Mark Jones, who calls NBA games for ESPN, liked a tweet that called out Stephen A. Smith for being a ‘coon’ for defending Jerry Jones over a photo showing him in the crowd of White students trying to block Black students from entering an Arkansas school in 1957.
Jerry Jones was only a teenager at the time. Smith said Friday that the Cowboys team owner did not “deserve” to be dragged through the mud over the photo.
The term ‘coon’ often refers to Black people who are supposedly overly supportive of someone who is white. Mark Jones unliked the tweet but not before it was screenshotted across social media.
Stephen A. Smith avoided the topic on First Take, but he wasn’t going to stay quiet for long.
Smith addressed the backlash in the latest episode of his podcast, ‘Know Mercy,’ according to Awful Announcing.
“One can only be called a sellout and a coon and all of this other stuff so much before you feel compelled to respond. Particularly when you’re a black man,” he said without mentioning Jones by name.
Smith had previously teased the upcoming episode as he said he wanted to address the “folks in our community talking smack.
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“It’s black on black. I don’t even know if white folks need to be listening with the stuff that I’m gonna say about some of us.”
“Y’all wanna attack everybody! Why don’t we listen to one another?” Smith asked. “I’m not friends with Candace Owens, I never met her a day in my life. But if you disagree with something she said, tell us what it is and why rather than saying ‘She a sellout!’
“You want to criticize me and what my positions are, I’m good with that. Y’all tell me why. If you’re right, I’ll say so,” Smith continued. “I put my career on the line everyday fighting for us. And we’re gonna go out like that? Because I don’t agree with y’all position on a still photo from 66 years ago. Really?
“We better wake up y’all.”
Smith did not call out anyone specifically on his podcast, but it was quite obvious who he was talking about. He certainly doesn’t want to further issues by mentioning his name and causing issues within the company.
ESPN has yet to speak out about the matter.
