BLACK IN AMERICA Jamie Foxx and Larry Elder take different routes to career success

The Oscar-winning actor cited Elder's message at the Academy Awards.
By KATE O'HARE
ZAP2IT.COM
In comments after winning the Academy Award for playing the title role of R & amp;B legend Ray Charles in "Ray," Jamie Foxx cited a "young man, Larry Elder" who asked him why he emphasized being black. Foxx went on to explain his desire to be an inspiration to young people, especially blacks.
No doubt, Larry Elder aims to do the same, but he's taken a different route from Foxx. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Elder went on to Brown University, then to law school at the University of Michigan. After working as an attorney and legal recruiter, Elder took his first stab at media, as host of an issue-oriented TV show in Cleveland.
Elder went on to work on PBS' "National Desk," and to author two best-selling books, "The 10 Things You Can't Say in America" (2000) and "Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies and the Special Interests That Divide America" (2002). He was also the host of the syndicated TV show "Moral Court."
These days, Elder writes a national newspaper column for Creators Syndicate and is host of a daily radio call-in show in Los Angeles -- which went national in 2002 -- whose devoted listeners call themselves "Elderados." A self-proclaimed libertarian, Elder preaches a message of personal responsibility and finding non-government solutions to problems.
Personal stand
While many might have expected him to return to television in politically oriented show, like fellow talkers Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, Elder has taken a different approach in his weekday syndicated talk show, "The Larry Elder Show." Rather than talking politics, Elder continues to pursue his larger themes while helping guests sort out their lives.
"I'm not a one-note guy," he says. "I'm not just about politics. I think the primary issue in America right now is personal responsibility and accountability. I know that sounds like a cliche, but children having children, everybody blaming everybody else, people parenting irresponsibly, people blaming poverty, blaming race, blaming sex ...
"My show is about personal responsibility and accountability, and being able to take that message to homes in a non-political way, non-political form, is far more important and potentially will have a greater impact than if I had an O'Reilly-type talk show."
And he no longer wonders why people are willing to share their innermost issues on national television. "I used to wonder, but I don't anymore. First of all, for a lot of people, therapy is expensive. They can't afford it. There are some people come on because they feel there's nowhere else to turn, nowhere else to run.
New insight
"Sometimes it takes a stranger. A friend, mother, anybody says anything to you, they have an agenda. They have an issue, a perspective, a point of view. You want somebody objective. Some come on because they know me from the radio. Some come on because they know me from 'Moral Court.' Most come on having seen the show, and they like it. They feel that I'm going to be fair. Even if I disagree with them, get in their face, they think I'm going to be fair and do it in good faith."
As an African-American on the right side of the political aisle, Elder often finds himself the target of critics on both sides of the racial and political divide, but shrugs it off, saying, "I'm always in trouble. Somebody once said, 'An honest man is always in trouble.' Almost anything I do is going to generate some kind of controversy."
Elder's show, distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, has been considered a ratings underachiever in its first season, and renewal is by no means assured. Ironically, waiting in the wings is another, very different talker from Warner Bros., featuring "America's Top Model" diva Tyra Banks, which sold very well at the recent NATPE convention.
Whatever happens with his TV show, Elder plans to keep putting out his message, and he knows that people are interested.
"When I was doing 'Moral Court,"' he says, "people would come up to me, silent people, they'd come down and go, 'I listen to you on the radio. I agree with everything you say. Keep it up.' Then they'd go away."