Sports is a hub for protests against racism. ESPN shouldn’t silence Jemele Hill. – Chicago Tribune

My name is Dave Zirin. I’m a sportswriter. And I think Donald Trump is a white supremacist.

The evidence for this hasn’t exactly been faint to the eye. It’s not just the president’s reticence to criticize torch-wielding Nazis wearing MAGA hats. It’s the man’s public life, a 40-year stretch that has spanned from being sued over racial discrimination, to creating a political base by denying the first black president’s citizenship and legitimacy, to the histories of his most trusted advisers, to the pardoning of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, to having his economic council disband because the CEOs thought he was too soft on Nazis. Not exactly subtle.

ESPN journalist Jemele Hill recently observed as much on Twitter, calling Trump “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”

That she was attacked on social media for saying so is not surprising. She is one of the most prominent media figures in sports. She is also a black woman in a medium that celebrates black bodies but privileges white, male voices. This alone provokes a reaction. And on ordinary days, Hill is a magnet for every racist, sexist sewer-dweller on social media. She also — to their joy and often rage — has a reputation of giving it right back. Hill was once a working-class kid from Detroit, and her strength wounds their fragility. She deals with racists every day whose Twitter bios pledge their allegiance to Trump and this time, Hill clapped back.