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Racing to racism

Stephen A. Smith floats a theory about racism on the Eagles. He does his city and himself a disservice.

My, oh my. The controversial ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith kicked over the bucket with his suggestion that Eagles Coach Chip Kelly's (questionable) hiring and firing decisions were guided by the hand of racism.

He couldn't produce any credible evidence to support that opinion because there is none. It is the sports equivalent of "Obama is a Muslim." We've got to stop this stuff.

The man who I sometimes call Screaming A. Smith, recognizing his high-volume, take-no-prisoners style, has a habit of being over the top. It's got to stop.

Racism is such a serious charge, in my eyes, there must be indisputable proof. The same is true of anti-Semitism or homophobia, but of those, race is the most incendiary.

I can prove it's incendiary pretty easily. The last time I checked, this story on philly.com had more than 740 comments.

Smith was too canny to actually accuse Kelly of racism. Taking full advantage of his First Amendment rights to his opinion, he couched his opinion as Kelly's decisions "leave a few brothers feeling uncomfortable." Call me Brother Stu, because I am uncomfortable, angry and mystified. He insinuated other trades seemed to have a racial taint. (As I write this I hear that white quarterback Nick Fowles has been traded away.)

Given the times we live in, which have not proved to be "post-racial," I believe each of us must take great care, and enjoy great certainty, before rolling the hand grenade of racism into the room.

I am not saying to avoid the truth. I hate Political Correctness because it obfuscates the truth. When a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma glories in racism -- call them on it. They have been.  SAE has been kicked off campus. Good riddance to bad trash.

That incident does not empower anyone to say OU is a racist center. The university acted quickly and properly.

When Smith gets provocative with baseless suggestions of racism, he creates a situation where people might shrug when they hear of real racism. And that should never be.