Jemele Hill Comments On The Hitler Double-Standard
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I honestly felt bad for Jemele Hill when she got suspended for her Hitler comment. It wasn't because I thought she shouldn't have been suspended, but rather the way various Bostonians and certain radio shows treated her in the following weeks. Well, now in the wake of yet another Hitler reference made by an employee, not only does she have to live with here original mistake, but she now has to deal with a possible double standard by her employer.
Hill actually spoke to A.J. from Deadspin today, and here were her thoughts on Holtz, Hitler and ESPN's policies....
The last couple days I've been inundated with calls and e-mails because of the Lou Holtz controversy. He made an inappropriate Hitler reference. I made an inappropriate Hitler reference. We both apologized, but only I was suspended.I'm not trying to paint Jemele as a victim in any way, but I can't imagine how frustrating it was for her to read about the non-suspension yesterday. That however, is far and away the right way to handle any situation, and after all of this nonsense, Hill actually comes out looking like she used the suspension productively.
A lot has been written about this. Many have said that ESPN treated me unfairly. The 64,000 question: How do I really feel?
My initial answer is a story, or rather, a moment. A couple years ago, I was visiting the Poynter Institute, one of the foremost journalism think tanks in the country, and I sat in on a session taught by one of my favorite columnist and people, the Washington Post's Sally Jenkins.
A student asked her if she ever got upset when other writers rewarded — particularly if she knew they weren't as good. And Sally said — and I'm paraphrasing here — that she always prided herself on keeping her eyes on her own career.
That's my answer. That's how I feel.
As far as ESPN is concerned, it had been awhile since they had come across as looking hypocritical, but with these last two stories today, you have to wonder what in the hell they were thinking in both instances. No matter how you look at it, the overwhelming sentiment is that punishment for a crime was different for a young black woman, than an old white man. The ultimate lesson though, is that everyone needs to just avoid "Hitler references" altogether.
Jemele Hill Just Taking This Whole Lou Holtz-Hitler Backlash in Stride (Deadspin)
30 Comments:
Live TV slip ups are different than an article that you can edit at any time.
AA,
It is time to bury Jemele Hill. Who cares what her reaction is? So she is a member of the HITLER ELITE and we are supposed to get her reaction? F her.
I worked with this piece of trash in Lansing and the reason she got suspended is because she is Jemele Hill. Period. End of Story. She does not belong in any breath near Lou Holtz.
Leave Hitler references to hilarious animated TV shows.
Hitler liked to trash people anonymously in the comment section of sports blogs too. ;-)
@G$: I know I should've DVR'ed that Family Guy. And not eaten that Triple Steak Burrito.
Bury Jemele Hill, suspend her for being a shitty writer, ignore the issue at hand, obviously.
Classy, anons.
Signal..DIAF
Brian, AJ didn't "speak to" Jemele that I know of; that quote you have is verbatim from her blog.
I sent it to AJ; I should know.
I think Lou had the chance to apologize immediately and she didn't exactly apologize...
And she bascially said that anyone who cheers for the Celts (WHITE PEOPLE) are Nazis because they feel sympathy towards Adolf.
She wrote it, Lou bumbled in real time.
What a hack.
I hope Jemele quits over this.
That would be great.
Neither person was punished enough.
The double standard was appropriate because they were different situations. Lou should have been suspended and Jamele should have been fired.
I will pay any ESPN editor handsomely to sprinkle a few "Hitlers" in a Scoop Jackson column.
"She does not belong in any breath near Lou Holtz."
I agree. A Holtz exhale could kill a zoo.
P.S. Jemele Hill sucks, etc.
She looks like Ron Shipp.
Jemele Hill's comments about Nazis were actually offensive and Lou Holtz's were actually comical. Holtz was just trying to prove a point when he said what he said; he wasn't intending to make fun of people. Hill's comments on the other hand were mean-spirited and were directed at Celtics fans. ESPN was correct to suspend Hill and not discipline Holtz. It is stupid to say that there is a double standard when these were 2 different situations.
On a side note, does anyone actually enjoy Jemele Hill's work? When they started adding her to Cold Pizza/First Take, that made me stop tuning in. She is not very knowledgeable about sports. Did anyone see when she filled in for Jim Rome on Rome is Burning? She pretty much was just reading the teleprompter. It was a train wreck. As for her writing, it is mostly biased trash. She plays the race card more than I play the Draw Two card when playing UNO.
Hitler? Who said anything about Hitler?
/Mr Tony
ESPN didn't think David Aldridge was good enough, but Jemele Hill is? My brother-in-law is tight with Skip Bayliss and Skip told him that ESPN execs have told him to "go easy on Jemele" during First take to not expose her as a fraud.. which she is. They know.
FUCK ESPN AND ALL WHITE PEOPLE!!!JEMELE HAS A BIG ASS. MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!1
She should shut up considering she's a product of Affirmative Action.
No way ESPN hires her if she's white.
She probably should've shaved before this picture... That goatee gives Clue Haywood a run for his money
I'm a big David Aldridge fan too. He's the black John Stossel.
Stop me if I'm being racist.
She called me a Nazi for liking my hometown team. Lou Holt said Hitler was a great leader but still a dbag.
One made a mistake. The other made an offensive mistake. ESPN was right in the way they handled it.
And I still wouldn't fuck Jemele with Scalabrine's dick.
Yes, but would you fuck Lou Holtz?
i wanna fuck dana jacobsons big ass.
hill definitely looks like she has a beard. wheres the makeup?
"Did anyone see when she filled in for Jim Rome on Rome is Burning? She pretty much was just reading the teleprompter"
LOL. And Rome doesn't read from a teleprompter? Further more, he has writers write his material for him.
Still, he is one of the few people on ESPN that give any form of an opinion.
ESPN = garbage.
Holtz is a moron. He should be punished too. I guess if you have anything to do with Notre Dame, you're granted immediate immunity.
>>Hill actually comes out looking like she used the suspension productively.<<
Her drivel is posted on espn.com about once a week. She had a column posted less than a week after the "suspension" was announced. So what, exactly, did this suspension entail?
And I'm fairly certain that Foghorn Leghorn was referring to the picture above when he made his "two miles of bad road" quote.
Suspend Hill for being a shitty writer.