Television personality Dr. Marc Lamont Hill spent time answering questions from a group of Illinois State University students before speaking at the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Dinner Friday night.
Hill is a distinguished professor of African American studies at Morehouse College and host of BET News and VH1 Live.
The CNN political contributor was the top trending name on Twitter earlier this week after he reffered to Trump diversity team member Bruce LeVell as a member of a group of "mediocre Negroes" who met with the then President-elect.
The heated discussion took place during a panel segment with host Don Lemon on CNN Tonight. When asked about his comment, Hill said he wanted to make sure people knew he wasn't calling Steve Harvey a "mediocre Negro."
Hill said he was more concerned that Trump brought in a celebrity to talk about urban development.
"Whenever you bring black people in, they're entertainers and singers," said Hill. "It sends a certain message to our community and the world about what matters to Trump."
Hill shared more concern about Trump's decisions by venting on Twitter during the President's inaugural speech.
Hill tweeted, "This speech feels thing, uninspired, unstatesmanlike, and petty. Sadly, I think he's doing his best here."
Hill said he was hoping to be surprised by Trump's speech, but sadly wasn't.
"When giving presidential speeches, I think you have two options," said Hill. "You can either give a really interesting, engaging policy speech about what you're going to do or give more of an aerial view of where the nation is and where you want it to go to. I think it's an opportunity to lift a nation's spirits. Trump did neither."
Barack Obama left Washington shortly after Trump's inauguration, but Hill said he is glad Obama will still continue to work in America's best interests.
Hill said he is most excited about Obama's goal to get citizens to engage the world in a more reflective and active way.
"He can charge us to do that. This is a retired United States President who is in his fifties. We may have forty more years with this guy. He has the opportunity to really challenge the world in a whole different way and it's exciting," said Hill.
Hill added that he thinks Martin Luther King Jr. would have seen extraordinary symbolic value of the Obama presidency. He said King would see it as a marker of racial maturity to elect an African American as President.
