ESPN suspends Rob Parker “until further notice”("Black, but not really" )

[No Elephants]

ESPN suspends Rob Parker “until further notice”
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 14, 2012, 11:57 AM EST

ESPN has suspended columnist and commentator Rob Parker indefinitely after he said on the air Thursday Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is “black, but he’s not really,” because Griffin is engaged to a white woman.

“Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review,” ESPN said in a statement.

That further review should include not just Parker, but also everything about the show on which Parker made his comments on Thursday morning, ESPN First Take. It’s telling that when ESPN aired Best of First Take on Thursday afternoon, it included Parker’s comments. That’s because First Take thrives on provoking controversies with its panelists making outrageous claims, and it wasn’t until Parker’s comments were the subject of widespread criticism later in the day that ESPN felt the need to acknowledge the comments were inappropriate.

Just as the producers who decided to include Parker’s comments on the “Best Of” show apparently saw nothing wrong with them, Parker is clearly taken aback by ESPN suspending him: He initially defended his comments and called his critics “uneducated” and “silly” for questioning him. Parker has had nothing to say publicly since ESPN released a statement on Thursday evening that his comments were inappropriate.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/14/espn-suspends-rob-parker-until-further-notice/related/

"I've talked to some people in Washington, D.C. Some people in press conferences," Parker said on Thursday's show, when the subject of Griffin's "blackness" came up for some reason. "Some people I've known for a long time. 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 fiancée, 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. Tiger Woods was like, 'I have black skin, but don't call me black.' People wondered about Tiger Woods early on -- about him."

It took ESPN until Friday to issue any public response to Parker's comments.

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said: "Following yesterday's comments, Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review."

A full review of what? We are not certain. Parker said what he said. Reaction was swift and vociferous, as you might imagine.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/espn-suspends-rob-parker-network-ethics-ever-change-230103541--nfl.html

A full review of what, indeed.