Sports

Asian-American ESPN broadcaster Robert Lee taken off UVA game because of his name

Nancy Yang Aug 23, 2017
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From the “That Makes Perfect Sense” file today:

Sports broadcaster Robert Lee won’t be working Virginia’s season opener next month because of the recent violence in Charlottesville sparked by the decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, The Associated Press reports. Instead, Robert Lee will work a different game.

ESPN says the decision was made “collectively … as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name.”

Robert Lee is Asian-American and as far as we know, has no ties to the Confederacy or white supremacy.