The Price of Speaking about Race in America
For some, the price of speaking about race in America is a price they get paid. Those few elite, shielded by the bold-font letters of their networks, are able to control the stakes, the conversation and most importantly, the direction. It is a responsibility that has been forcefully taken by the higher-ups of America’s major news outlets. It is a responsibility that they have found pays untold millions, a large percentage of that to themselves. Because, as much as Americans shy away from partaking in that uncomfortable conversation about the consistent yet guised oppression of black people in America, they will sit down at dinner time to watch somebody else talk about it.
Take, for example, the recent boxing bout between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. McGregor, the loud-mouthed, wild-eyed sneering Irishman, is white. Mayweather, the composed, stoic figure that American boxing has called its greatest, is black. If you followed the lead up to the fight, you would find it outrageous to say Floyd Mayweather was more supported. In fact, it was clear to everyone that McGregor was the American people’s favorite. Except McGregor isn’t American. He’s an incredibly proud and patriotic Irishman, that has said nothing indicating a love for America. Mayweather on the other hand has kept his hand out of politics, and has consistently spoken of his patriotism: “I’m American, not African-American.”
Ask anybody if race was a part of this fight, and you’ll get that typical American response: “Why you gotta bring race into this?” Unfortunately, no one person brought race into this. It was a concerted effort by America’s main sports network, ESPN, to bring race into this. Even worse, they did not do this to have a meaningful discussion about race, they did for that depressing bottom line we so often see in corporate decision-making: profits. Take a look at any outlet ESPN uses for disseminating their news. Look at the top viewed recent videos or posts. In August, on Youtube, 5 of the 10 top videos are about the fight, all with over 3 million views. Considering the CPM (Cost-per-thousand, or how much a Youtube channel makes per 1,000 views on a video) is about $8.50, those simple Youtube videos can make ESPN hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits.
There is another price of speaking about race in America. This is a price that has to be paid. That price is paid by black people in America. Who, year after year, have to see the discussion that they have every right to control be stolen and pillaged for all it’s worth. Who are deafened and muted by the white voices in the media speaking over them, telling them when it is appropriate to speak about race and when it is not.
For continuity’s sake, we can focus yet again on the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” for a case study on how the media picks and chooses its discussions on race. ESPN, as stated above, has no problem injecting racial tension into the sporting events it covers, but has a much harder time coming to terms with the importance of having a serious discussion about race. Jemele Hill, a black female presenter who leads one of ESPN’s top shows, was recently embroiled in controversy as she spoke out about the state of racial tensions in America. While Hill’s tweets calling President Donald Trump a “white supremacist” and calling for fans to boycott Dallas Cowboys advertisers may have been inflammatory, ESPN’s response of suspending her is hypocritical considering they have no problem as a network controlling the debate of race in sports. Take for example Shannon Sharpe, who consistently discusses race in America on his show Undisputed. Sharpe has been afforded a platform on which to express his thoughts on the current situations and does so in what could be considered passionate. The difference between Hill and Sharpe is that while Sharpe’s words are protected by his network, Hill’s use of social media cannot be completely controlled by her employer ESPN. This is an example of how ESPN seeks to control the discussion, and isolates people who should be leading the discussion such as Jemele Hill.
ESPN also recently televised a completely inappropriate and blatantly racist segment about fantasy football, in which a white auctioneer auctioned off black players to a group of whites. The segment had uncanny similarities to how a slave auction would have resembled. After taking serious heat for it, ESPN issued a short and brief apology, essentially brushing it under the rug.
It is instances like this that showcase how fickle our main sources of news can be when it comes to the most pertinent discussion of our time.
