While addressing a packed crowed at the Impact Symposium at Vanderbilt University, ESPN Anchor Stephen A. Smith dropped a line that set the internet on fire.
The topic of the discussion was “How You See It: Perceptions of (In)Equality”, and in order to prove a point, the controversial sports anchor said:
“What I dream is that for one election, just one, every black person in America vote Republican,”
Not one to mince words, Smith continued with his reasoning:
“Black folks in America are telling one party, ‘We don’t give a damn about you.’ They’re telling the other party ‘You’ve got our vote.’
Therefore, you have labeled yourself ‘disenfranchised’ because one party knows they’ve got you under their thumb. The other party knows they’ll never get you and nobody comes to address your interest.”
His comments gained immediate backlash, both for and against, on social media.
Here @stephenasmith is correct about black people's voting habits and Democratic party racism: http://t.co/h47ZHOn6da
— Jerome Hudson (@JeromeEHudson) March 18, 2015
If only more voters would listen to this advice…… http://t.co/hHmEUnkbKA
— Joe Newby (@jnewby1956) March 18, 2015
NOT HELPING NOT HELPING NOT HELPING NOT HELPING http://t.co/wunW7LAovF
— Matthew DesOrmeaux ⚜ (@authoridad) March 18, 2015
Stephen Smith gets a hilariously large amount wrong here http://t.co/kZedlGMgfd
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) March 18, 2015
With black Americans lagging behind the rest of the country in several key statistics, including job growth and income, perhaps Smith’s point is worth taking as advice.
While every black American voting republican is rhetorical hyperbole, opening up to the possibility of voting based on policy instead of blind political allegiance can do no harm. It’s why the system was made in the first place.
