Entertainment

We Should Be Applauding Jemele Hill

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These were the tweets heard ’round the world this past week from ESPN personality Jemele Hill. In the past four days she has been under fire from pundits, fans, and even fellow journalists. Donald Trump has asked for her head, bitching and moaning on Twitter that she needs to be fired, and yet all is quiet on the western front. Oh, well except when ESPN tried to replace her right before her 6PM show but was rebuffed by every other host. I’m still confused by the hoopla. It’s Jemele Hill, not some political puppet. Jemele has made  a career of being outspoken and honest in her emotions. Are these emotions and frustrations sometimes raw and hurtful? Yes. Is that why we love her? Again, yes.

You know how you can only hear the same song over and over again before it permeates every facet of your life? That’s Donald Trump. I still cannot fathom how a president has the ability to tweet and do whatever he wants with no clear cut consequences. How is he allowed to get away with cyber bullying on a regular basis, while we sit and debate if there is still such a thing as racism and white supremacy? Guys, Colin Kaepernick, who is better than half the field in the NFL, still doesn’t have a job. We have seen media pundits blame protestors in Charlottesville, protestors that were protesting a Confederate stature, just as much as they blamed the supremacists who rallied. That’s the country we’re in right now. We have North Korea flying missiles over Japan, and yet our President is out here looking to axe an outspoken ESPN host.

I would love to post all the sly and despicable tweets that Trump has posted over the years regarding Obama, but it would honestly take too much time. Remember, Donald Trump was the one who attempted to ignite the “birther” dialogue of how President Barack Obama was not a US citizen. He spent a good portion of the past decade undermining and mocking Obama, and yet there were no consequences. Why is that? Oh yeah! We live in a nation of free speech and thought. This is coupled with the fact we are not a police state. Yet, day in and day out I find myself shaking my head when I go on social media. Whether it’s people in power getting away with figurative (and sometimes) literal murder, or ridiculous tweets, or even more pretentious anecdotes. Adding to this narrative was ESPN reportedly attempting to replace Jemele Hill and Michael Smith (her co-host) for other “black co-hosts” to appease Donald. Not only did Michael rebuff them, but so did the rest of the hosts in a show of solidarity. Come on ESPN I thought you were better than that. Damn, I forgot. Didn’t they play dirty with Bill Simmons too? Hm.

Jemele Hill is a respected journalist who has every right to say whatever she pleases. She lives in this country like all of us, like it or not. She doesn’t have to like the President, just like he didn’t like the one before him. Jemele and Colin should not be punished for speaking the truth, but in fact rewarded for keeping us informed and this country honest. Keep holding us down Jemele, and Indianapolis please call Colin.

Ali Abouomar
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