A Philadelphia radio host raised some eyebrows on Tuesday by comparing a white football player to a “house negro.”
Josh Innes, who hosts an afternoon show on WIP in Philly, was talking with former Eagles defensive tackle Hollis Thomas prior to airing Doug Pederson’s introductory press conference on the show. According to Crossing Broad, Thomas mentioned how center Jason Kelce was already at the press conference.
Innes then joked that Kelce was a big rear-end smoocher, while Thomas said he understood that Kelce was trying to show support for the coach because he wants to protect his job. That’s when Innes began comparing Kelce to a house negro.
“Here’s the thing though, right, it’s like this. Let me find a good comparison here. I was watching Malcolm X yesterday, I was in the airport in Memphis watching Malcolm X, and there was a scene where Denzel’s doing the whole thing about the slave and the house negro? Right? And like, the house negro is the guy who’s gonna tell you like, oh he gets to live in the big house with the boss. And every time he refers to something that happens in the house it’s ‘our house’ and ‘we’ and everything like that. And then there’s the actual slave that isn’t the house negro that’s just trying to run away. Essentially what you’re getting here is Jason Kelce is the house negro is what I’m trying to convey to you.”
(Crossing Broad has the audio here)
If you call Kelce a rear-end smoocher or suck-up, that’s fine and we understand the message Innes is trying to convey. It’s just odd and questionable to bring in slavery analogies when you know that is a touchy subject.
Kelce later responded on Twitter, saying he’ll take the comparison.
.@JoshInnesRadio pic.twitter.com/nbLY8Xmr6u
— Jason Kelce (@Jkelce) January 20, 2016
Innes later apologized, saying his intention was not to offend and that his reference came out poorly. He also called himself “stupid.”
Innes should probably learn it’s best not to go down that road. It’s an especially awkward comparison knowing that Kelce was with Riley Cooper the night of the infamous concert.
