, ,

Stop Me If You've Heard This Before, But Jason Whitlock Is a Special Kind of Stupid

After a lengthy stint at ESPN, former NFL Pro Bowler-turned-sports commentator Marcellus Wiley expressed his desire to pursue greener pastures at Fox Sports in 2018. I was a big fan of his previous show, SportsNation, and looked forward to him expanding upon his unique skill set of league experience, eloquenceโ€”though not of the over-the-top Stephen…

After a lengthy stint at ESPN, former NFL Pro Bowler-turned-sports commentator Marcellus Wiley expressed his desire to pursue greener pastures at Fox Sports in 2018. I was a big fan of his previous show, SportsNation, and looked forward to him expanding upon his unique skill set of league experience, eloquenceโ€”though not of the over-the-top Stephen A. Smith varietyโ€”and charisma. Then he revealed that of all the goddamn people, heโ€™d be joining Jason fucking Whitlock for a new show called Speak for Yourself and all hell broke loose in his Instagram comments.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

With his bag secured, Wiley tried his best to toe the company line and assure us all that we should give the show a chance before assuming the worst, but with well over a decade of harmful rhetoric to Whitlockโ€™s credit, that routinely undermines both black progress and agency, therefore unnecessarily endangering our lives, I refused to do so.

Because Jason Whitlock would inevitably say something stupid.

In the time since Speak for Yourself premiered, itโ€™s gone to great lengths to create a very much-needed conduit for talented black commentators. Day after day, youโ€™ll see familiar faces like former NBA star Jim Jackson, three-time Pro Bowler LaVar Arrington and Bengals great TJ Houshmandzadeh blend insight and barbershop humor while discussing the news and topics of the day. But far too often, what you wonโ€™t see is any of those aboveโ€”Wiley includedโ€”check Whitlock for inevitably saying something stupid.

Like this:

https://twitter.com/FLEESPORTS/status/1245054700485054470?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Unfortunately, instead of secluding Whitlockโ€™s penchant for respectability politics and willful ignorance to television, both tend to bleed into other platformsโ€”like social media. And on Wednesday, after LeBron James expressed his outrage at the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was gunned down by two white men while jogging in a Southern Georgia suburb, Whitlock did what Whitlock does.

โ€œThis isnโ€™t helpful. Itโ€™s Twitter trolling,โ€ Whitlock whitlocked. โ€œItโ€™s using this manโ€™s tragedy to build a brand as more outspoken than Michael Jordan. There are all kinds of ways to draw attention to this tragedy. Suggesting that [black people] are hunted every day/every time is just shit-stirring.โ€

https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/1258170943244865536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Imagine being so apathetic to the plight of your own people that you misconstrue genuine grief as an inhumane ploy to amplify a brand thatโ€™s already worth almost half a billion dollars. Mind you, this is the same guy who once said that LeBron is too rich to experience โ€œreal racism,โ€ so the full extent of his stupidity has a precedent.

https://twitter.com/HanaHerro23/status/1258236234096357377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

But then again, this is the same guy who condemned the Jena 6 and has made it his mission in life to mock Colin Kaepernick at every given opportunity. So while his jab at LeBronโ€™s outrage is unsurprising, Whitlockโ€™s adherence to being on the wrong side of history is as revolting as it is well-documented.

Because heโ€™s a special kind of stupid.

Not because he isnโ€™t intelligent, but because he willingly sacrifices his integrity time and time and time again in order to either minimize or derail social issues that directly impact our lives.

https://twitter.com/TheKidE85/status/1258189346676584449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Heโ€™s Ben Carson in blackface.

And as much as Iโ€™d love to suggest that we just collectively go about our lives and ignore him, the real problem is that there are far too many politicians, teachers and others who directly influence our livesโ€”and look nothing like usโ€”that donโ€™t.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.