wonderful podcast. you ve been tracking this story. this is something that s been going on for months but very much coming to a head with this new york times story recently coming out. what do you think what you re seeing at this moment? yeah. the problem here is not that rachel nickels was trying to defend her turf. that happens all the time in television. the problem is that in defending her turf she thinks maria taylor got that job because she s black, not because she earned it and not because she deserved it. that s the issue here. and that s something that a lot of black people from all walks of life can identify with. we re often viewed as unqualified for the spaces that we re in based on the assumption that we re some type of diversity token. when the reality is we are almost always having to be twice as good to get half as much, overqualified and undervalued. there s also a point here that s kind of interesting in that rachel nickels is saying this. rachel nichols is the step
working, very good at her job, but it would be hard to convince me that she hasn t benefitted somewhat from those associations. for her to make that claim that taylor didn t earn her position is ironic. i think that default to in her comment is something that is lost. i ve talked with so many people about this, a lot of people, white people, don t key in on that assumption that is made, oh, that it s because maria taylor is a person of color that she s being given this assignment. but you know, you and i we were babies together in news. yeah. and you and i have talked for years about this. you personally have experienced this as a black woman, as someone just speak to this. you got a full ride to journalism school and people would make assumptions about you because of this trope. yeah. you and i go back like babies and pacifiers. and i have faced this in my life many, many times. i felt like i was there as a diversity token. i was there on a full academic ride and finished
on espn.on how deeply, deeply sorry i am for disappointing those i hurt, particularly maria taylor. reporter: former espn colleague jemele hill.rt where you don t see a lot of black women in the role that maria is in, she hears that 100 times a day. so to the hear that from another woman colleague would be harmful and hurtful for her. reporter: reaction has been swift, not only targeting nichols but also espn. y all tried to give maria a job and it wasn t genuine and looked what happened. come on, man, its all the espn folk, we love both of them. reporter: this from the daughter of former n.b.a. star and current espn host jalenar and rose. maybe instead of crying and calling maria a diversity token, you can direct that energy to people who think there can only be one woman on that stage. reporter: maria taylor, a seven-year veteran of espn is still scheduled to host n.b.a. stnight.n for the finalshi nichols has been replaced as a