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Let me be clear about one thing . . . my kids did absolutely the right things in this case. The one kid who was angry absolutely kept himself under control and a teammate rushed to make sure that he did before he had a chance to do anything else. I'm sure he thought about cleaning someone's clock or even saying something but thank God for the distance our team has put between thought and action.
My comments about how my kids respond to the threat of violence were merely to point out why my kids did not think this was as funny as the fans and officials and opponents seemed to think it was, not to offer an excuse for any outburst - that I feel compelled to repeat for only one or maybe two of you DID NOT HAPPEN. The best way to respect the cultural differences that existed in this game was to call the damn game equally to the end.
Expect me to teach sportsmanship, self-control, fundamentals and the rules of the game but don't make me explain to my kids why the rules can be waived for a while and they can be left out of the joke. So far I haven't really asked anyone to buy 100% the premise the the refs booted the call but they booted it and the whole gym new it and shared a good chuckle. That's not a lesson that I want to be teaching in the van on the way back home - the rules of basketball are not supposed to be subjected to a nod-and-a-wink mentality.
I am certainly not accusing anyone here of being as horrible as the refs in this game. Nor am I accusing anyone here, or even those horrible refs, of being racist. I'm just saying that race, economics and neighborhood do create different cultural beliefs and you can't assume that everyone is reading a situation the same way.
A lot of customs of our schools, workplaces and activities are based on values and unwritten rules that have their roots in white culture - yes, it's OK to say this (unless you want me to say European or Caucasian) and yes, white people do have a culture. In some sense, not all, but many students of color have to become bi-cultural. I have to help my students and players process this all the time and try to keep them from demonizing students who hone their skills in "proper English" or ("job interview English" as my students call it). It just gets that much harder when people shift the rules around or start making exceptions.
This is probably much more than any of you wanted on an officials forum but if anyone is really interested in these issues, Dr. Lisa Delpit's, Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom is not a bad place to start.
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