On Race

This was an excellent column in response to the comments about RGIII not being black enough, or he's a Republican, or engaged to a white woman.

Because the woman he wants to marry is white and because he might be a republican, ESPN's Rob Parker determined the superstar Washington quarterback is "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."...

Let me get this straight, a brother who handles his business on and off the field, who earned a college degree, has national advertising campaigns and has way too many grown men walking around with his name on the backs of their jerseys can be deemed not black enough....

Parker, who made his comments Thursday on First Take, comes across as a hater. Griffin III is exactly who my ancestors would want a young black man to be: successful, talented, respectful and rich. Who wouldn't want to hang out with him?

To counter the stereotype, let's not pretend that color does not matter or pretend we do not see it.

In this country, black people have been seen as a monolithic group. If one person behaved badly it reflected on all of us. Conversely if one person made it or moved on up, he or she was the exception. Newsflash -- Griffin III is not the exception. Not all black male athletes have been arrested or fail to take care of their children. That is often the image we get from newspapers, TV shows, radio, the internet. Another one that irks me is that of white coaches saving all these young men. Lazy story tellers have long gravitated to that storyline.