Roland is in the 3rd stage of a very old strategy. A strategy the Dem party employs as well as white America.
1. Ignore them. They are invisible. You hope they eventually go away, the movement dies out because it can't get attention.
2. When the first doesn't work, allude to them. Discredit what they are about without mentioning them. "Russian bots talking reparations". "Those who say don't vote are stuck on stupid", "Woke culture is wrong for America"
3. When they are too big to ignore or talk around, confront directly. Misinterpret, lie, bring out something from their past that has nor relevance, anything you can to discredit them.
The media tried those 3 stages with the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X in particular. They brought him on a national news/talk show with all kinds of deep dive info on him, Elijah Mohammed and what ended up doing was Malcolm was so articulate and countered so well, the NOI grew faster after.
Roland would get washed up in a head to head debate with Jason Black. Jason Black is one of the best on the spot debaters I've seen in that space. I can't really think of someone better. Roland is desperate and now tryna take him on. If I had to guess who the powers that be fair the most in this space, I'd say they fear Jason Black over Tariq in the long run. No disrespect to Tariq, he has the street. No one has the street like he does. TBA has a long thought out strategy and outlook that he hasn't fully spoken about yet but has given hints to.
Roland not alluding to but coming straight out is actually huge for TBA. My guess and its only conjecture, he's been asked about TBA from the crowd he deals with be they black or white.