E-mail a friendRobin Roberts
airdate June 26, 2007
Journalist Robin Roberts has contributed to ABC's Good Morning America since '95 and was recently named the show's co-anchor. She's also added author to her résumé with her first book, From the Heart. A broadcaster for more than 20 years, Roberts earned 3 Emmys for her work as an ESPN commentator. She was a college basketball star and began her career as a sports anchor and reporter. Roberts is a Mississippi native and works to aid post-hurricane rebuilding efforts in the hard-hit Gulf Coast area.
Robin Roberts
Tavis: Pleased to welcome Robin Roberts to this program. Following her very successful career at ESPN, she is now, of course, one of the anchors on "Good Morning, America." Her new book is called "From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By." What are you doing out here in L.A.? I'm glad to see you.
Robin Roberts: I'm hanging out with you. Well, I had to come all the way out here to see you.
Tavis: Oh, yeah, well.
Roberts: Trying to keep up with you.
Tavis: I'd come see you anytime.
Roberts: Oh, it's good to see you, Tavis.
Tavis: You doing okay, though?
Roberts: I'm doing really well.
Tavis: Two years into it, you liking it?
Roberts: Yes, more so than I thought, because as you said, sports is my - it's part of my DNA. But to have the opportunity to work alongside someone like Diane Sawyer every morning and the ABC news unit, it's a blessing. No two days are the same, which I enjoy very much.
Tavis: Yeah, it doesn't get much better than Diane Sawyer.
Roberts: No sir. It sure doesn't.
Tavis: What do you learn - you obviously were a very successful college athlete and covered sports for all those years. What do you take from that background? Because Bryant Gumbel and others have done the same thing. What do you take from that sports background that makes you a good anchor on a show like "GMA?"
Roberts: I'm going to tell you, because in sports, it's totally unscripted. It's totally you have to be very descriptive in your words and all that you're doing. You don't have a script. And so it helps you as far as the live aspect. It's like there's nothing in the studio that rattles me because of my covering all of these sporting events for many years. Didn't use it as a training ground. Didn't think I was going to leave. But looking back, I'm like it could not have been a better training ground for me.
Tavis: Let me put you on the spot right quick. We didn't get a chance to talk about this at the time, but I was watching what everybody had to say about it. As a former college athlete, basketball player, no less, what did you make of what Imus had to say and how that whole thing went down with the Rutger's women's basketball team? Because you've been in that situation. Not being called that name, of course, but certainly -
Roberts: No, but knowing that that was out there. And it hurt me as an athlete. It hurt me as a woman athlete to hear that kind of remark. Here you had this team just coming off a phenomenal season, turned it around, the biggest platform that they've ever had, and that's all that could be said about it. But knowing that those are things that are being said, and what hurt me is that his words, if it could prevent a young girl who's maybe on the fence, like, "Oh, Mama, I want to play sports but I want to know -" and then she hears that and she backs off because the good far outweighs the bad for all participants in sports, but especially women, about building that self‑esteem and character. So it was just totally - and especially someone like Vivian Stringer. Here she's won not - has won so many ballgames. I put a record -
Tavis: The most. She has the record, yeah.
Roberts: Exactly, she has the record. And then I'm like, that's all you can say? So I was so proud, though, how Vivian and her team, how they stood up. When they came out in that press conference, oh, I was, like, oh, (laughs) oh, it was - I was very proud of them. But it hurt me to hear him say those words.
Tavis: Speaking of Vivian Stringer, it wasn't until after that controversy went down when her contract got renewed that she finally got the same amount of money that the men's basketball coach, after all those years and all those victories, she finally reached parity where her paycheck is concerned. I raise that only because I think last week on my radio program we discussed the fact that this year, if I remember correctly, is the 35th anniversary of Title IX.
Roberts: It is.
Tavis: Thirty-five years.
Roberts: It is.
Tavis: So what do you make of women's sports 35 years later?
Roberts: We've come a long way. We still have a long way to go. Even Wimbledon just now this year is having equal pay for the men and the women. And we all know that the women's game is far more entertaining than the men's game. What hurts me is that when people try to say it's going to kill college football, that's the thing.
When people say because of Title IX, it's going to take away from men's athletics, and those people who are against Title IX have wrongly used that information. There's enough to go around for everyone. And what I see is, like, I am a proud product of Title IX, my man. I would not be here talking with you. I know, because of my sports background, it prepared me for my career.
And it had nothing to do with the fact that I was going to be a sportscaster. Had I chose business, law, medicine, I know without a shadow of a doubt I would have achieved a level of success because of my sports background. Things that men for generations have been privy to and have learned to go on to be successful in business.
Tavis: Robin and I just kind of jumped into this because she, of course, is a sports enthusiast and expert, and I just love sports. Title IX, of course, is that law that was passed 35 years ago that basically said you have to spend the same amount of money on women's sports that you spend on men's sports.
Roberts: And not just sports - education as well, right.
Tavis: Education across the board, exactly. Fair enough.
Roberts: It's just so key.
Tavis: That's why she's on "GMA" and I'm just (laughter) sitting here interviewing her.
Roberts: Oh, yeah, come on, now. (Laughter) Come on now.
Tavis: Yeah, you got a good research team and she knows what she's talking about. Before I get into the book, how is your mama? And I ask that because -
Roberts: Oh, thank you.
Tavis: - Robin and I are both from Mississippi and I know she was in that storm down there.
Roberts: Yeah, she was in that storm. I can't believe we're going on two years now. But Tavis, she's doing better. It's really taken a lot. It's taken a toll, especially on older people there, because they know they're not going to see their home the way it was. They know that it's going to take a long time. But she is, as you know, a resilient woman. She is a spiritual woman. This, too, shall pass, and she's being very strong. She's being extremely strong.
Tavis: How does one - I had a sister who was lost for a number of days down there; a sister and three boys she has, so my three nephews, and I literally was dispatched by my family to go down there to find her. We got her out and everything is okay. But for those of us who are trying to navigate our way through this while they're there and we are in New York, in your case, or I'm in L.A., how do you deal with your mama being down there and knowing that she's so far away from you?
Roberts: I was there the morning after Katrina. The storm hits, I'm in New York with Charlie Gibson at the time, who was a co-anchor, as well, and Diane. And like so many, we were, like, whoa, we'll dodge that one. Not as bad as they said it was going to be. Oh, we'll see you tomorrow. And then a few hours pass and we see what's going on, and "ABC News" says, "You need to get home.”
And I'd been trying to reach my family since 10:00 that morning, had lost contact. Hop on a plane, get as close as I can, which was Lafayette, Louisiana, drove all night long, found my mama about an hour before I was supposed to go on the air. I'm going to tell you a little secret. ABC thought I was there to work? I was there to find my mama.
Now, if I could find her and then do the job, fine. (Laughter) But if I didn't find my mom, you were not going to see me that morning on "Good Morning, America." I found her; they were in a house in Biloxi. It was damaged but they were okay. My mama's, like, shoving me out the house, saying, "You need to go, be sure you let everybody know what's going on down here," and I cried.
I did my report all professionally, and I'm doing this and just talking about what I saw overnight. And then Charlie says in my ear, “How's your mama?” And I'm, like, don't want to talk, and then he kept on. And the tears - but what I found out later is that people who were watching - because I thought I'm dead. I thought, I'm going to get fired.
Because you don't show that kind of emotion on the air like that. Just the opposite happened. People were drawn to that. They saw the compassion, and the thing is that's when they said, "Oh, this storm is bad." Because they, too, were not quite sure because of what they were reading and hearing.
And then they saw me break down like this because this was my home of 35 years and I didn't even recognize it. That's when a lot of people said, "Okay, I get it now. I get the devastation of Hurricane Katrina."
Tavis: So these folk in this part of Mississippi have known you all your life, you're born and raised there. They know you, of course, as a successful college athlete. What indication was there ever in your life that you might end up doing what you do? How did you end up in broadcasting?
Roberts: I have an older sister, eight years older. She's like, do you have to give how much older I am? (Laughter) (Unintelligible) she's in TV in New Orleans and is a phenomenal, phenomenal journalist. So that was a good role model for me. I can say after all these years and be honest with you and say, I wanted to be a professional athlete. I wasn't good enough, so I was, like, what's plan B? And plan B was to be a sports journalist.
Tavis: The WNBA wasn't around anyway.
Roberts: No, sir. No, I didn't have that to rely on, anyway, and loved tennis and had dreams of playing a Wimbledon one day and all that. But that wasn't going to happen, so becoming a sports journalist was my way of getting in. And so I was passionate about sports, had an interest in journalism, which quickly turned, as you know, to being passionate about journalism and going, you can really affect positive change.
People listen to you. You can really do some positive things. And so, I wanted to be that pro athlete. That didn't work out. And from that, just the broadcasting aspect of just being a journalist and just - but I can't say I was one of those kids at home that would turn down the sound of a ballgame and try and act like I was Jimmy Pitt.
Tavis: (Unintelligible) or something, yeah. (Laughter)
Roberts: Yeah, so no, I wanted to be the person in the TV set.
Tavis: Oh, I got you. (Laughter)
Roberts: (Unintelligible) that athlete. But the lord had other plans for me.
Tavis: Well, the great thing about this book, "From the Heart," is that these seven rules to live by are for any of us, whether we love sports or not. Let me just pull a couple of them out right quick in the time I have.
Roberts: Sure, sure.
Tavis: The first lesson in here is to position yourself - speaking of sports - position yourself to take the shot.
Roberts: You have to put yourself in position for good things to happen to you. I'm a spiritual person, pray every day. You can pray, hope, and dream all you want, but proximity is power. If you don't actually take the actually take the action and do those things that are going to help that good come your way, what are you doing? You're really making it more difficult for yourself.
And I learned that through sports, because I don't care what sport you play, the coaches (unintelligible) get in the proper rebounding, scoring, and all this position. And I realized oh, so if you work your tail off and get in the right position for something to happen, some good can come your way. And it's no different than anything that you're trying to pursue in life.
Tavis: You say dream big, but focus small.
Roberts: How many times - you got a wonderful staff here. You've got some young people that are going to be doing some things. There are so many people, and I think it's part of our reality show concept that we have now that everybody wants it now. They don't want to do the work. Have those big dreams. Have those big goals.
But what are you going to - focus small. What's that one thing you're going to do today? It's not going to happen overnight, and that's okay. First time ESPN approached me out of school - it was like four years out of school - I told them no. Because I knew I wouldn't have staying power. I knew I didn't have what it took to be able to stay.
I just didn't want to get to ESPN, I wanted to stay when I got there, and I did for 15 years, and other things came my way. So you have to have those big goals, but just focus small on those things that can get you there.
Tavis: This next one is really - I don't think it's antithetical; I want to get your take on it. I don't think it's antithetical to the conversation we had earlier, but you say in advice number four, rule number four, never play the race, gender, or any other card. Never play the race, gender, or any other card. I want to ask you two questions: one, what you mean by that, but number two, how you juxtapose not playing the race card with having the courage to speak out when things are said and done that are, in fact, racist and sexist.
Roberts: Your second part first. Having a conversation is not playing the race card. You can have an intelligent conversation about racism, sexism, without playing that card. It's when you're trying to use it as an excuse. Yes, let me just put this out here for the moment. Racism does exist. Sexism does exist. And what is the most powerful that exists? Classism.
The huge difference between the haves and have‑nots now. So let me get that out there, saying it does exist. I remember what turned out to be the only time I told my folks, I went for a job, I didn't get it. And I came back and I said, I didn't get it because I'm a Black woman. And the two people who loved me the most sat me down, they're like "Okay, let's talk about this. Did you think maybe you didn't get it because you're not good enough yet?"
"I'm just putting it out there to you, dear." And I was, like, oh. (Laughter) At first, like, yeow, that kind of stings from your mama and your daddy. Especially my father was Tuskegee Airman, the first Black flying air corps. He knows what it was like to overcome -
Tavis: Now he knows racism.
Roberts: Now he knows - oh, I could tell you some stories. Now, he knows racism.
Tavis: Yeah, sure.
Roberts: But my folks were trying to teach me to look inwards first. To look at what I'm bringing to the table. And if I have some shortcomings for me to work on that, not to go "Oh, well, you know what?" Because it's so easy when you give up, saying, "Well, I'm not going to get it because I'm a Black woman. No one's ever going to hire me."
If you have that mindset, you're not going to get anywhere. So that's what I mean about not using it as an excuse. Look to yourself first, realize it does exist. Do what you can. The best thing I can do is every morning, be right there next to Diane Sawyer, do the best job I can possibly do. More people like me are more apt to be hired.
That's a powerful message, just seeing that.
Tavis: Well, she does a great job of that every morning, too; sitting next to Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning, America," and whether you're from Mississippi, as I am, you're proud of her. If you're a woman, you're proud of her. If you're Black, you're proud of her. And if you're anybody else, you're proud just to watch her every morning on "GMA." Her new book - the first book -
Roberts: Yeah, I don't know how you do it. This is it, this is the first - no, this is it.
Tavis: It won't be the last.
Roberts: Oh, come on. I'm out, I'm out.
Tavis: First one. "From the Heart," "From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By," by one of the co-anchors of "GMA," Robin Roberts. Good to see you. Tell your mama I said hello.
Roberts: I will, Tavis, thank you so much.
Tavis: Nice to see you.
Back to June 26, 2007