According to ESPN talking head Rob Parker, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is only “kind of black.”
According to Parker, RG III isn’t really “black” black. The quarterback isn’t “eat fried chicken” black or “vote Democratic” black. The former Baylor quarterback is only “kind of black.”
On ESPN’s First Take this morning, Parker said :
“My question, which is just a straight, honest question, is … is he a ‘brother,’ or is he a cornball ‘brother’? He’s not really … he’s black, 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’d want to hang out with. I just want to find out about him. I don’t know, because I keep hearing these things. He has a white fiancé, people talking about that he’s a Republican … there’s no information at all. I’m just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue.”
RG III may have a white fiance and he may (or may not) vote Republican but Parker did give the Redskins quarterback some “street cred” for wearing his hair in braids.
“To me, that’s very urban … It makes you feel like … I think he would have a clean cut if he were more straight-laced or not … wearing braids is … you’re a brother. You’re a brother. If you’ve got braids on.”
Stephen A. Smith, who has made a career out of sticking his foot in his mouth, eventually steps in to end Parker’s bizarre rant about RG III’s authentic ethnicity.
Smith said:
“I’m uncomfortable with where we just went. RGIII, the ethnicity or the color of his fiancee is none of our business, it’s irrelevant, he can live his life in whatever way he chooses. The braids that he has in his hair, that’s his business, that’s his life, he can live his life.”
Here’s a video of the conversation from ESPN.
Parker eventually apologized for the statement, saying: “I was wrong. I apologize … I have reached out to the student-athlete’s family and apologized. They have accepted. I also apologize to the Michigan State community.”