Earlier this week, Stephen A. Smith tore Michael Bennett down for his defense of Colin Kaepernick, asking "what in the hell has happened to you?" during a First Take rant, in which he credited Bennett with being conscientious, but expressed shock that he would continue to back someone who doesn't advocate for voting in U.S. political elections today. Smith brought up the names of civil rights leaders who fought and died for the right of African-Americans to vote and ended his statement by inferring that Bennett is simply siding with a friend over historical icons. Upon getting wind that Smith went at his head, Bennett responded via Twitter, writing, "I know by responding to you I’m just making your job easier by giving you something else to yell about tomorrow, but you are spreading so much ignorance that it’s hard to be silent."
"It’s so easy to talk on television and not get your hands dirty actually doing the real work. It’s so easy to divide people by playing on fears and lies instead of trying to highlight the hard work that athletes do in the community," Bennett wrote. He then took it upon himself to give reference to some of the deeds Smith left out of his critique, highlighting his work from America's inner city streets and his work with juveniles who've been taken off of the streets and jailed, to his work overseas where he has worked with orphanages in places like Haiti. He also named a few of his own social justice heroes, including Angela Davis and John Carlos, who he implied that, unlike Smith, he's personally met up and built with. "These are people whose respect we care about a great deal more than someone who gets paid for just being loud," wrote Bennett.
When it was all said and done, Bennett let Smith down easy, exposing some of the holes in his credibility, but all the while leaving the door open for him to turn over a new leaf and get right. "Please be a better person- other than someone who is just all talk and no action," he wrote. "I encourage you to join me, in person and checkbook, and help build up our communities."
Source: blacksportsonline.com
