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I am writing this letter in response to an article featured in The Setonian under the Through Our Eyes
section regarding the coverage of the Jemele Hill controversy at ESPN. The article written through the
worldview of one individual fails to understand the viewpoints of others. The author quickly admonishes
the action a black woman, but fails to do the same with President Trump, a white man. The President
has espoused claims that are problematic, flat out lies and extremely divisive and whatever side of the
political spectrum you fall in, let us not pretend that we are living in typical times. The author will never
understand how it is to be a minority in a country rotted in so many -isms, but in Hill’s case a patriarchal,
racist, sexist, and misogynist society. In order to overcome the problems plaguing our society, there
needs to be an acknowledgement that these problems exist, but the author fails to concede that notion
and instead beats up on Hill mirroring a dangerous historical behavior of one group telling others how to
behave. Given that context, it is not shocking she believed the President is a “White Supremacist”. In
addition, one egregious line in the article was “Hill is a sports reporter who should stick to sports.” I
vehemently disagree with those claims as sports is embedded in our culture which includes a discussion
of race. Why was the OJ Simpson murder trial a fixture in sports media? Agree or disagree with Hill’s
position, she is free to have an opinion and while I understand her position as an ESPN employee it is
not as the White House puts it a “fireable offense” which sets a dangerous precedent. Moreover, no one
person is above criticism, and that includes the President too. Let us not only believe in the First
Amendment when it comes to certain groups. During the former President Obama time in office, Trump
questioned his citizenship, ridiculous and racially motivated as it was, countless people adopted his
opinion as fact. Furthermore, believe me when I say that even some of his supporters still believe the
false narrative purported. The author needs a history lesson, and I would be more than happy to provide
one.
- Patrick Barron
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