a different viewpoint.

Look, my point of contention is with Trump. Instead of calling the host of "The Family Feud" to discuss how he can help an inexperienced person like Ben Carson run HUD, he should have asked Rep. John Lewis instead of tweeting about him being "all talk". Thus far, in terms of "relations" with the Black community, Trump seems to believe that only entertainers and athletes can "speak to us", not duly elected congress members, scholars, even people IN minority communities doing the actual WORK that he claims to want to help....but Ray Lewis, Jim Brown and Steve Harvey are on line 1, 2 and 3 respectfully.

Again, I don't fault any of those men for meeting with the President after being called. My hope is that the President recognizes that there are actual people who could lend BETTER and more specific, targeted advice if he wants to win over the hearts and minds of people. Not the first minority he hears and sees on TV that day. When you also consider the rhetoric the President used during this campaign cycle, there's MILLIONS of people that still need convincing.

As for Steve Harvey, Thank you for doing your part...