I haven’t really watched Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” since Omarosa’s days on the show. She was quite a character and one of the few reasons to watch for a great laugh or gasp, if nothing else. Reality shows are pretty much a joke but since they are very lucrative financial projects, they do warrant some acknowledgement.
I saw a headline on Black America Web about Randal Pinkett’s selection as this year’s Apprentice. I watched the last 30 minutes of a re-broadcast of the show’s finale. I’m sorry that I missed the season because Pinkett is the kind of person to validate title, “The Apprentice”. The other seasons have been nothing more than comic relief. He is intelligent, thinks fast on his feet, has great leadership skills, and is polished and classy. Not to take anything away from the young woman who was the other finalist but Pinkett is already where she needs to be. She gave it a nice try but was clearly outmatched.
After Trump announced Pinkett as his choice, he interrupted his celebration by unceremoniously ordering Pinkett back to the table and asked him to share the title. I was shocked and angry. How dare Trump, in an obvious mismatch of finalists, ask someone to share the title? That was such an insult.
Pinkett shocked Trump and the rest of the audience by NOT agreeing to share the title. I was so proud of him. Trump should not have put him in that position. If he had agreed, he would have appeared weak and ruined his credibility in the business arena. He also, very diplomatically, left an opening for Trump to hire the other finalist outside of the show. I think most viewers missed that.
Let’s be real, Pinkett is the example of the good Negro who followed the educational path favored by the majority of this country’s business leaders. He went to the “right” predominantly white schools --- Rutgers …MIT and earned five degrees.
He was still treated just like a typical Black person in America. At that moment, at the table, absolutely NOTHING he had accomplished really mattered. We don’t like to talk about racism but that’s what happened. Would Donald have made the same offer if both finalists had been of the same ethnicity? I don’t think so. Why didn’t he do that when Kwame was a finalist?
This is not about painting every individual in a category with the same broad brush. Several of the Caucasian Apprentice contestants spoke favorably of Randal. Some have opined that Trump was considering a negative reaction by advertisers to Pinkett’s selection. I don’t believe that at all.
Dr. Randal Pinkett is “The Apprentice”. Check out his website at http://www.randalpinkett.com/ and you’ll see why he deserves the title.
© VANESSA BYERS, 2005 , Vanessa: Unplugged
Labels: Business, Commentary, Entertainment, Racism, Television
