ESPN analyst Rob Parker stirred controversy with critical comments he made about standout rookie Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin, III, questioning whether he was truly a black. "Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother?" Parker asked. "He's not down with the cause . . . he has a white fiance', there's all this talk that he's a Republican . . . I just want to dig deeper to find why he has an issue . . . " Parker added, however, that he was okay with Griffin wearing braided hair. "That's very urban . . . wearing braids, you're a brother. Apparently these comments made by Griffin, which could have just as easily been spoken by civil rights legend Martin Luther King, Jr., caused Parker to become unleashed:
For me, you don't ever want to be defined by the color of your skin. You want to be defined by your work ethic, the person that you are, your character, your personality. That's what I've tried to go out and do.
I am an African-American in America. That will never change. But I don't have to be defined by that.
An ESPN spokesman called Parker's comments "inappropriate" and indicated the network was "evaluating our next steps."
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