As an African American male pursuing a career in sports broadcasting/journalism, the essential termination of Rob Parker by ESPN hits home for me.
On December 13, 2012, during a debate about Robert Griffin III on ESPN First Take, Parker questioned RGIII's "blackness" by calling him a "cornball brother".
Rob Parker began working for ESPN in 2003 and made his public break doing the same thing that ended up breaking him in the eye of the public, debating Skip Bayless on ESPN First Take.
The day before this incident, RGIII had been presented a question about being a successful African American quarterback in the NFL, another sensitive topic in Rob Parker's history. Griffin III simply responded by stating "Yes I am African American, but that is not how I want to be defined."
When Parker was asked his opinion on these remarks, his response was that it raised a red flag, which he followed up by asking the biggest question of his career, "Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother." Anyone who follows Rob Parker knows that he tends to attempt humor with those types of statements, so he was asked to explain his remarks.
"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."
Parker then cited Griffin having a white fiancee and talked about how he's a Republican (though he acknowledged having no information to support this)
Later that day, ESPN announced an indefinite suspension for Parker. On December 20, Parker issued a public apology to ESPN and the Griffin family. His suspension was reduced to 30 days.
On January 8, 2013, ESPN announced that Rob Parker's contract had expired on December 31, 2012 and there would be no renewal, essentially terminating his services at The Worldwide Leader in Sports.
Immediately after learning Parker would not be returning, I hit the social media platformed society we live in today and saw numerous comprasions to Don Imus.
While I don't agree with the majority of Don Imus' morals and beliefs, he chooses the proper platform to express them, satellite radio rather than national tv. Therefore I find the comprasion completely irrelevant.
Parker, an African American himself, fully understands the struggle we face when pursuing the peak of our goals in the journalism world. It's 2013, but we still live with the image of not knowing how to read/write and just being deadbeats in Corporate America.
Rob Parker was the first African American journalist at the Detroit Free Press in 1993. 2 years later, in 1995, he became the first sports columnist at Newsday in New York.
Don't get me wrong, I am beyond thankful and appreciative for those who have come before me and made my path smoother to walk on, but I do have an issue with those who set our minority back by living up to society's expectations.
You can argue that Rob Parker does deserve to have a job at ESPN on his 49th birthday, today, (ironic timing) or you can argue that he deserves to be in the exact position he is now. I haven't yet, but I have learned from all of this that there is a time and place for everything in all aspects of life.
On December 13, 2012, during a debate about Robert Griffin III on ESPN First Take, Parker questioned RGIII's "blackness" by calling him a "cornball brother".
Rob Parker began working for ESPN in 2003 and made his public break doing the same thing that ended up breaking him in the eye of the public, debating Skip Bayless on ESPN First Take.
The day before this incident, RGIII had been presented a question about being a successful African American quarterback in the NFL, another sensitive topic in Rob Parker's history. Griffin III simply responded by stating "Yes I am African American, but that is not how I want to be defined."
When Parker was asked his opinion on these remarks, his response was that it raised a red flag, which he followed up by asking the biggest question of his career, "Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother." Anyone who follows Rob Parker knows that he tends to attempt humor with those types of statements, so he was asked to explain his remarks.
"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."
Parker then cited Griffin having a white fiancee and talked about how he's a Republican (though he acknowledged having no information to support this)
Later that day, ESPN announced an indefinite suspension for Parker. On December 20, Parker issued a public apology to ESPN and the Griffin family. His suspension was reduced to 30 days.
On January 8, 2013, ESPN announced that Rob Parker's contract had expired on December 31, 2012 and there would be no renewal, essentially terminating his services at The Worldwide Leader in Sports.
Immediately after learning Parker would not be returning, I hit the social media platformed society we live in today and saw numerous comprasions to Don Imus.
While I don't agree with the majority of Don Imus' morals and beliefs, he chooses the proper platform to express them, satellite radio rather than national tv. Therefore I find the comprasion completely irrelevant.
Parker, an African American himself, fully understands the struggle we face when pursuing the peak of our goals in the journalism world. It's 2013, but we still live with the image of not knowing how to read/write and just being deadbeats in Corporate America.
Rob Parker was the first African American journalist at the Detroit Free Press in 1993. 2 years later, in 1995, he became the first sports columnist at Newsday in New York.
Don't get me wrong, I am beyond thankful and appreciative for those who have come before me and made my path smoother to walk on, but I do have an issue with those who set our minority back by living up to society's expectations.
You can argue that Rob Parker does deserve to have a job at ESPN on his 49th birthday, today, (ironic timing) or you can argue that he deserves to be in the exact position he is now. I haven't yet, but I have learned from all of this that there is a time and place for everything in all aspects of life.
