Radio host Mike Trivisonno did not mince words on Monday as he claimed that yes, America was a racist country, but that racism was not based on the color of your skin but the amount of green in your wallet.
“I read an article online that said America was racist because people of color could not afford good, high priced lawyers,” Trivisonno said on Monday’s edition of The Mike Trivisonno Show, heard on Cleveland’s WTAM. “Really? Tell that to O.J. Simpson. I’ve got news for you. A lot of White people can’t afford good lawyers either. The color that matters most in America is not White, Black, Brown or anything else. It’s green.”
Trivisonno did not specifically say which article he was referring to, but a study by the ACLU did find that a majority of people who used public defenders were minorities. The percentage was consistently over 50 percent and as high as 77 percent in Georgia, with high marks in other Southern states as well.
But Trivisonno doesn’t seem to put much stock in those types of statistics.
“Are you telling me that if LeBron James’ or Michael Jordan’s kids got in trouble, lawyers would refuse to take the case because they are Black? No, they would jump at the chance. It has nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with money.”
Trivisonno claims that the media has unfairly overemphasized racial issues for better ratings.
“The old rule was, give an update on the weather every five minutes. Well, racism is the new weather. You hear stories or read articles like this every day trying to make everything about racism. It may be an equality issue. Not everyone has the same amount of money, but it’s not a racial one.”
Trivisonno closes the segment with the assessment that equality issues are prevalent everywhere in America, for people of every race.
“Look at the NFL Draft,” he said. “Tens of thousands of people descended on Cleveland, many with no masks. Nobody said anything. Yet local bar owners are fined or shut down because they are over capacity. Are you kidding me? Why? Because the NFL has money and the bar owners (comparatively) don’t. They can’t fight it. The hypocrisy is real.”
