Man, you can find a little bit of everything on the Internet. Much of what you find will make you shake your head in disbelief. Well, I found one such item during my look around the Internet. The article takes to task Richard Lapchick (who has done outstanding work calling out racism in college athletics for many years) because he had the audacity to be concerned that only four out of 119 Division I-A head coaches are black (in spite of the fact that nearly half the football players are black).
Here is the first ignorant comment that I read in the piece:
“When I saw the headline “A call to civil rights action in college football,” I thought the article would be a quirky and unexpected take on “affirmative action” in recruiting football players. That is, recruiting more whites to play on football teams for, you know, diversity’s sake. No such luck. Richard Lapchick’s article is decidedly uncool and totally expected.”
See, the problem is that when you’re recruiting players you’re recruiting the players who best help you win. And, if you don’t think nearly every coach in America covets great white players (especially in college basketball) then you don’t know squat about college sports.
Here is another dumb comment:
“Here’s my take on it. It wouldn’t hurt schools, private or public, to widen recruitment nets and add more “people of color” to the hiring pool. But hiring someone based on his skin color should be a no-go. Still, private organizations like the NFL can discriminate and prefer all they want. Taxpayer-supported institutions may not. If private colleges want to participate in racial bean-counting, that’s their prerogative. But you can’t be in the skin color game if you’re using the public’s money.”
No one is saying black coaches should be hired because they are black anymore than white coaches should be hired because they are white. But, when you have so many black coaches (and half the players are black) out there and only four out of 119 are black … that is disturbing. Conservative whites always go to the other extreme and think because some people lament the number of black head coaches that they are just saying people should go and pick a black guy off the street and hand him a head coaching position. Honestly, blacks have trouble getting coordinator positions and trouble getting head coach positions. When Turner Gill is passed over by Auburn for a coach with a 5-19 record … that is troubling.
Also, pay close attention to the comments that follow the article. You will notice how many whites fear discussing race topics and run away (practically screaming) from pretty much any discussion that puts racism on the table. Many of these conservative whites (and some blacks as well) seem to be of the belief that if we ignore racism it will simply go away. Sorry people … it doesn’t work that way. Racism must be confronted openly and honestly. It’s time to do away with the fantasy belief that all people are considered equally. Ask Turner Gill if all people are treated equally after his experience as a token interview by Auburn. It would be different if he was passed over for someone with a decent record that was even close.
Dumb article about Richard Lapchick:
http://www.acri.org/blog/2008/12/10/richard-lapchick-on-college-football-civil-rights/
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