Racist Rob Parker's Racist Musings on RG III

[holygoat]

ESPN's Rob Parker wonders if RGIII is 'not one of us' - SBNation.com

"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."

Making Stephen A. Smith the voice of reason is a huge undertaking, by we all knew that Racist Rob Parker was up to the challenge.

[Edman85]

[Shelton]

Steven A with the smartest thing he's ever said.

[Nolan]

[Nolan]

I would really like to hear what Stephen A. says.

[shauntacular]

I was watching local news one night recently for some reason and he did the sports. He was AWFUL. I can't remember what channel it was -- but whoever it was has much better people they could have used. I really really hate Rob Parker.

[Detroit Rock City]

Wait I'm lost, did the Tigers sign RG3 to platoon with Dirks?

[Nastradamus]

I hate Rob Parker, but I don't think this qualifies as racist or even close.

[Truth]

I hate Rob Parker, but I don't think this qualifies as racist or even close.

So if he were white and said he wanted to know if a white player was really white because he had a black girlfriend and he wasn't sure if he was one of "us" or if he would want to hang out with him what would it be?

[Sports_Freak]

I hate Rob Parker, but I don't think this qualifies as racist or even close.

So if he were white and said he wanted to know if a white player was really white because he had a black girlfriend and he wasn't sure if he was one of "us" or if he would want to hang out with him what would it be?

With what passes as being considered a "racist remark" these days, I would say this is totally racist. Rob Parker should be fired, much like Howard Cosell was for saying something like "Look at that little monkey go!" Cosell's remark was totally blown out of proportion, IMO. He just meant the receiver was small, quick and elusive. But he got the can for it by an overly-sensitive media and public. IMO, what Parker is saying is much, much worse. He's actually calling out a player with reasons why he questions whether he's really one of "them" or not. If this doesn't get him fired, I would love to see a white guy say the same things about him and see what happens......

He's got a white girlfriend
He's a republican

I wonder if he would have added this if he could (and he would have if he knew the answers);

He's not a Baptist
He doesn't like rap

Come on.....he's stereotyping RGIII as well as racial profiling. All racist remarks, pure and simple, IMO.

[Vonlenska]

I hate Rob Parker, but I don't think this qualifies as racist or even close.

whether or not it is racist doesn't really matter. what matters is that it's really, really stupid

[Yoda]

I hate Rob Parker, but I don't think this qualifies as racist or even close.

[redshark63]

I was watching local news one night recently for some reason and he did the sports. He was AWFUL. I can't remember what channel it was -- but whoever it was has much better people they could have used. I really really hate Rob Parker.

Katrina Hancock quit Channel 4 a couple of weeks ago to go home and spend more time with her mom and family (Iowa?).

Parker is "filling in" for her until they find someone.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Steven A with the smartest thing he's ever said.

Yes.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

[Gehringer_2]

So let me be clear at the outset that I have no sympathy for Parker - he's made his living trying to make the biggest noise - and whatever rolls down on him now I have no problem with. That said, in this particular case, I think all he was trying to do was state an obvious truth, but used the wrong term of reference. I think what you have with RGIII is more a matter of what you might call 'sports culture' or 'regular guy' culture, or even "is he a mensch?"

What I think he was after is really exactly the same ongoing discussion we had about Joey Harrington when he was with the Lions. It's whether a guy holds himself apart from the 'regular guy' culture of the cohort he travels in (which may well actually be a virtue rather than a vice btw). Parker, not being very smart, couldn't come up with a more sophisticated description for what he meant than equating it to whether RGIII was a 'real brother', which is actually not the right distinction - or is at least the dumbest and most toxic way to describe the distinction - and comparing his issues to Tiger's identity issues as young man was definitely a mistake. There is going to be a particular 'regular guy' culture within any group of African Americans (for instance athletes), just as there is for any sub-group of white people (say college fraternity members), and it is a fair observation - in term of our now commonly accepted celebrity style personality reporting - to note whether a guy is a member of his particular 'in' crowd or not.

The other thing is that if you heard the rest of what Stephen A said, he actually does eventually rip on RGIII for bringing the topic up too much - so he started out better than Rob but didn't end up much better - IMO.

[Sparks4Ever]

Finally Rob Parker might be relegated to covering t-ball games back in Queens!

Finish him ESPN!

[DennisDubay]

The fact that Parker has been afforded the opportunity to write for some of the biggest sports periodicals, and be inside locker rooms while bloggers who "aren't professional writers" stand on the sidelines (and write and report 1000% better) is irony at it's finest.

Parker is a hack, a racist and worthless.

[DaBishop]

I don't understand where this came from. What made Parker question this? What is this topic RG3 keeps bringing up? I can't listen to the audio at work.

[RedRamage]

I don't understand where this came from. What made Parker question this? What is this topic RG3 keeps bringing up? I can't listen to the audio at work.

Well, Parker just want to know, ya know? I mean, Tigers Woods didn't want to be known as black, so what do we know about RG3? Is he really a brother? Is he one of us?

[RedRamage]

Here's a good write up about everything:

Rob Parker (sports journalist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I really like the end:

Later, Parker was given an opportunity to clarify whether he was judging Griffin’s blackness. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “We could sit here and be honest, or we can be dishonest. And you can’t tell me that people in the barbershops or people that talk, they look at who your spouse is. They do. And they look at how you present yourself. People will say all the time, you’re not gonna get a job in corporate America wearing those braids. It happens all the time. Let’s not act like it doesn’t, because it does.”

Rob, you're an idiot... "I didn't mean that I was questioning his blackness... but everyone else in barbershops is... so it's okay that I do, but I wasn't."

[Motor City Sonics]

I know Rob.......and you won't find too many nicer guys around....he is really a good guy, and I am not being sarcastic. But he has made a career of saying really controversial things. When he asked that question of Rod Marinelli about his daughter marrying a better defensive coordinator it was meant in jest because he got along really well with Marinelli, but that was out of bounds and in the wrong setting. If it was just him and Rod one-on-one joking around a couple of days after the game, it would not have been a big deal and Rod probably would have laughed at it himself.

What he said was racist, very racist. Just because he did not have any anger behind it, doesn't make it non-racist. If you see a young black man at the voting booth and automatically assume he is voting for Obama, that is racist. You may not have called him a name and you may harbor no ill-will towards the guy at all, but making an assumption on what someone should be simply based on looks alone, is a form of bigotry.

[T&P_Fan]

I don't have a problem with Rob Parker, he says things most people wouldn't, sometimes they are really dumb things and sometimes it is things that need to be discussed.

I wouldn't fire him over this, I generally like his commentary.

[RedRamage]

I wouldn't fire him over this, I generally like his commentary.

Sorry, but I can't agree with this. What does RG3's blackness have to do with anything? Why is he asking the question? What does it matter if he's a 'real brother' or not?

Other people on the show tried to ask him why he was even asking the question and he really didn't have a good reason for it. If it had been a white reporter questioning whether RG3 was "black enough" there would have been hell to pay.

I can even see a time and place for the discussion. It's can be part of a larger discussion of race in America. Of how African Americans, regardless of their desire to be or not to be, are looked at differently. How do they react to that? How should they react? Do they do damage by not standing up for their ethnicity? Do they do damage by standing up for it?

But bring up the discussion on a sports show... using the language that he used... making he prejudicial comments that he did (rumors that's he's a republican! He's got a white wife!). Wrong time, wrong language. It's like the Rod Marinelli comments... Wrong time, wrong place. Do you really want your company associated with a person who isn't able to make proper judgement calls about these things? You're paying him to comment on topics, but you don't know if his comments are going to be appropriate or not.

[John_Brian_K]

Rob Parker does not belong anywhere near a media outlet. Get rid of the racist.

[Biff Mayhem]

If you see a young black man at the voting booth and automatically assume he is voting for Obama, that is racist.

This is where the water gets so muddied. That thought is prejudiced and perhaps a bit bigoted, but it's not racist. Nothing personal, but the misuse of the term has been responsible for too much divisiveness.

Racist means that a person thinks an entire race is of a lesser value.

I cite this post (as I have in the past) as it's spot on:


I wish I were black.....

[T&P_Fan]

Sorry, but I can't agree with this. What does RG3's blackness have to do with anything? Why is he asking the question? What does it matter if he's a 'real brother' or not?

It doesn't matter, it was a bad line of questioning, I am not arguing that.

Other people on the show tried to ask him why he was even asking the question and he really didn't have a good reason for it. If it had been a white reporter questioning whether RG3 was "black enough" there would have been hell to pay.

But that didn't happen. It was a black guy asking about a black guy. Which to me, really isn't that bad, just dumb.

I can even see a time and place for the discussion. It's can be part of a larger discussion of race in America. Of how African Americans, regardless of their desire to be or not to be, are looked at differently. How do they react to that? How should they react? Do they do damage by not standing up for their ethnicity? Do they do damage by standing up for it?

It seems like that is where Parker was going, unfortunately for Rob, he doesn't articulate well. What Rob said was very stupid.

But bring up the discussion on a sports show... using the language that he used... making he prejudicial comments that he did (rumors that's he's a republican! He's got a white wife!). Wrong time, wrong language. It's like the Rod Marinelli comments... Wrong time, wrong place. Do you really want your company associated with a person who isn't able to make proper judgement calls about these things? You're paying him to comment on topics, but you don't know if his comments are going to be appropriate or not.

Right, the comments stunk. By I guess I didn't find them that offensive. Do you think RG3 is irate because some black dude didn't he was black enough? This is similar to Jalen Rose calling Grant Hill an Uncle Tom.

Facts are these: A black reporter questioned the blackness of an athlete, wanted to know what type of "brother" he really was.

I guess I don't see why it is such a big deal. Do you think Colin Powell was always concerned that people called him white? Did many people care?

I would suspend him, because that is what people want, but I find it a silly basis to fire someone for. The intent wasn't vicious.

[T&P_Fan]

Rob Parker does not belong anywhere near a media outlet. Get rid of the racist.

So easy just to label him a racist. So what, Parker thinks that RG3s lack of blackness makes him better than RG3? I guess I don't understand what the fuss is about.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

So easy just to label him a racist. So what, Parker thinks that RG3s lack of blackness makes him better than RG3? I guess I don't understand what the fuss is about.

For me, and this is just me, the questions / commentary were stupid enough to put me off just on that basis, and I also think the questions were insulting as well.

Why does one even question the blackness of a player?

[drownwithyou]

Ratings

[Jason_R]

I've never heard the term "cornball brother" but it seems like it is meant to be insulting. Parker didn't call him this directly, but I don't see a reason or excuse for insulting RGIII like this. He's talented, a hard worker, a high achiever, a good leader - I would think anyone would want to be more like him. What does it say about the people who wan to tear him down?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Ratings

Well....yeah.

[belcherboy]

The biggest reason I found it to be possibly racist is because of his apparent criticism of dating a white girl. Maybe Parker wasn't saying what I thought he was saying, but it seems like he was implying that dating a white girl means that you are not "in line" with black culture and are possibly against "the cause".

I'm not sure why interracial dating puts someone's allegiance to their own race in question.

[ben9753]

What the hell does being a Republican have to do with anything? That was just strange to me.

[RedRamage]

What the hell does being a Republican have to do with anything? That was just strange to me.

A real brother only votes for either A.) Democrats or B.) Other brothers. (Wait, is Obama a real brother? I mean, he has a white mother... Maybe we should have Rob talk to his friend in Washington to find out.)

So yeah, that prejudice/racist right there... The assumption that a real African American would only vote democrat.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

What the hell does being a Republican have to do with anything? That was just strange to me.

Because he thinks it supports his premise that RG3 is a sell-out now that he has money and fame. Same with RG3 planning to marry a white woman.

Rob is basically using superficial indicators to make assumptions about the type of person Griffin is.

[mtutiger]

Because he thinks it supports his premise that RG3 is a sell-out now that he has money and fame. Same with RG3 planning to marry a white woman.

Rob is basically using superficial indicators to make assumptions about the type of person Griffin is.

Exactly right...

As an aside, considering what ESPN has become, is it any surprise that they took on Parker as a commentator over any other Detroit sports personality? Say what you want about Drew Sharp, Mitch Albom, or Terry Foster, but none are nearly as embarrassing as Parker.

[Yoda]

Yup. It says a lot about Espn. Embarrassing.

[DetroitCity313]

1. Rob Parker is an idiot. Incredibly stupid things to say about RG3, who from all accounts, is a really good guy who is having a terrific year as a player.

2. This is the result of ESPN's format which promotes and hypes up people who say the stupidest and most controversial things. Skip Bayless is a perfect example of that with how absurd he is.

3. I wouldn't say its racist, its just offensive and ignorant.

[ROMAD1]

Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, Redskins’ Robert Griffin III are strikingly similar | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com

I heard on the radio this morning that the Seahawks/Redskins game was going to be the Rob Parker Bowl because both QBs are very similar. Apparently down to the white girlfriends. In my heart I dream that both run for office as Republicans on the premise that while they may not be "down for the struggle" they are "down for whatever"

Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, Redskins’ Robert Griffin III are strikingly similar | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News - seattlepi.com