I don’t know who Rob Parker is, either. Apparently he’s a less successful race troll than Jason Whitlock, and has a guest gig on ESPN. Proof, I guess, that ESPN can’t fill its hours with intelligent people who can talk about sports.
Today, the subject turned to the fact that Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III is engaged to his girlfriend, who is white. Rob Parker, who is black, finds this very upsetting. Spike Lee could not be reached for comment.
Rob Parker, a former Detroit News columnist, questioned RGIII’s blackness and claimed he wasn’t authentic. “Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother,” Parker asked.
“I keep hearing these things. We all know he has a white fiancée. There was all this talk about he’s a Republican.”
The bombastic [Steven A.] Smith had to put an end to it.
“I’m uncomfortable with where we just went,” he said. “RGIII, the ethnicity or the color of his fiancée is none of our business, it’s irrelevant, he can live his life in whatever way he chooses. The braids that he has in his hair, that’s his business, that’s his life, he can live his life.”
That should be obvious. After Steven A. Smith played his unlikely role as the voice of reason, Cari Champion and Skip Bayless both took exception to Parker’s “cornball” curve. But Parker stuck to his guns, or whatever metaphor is currently Bob Costas-approved for use with discussions of the NFL.
Parker: He’s not real. OK, he’s black, he kind of does the thing, but he’s not really down with the cause. He’s not one of us. He’s kind of black but he’s not really, like, the guy you want to hang out with because he’s off to something else.
Champion: “Why is that your question?”
Parker: “Well because that’s just how I want to find out about him. I don’t know because I keep hearing these things. We all know he has a white fiancée. There was all this talk about how he’s a Republican, which, I don’t really care, there’s no information at all. I’m just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue. Because we did find out with Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods was like, I’ve got black skin but don’t call me black.”
Well, that could be because Tiger Woods is not black, he’s mixed race, like millions of other Americans including the president and my very own son. Woods chose not to reject the less visible components of his racial background, but instead embraced them all. Rob Parker apparently has a problem with that, too.
Parker’s “cornball” thing would be a racist comment and would bring down the wrath of Al Sharpton like the Sweet Meteor of Death if it hadn’t come from him. USA Today’s Chris Chase, who is black like Parker and RGIII but apparently not in a “cornball” way whatever that means, sums things up well.
I live in D.C. and have been caught up in the whirlwind as much as anyone. I have a twice-daily Google Alert for RGIII’s name. I’ve been tuning into local sports radio for the first time in years. I’ve watched the replay of Sunday’s game five times. I’ve been nudging my wife to get me his jersey for Christmas. I was only half-kidding when I told my sister she should name her newborn Robert, “Griffin” or “the third.” Through all of that, I can’t remember the last time I heard someone talk about RGIII’s race.
That’s not one of those holier-than-thou “I don’t see people’s color” statements. It’s merely a point of fact. Other than hearing Michael Wilbon mention it on PTI and seeing a Washington Post article about RGIII’s role in the black community, I don’t hear the topic come up. It’s discussed, but it’s not considered as important as it would have been 20 years ago. It hasn’t been a talking point. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?
That is the way it’s suppose to be, and the way MLK wanted things to be. But people like Rob Parker have a problem with it. Tell me again, who’s the racist?
As for me, I left DC years ago and I despise the Redskins down to the marrow of my bones. But RGIII is really something to watch on the field, and you can’t help but love the way he handles himself off the field. He is a true class act and if he stays healthy he will be a legend. I just hope the Cowboys can steal him somehow. This white Texan wants a quarterback who knows how to beat other teams, not our own. The accuracy of his arm and the quality of his decisions means billions more than the irrelevant color of his skin.
Update: ESPN has suspended Parker indefinitely.
“Proof, I guess, that ESPN can’t fill its hours with intelligent people who can talk about sports.”
ESPN employs Colin Cowherd & Skip Bayless. ‘Nuff said.
ESPN has way too many personalities that emphasize themselves over the game they are supposed to be following/reporting. I’m convinced many think their job is to say outrageous, attention grabbing predictions instead of offering accurate and thoughtful analysis.
One thing I’ve observed is that most white people simply don’t really even think about race. Sure, there are some actively racist people, but most of the time it’s something that never occurs to them.
Yet the same isn’t the case for most blacks. Especially ones that grew up in black areas. Race is always on their mind.
While it’s easy to say they should stop thinking so much about race, they really can’t. They are always going to be black, and a certain amount of people will simply be prejudiced against them because of it. If they run into 100 people that day, 97 won’t care, but those other 3 might.
But a white person will rarely encounter anything like that, only a few isolated incidents for the most part.
Dear Jeremy, Go take a walk in North Philly, Watts, Chicago’s Southside, the City of Detroit, etc. and get back to us once you revise that assessment.
“They are always going to be black, and a certain amount of people will simply be prejudiced against them because of it…”
seems like those prejudiced “against them being black” are the blacks themselves and those who purport to have the blacks “best interests” in mind
jeremy,
BS.
I am white.
I grew up going to government schools that were 70%+ black.
I had to deal with racist animosity directed against me every schoolday.
Not rare.
Rob Parker..typical liberal hypocrite, race baiter, and whatever else you prefer to call him. So he has an issue with inter-racial dating/marriage but not same sex marriage? Really?
Let me clarify a remark in my earlier post. I have no objection to same sex marriage ( I’d prefer it be called a ‘civil union’ and let the churches issue the decree of marriage but that’s for another board). I just find it interesting that Parker seems to be stuck back in the 60′s and 70′s regarding interracial relationships. That was soooo last century ago.
Inter-racial marriage interferes with the American racial-marxists ideology. How can the racial proletarian (black) marry the racial bourgeois (white)? Homosexual “marriage” makes no such interference, both parties are of the sexual proletariat.
The assumption that the balance of oppression and power remains static and is the basis for every decision defines progressivism and helps us understand every ignorant comment made by a progressive.
Excellent point James K.
ESPN has an article up right now about how we should all support and accept transgendereds in sports – written by a trangender activist/sports writer. It mentions a 50 year old man now lady who’s playing college ball.
There’s a future in the Women’s Basketball League for Michael Jordan if he wants to sacrifice.
Just ask the now defunct East Germans.
– is just envious.
– needs to summon a malt liquor summit.
This gentleman is being accused of engaging in the same behavior that Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham engaged in?
Heh.
Ah, “cornball” must be the new “Oreo” or something like that. Nice to know racism is an equal opportunity field.
“…he’s not really down with the cause…
The Cause. That’s it. This Rob Parker idiot is unhappy that RGIII isn’t willing to carry Parker’s useless rear end around for him. Isn’t willing to let Parket and Sharpton and the other parasites latch onto his success and leech off of him.
‘Cause folks like Parker wouldn’t have a living if it wasn’t for The Cause.
I’m praying that as soon as Sharpton and Farrakhan leave this Earth, “The Cause” will finally go away.
“not really down with the cause…”
agreed
this really IS it
all someone had to do was politely ask r parker “what cause is that?”
another chance to expose the left by having them explain “the cause” -since the rest of us are too stupid to realize it (many only have 80 iq’s)- and thus reveal their own racism and stupidity
This got me thinking about…crabs. (No, not body lice. The kind with the delicious flesh.)
If you put a bunch of crabs into a large bucket, and one of them starts to extricate himself and climb out, the others will pull him back into the bucket. I don’t know why, and I don’t know whether anyone else does, but the behavior is consistent.
Robert Griffin III, one of the most impressive and successful rookie athletes of recent years, has it all, including a considerable degree of poise and personal charm. Apparently, he’s not a racist; at least, it would be difficult to resolve the contradiction between racism and his engagement to a Caucasian woman. He’s “climbed out of the bucket” — racialist victimism and resentment — that has so many other American Negroes trapped.
Rob Parker, like so many other Negroes, is a crab. And a racist. And a disgrace to his supposed trade.
We’re about to discover whether ESPN is run de facto by crabs. Imagine if all the races in the matter were reversed. Would a white commentator who made such comments about a white star engaged to a black woman be permitted to remain in his job for five more minutes? What will ESPN do with Rob Parker?
Stay tuned.
Sturm und drang over whether a black male professional athlete can marry a white woman? Really, in 2012?
Come on Mr. Parker, if you were really interested in the Cause, why don’t you complain about how the school systems keep black kids stupid?
There are more brain surgeons in the DC metro area than professional athlete positions. We need more educated brain surgeons, of whatever color, and more engineers, businessmen, computer programmers, mechanics, etc.
Could a black brain surgeon marry a white woman and still support the Cause? If the Cause is to raise all people out of poverty, than the answer is yes. If the Cause is to keep black people poor and on the plantation, then you already have your answer.
Last year my wife and I happened to catch Baylor beating the stuffing out of Oklahoma. It was a thing of beauty — and the first we’d seen (or heard) of Griffin. But after that one game we both thought him winning the Heisman was right.
So, since leaving college football, he’s still playing? Good for him.
/non-NFL fan
RG III graduated in three years with a degree in political science and a 3.67 GPA. He can do anything he wants
RG III is an Army brat. The idea of “the cause” would never have occurred to him. He just wasn’t raised in that type of environment.
You have to give black racists credit. No code words for them. They aren’t embarassed about it either. You don’t have to try to figure out what “incompetant”, or “Detroit” or “broccoli” really means.
It actually seems to be their secret sauce. Entire networks are devoted to raising them to positions of maximum visibility.
Things do fester though.
RG3 could probably do his job and Parker’s job in the same week…and better than Parker. What a hack. Let’s focus on athletes on the field.