Here's the thing about the Bill Simmons article that spoke the loudest. When it came to the black people he seemed to consider worthy of hosting a podcast he sounded like he was looking for proven commodities. As if that was a purely professional relationship.

Which doesn't seem to be the same way he views letting his friends and family hosts podcast or do segments on his shows. Those folks are invested in because he's invested in them. Black people aren't really given the same support. It's not just Simmons it's the industry in total.

It's that double standard of having to prove you can make it on your own to even get a LOOK. Very rarely are black creatives given the benefit of the doubt. And I'd love to chalk it up to just being scared of failure but it's not true. They only get scared when it's us.

I'm not even trying to make it an individual Simmons thing. It's an industry thing. And black people are caught in a bad situation. The quotes that stood out are of course the "Open Mic Night" comment. Preposterous. And it immediately puts all black folks in a category of rookie.

Basically any black podcaster in his consideration would be relegated to not knowing what they're doing or just "trying out shit." Meanwhile he's let folks on his network who are white be "open mic-ers" for a while. But that's the obvious one...

The quote that stood out to me the most was the one about how when they first started The Ringer they supposedly couldn't even afford to compete for black talent. What does that mean exactly? To me it sounds like the only black talent he considered was A-list already.

That is the part that is weird because we already know there aren't a lot of black a-list talent because the industry doesn't have a lot of black talent at all. Pretty much every black person in that industry HAD to be a-list to even get in the door.

It's not just him. It's the industry. Black podcasters are OUT here. Mostly independent and unfunded. The algorithms aren't throwing them in your faces. White "allies" with bigger platforms aren't exactly looking out for us. We have to do this on our own for the most part.

The dirty secret is that many podcast listeners of ALL races will not really give a show a chance until there is some white backing to it. That's just the facts. If it's "brought to you by (insert white brand)" people feel it's legit.

So if the industry gate keepers are saying "we are scared to invest in black podcasters unless they've already shown they don't need us to invest in them" then what is the point of those gatekeepers in the first place?

If you're only putting your friends on your network that's fine. But people will notice who your friends are. And if the network grows they'll notice who are your friends and who are the people you're requiring more from because they're professionals. You end up here.

The black people there feel it's just a professional situation where they are relegated to the sidelines and not in the friend circle with all the friendship perks.

Podcasts are now being bought and sold for 100's of millions of dollars. You're not going to see a lot of black podcasts that can pull that kind of money because our audiences are limited from jump. The fact that we don't have that co-sign is major BUT two more things...

This is like that MTV David Bowie clip. Are black podcasters not being listened to because they aren't being put in front of white ears? Or... are white ears refusing to listen to black podcasts? Chicken or egg? We don't have the data because we've never had the former.

The second thing is this and it's the most important thing. Bill came off in the article as if he didn't even LOOK or listen to any podcasts by black people that weren't on his network or weren't already A-listers. And honestly that's the only part that can change the game.

Someone who is already someone has to give a fuck enough to go listen to black people who are "nobodies" in the game and think "Can my backing and platform help make these people successful?"

You have to feel compelled to give them a chance to fail or succeed.

And because you're probably introducing an audience that hasn't been racially challenged with perspectives other than white mainstream stuff on your platform there is a fear that this venture will fail. And it might fail... but the worst failure is NOT to try.

The let down from people refusing to even give us a shot is the real slap in the face. I refuse to believe white audiences can't be entertained by the same shit black audiences love. Desus and Mero, Chappelle Show, The Read... white people love that raw blackness too.

They don't go out looking for it. But if it was ever put in their face with the co-sign from the people they DO listen to? I mean it can't hurt right?

It's not a call out to Simmons. I appreciate the honest answer in the article. And hope they'll do more. We really do NEED people like him to wake up to it and do more in the industry. I hope it happens for real. The whole industry is at a crossroads right now with white guilt.

Hopefully some of this white guilt turns into opportunities for black folks to get on and give it a shot. Even if they fail at it. Even if we find out ultimately listeners don't want to hear from black people... let's go find that out.

Oh shit one more thing. The black talent at The Ringer who said they felt unsupported in the midst of racist backlash to their work. That's also why white folks are afraid to take us on. Because you can't play neutral any more and feel like you're still a "good" person.

Taking on our voices means taking on our fight. And most white gatekeepers aren't interested in that. Even if they agree that we're right their existence isn't one of being in the comment section triggered by racial abuse. The ask is for them to be uncomfortable with us.

And I'm sure that plays a part in not wanting to even step in the arena with black podcasters who may yield a smaller audience and bigger backlash off top. Why deal with the racists parts of your fanbase and yourself if you don't have to?

Like I said... I understand.

I just hope this is a moment where white people can make a change and be uncomfortable. Have our back for once. Interrogate yourself. Because the biggest fear here isn't your audience not being ready for us. It's that your audience is a reflection of you. And you're not ready.

And I've been very careful to make this not about Bill Simmons individually. I don't know that dude like that. And being able to point to one person as "the racist" is part of the reason there isn't progress in this arena. The industry as a whole has the SAME issue. Fix it.