Sportscaster Mike Tirico struggles to identify as an African-American

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Mike Tirico Has A Problem Saying That He Is A Black Man

Sportscaster Mike Tirico is Black for all intents and purposes, but he isn’t really too keen on acknowledging that fact.

Tirico recently sat down for an interview with the New York Times and revealed some things that are a bit surprising and quite frankly, a bit disappointing.

Tirico will tell you he is an Italian guy from Queens, raised by a single mother, Maria.

Wait, he’s a what now? Back in 1991, Tirico did an interview with the Post-Standard in Syracuse where he pushed back against the idea of being an African-American man.

Here’s what he told the Post-Standard via Syracuse:

“When people go around and say, ‘You are black’ – well, I don’t encourage it, but by the same token I don’t back off of it, ” he said, according to The Post-Standard archives. “If you want to call me that, that’s fine. But, you know, in my whole family, there’s nobody I know who is black.”

When describing his family, Tirico said that they are “as white as the refrigerator I’m standing in front of right now”. Race is a subject that he’s very nervous to touch for some reason and told the write of the Times article to simply say he was of “mixed race”.

“Why do I have to check any box?” he said. “If we live in a world where we’re not supposed to judge, why should anyone care about identifying?”

Besides, he added, “The race question in America is one that probably never produces a satisfactory answer for those who are asking the questions.”

What’s the problem? Scared of being called a “moolie” by the Eye-talians in his family? How deeply is