Barack Obama's former White House adviser will appear on MSNBC Tuesday night for a town hall on "everyday racism."
After being the target of a racist tweet from Roseanne Barr, Valerie Jarrett is speaking out.
The 61-year-old businesswoman, who served as Barack Obama's former White House adviser, appeared on MSNBC for a town hall discussing "Everyday Racism in America" on Tuesday night.
Her appearance was confirmed by a tweet from the official Twitter account for The 11th Hour With Brian Williams, which was accompanied with a video of Jarrett responding to Barr's since-deleted post. Early Tuesday, Barr tweeted, "Muslim brotherhood and planet of the apes had a baby=vj," referring to Jarrett, who is black and was born in Iran.
"Tone does start at the top, and we like to look up to our president and feel as though he reflects the values of our country," Jarrett said during the town hall discussion with hosts Joy Reid and Chris Hayes. "But I also think that every individual citizen has a responsibility too. And it's up to all of us to push back -- our government is only going to be as good as we make it be."
"People on the inside have to push hard, and people on the outside have to listen," she continued. "I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. I'm fine."
Jarrett than addressed the racism that isn't made so public. "I'm worried about all the people out there who don't have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense -- the person who's walking down the street minding their own business, and they see somebody cling to their purse or run across the street," she said. "Or every black parent I know who has a boy, who has to sit down and have a conversation, 'the talk,' as we call it. And as you say, those ordinary examples of racism that happen every single day."
According to MSNBC, the hope of the town hall was to "open a national dialogue" by addressing the state of "racial bias in society and what can be done to effect change." The network encouraged viewers to join in on the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag "#EverydayRacism."
As ET previously reported, Barr was slammed for her controversial tweet, which resulted in ABC abruptly pulling the plug on her hit show, Roseanne. The 65-year-old actress was also dropped by her agency, ICM, on Tuesday.
In a statement announcing Roseanne's cancellation, ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey called Barr's language "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values."
Barr later deleted the tweet and apologized to Jarrett and "to all Americans," announcing that she would be leaving Twitter.
"I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter," she wrote. "I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me -- my joke was in bad taste."
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