Is he black enough?
Dec 14, 2012, 8:56 AM | Updated: 1:25 pm
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Redskins’ Robert Griffin III, or RG3 as he’s known, is an outstanding rookie quarterback — and he was asked Wednesday what does it mean to be a black quarterback in the NFL.
“You know for me, I never want to be defined by the color of my skin. You want to be defined by your work ethic, the person that you are, your character. I am an African American in America, and that won’t change. But I don’t have to be defined by that,” said Griffin.
That prompted ESPN commentator Rob Parker to ask:
“My question which is just a straight honest question, is he a brother? Or is he a cornball brother?”
The rest of the panel was a little uncomfortable, asking “Why is that your question?”
Said Parker, “I’m just trying to dig deeper into why he has an issue, because we did find out with Tiger Woods – Tiger Woods was like, ‘I got black skin but don’t call me black.'”
So the Twitterverse erupted. And it’s not the first time Rob Parker has asked a question that raised a ruckus.
But SHOULD there be a ruckus? Let’s remember — we were once upon a time discussing whether Barack Obama was black enough.
“First he wasn’t black enough, now people want him to be blacker,” Whoopi Goldberg shouted on “The View.”
While we have a special sensitivity to anything involving race in this country because of our history — it’s not all that different from Conservatives asking who’s a conservative in name only, or union people who cry out scab, Christians asking who’s Christian, or Americans asking who’s a real American.
We’re forever trying to figure out who might just be above us in the pecking order.