ESPN’s Stephen Smith: Mark Cuban ‘100 Percent Correct’

Stephen A. Smith: Not Every Single Issue Is About Race (RealClearPolitics)

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith responds to critics of his comments defending Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

SMITH: What Mark Cuban was saying was 100 percent correct. It's just that simple. But the bigger issue that needs to be discussed. It's the big elephant in the room, and nobody wants to touch on it because white folks are scared they're going to be labeled races, black folks are scared they're going to be labeled sellouts. See, I tend to look at things a bit differently. 

I look at our unemployment rate consistently being double that of folks in white America. I do understand that, to some degree, there's a level of racism that we all have to overcome, and I get all of that. But that doesn't mean every single issue is race related. Sometimes it is about how you represent yourself. It is about how you present yourself. When I alluded to walking around with your pants hanging below your behind, that's trifling. That's just trifling, and it's counterproductive. When I talked about how, you're sitting there, and the first words out of your mouth are "You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean?" No the hell we don't. You ain't say anything yet. That's a reality. When I talk about not having a command of the English language, and still you want a job, and you want to have a career, but you don't want to get your education, you don't want to go out there and pound that pavement. Everything's about the sprint, it's not about the marathon, it's not about you putting forth the necessary effort and due diligence over the long haul to get the things that you need. That's a reality in our community.