The Noose
Bubba Wallace was recently interviewed on ESPN. Stephen A. Smith asked Wallace what he thought about what “some people” were saying — that now that we know that the object found wasn’t a noose, Wallace had rushed to conclusions, that the investigation was too much ado about nothing.
Wallace is a true gentleman with a lot of patience, but I would have started by asking Stephen on behalf of whom he’s asking these questions. In other words, why are we giving a voice to an amorphous mass of, how many people?
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Questioning Stephen would be relevant because of the pervasiveness of racism in this country. The questions about the validity of NASCAR’s and Wallace’s reaction to the possibility of a hate crime are not happening in a vacuum. This country stands on 400 years of white supremacy, from the enslavement of people from Africa to the constant brutalization and harassment of their descendants by the justice system — from judges down to law enforcement. What’s Stephen’s business asking this question? Was that HIS question?
Stephen asked that question and gave voice to racism on ESPN. I think it was a low moment for Stephen A. Smith. And not because he is black, but because he is smart and he can’t deny he understands the racism in America today.
But Stephen asked.
The answer to that question is that nobody rushed to conclusions. That’s why an investigation was opened. More importantly, no one was harmed during the investigation. If you want to talk about rushed judgement, talk about all the unarmed people unjustly killed by cops in this country — black or otherwise. NASCAR made a disturbing discovery. A rushed response would have been to sweep it under the rug or fire people right and left. Instead, an investigation was conducted. I don’t see any rush, quite the opposite.
And thank God that wasn’t a noose. Were people actually hoping that what was found in a NASCAR stall was a noose?
