We do live in free country where the right to speak your mind is something that we’re inherently born with, but as much as I hate to say it, the more blatant you are in your words towards the POTUS, the current one especially, the more likely it is that a “suggestion” is going to come down from the White House that you be removed from your position. If that was all that Jemele Hill did then it might have been let go and ESPN might have backed her a little more, but her decision to even speak about boycotting the Dallas Cowboys sponsors was what got her suspended earlier this month. She’s got just a little less than a week left on her suspension but at this time ESPN isn’t too sure if bringing her back would be that good of an idea.
You can’t have it both ways unfortunately, meaning that you can’t strike back against Trump and start tearing at the NFL as well, not without suffering some kind of repercussions. As a sports journalist and co-host for Sports Center Hill should have at least had an inkling of the kind of blowback her words would bring and if the intent was to put her job in jeopardy then she might have thought ahead and started making inquiries towards another job. Like him or not, calling the current POTUS a white supremacist just primed the pump for ESPN to think about a suspension, but trying to boycott any part of the NFL just pushed it way past the line. If you didn’t want your job any longer you should have just said so.
There’s no support from Trump from this quarter and I’m definitely not a Cowboy fan, but biting the hand that’s feeding you, which is what this is in a sense, is not a wise move. Anytime a person decides to rail against something that has to do with their job that’s their right, but it’s also the right of the employer to let them go if they start causing problems. Hill’s biggest mistake was causing a stir from the White House, because at that point all that could be done was wait for the inevitable downward slide that would eventually see her suspended and possibly out of a job. If you don’t think it could happen then think again.
ESPN is reportedly wondering at this time if she’ll even be welcomed back following her suspension. Her job, and it still kills me to say this, is to be a journalist and a co-host and that’s it. She’s there to comment on the sport of the day and to bring people up to date on what’s happening in the world of sports. So yes, the line between politics and sports is becoming increasingly blurred, but what’s not blurry is when a person takes a stance, labels another individual, and actively talks about harming one of the sports that makes their job relevant. If she’s welcomed back then the best thing to do would be to say thank you, and then let it rest.
Just like anyone else Hill you have the right to say what you want. But like everyone else you get to deal with the consequences.
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