Friday, ESPN2 “First Take” co-host Stephen A. Smith reacted to a Missouri high school basketball student section’s treatment of an opposing team from a predominantly black school.
The student section, from a predominantly white school, turned its back during the introduction of the opposing team players. One student held up a Donald Trump campaign sign.
The Warrensburg school district issued an official apology about the behavior by one of its schools that it said was “inappropriate and insensitive toward our opponents.”
According to Warrensburg superintendent Scott Patrick, the practice of turning around when opponents are introduced is common, but he deemed the waving of the Trump sign “the difference.”
ESPN’s Smith said President-elect Donald Trump needs to “man up and acknowledge” that he was “more than willing to cater” to racists for votes during his campaign.
“[T]he president-elect is going to have to stand up at some point and acknowledge responsibility for a base, a segment of our population out there, that he was more than willing to cater to in order to garner votes,” Smith stated.
He continued, “Trump has to stand up, man up and acknowledge that indeed he didn’t mind catering to those or, at the very least, address them more fervently, vehemently in decrying the positions they take. Because the more divisive we are as a nation under his presidency, the more difficult it’s going to be for him or for Congress and the Senate or beyond to get things done and move this nation in a forward direction. This is emblematic of the problems that await because there are white individuals out there who have supported Donald Trump who believe, ‘Hey, it’s us against everybody else in America. We don’t like them, and we have someone who supports our racist, bigoted, prejudice views and we don’t care because we feel the freedom now to express it.”
Smith then noted that black people have not had the same thought process under President Barack Obama’s time as president.
Last week, the “First Take” hosts called on Trump to be “more active” in denouncing racist acts done in his name.
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
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