ESPN Admits 'Errors on Their Part' For Racial Comments on RGII

ESPN analyst Rob Parker – an African American – displayed a high level of ignorance when he called Washington Redskins’ QB Robert Griffin III a “cornball brother.” The urban dictionary defines cornball brother as – “An African American male who chooses not to follow the stereotype. This includes, but is not limited to, being educated, well spoken, a role model, a leader, selfless, an upstanding member of the community and above all – humble.” Basically, it’s an African American who’s not “down with the cause.”

After suspending Parker indefinitely – ESPN announced Thursday that Rob Parker will be suspended for 30 days. In the statement, ESPN admitted to “errors on their own part:”

“ESPN has decided to suspend Rob Parker for 30 days for his comments made on last Thursday’s episode of First Take. Our review of the preparation for the show and the re-air has established that mistakes both in judgment and communication were made. As a direct result, clearly inappropriate content was aired and then re-aired without editing. Both were errors on our part.”

“To address this, we have enhanced the editorial oversight of the show and have taken appropriate disciplinary measures with the personnel responsible for these failures. We will continue to discuss important issues in sports on First Take, including race. Debate is an integral part of sports and we will continue to engage in it on First Take. However, we believe what we have learned here and the steps we have taken will help us do all that better.”

Last Thursday, Rob Parker said this on ESPN’s First Take about Robert Griffin III – “My question, which is just a straight honest question: is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother? Well, [yes] he’s black, he kind of does his 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 the guy you’d really want to hang out with, because he’s off to do something else.”

Parker went on to say, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“We could sit here and be honest, or we can be dishonest… [People] look at who your spouse is. They do. And they look at how you present yourself.” Parker also said there are rumors that Griffin is a republican and expressed his disapproval of Griffin’s fiancee being white.

Wednesday, six days after the controversy began, Parker apologized for his comments via Twitter:

“I blew it and I’m sincerely sorry. I completely understand how the issue of race in sports is a sensitive one and needs to be handled with great care. This past Thursday, I failed to do that. I believe the intended topic is a worthy one. Robert’s thoughts about being an African-American quarterback and the impact of his phenomenal success have been discussed in other media outlets, as well as among sports fans, particularly those in the African-American community.”

“The failure was in how I chose to discuss it on First Take, and in doing so, turned a productive conversation into a negative one. I regrettably introduced some points that I never should have and I completely understand the strong response to them, including ESPN’s reaction. Perhaps most importantly, the attention my words have brought to one of the best and brightest stars in all of sports is an unintended and troubling result. Robert Griffin III is a talented athlete who not only can do great things on the field, but off the field handles himself in a way we are all taught — with dignity, respect and pride.”

“I’ve contacted his agent with hopes of apologizing to Robert directly. As I reflect on this and move forward, I will take the time to consider how I can continue to tackle difficult, important topics in a much more thoughtful manner.”

As an African American, it’s unfortunate that Rob Parker felt the need to go on the “world-wide sports media leader” in ESPN – implying that African American’s are simple minded individuals who box themselves into a certain racial order – defining their level of authenticity as black Americans.

Although, as Parker suggested, some black Americans still think they have to speak and behave in a certain way. It’s the sad truth. However, not every African American is “down with that cause.” The president of the United States – who I’m sure Rob Parker voted for since he doesn’t support Griffin possibly being a Republican – is a well educated and articulate African American. But let’s not make this political.

It’s a free county. Parker is entitled to his opinion and arguments are a key part of sports programs. The main issue with this entire situation – that has essentially been swept under a carpet – is ESPN’s First Take came up with this bright idea to design one of the more unnecessary segments I’ve seen on sports talk television. Parker just acted as the puppet who was ignorant enough to take the segment to another level.

First of all, the topic was drawn from Robert Griffin III’s press conference the day prior to last Thursday’s show. A reporter asked Griffin, “Many people in our society are defined by their race and the fact that you have not allowed yourself to be defined by your race, how has that helped shape your identity?” All the reporter was attempting to receive were quotes from Griffin to add into his upcoming Martin Luther King day special.

Griffin responded, “For me, you don’t ever want to be defined by the color of your skin…You want to be defined by your work ethic, the person that you are, your character, your personality. That’s what I’ve tried to go out and do. I am an African-American in America. That will never change. But I don’t have to be defined by that.”

For some reason that quote by Griffin intrigued ESPN’s First Take, and understandably so – but they went about it the wrong way. The topic of First Take’s segment was, “RG3 doesn’t want to be defined by his race.” Then they added the question, “what does that say about him?” The entire segment didn’t happen by accident – it was planned. Rob Parker is a regular on the show, but he’s not on the show every day. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith – who is also an African American – along with Skip Bayless are the featured personalities on the show known as First Take. They could have asked Stephen A. Smith the question first, but it was obvious he was uncomfortable with the whole segment. In fact, he expressed that after Parker made his comments.

So, for ESPN to bring Parker into the discussion for that segment was a tad odd. It’s not like the show doesn’t have production meetings prior to going on live. Whether Parker made his thoughts known before the show or not – the segment was setup to go “left” from the get-go. How do you create an argument, or lack thereof, about Griffin’s statement? It was clearly an unnecessary topic, hence ESPN’s apology. Hopefully they have learned from this situation.

Honestly, there will be people who won’t agree with ESPN suspending Rob Parker for only 30 days. Some people believe he should be fired. Of course, others would consider that too harsh of a punishment. Either way, all we can hope for is that Rob Parker and people who think like him will learn from this mistake.