By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
Stephen A. Smith has once again aimed at the very people whose shoulders he stands upon. With all the fervor of a man auditioning for validation from the same establishment that despises his skin, Smith unleashed his latest tirade — not against Donald Trump or Russell Vought or Stephen Miller, the architects of a modern-day apartheid disguised as governance — but against a Black woman who dares to speak truth to power. During an episode of his SiriusXM show, Smith took issue with Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett’s unapologetic criticism of Trump, asking whether her style of confrontation “helps her district.” His words echoed with the same hollow judgment that America has always hurled at outspoken Black women — to be quieter, gentler, and deferential while white men burn the country to ash.
The outrage was swift. Rep. Crockett never mentioned Smith by name. She didn’t need to. Her retweets of Tamika Mallory and others said it all. “It’s no longer a difference of opinion,” Mallory wrote. “Stephen A. Smith’s actions are intentional. In this climate, especially, it’s dangerous. Just wondering if you all plan to do him like you did the NFL about Colin? Or are we still watching his commentary on the wake-up?”
Across social media, Black America had seen enough. Don Salmon wrote, “Stephen A. Smith is a foot soldier for white supremacists. He’s a propaganda mouthpiece. I have never seen the man use his platform to condemn Trump for abusing Black women, but he has a problem with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who is not afraid to call out Trump. He’s not a political scientist or expert in politics. He should stick to sports — he’s done a terrible job with it anyway.” Jason Todd added, “Stephen A. Smith’s alter ego, ‘Step-N-Fetch-It A. Smith,’ emerges once again, this time to criticize Jasmine Crockett.” Another user, The Notorious JTB, wrote, “Stephen A. Smith went after Jasmine Crockett and got dragged into the dirt for it. Loud doesn’t mean smart. He’s finally learning that coming for powerful Black women never ends well.”
And it didn’t end there. Tiffany Cross and Angela Rye, speaking on the Native Land Pod, said Smith has “little d*** energy” for his obsession with tearing down Black women. Former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum said Smith needs to “deal with his Black woman issues,” calling it self-hate. Bakari Sellers added, “I’ve never seen a clip of him where he actually praises a Black woman.” Even Bishop Talbert Swan had smoke for Smith. “Stephen A. Smith has NEVER had smoke for Trump, MAGA, Jan 6 insurrectionists, white Christian nationalists, rogue white police officers, racist judges, teachers, politicians — but Black women?” Swan asked.
Smith’s defenders claim he’s just expressing an opinion, that his critics are trying to “cancel” him. But his own words on The Hill’s reporting expose the deeper rot. “I will never succumb to somebody intimidating and trying to rally folks against me to quell what I have to say,” he said. “Bump that. I ain’t built that way.” What he didn’t say — what he never says — is anything that risks offending the architects of America’s new Jim Crow. He had no such courage when Trump called Haiti and African nations “s***hole countries.” None when police bullets tore through unarmed Black men and women. None when Russell Vought drafted Project 2025 — a blueprint for stripping Black and poor Americans of healthcare, food, and human dignity. He was silent when white nationalists marched through Charlottesville and when insurrectionists smeared feces on the walls of the U.S. Capitol. But let a Black woman raise her voice, and suddenly Stephen A. Smith finds his thunder.
The irony is biblical. This is the same man who called LeBron James “selfish” for defending his community, who questioned Serena Williams’s integrity, and who mocked Colin Kaepernick’s sacrifice. As one post noted, “Stephen A. Smith has spent the last year monetizing tearing down the best of the Black community. LeBron, a pillar of excellence, has devoted his life to tearing him down. Now he’s moved on to Jasmine Crockett, another pillar of excellence? He’s a pathetic little man.” For most in Black America, this is moral treason. The House Negro, Malcolm X warned, “loves his master more than he loves himself.” Smith has perfected that performance for the modern age — a loud voice shouting in the service of power, pretending to speak for us while kneeling at the feet of those who despise us.
And so, Crockett, Mallory, Rye, and Cross did what our mothers and grandmothers have always done — they answered back, not with silence or submission, but with a clarity that cuts through centuries of contempt. What Stephen A. Smith represents is not strength. It is surrender. It is the echo of the plantation, dressed up in a tailored suit and broadcast from a million-dollar studio. The saddest thing is that he believes the applause he earns from white America is respect, when in truth, it is mockery. The revolution that men like him fear has already begun. It is being led by women like Jasmine Crockett, who do not whisper, who do not bow, who will not apologize for being loud in a world built to silence them.
