Stephen A. Smith defends Megyn Kelly against claims of racism

Stephen A. Smith on Monday defended Megyn Kelly against claims of racism but urged the renowned journalist to educate herself about Black history before wading into public debate about the appropriateness of singing the Black national anthem at the Super Bowl.

Kelly joined a chorus of conservative pundits on Sunday evening who took to social media to criticize the Super Bowl performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” widely known as the Black national anthem, which was performed along with the “Star Spangled Banner.”

“The so-called Black National Anthem does not belong at the Super Bowl. We already have a National Anthem and it includes EVERYONE,” Kelly wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sparking an intense reaction from both her supporters and detractors.

On “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” Smith cautioned against using the word “racism” so quickly, saying, “You don’t know that about her. And when you say something like that, you dilute the potency and the importance of the argument.”

“I’m sick and tired of folks out there — particularly in the Black community — being so quick to throw out the word ‘racism.’ When you throw out the word ‘racism,’ do me a favor,” Smith said. “Have more evidence before you do it, so it can’t be dismissed via plausible deniability or something else.”

“I don’t find her statement to be racist. I find it to be, in her eyes, patriotic. I find it to be, in her eyes, self-righteous. I find her to be a bit detached from reality being faced by Black Americans everywhere. I got that part, but I can’t go in the way that I wanted to go in about her when people are out there, from my community, just throwing out the word ‘racist.’ You don’t know that about her,” he continued.

Smith made clear he has “profound respect” for Kelly’s body of work as a journalist, but he criticized the statement as insensitive and suggested it was motivated by ignorance, rather than ill intent.

“I don’t expect white people to have the sensibilities of Black people. I don’t expect somebody white to get it, about Black people the way I expect Black people to get it about Black people,” Smith said, acknowledging first that the comment would be a “very unpopular” perspective.

Addressing Kelly directly, he continued, “Megyn Kelly, if you’re watching, you’re listening: I don’t like what you said at all. I think it comes across as highly insensitive. You cannot take into account history. You cannot acknowledge because you are historian. I’ve heard you, I’ve watched you, I’ve listened to you – profound respect for you.

“But you ain’t Black,” he added. “You haven’t been marginalized and ostracized and treated in the manner that Black people have been treated.”

He urged Kelly and other critics to remain openminded to learning about the significance of the Black national anthem to Black Americans and to learn about the racist legacy of the traditional national anthem and its connection to slavery.  

“All I’m saying is if you ain’t Black, you may not understand, and if you don’t understand, why not be neutral? If you don’t understand, why not listen to the Black national anthem, and then listen to the national anthem? Why not just do that and call it a day? Why do we have to get our antennas up and get agitated and all of this other stuff because we’re hearing something that we’re not accustomed to hearing and we didn’t want to hear?”

Addressing Kelly directly, he said, “I don’t know you, I just know what you’ve been as a journalist and I respect the hell out of you. I respectfully say to you, could you do one or two things? Could you have a more thorough understanding of Black history, what provoked the existence of the Black national anthem and speak to that reality? Or simply stomach it?”