Stephen A. Race-Baits, Misleads Audience On Tim Tebow And White Privilege

ESPN's personalities are quite happy this week as they can focus on the two topics they enjoy most: the NBA and perceived racism.

Taking a short break from the latest "LeBron vs. Jordan" verbal spar and grading from 1-10 how clutch LeBron's shot was last night, Stephen A. Smith opted to race-bait and mislead his audience while discussing Tim Tebow's opportunity to play backup tight end in the NFL.

Get ready:

“If I’m gonna bring up white privilege when I brought up Steve Nash getting the job in Brooklyn, is this not an example of white privilege?” Stephen A. asks. “What brother do you know that’s getting this opportunity?”

Which sport are you talking about, Stephen A? The NFL, whose players are roughly 70% black? Or the NBA, a league where 81.7% of the players are people of color? Just wondering which one is providing more white privilege.

“Let me be the first to say, I don’t give a damn how you feel. I mean what I say. It is white privilege," Stephen A. goes on.

No, it isn't.

A white guy getting an opportunity that he doesn't deserve isn't "white privilege." People of all races get opportunities that they don't deserve all the time. It's called life.

Stephen A.'s own employer continues to pay Bomani Jones, who is black, over a million dollars a year after the guy failed on TV in two different time slots and drew the worst radio ratings on record. His other colleague, Mark Jones, who is black, was promoted after celebrating people dying of cancer, lying on air, and baselessly claiming police are trying to shoot him. Are those causes of "privilege" or decision-makers playing favorites? I'm asking you, Stephen A. I look forward to your answer.

The truth is, Tim Tebow is the most popular college QB ever and his former coach, Urban Meyer, is giving him a shot to be a backup tight end.

Would I do it? No. I also wouldn't have let Mike Golic go so that I could build a morning radio show around Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams, and Zubin Mehenti.

It is also the height of privilege that Stephen A. can say, "I don’t give a damn how you feel. I mean what I say. It is white privilege," knowing that his partner, Max Kellerman, would probably then cede place to him. Sure enough, Max Kellerman didn't fire back. He agreed.

"There's no way to eradicate white privilege without white individuals giving up some of their privileges."

That damn white privilege.

Last we heard from Kellerman, he announced to the world that he was getting very worried that the NFL Draft could go "white guy, white guy, white guy." Luckily for Kellerman, it didn't. A black player, Trey Lance, was drafted third.

“When George Floyd ultimately was murdered by Derek Chauvin the cop, and you saw people rioting and protesting in the streets, it wasn’t just about him. It was about the symbolism of what transpired,” Stephen A. responds.

“Because black people have repeatedly felt like we have the proverbial knee on our neck. We constantly have to scratch and claw our way. When we see someone of a different ilk, of a different ethnicity, getting opportunities we know we would never get, that’s where the words ‘white privilege’ comes from.”

First, I'm not sure what that has to do with Tebow. Second, it's lazy.

Opportunities mean jobs. Jobs mean money. If Stephen A. or anyone else is going to say that white people are getting opportunities that black people would never get and that black people are held back, they need to provide specific examples and industries. Perhaps they are right. I can't say for sure. I don't follow every industry. But details are never provided. The media speaks in broad terms and looks like fools.

Is Stephen A. talking about sports media, his industry? Because at ESPN, the leader of the industry, Stephen A. Smith is the highest-paid on-air talent, by a lot, at just around $10 million a year.

Is he talking about the NBA, where almost all of the richest players are black?

Maybe he's talking about the NFL, a league whose four highest-paid quarterbacks in history are all black.

Don't say, "Well, Stephen A. is using his platform to speak up for black people who can't." The media and Don Lemon told me that excuse doesn't work this week, that Joe Rogan can't say that straight white men are told they can't speak freely because Rogan, himself, has a platform.

Much of the Tebow-white privilege conversation has involved Colin Kaepernick, but that's another dishonest spin-job. One has nothing to do with the other. Tebow wants to play football. He's changing positions and will likely make less money than he can make elsewhere, all so he can get back into the locker room. Kaepernick doesn't want to play football. Turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks that:

I'll leave that there.

Kaepernick wants to make money as a brand. And if a team did offer Kaepernick a chance to play backup tight end, Stephen A. would call that racist too.

There's nothing a league, company, person, or country can do to satisfy the people yelling "Racism!" the loudest. They can't be satisfied. They thrive on division. The more they tear us apart, the more influential their brands grow. The more vulnerable we are, the more we look to those who say they have the answers. 

Follow Bobby Burack on Twitter.