Here is a blog I recently discovered while I searched what people are still saying about Detroit News columnist and ESPN contributor Rob Parker. I'll explain in a little bit while I am continuing to be intrigued by this issue. I found a blog written by Debbie Schlussel that caught and held my attention all the way through. Parker, is under a lot of national fire for his joke (admittedly in very poor taste and ill timed to say the least) toward Rod Marinelli. Parker, after the Lions fell to 0-15, asked Marinelli if he wished his daughter had married a better defensive coordinator (Joe Barry, the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions is married to Marinelli's daughter). It was a cheap shot. No doubt about that being a cheap shot and just plain bad to use it in such a situation. It's hard to imagine what Rob was thinking there (and I say that as a person who has met Rob and thinks Rob is a good guy).
But, here is an excerpt from a blog by Schlussel:
"When I discussed affirmative action on my show and how I was against it--he called my show, angrily. But the fact is that he had a show and his lackluster column in The Detroit News because of race. At the radio station, he was mostly absent, and the show was basically done entirely by his on-air co-host. His colleagues at the News tell me he's heavily edited, and his column is still terrible.
And that's why a guy who says the kind of things Rob Parker said to Rod Marinelli about his daughter is in the position to begin with--affirmative action. He's a lackluster columnist, and there are other Black writers at the paper who are far better--like Terry Foster. The Detroit News should fire Parker, but they won't. And race isn't the only reason."
Parker clearly has strong opinions and he has some strong opinions about race issues (just as it appears Schlussel does). Affirmative action is a controversial issue and there are strong opinions on both sides of the aisle (black and white people are for it and black and white people are against it). Here is one of the disturbing lines from her blog, "But the fact is that he had a show and his lackluster column in The Detroit News because of race." When people do not like a black columnist, when people are uncomfortable with a black columnist bringing up an issue related to race, or do not think he/she is good, the first thing they do is accuse the individual of being an "affirmative action hire" who is only in the position because of race. A lot of writers and columnists are heavily edited and that just, frankly, comes across as a bitter cheap shot by a former "colleague" out for some sort of revenge. It's not like Rob is the only black columnist in America. He has gotten where he has gotten not because of affirmative action. He has gotten there on his own skills, his willingness to ask tough questions, his willingness to tackle the controversial issues that make some columnists pee their pants and more. He steps out of line from time to time and he has made some notable mistakes, but to say he is an affirmative action hire is a baseless and, quite frankly, idiotic argument. Schlussel is funny in being critical of Parker for being "militant" with race. it seems that she is at least as militant, if not more so, than Parker. Want evidence? Look at the last two lines of the excerpt I quoted from her blog. I am intrigued by this Parker issue because it smokes out the people who think that black columnists (a true minority in the industry) only get what they get because they're black.
Debbie Schlussel:
http://debbieschlussel.com/
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