As a young black man and native-Chicagoan living in the United States, I find the remarks Stephen A. Smith has repeatedly made about the black community tragic, deeply offensive, dangerous, and at times outright disturbing.

Stephen A. Smith must be fired from ESPN right now, because he has proven time and time again that he will not stop targeting and misrepresenting the black community, and has even gone as far as to show complete disregard for the opinions of black-Americans. Just when many believed he could not get any worse, on an episode of ESPN's First Take--a show in which he is a co-host, Stephen A. Smith insinuated that when black people don't care about themselves, they almost give folks a license to kill them.

In a statement about police brutality and black-on-black violence, Smith once stated that an even bigger problem than police brutality is black-on-black violence, "...and anybody who disagrees with Barkley in terms of what he has to say... I can just echo his sentiments about what they can kiss, because they're full of it." Apparently, Smith had the time and temerity to tell black people to kiss his ass and that they are full of shit, but conveniently left out that according to FBI numbers from 2014, the black-on-black homicide rate was only 8% higher than the white-on-white homicide rate, and according to the most recent census data, black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers. 

It's pretty apparent that Chicago is a popular talking-point for Smith. What is even more apparent is that Smith does not know, or does not care, that the cop-on-black murder rate in the city between 2009 and 2013 was only 14.7% less than the black-on-black national average. How did one man come to develop this much ego, the unmitigated gall to allow oneself to go on national TV and spew such half-truths and lies, and then insult the people he just spread misinformation about? Throughout the past 17 years in Chicago, hundreds of African-Americans have been shot by police, disproportionately more than any other group, but "only two officers have faced trial for a shooting death." The obvious follow up question is how can Smith compare these two types of violent crime when one of them rarely even leads to a trial, let alone a conviction? That's right--he can't.

Speaking of subjects Smith is obviously not knowledgeable enough to speak on, on March 27, 2015, he went on an explosive tirade about black professional athletes and marijuana use. He said, "I don’t see the white guys getting called out for smoking weed. You put a shot of all these guys smoking weed, that got busted for it…all of them, practically all of them….black, black, black, black, black!" How tragic would it be if a police officer watching First Take, believing what Smith said to be true since it came from a black man's mouth, consciously or subconsciously started pulling blacks over more often than those from other groups? According to a 2013 survey--extremely. In it, police records showed that for years, "Black drivers tend to be less likely than white drivers to turn up with guns or drugs when searched at traffic stops. At the same time, black drivers are three times more likely than white drivers to be subjected to these searches." This is precisely why Stephen A. Smith must be fired--he is dangerous, and unknowingly or not, on that date, he made an argument for the justification of racial profiling of black people.

It seems as if there is an endless supply of statements made by Smith where he makes an argument built on half-truth, logical fallacies and utter disrespect for the very people he so often speaks for. I hereby ask ESPN then: For how much longer will you allow this man to attack and spread lies on the black community? For how much longer will our image be unjustly dragged through the mud by this man? For how much longer must black people sit idly while Smith attempts to make his best justification for the double-standards black people face in this country? I can't help but think it's okay for him to trash the black community to ESPN, but I still remember when that very same company suspended Smith for his remarks on domestic violence. I guess what I'm really trying to figure out is: Why does ESPN treat black people differently? 

Before this petition is concluded, I would like to address Stephen A. Smith himself: You once said you did not care who in the black community disagreed with you on a particular issue. Most recently, you made a statement I cannot begin to describe how disgusting and dangerous it was. You said, "But when you don't do that and you don't care about yourself, you almost give folks a license not to care about you either. As wrong as they may be, that is the license that you give when you don't take care of your own."

Sadly, instead of addressing the systemic racism African-Americans face in this country, so much so that many have given up on their lives and no longer even care about themselves, you chose to argue that black people give others the license to murder us. Well--Mr. Smith, I would like to inform you that I don't even have a modicum of respect for your opinions on this subject-matter. I don't know what world you live in, but in this one, those who find it hardest to love themselves are oftentimes the ones who need it the most, especially when many of those same people are African-Americans who even when unarmed, "are five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer."

We, the signees of this petition, are calling for your immediate termination. If you ever did have any dignity, self-respect and honor, you would resign immediately. If you choose not to do so, that is your right, just know that we will not cease, will not rest, till the days of Stephen Anthony Smith on ESPN First Take are but a distant memory.