Jemele Hill Says Racism Is Real Reason People Hate Athletes Talking Politics

Jemele Hill says athletes talking out about vital points wasn’t an issue for hundreds of years within the U.S. — however when Black athletes began utilizing their platform to speak politics, every little thing modified.

The veteran sports activities journalist and activist joined us Thursday on “TMZ Live” … and, she tells us even George Washington used sports activities to speak politics when he was operating for workplace — plying friends with alcohol and taking part in aggressive video games to win their votes.

Hill says that is only one attention-grabbing anecdote she digs into for the primary episode of her new podcast “Spolitics” — and provides, well-known athletes are nonetheless simply residents, so they have each proper to talk their minds about how they’re voting.

JH says there is a lengthy historical past of this, however when Black athletes lastly broke the colour barrier in main skilled sports activities, individuals flipped the script — calling the rhetoric divisive.

Hill typically speaks out about political points, relationship again to 2017, when she referred to as then-President Donald Trump a “white supremacist.” She left ESPN shortly after, later blasting the office’s “conservative culture.”

Now, she’ll additional discover the intersection between sports activities and politics on “Spolitics” … when debuts on October 17. She and Cari Champion additionally cohost the Vice TV collection “Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports.”

As for whether or not there’s anybody in sports activities large enough to actually flip the tide in politics like Taylor Swift would possibly along with her endorsement of Kamala Harris … Jemele mentions one identify specifically — watch the clip to listen to who she thinks has the pull to spark a sports-politics FEVER.