ESPN’s Rob Parker makes racially charged comment about RGIII
On Thursday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take, Rob Parker, a former Detroit News columnist, questioned Robert Griffin III’s blackness.
“Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother?” Parker asked.
His inquiry continued.
“He’s black, he kind of does his thing, but he’s not really down with the cause; he’s not one of us,” Parker said. “He’s kind of black, but he’s not really the kind of guy you want to hang out with ‘cause he’s off to something else.”
Parker apparently questioned Griffin’s race because the Washington Redskins’ star is engaged to a white woman and is rumored to be a Republican.
The nature of the conversation made ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith uneasy.
“I’m uncomfortable with where we just went,” he said.
“RGIII, the ethnicity or the color of his fiancee 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.”
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