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by Trent Baker9 Oct 20170

Rev. Al Sharpton thinks it is outrageous ESPN is suspending SC6 anchor Jemele Hill over her tweets calling for a Dallas Cowboys boycott because ownerJerry Jones is requiring players to stand for the national anthem.

First of all, Jemele Hill and anyone else has the right to express their views, Sharpton told TMZ Sports. To try and silence her will not silence many of us that feel what Jerry Jones has done is put the Cowboys players in a position of either I must sell my right to express my feelings, my freedom of speech, my right to protest in order to do my trade and do my business. That is, in my opinion, disrespectingwhat the flag is supposed to stand for.

We will not be shutdown and we will not be suspended and we will not stand for her to be suspended, he added.

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter@MagnifiTrent

Breitbart Sports, Breitbart TV, Al Sharpton, ESPN, Jemele Hill, NFL

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Al Sharpton on Jemele Hill Suspension: 'We Won't Stand for ...

Al Sharpton, Opinion contributor Published 2:52 p.m. ET Oct. 11, 2017 | Updated 3:48 p.m. ET Oct. 11, 2017

Reverend Al Sharpton spoke with media on Tuesday and asked if ESPN suspended Jemele Hill due to pressure from President Trump's administration. USA TODAY Sports

ESPN host Jemele Hill(Photo: Invision via AP)

On Monday, ESPN took the extreme measure of suspending host Jemele Hill for two weeks.Her crime?Exercising her freedom of speech to make an analysis. While employers may have the right to dictate how their employees behave in the workplace and on social media, it is clear that ESPN caved in to pressure pressure that came from the top.

Despite some inaccurate newsreports, Hill wasnt calling for a direct boycott; she was expanding the conversation and thereby doing her job.She gave her analysis of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his demand that players must stand for the national anthem.She said players could be demonized for selling out, or lose their job if they didnt comply, and that this placed an undue burden on them.She called on more accountability from fans and others. She advanced the conversation.

More: Dear Michigan state police director, taking a knee isn't the problem. You are.

More: Al Sharpton: 'Progressives' are shortchanging African Americans again.

In a subsequent tweet, Hill specifically said,Just so we're clear: I'm not advocating a(n) NFL boycott. But an unfair burden has been put on players in Dallas & Miami w/ anthem directives.

She is absolutely correct. Jones or anyone else in the NFL trying to force players to stand is bad enough, but ESPN suspending its employee for even discussing the issue takes things to another dangerous level. What specific, established social media policy did Hill violate? Or is ESPN just making thingsup as it goes along and doing President Trump'sbidding?

Last month, the White House called Hill's comments "outrageous" and a "fireable offense" after she referred to the president as a white supremacist. Trump demanded an apology, tweeting: "ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!" Early Tuesday, the presidenttweeted:With Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have 'tanked,'in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!

Trump has repeatedly put direct pressure on both ESPN andthe NFL to force their players to stand for the anthem and shifted attention from their true purpose of kneeling in the first place, which was to highlight police brutality and racism. Just Wednesday morning he tweeted: "It is about time that Roger Goodell of the NFL is finally demanding that all players STAND for our great National Anthem-RESPECT OUR COUNTRY."

The NFL responded that "commentary this morningabout the commissioner's position isnot accurate."Even so,we have yet to see what the league will do going forward.

Its important to note that the Dallas Cowboys owner took a kneehimself two weeks ago, saying that it was for unity.Were dealing with plantation mentality here.Jones is basically saying,"Its all right if I write the script, but you cant do the same because I own you."

This was never about the flagor the Pledge of Allegiance; it was about athletes raising their voices to say police brutality and racism are very real, and we must tackle these challenges.But Trump and others have turned this into a flag and pledge issue,so lets talk about it.

More: For ESPN and Jemele Hill, mixing politics and sports is bad business

POLICING THE USA: A look atrace, justice, media

It's maddening that the president can call for a boycott, or call players a "son of a b----," or call for private citizens to be fired, or tweet numerous things about the NFL, ESPN, Hill andathletes,and there are no consequences. But the moment a black woman speaks on the issue she is silenced.

We are coming close to crossing the line of taking constitutional rights of free speech away from people. Any corporation can claim that itspolicy to suspend or fire an employee if it fears retribution from the highest office in the land. All those conservatives who champion free speech should be just as outraged as I am.This is bigger than Hill, for it impacts all of us and our ability to express ourselves. Hill has the right to tell people that they ought to let advertisers know how they feel since they are the consumers. While she didn't call for a direct boycott, it's not off the table for us in the civil rights community.

This is also bigger than ESPN and the NFL, for this is about the continued institutional racism and police brutality that plaguesociety on a daily basis. As much as the president and others mighttry to distract from this, we will not lose focus. Many of us have fought against these injustices for years, and we will continue to do so as we encourage others to speak out whether on their networks, on social media or on the field taking a knee.

The Rev. Al Sharpton is thepresident of the National Action Network. Follow him on Twitter:@TheRevAl

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Al Sharpton: ESPN caved to Donald Trump on Jemele Hill and ...

ESPN has suspended Jemele Hill for two weeks for what the network deems a second social media violation.

Last month, the co-host of The Six was in the spotlight for her tweets in which she referred to Donald Trump as a white supremacist.

While the network hasnt explained what specifically caused the suspension, Hill tweeted multiple times about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones decision to bench players who kneeled during the anthem, but also advocated that she wasnt calling for an NFL boycott.

"Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for a second violation of our social media guidelines, the network said in a statement Monday afternoon. She previously acknowledged letting her colleagues and company down with an impulsive tweet. In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences. Hence this decision."

When Hill tweeted about the president, the White House believed her tweets to be a fireable offense.

Social media exploded when the news broke on Monday afternoon.

ESPN's suspension of Jemele Hill is an outrage and should NOT go unanswered. ESPN and advertisers will hear from us!, wrote Reverend Al Sharpton. The civil rights activist later released a statement on his National Action Network website threatening a boycott of NFL advertisers of his own, We consider it outrageous that Jemele Hill was suspended by ESPN. She has the right to tell people that they ought to let advertisers know how they feel, since they are the consumers. While she didnt call for a direct boycott, its not off the table for us in the civil rights community.

espn wants black faces not black minds, the end -- next topic, wrote former ESPN Grantland writer Rembert Browne.

I'm confused, because when Trump said to boycott NFL stuff, it was cool but when Jemele Hill said to do it, it wasn't cool anymore. Weird, wrote college football writer Alex Kirshner.

SportsCenter anchor Cari Champion cryptically asked questions on her Twitter account. Compromise your integrity? Compromise for comfort? Where can you speak or say how you feel? Or is it about how you say it?

Sports illustrated writer Richard Deitsch highlighted a quote from Hill from a conversation they recently had about those in sports media discussing social issues on Twitter.

On the topic of talking politics on Twitter, Hill previously told SI its very important to make the distinction between politics and commentary, information and discussion of social issues. I find that the majority of what comes into my timeline is related to social issues. Nobody is dying to engage in a discussion about repeal and replace, at least not with me. The percentage of people who want to discuss social issues has, however, increased substantially. Everyone is consumed with what's happening in our country right now. I dont tweet a lot about politics. I do tweet more about social issues, which I consider to be issues of morality. Racism isnt politics. Racism is an issue of right and wrong. Tweeting about significant issues that impact marginalized people isnt politics. That's right and wrong. If I had to guess, I would say Ive increased my tweets about social issues about 20%. Ive tried really hard not to let these issues consume my feed, because there are a lot of days where I just want to have fun on Twitter. I want to debate with Power and Insecure fans about what's happening on the show. I want to make jokes and have silly sports arguments, but unfortunately those days feel like they happen less.

The Ringers Editor-At-Large- recently wrote a profile piece on Hill, and recounted something Hill said to him them. More than anything, its very annoying because I have to take the high road. Because theres some times and some days when I want to cuss everybody out. Right? But Im not trying to lose my job over Twitter. Or any social media platform. 140 characters theyre not going to do me in.

Mondays 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenters The Six was replaced by a generic version of the show, as Hills co-host Michael Smith decided not to co-anchor without her.

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Al Sharpton, others react to ESPN suspending Jemele Hill

Rev. Al Sharpton explains why Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' decision to make players stand for the national anthem "smacks of a plantation mentality." USA TODAY Sports

Jemele Hill of ESPN in Houston on Feb. 3, 2017.(Photo: John Salangsang, Invision/AP)

Rev. Al Sharpton said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hasaplantation mentality in a news conference Tuesdaywhere he called forESPN to reinstate anchor Jemele Hill, who wassuspendedtwo weeks for violatingthe companys social media policy.

We found the suspension of Jemele Hill to be outrageous at best and insulting in fact, Sharpton said outside's ESPN's offices in New York. "To suspend someone for tweeting an analysis of what Jerry Jones did to act as though somehow desecrates the name of the company seems to us to be a bridge too far."

Hill, who last month rankled ESPN execs and others over a tweet where she called President Trumpa white supremacist," was suspended Monday for writing on Twitter that people shouldput pressure on the Cowboys by "not patronizing" the team's advertisers.

Jones has stepped up his criticism in recent days of players' national anthem protests meant to draw attention to racial inequality and has pledged tobenchplayers who refuse to stand during The Star-Spangled Banner.

"Jerry Jones' decision in many ways smacks of a plantation mentality," Sharpton said.

Reverend Al Sharpton spoke with media on Tuesday and asked if ESPN suspended Jemele Hill due to pressure from President Trump's administration. USA TODAY Sports

Rashad Robinson, executive director of the racial justice organizationColor Of Change, called ESPN's suspension of Hill "aflagrant suppression of black voices in sports" in a statement Tuesday.

"ESPN is happy to stand with enablers of racism and sexism, but dare speak out against these issues and you're in trouble,"Robinson said."They seek to champion black athletes, activists, and hosts until billionaires like Jerry Jones threaten their revenue streams. ...By choosing to ban its reporters' opinions, ESPN is making an explicitly political decision to side with the Trump administration on the wrong side of history."

Follow Perez on Twitter @byajperez

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Rev. Al Sharpton: Jerry Jones has 'plantation mentality'

Sharpton, 62, reportedly usedpart of his speech Monday toattack President Donald Trumps criticism of American sports stars for kneeling in protest during the recitation of the national anthem as the most despicable thing I have seen him do. Sharpton also said, forDonald Trumpto act like this is a flag issue is to divert attention from how he is dealing with the issues that they are kneeling about.

During a rally for defeated U.S. Senate candidate Luther Strange who lost to Roy Moore for Attorney General Jeff Sessions vacated Senate seat earlier this month, Trump said, Wouldnt you love to see one of theseNFLowners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! Hes fired. Hes fired!

Sharpton told the crowd at his award ceremony, This is the same president, a few weeks ago, that when we saw neo-Nazis marching inCharlottesville, he said that there were some fine people on both sides but he calls the mother of pro athletes bitches. It is something that I think is beyond the pale.

In addition to this, the Democrat who worked with the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a youth said race relations in the United Staes are in as much peril now as we were when I was a kid joining Dr King, echoing the majority of his fellow political party members opposed to the commander-in-chief.

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Nobel Laureate and mathematician John Nash, economist Paul Krugman and author JK Rowling are past James Joyce recipients.

Sharpton also spoke with student leaders at the Trinity Historical Society:

In an opinion piece, the Irish Centrals Niall ODowd wrote, The UCD Society that invited him should be ashamed of themselves for awarding Sharpton. ODowd also questioned why the presenters of the award did not mention his role in the debunked Tawana Brawley case,in whicha 16-year-old black teenager from New York lied about getting raped by six white men and having KKK written across her chest and nigger, nigger written across her stomach.

Brawley had even claimed one of her assailants was a white police officer.

At the time, Sharpton who was a spokesman for the legal team and the Brawley family said, New York State is now the capital of racial violence.

Embattled comedian Bill Cosby also came out in support of Brawley.

Veteran state investigator John Ryan helped crack the case, and then-New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams testified, Those allegations are untrue. The people who made those allegations lied. Their outrageous, irresponsible acts have increased the atmosphere of tension between the races.

It came out later that Ms. Brawleys boyfriend reportedly said that she had faked the attack to avoid a beating from her mother for spending days with the boyfriend.

In a letter to the editor of theIrish Times, an Irish national wrote, There are many deserving African-American civil-rights leaders that UCD could have chosen for this honour, instead of Sharpton.

While fielding questions from students, the subject of President Trumps potential reelection was raised. Asked if this was a possibility, Sharpton reportedly replied, Yes, if we dont organize.

Sharpton appeared to be referring to the lefts so-called Resistance movementagainst Trump.

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her onFacebookandTwitter

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Irish University Honors Al Sharpton With James Joyce Award ...