I thoroughly dislike Stephen A. Smith. To be more specific, I thoroughly dislike Stephen A’s attempt at deep social commentary. When it comes to talking about basketball teams, the NBA playoffs, and free agency, his flamboyant and overwrought delivery makes him the man. But when it comes to serious social issues, I would truly prefer if Smith chose to bow out and keep his hyperbolic opinions to himself. It was corny of him to appear on The Arsenio Hall Show to defend Kobe Bryant‘s ignorant take on the Trayvon Martin tragedy by boorishly stating, “When I [Smith] give a damn, I’ll let you know.” It was similarly pathetic to see Smith praise Mark Cuban‘s honesty in admitting he is a bigot, while simultaneously reprimanding Black people on how we deal with overt racism. I always knew Smith’s big mouth was going to land him in a world of hurt, but I never could have predicted it was for a comment that I actually agreed with.
On Friday, Smith and Skip Bayless, hosts of ESPN’s widely popular debate show First Take, delved into NFL running back Ray Rice and his domestic abuse charges. And, unfortunately, Smith did exactly what he always does whenever a serious topic is presented on that show. He discussed it an immature manner that belies the vast importance of the issue at hand.
As someone who makes a point of focusing on the content of someone’s words more so than their delivery, I thought Smith’s analysis of domestic violence was fair. I heard him preempt his comments by continually stating that it is completely wrong for a man to hit a woman, and he even reiterated that point throughout his rant. My takeaway is that Smith doesn’t believe a man should ever hit a woman, but it is also wrong for a woman to instigate a physical fight with a man by hitting him (a point that Bayless brought up during the monologue he made before Smith’s). However, since Smith was crudely attempting to make a serious point, while also being entertaining, he came off like a chauvinistic asshole — and that was the moment the shit hit the fan.
Instantly, bloggers and writers called Smith out for “mansplaining” domestic abuse and for advocating that women could provoke their own beatings. Even Smith’s colleague, Michelle Beadle, blasted him on Twitter for his remarks:
So I was just forced to watch this morning’s First Take. A) I’ll never feel clean again B) I’m now aware that I can provoke my own beating.
— Michelle Beadle (@MichelleDBeadle) July 25, 2014
In the court of public opinion, Smith was convicted of being an abuse-advocating pig, even by those who had never heard his rant. The outrage came in quick yet furious, and Smith found himself embroiled in a controversy he couldn’t understand. Off air, when he found out about the massive outrage around his comments, his first reactions were anger and disbelief, as represented in his Twitter rant shortly after the show aired. To be honest, even I was annoyed at the reaction that he received, NOT only because I thought his comments were reasonable, but also because the backlash had the halo of the same hyperbolic bullshit with which Smith treats social issues.
I make a point of studying the collective social impact of particular issues before ignorantly speaking about them. I do believe that we have a very real problem in our society with physical aggression that affects both sexes, which informs my personal opinion that men and women need to be told to NEVER abuse anyone. And I came to this conclusion NOT by trying to find facts that support my claim, but by analyzing all points from all sources about the topic at hand. The CDC and The National Institute of Justice report that one out of every four women in the U.S. will experience domestic abuse as an adult. Studies show that abused women are the victims of more than six assaults at the hands of the same partner per year. In America, studies also show that 38 percent of domestic violence victims will become homeless at some point in their lifetime, and an estimated 1.75 million workdays are lost as a result of intimate partner abuse. Those numbers are horrifyingly high, but that is not where real journalism should end on any discussion about domestic violence.
How many people are aware that in relationships, women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men? In fact, there have been over 200 scholarly studies performed on this topic, from men’s rights organizations all the way to feminist study groups. Most of these reports found that both genders engage in fighting at a rate far higher than a man attacking a woman. Those studies also prove that even when women initiate physical confrontations, men overwhelmingly end them with severe violence. So, despite who the aggressor is, women end up being hurt worse. If you take those studies into consideration, are Smith’s comments still as rage-inducing?
See, somewhere along the line, framing domestic violence as a serious problem for both genders became politically incorrect and the discussion became controlled by activists with their own agendas. And we relied on journalists to present the factual truths. We relied on great women and men to reveal to us all the realities that made us uncomfortable. It was their ability to report that made journalists of the past truly heroic and necessary.
But now, because of men like Stephen A. Smith and the self-aggrandizing, so-called “journalists,” who collectively indulge in creating villains in order to further their self-indignant morality and anti-academic “research,” we now live in an age in which receiving a measured, logical account of anything has become virtually impossible. These writers are more concerned with being revered in history for battling their self-created villains by staying on the right side of today’s politically correct issues and keeping tally of the number of apologies they can take credit for, like the scripted one Stephen A. Smith gave today on First Take.
Last week, Tony Dungy found himself in a media firestorm for stating that if he were still coaching he would not draft Michael Sam, because he would not want all the media attention surrounding his team. Instantly, the “right side of history” writers decided to make Dungy the face of homophobia, when the truth is that Dungy, even as a devout Christian who opposes same-sex marriage, stated that he would draft Sam if that did not come along with all the media hype. Dungy has been nothing but supportive of Sam’s efforts to play in the NFL, but Dungy’s a terrible human being for saying he wouldn’t want a seventh round draft pick at his camp who would be followed by OWN’s camera crew? C’mon. Dungy is Keith Olbermann‘s worst person in the world because he wouldn’t want his camp inundated with activist-writers who would be salivating to report a story “exposing the rampant homophobia” on Dungy’s team the moment Sam gets into a fight with an offensive lineman (which happens EVERYDAY), or the moment a position coach screams at him for messing up (which happens TWICE everyday to rookies)? That is not responsible reporting or journalism — that’s just begging to be on the right side of history.
You want to hear a boring reality, bloggers and right side of history writers? I, Stephen A. Smith, most of society, and anti-domestic violence activists all believe that Ray Rice is a shitty human being for hitting a woman. We all believe that domestic violence is wrong. The villain isn’t Stephen A. Smith or ESPN, the villains are the abusers. This story won’t get you or your blog the attention you want, but if journalistic credibility is NOT something you’re interested in, then go ahead and write your think piece. The way things are going now, your irresponsibility may truly be your reward.
LAB
Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.