Rob Parker has been suspended indefinitely by ESPN over racist comments

[The Scott]

Without question.  I think Parker's statements reflected his true beliefs...and in his position, man, I lost a lot of respect for him.  I never really liked him anyway, but he crossed the line here, given his position in the national media. 

As a BLACK man, RG III represents 'us' far better than guys like Parker and Jackass Whitlock do. 

Maybe this is because he thinks of himself as a man.  Not a black man.  Just a man.  That could actually be the truth.  For the greater part, especially so in professional sports, color only seems to matter when someone wants something they didn't earn.

Like respect.  RG III is worthy of respect.  The "color commentator" not so much.

[Doug_Steele]

Without question.  I think Parker's statements reflected his true beliefs...and in his position, man, I lost a lot of respect for him.  I never really liked him anyway, but he crossed the line here, given his position in the national media.  

As a BLACK man, RG III represents 'us' far better than guys like Parker and Jackass Whitlock do.  

How could you ever have respect for him? Parker and Drew Sharp are two in the same, but whatever floats your boat...

Rob Parker is such an asshat.  This is the same guy who asked Marinelli whether he wished his daughter had married a better coordinator. 

Even more insulting than his comments was the completely asinine, yet unsurprising follow up question by Bayless, "What about his braids?" 

You know something is ridiculous and offensive when Stephen A. Smith states on live air that something made him uncomfortable.

Essentially, Parker said if you are a "real" black person, not a "cornball" black person, you must be a democrat, date or marry a black female, and preferably have dreads or braids.  Par for the course for First Take though.

[Tre]

How could you ever have respect for him? Parker and Drew Sharp are two in the same, but whatever floats your boat...

Rob Parker is such an asshat.  This is the same guy who asked Marinelli whether he wished his daughter had married a better coordinator. 

Even more insulting than his comments was the completely asinine, yet unsurprising follow up question by Bayless, "What about his braids?" 

You know something is ridiculous and offensive when Stephen A. Smith states on live air that something made him uncomfortable.

Essentially, Parker said if you are a "real" black person, not a "cornball" black person, you must be a democrat, date or marry a black female, and preferably have dreads or braids.  Par for the course for First Take though.

I don't like people with whiny voices, but everyone gets a token level of respect from me until they prove they're not worthy and that's what Parker did yesterday.  That is, being at '0' on the respect meter means you're cool with me, but now he's in the negatives and it would take him a lifetime of righteousness to even get back to breaking even. 

He invented a new term, but I hope to hell it never catches on...except to describe knucklehead 'brothas' like himself. 

[Ronnie Rep]

Rob Parker comments sets Afro-Americans back 100 years!

[The_Punisher]

this is not the first time this ESPN contributor has stuff his dick in his mouth......what's new?......this WartHog is unable to express anything intelligent and I hope ESPN would have just terminate this Ignorant Negro

[Quickerblade]

Love First take, "lets embrace debate"

[HTexan]

I'm not black, but I didn't find anything racist about what he said. I been hanging with black dudes and I have hear they say the same shit about rg3.

[Doug_Steele]

I don't like people with whiny voices, but everyone gets a token level of respect from me until they prove they're not worthy and that's what Parker did yesterday.  That is, being at '0' on the respect meter means you're cool with me, but now he's in the negatives and it would take him a lifetime of righteousness to even get back to breaking even. 

He invented a new term, but I hope to hell it never catches on...except to describe knucklehead 'brothas' like himself. 

I feel it is incumbent upon us to call out people who make racists remarks no matter what ethnic background they are. It doesn't make it okay that he questioned RGIII's fiance' choice or he should flaunt himself to be more black in societies eyes.

It's just ridiculous that he feels like he can make statements like that because he's black and others can't....no one should, we are all peoples of this globe that need to love one another and be accepting.

 

In the immortal words of MLK:

It is not the color of ones skin but the content of their character (paraphrased).

[Alex23]

I feel it is incumbent upon us to call out people who make racists remarks no matter what ethnic background they are. It doesn't make it okay that he questioned RGIII's fiance' choice or he should flaunt himself to be more black in societies eyes.

It's just ridiculous that he feels like he can make statements like that because he's black and others can't....no one should, we are all peoples of this globe that need to love one another and be accepting.

 

In the immortal words of MLK:

It is not the color of ones skin but the content of their character (paraphrased).

Douggy, why did you stop following me on twitter ?

[Doug_Steele]

Douggy, why did you stop following me on twitter ?

Still following, bro.  Keep up your stocks.  And send more Adam Carolla podcasts.

[The True Adonis]

There was no such thing as racism in Grandpa`s days.  Everything was separate, but equal.

[Mr Nobody]

Beta Fish are always cool.

[Tre]

I feel it is incumbent upon us to call out people who make racists remarks no matter what ethnic background they are. It doesn't make it okay that he questioned RGIII's fiance' choice or he should flaunt himself to be more black in societies eyes.

It's just ridiculous that he feels like he can make statements like that because he's black and others can't....no one should, we are all peoples of this globe that need to love one another and be accepting.

I'm with you, man. (no homo, even though I'm 'down with the cause' for LGBT, too)

Mentioning the fact that his fiancée is white and that he's allegedly 'a Republican' goes beyond nonsensical.  If that jackass had done any research, Parker would know RG III's been living in TEXAS - a state that's almost 60% Republican - since he was 7 years old.  His hometown is only 20% black, compared to 65% white.  His alma mater, Baylor - from which he graduated in just 3 years - is less than 10% black.

I have but one thing to say to Parker right now:

[Doug_Steele]

I'm with you, man. (no homo, even though I'm 'down with the cause' for LGBT, too)

Mentioning the fact that his fiancée is white and that he's allegedly 'a Republican' goes beyond nonsensical.  If that jackass had done any research, Parker would know RG III's been living in TEXAS - a state that's almost 60% Republican - since he was 7 years old.  His hometown is only 20% black, compared to 65% white.  His alma mater, Baylor - from which he graduated in just 3 years - is less than 10% black.

I have but one thing to say to Parker right now:

That is why i stopped watching ESPN.

You nailed it!

[Mr Nobody]

Hoard doing damage.

[The True Adonis]

Great Great Grandpa used to suspend black people every now and then until the limb on the old oak broke.

[tu_holmes]

Great Great Grandpa used to suspend black people every now and then until the limb on the old oak broke.

Getbig returns to it's "roots" right here.

[tbombz]

fuck that looks delicious 

[shootfighter1]

The expectation for people of certain color or place of origin to act a certain way and fall in to support things that others that look like them do is pathetic and old.  I'm with Tre on this one, comments were at least stupid.

[Tre]

I believe in forgiveness, but at the same time, I don't wish to see him back on ESPN. He clearly belongs on Fox. Nate Burleson was awesome today.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000113777/article/espns-rob-parker-apologizes-for-comments-about-rg3

ESPN's Rob Parker apologizes for comments about RG3

ESPN analyst Rob Parker upset a lot of people last week when he called Robert Griffin III a "cornball brother," even though Griffin's family responded to the ridiculous statements with class.

Parker has since been suspended by the network. On Wednesday, he began to say he's sorry.

"I blew it and I'm sincerely sorry," Parker wrote. "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."

The apology is good to see. It is certainly better than the alternative. It would be even more impactful if Parker's previous tweets after the comments didn't tell followers they were uneducated, silly, pathetic, and typical. Those responses remain on Parker's page.

[Archer77]

Good to see but he missed the point. in a way it's a weak apology.  He's arguing that what he said has merit and it was how he said it that was wrong.  He used the term cornball brother but what he really meant was Uncle Tom. He completely glossed over this.

[Tre]

Good to see but he missed the point. in a way it's a weak apology.  He's arguing that what he said has merit and it was how he said it that was wrong.  He used the term cornball brother but what he really meant was Uncle Tom. He completely glossed over this.

Agreed. Total lack of contrition or accountability, while at the same time suggesting that the core of his position somehow has *any* merit. 

[tu_holmes]

Good to see but he missed the point. in a way it's a weak apology.  He's arguing that what he said has merit and it was how he said it that was wrong.  He used the term cornball brother but what he really meant was Uncle Tom. He completely glossed over this.

Absolutely correct. As I read the apology I couldn't help but realize how he didn't seem to "get it".

He is very out of touch.

[Doug_Steele]

It is looking as if Rob Parker's personal goal is to see if it is possible to get an entire planet to roll their eyes and walk away whenever his name is mentioned. If he is going to follow up the total opposite of insightful journalism with the total opposite of a responsible reply, then he may very well succeed yet. It's hard enough to succeed in being an embarrassment on "First Take" when the bar is already set high in that regard, but it doesn't shock me that Parker would rise to the challenge.

Why did they even hire him in the first place?  Why didn't they fire him long ago for being incompetent?  He is one of those rare writer/performers who as actually gotten worse with experience.  Parker really doesn't have any redeeming factors that should keep him employed, other than being a fairly decent columnist when he first broke in.

It seemed to me that he got arrogant when he started going on radio and TV, and it affected his writing.  Now, he just seems to get by on as little research and as much bombast as possible.

[Mr Nobody]

It is looking as if Rob Parker's personal goal is to see if it is possible to get an entire planet to roll their eyes and walk away whenever his name is mentioned. If he is going to follow up the total opposite of insightful journalism with the total opposite of a responsible reply, then he may very well succeed yet. It's hard enough to succeed in being an embarrassment on "First Take" when the bar is already set high in that regard, but it doesn't shock me that Parker would rise to the challenge.

Why did they even hire him in the first place?  Why didn't they fire him long ago for being incompetent?  He is one of those rare writer/performers who as actually gotten worse with experience.  Parker really doesn't have any redeeming factors that should keep him employed, other than being a fairly decent columnist when he first broke in.

It seemed to me that he got arrogant when he started going on radio and TV, and it affected his writing.  Now, he just seems to get by on as little research and as much bombast as possible.

Sounds he is a bit like RR.