ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is under fire for recent comments about the controversy over Mark Cuban’s comments about fears and race and prejudice. Smith says that not everything is about race or racism, and doubles down on his defense of Cuban.
“Sometimes it is about how you represent yourself. It is about how you present yourself. When I alluded to walking around with your pants hanging below your behind, that’s trifling. That’s just trifling, and it’s counterproductive. When I talked about how, you’re sitting there, and the first words out of your mouth are “You know what I’m saying? You know what I mean?” No the hell we don’t. You ain’t say anything yet. That’s a reality. When I talk about not having a command of the English language, and still you want a job, and you want to have a career, but you don’t want to get your education, you don’t want to go out there and pound that pavement. Everything’s about the sprint, it’s not about the marathon, it’s not about you putting forth the necessary effort and due diligence over the long haul to get the things that you need. That’s a reality in our community.”
Smith is touching on an issue that is very difficult for people to talk about, as he notes. But the fact is, and the fact has always been, that you are often judged based on how you appear, and you are definitely judged on how you act. If you act like you’re a threat, you’re going to be perceived as one. If you emulate a thug, you’ll be treated as a thug. People will cross the street to avoid you, regardless of the color of your skin.
Smith makes another very important point: crossing the street or being afraid does no harm to anyone. Shouldn’t malicious racism involve some harm?
What people today, particularly young people, seem unwilling to do is to work to change perceptions about themselves. Millennials get offended that people see them as petty and self-absorbed and, frankly, silly. Their reaction is to be outraged and then to embrace the stereotype. What you should do, what other generations of all races were taught to do, is to change the perception by proving it wrong, not by proving it right.
There are consequences for how you present yourself. If you aren’t willing to accept those consequences, change your presentation. This is as true for the tattooed white guy with a thousand face piercings as it is for the young black man with his pants on the ground, and as it is for young women who dress inappropriately.
Dress for the job you want, kids. Not the job you have. Or the job you defiantly wish to be accused of so you can feel persecuted and self-righteous. Pull your pants up, get that crap out of your face, and for pete’s sake, GET OFF OF MY LAWN.