Civil rights attorney Areva Marin was left embarrassed live on air after she was scolded by a radio host she accused of ‘white privilege.
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The CNN legal analyst, who describes herself as an ‘advocate, commentator, author, TV host and producer’ was on David Webb’s Sirius XM radio program discussing experiences being more important than race when landing a job.
But the CNN Legal Analyst and co-host of Face the Truth on CBS assumed the radio host’s race when he said he had never regarded his race as a barrier when it comes to getting a job.
Webb said on his show: “I’ve chosen to cross different parts of the media world, done the work so that I’m qualified to be in each one. I never considered my color the issue, I considered my qualifications the issue.”
Martin then responded with a statement that suggested she thought Webb was Caucasian.
“That’s a whole, another long conversation about white privilege, the things that you have the privilege of doing, that people of color don’t have the privilege of,” Martin expressed.
“How do I have the privilege of white privilege?” he asked, and she quickly said: “David, by virtue of being a white male you have white privilege.”
But the CNN legal analyst was soon corrected then Webb realized she had no idea he was African American.
“You see, you went to white privilege; this is the falsehood in this,” Webb hit back. “You went immediately with an assumption. Your people, obviously, or you didn’t look.
“Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should’ve been better prepped. I’m black.”
Webb also explained his accomplishments as an African American as he seemed to put down the idea of white privilege when it comes to finding a career. He also used his own success at Fox to say that race was not a factor.
“You’re talking to a black man… who started out in rock radio in Boston, who crossed the paths into hip-hop, rebuilding one of the greatest black stations in America and went on to work at Fox News where I’m told apparently blacks aren’t supposed to work, but yet, you come with this assumption, and you go to white privilege,” he continued.
“That’s actually insulting.”
After the embarrassing mistake, Marin blamed the researchers but apologized for making an assumption.
“It is and I apologize,” Martin expressed. “I was given wrong information.” Martin’s reps refused to comment to numerous publications.
Webb then took to Twitter and shared photos of himself alongside white men, writing: “Just two guys showing their #WhitePrivelege.”
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