The city of Baltimore acted quicker than ever and over night, as the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to rip down the Confederate monuments.
This decision occurred after the violence that went up in flames during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend. The Mayor had previously “honored” the decision with the removal of four statues on the streets of the city.
“It’s done,” Pugh said, adding the city acted as quickly as possible.
Now things are getting even more severe, as ESPN felt it necessary to pull an announcer from his position because his name might be offensive to others…
Bhahaha!
I guess they are now adding people to the outrageous removal of Confederate monuments as well..
When will all this stop??
Reported by ijr:
ESPN has reportedly pulled an announcer from calling a University of Virginia football game so that his name, Robert Lee, wouldn’t offend viewers. It’s very similar to Robert E. Lee, you know.
To make the situation even more bizarre, Lee is actually of Asian descent.
First place at stake in @BigSouthMBB! @UNCAbasketball and @Winthrop_MBB in rematch of ’16 title game. @hupnlstN8 and I on @ESPNU at 9! pic.twitter.com/z8o1lNqsbG
— Robert Lee (@RobertLeePXP) January 20, 2017
The popular college football blog Outkick the Coverage broke the story:
Is this even real life anymore? This might even be worse than MSESPN apologizing for the fantasy football slave draft a couple of weeks ago. […]
But, seriously, is there anything more pathetic than ESPN believing people would be offended by an Asian guy named Robert Lee sharing a name with Robert E. Lee and calling a football game? Aside from some hysterical photoshops and Internet memes which would make everyone with a functional brain laugh — Robert E. Lee pulling out all the stops to stay in Charlottesville now! — what was the big fear here? Does ESPN really believe people are this dumb or that having an Asian announcer named Robert Lee is too offensive for the average TV viewer to handle?
Yes, yes they do.
ESPN reportedly issued the following statement to the blog:
We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.
WaPo reporter received same ESPN statement. It is 100% real. I mean it’s still unreal, but it’s genuine. https://t.co/GeLf0slH7u
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) August 23, 2017
The report comes amid renewed outrage over Confederate monuments in the wake of violent demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists marched and clashed with left-wing protesters.
Since then, several Confederate monuments have been removed across the country.
However, ESPN might be the first to take a stand against a random guy’s name because it might remind people of a Confederate general.
Lord, beer me strength.