A black commentator is shocked that Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, also known as RG3, received harsh words last week from a sports analyst about his political worldview and his white fiancée.
Griffin, who is black, is one of the National Football League's rising stars. But ESPN's Rob Parker has challenged the rookie's Republicanism and his engagement to a white woman, saying Griffin is "not really down with the cause. He's not one of us." The analyst went on to question whether Griffin was "a brother" or "a cornball brother."
Hughey P. Newsome is a member of the national advisory council of the Project 21 black leadership network. He tells OneNewsNow bigotry has raised its ugly head in professional sports once again.
"This is a bigger conversation that needs to be had in American society, particularly in the black community, overall about what the '60s, what the civil rights movement really meant, because there are certain things that we've progressed, gone a long away from where we were in the '60s, [but] there [are] certain areas where we haven't moved very far," Newsome notes.
"The whole idea of allowing people to think differently just hasn't happened. We haven't made a lot of progress in that area."
The Project 21 spokesman finds it unfortunate that many in the black community have been conditioned to believe they must align with the Democratic Party or a liberal mindset.
"So many blacks face scrutiny in public if they do support the Republican Party or say that they're conservative," he accounts. "This is a bit of a taboo, and it's unfortunate, because I believe that many, many blacks are put off, and because of that, we don't get a chance to have strong conversations in the black community about who … we support and who [can] best represent our values."
ESPN has suspended Parker for 30 days for his comments, calling them "inappropriate."