Quote:
Originally posted by lrpalmer3
The race card can always be played. A black fan heckled me by saying that I was pulling for the white team because I was an Uncle Tom. It took every ounce of civility in my blood to keep from ..., but I digress. Black officials, how many times have fans told you that your white partner is/was cheating and that you need to do something about it?
But I agree, preventative measures can be taken when assigning officials to eliminate some of this.
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It comes with the territory around here that I will be accused by the coach of an African-American team for not "helping him out." At least when I am officiating those games where one team is of one color and the other team is another color. I will say that the assignors around here are getting a lot better putting African-American officials on games where the racial makeup is going to be a factor in who plays the games. I would almost rather work games where I am the only Black person in the gym or where there are no white officials or people involved sometimes. At least then it is not something they can make an issue as it relates to the game. I am very proud of who I am and what I am, but it would just takes away some of the fun when a coach does not take into account of what the crew is calling and tries to imply that there is something going on. The problem is that it is very subtle and not always during the game. But after the game if they get a chance they will try to suggest something was going on.
I worked a few weeks ago a big time rivalry between two school that fall in the same school district. Both schools are vastly African-American and both coaches were African-American and not one player was white or any other race for that matter. Only one of my partners was white. It was nice for a change to just blend in and not stand out. I could just be seen as an official and not get the implication that I was from the city (code word for being Black in many circles) or not pulling for one team or another. I was just a ref.
Peace