Quote:
Originally posted by JRutledge
Coach you are only right to a point. If someone is a member of any group, the people that are in that group say things to others in their own group than they do to people outside of that group. I never try to say I am an expert on race, but I tend to deal with enough Black people that I am very aware of the things they say to me and other Black people. My game tonight is a perfect example. I was working at a school that is all-Black and two of the three officials are Black. The conferences the host team (of the regional) has many teams in the conference that are either All-white or All-Black and the make up of the officials is an issue. Every time I go to this particular school the coaches, administrators or just fans comment about how rare it is they get to see two or more Black officials on a game. I will guess they do not say that to many coaches that are not Black. So you are right those kinds of experiences do not make me an expert, but it is something that many that are Black talk to me about and make sure they say those kinds of things to me outside of the ears of non-Black people. So when you comment about Bill Cosby, you clearly show me you are not aware of how many people of color do not care what Bill Cosby think or the issues he has raised. I realize you might think Bill is a good person to speak on such issues, but many Black people think guys like Jesse, Al or Farrakhan have more credibility on these issues. Remember, you think Black people are not aware how they have to act in regular settings outside of their community because they came from a violent area. So I will take you comments for what it is worth.
Peace
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I'm not sure what the disagreement is here. It seems like both of us - with varying degrees of diplomacy - are dancing around calling Bill Cosby bat$h)t-crazy. I think he cares passionately about a crisis in African-American education and is speaking his mind and I just can't say this is all bad. I also happen to think his mind is slipping. I have heard some people say that because he is an African-American public figure, he has a greater responsibilty to measure his statements and take care that they cannot be misquoted and misused. I honestly don't know what I think about that. I think everyone has a right to speak his/her mind, but I also think Cosby's statements have been kind of damaging. I guess I think the better solution than stifling him is using the controversy as an opportunity to put forth, shall we say, more credible people with less simplistic answers than he is offering. It is kind of discouraging, however, how many people refer to his ideas and cite him as a "Black leader."
Which brings me to my second point. My statement about being Black not making one an instant expert on race was in response to Mr. Cosby's article. The fact that he is Black gives him a little more credibility out of the gate than, say, someone like me. However, when you factor in that he is bat$h)t-crazy, I think I pull back in the race.
Finally, the last couple of lines of your post, "Remember, you think Black people are not aware how they have to act in regular settings outside of their community because they came from a violent area. So I will take you comments for what it is worth." It's hard for me to tell if you seriously think I was saying that. If so, I apologize for the miscommunication. More importantly, however, this thread didn't start out being entirely about race and I don't want to leave the impression that it is. When you really get to the important part about college and careers, it's much more about class. In my situation, at my school, separating race from this equation makes no sense. When you talk specifically about students needing to learn the unwritten rules of succeeding in school, college and career there are, of course, people of every race who have not had to navigate this path by learning a secondary set of skills because it was part of their everyday experience growing up. They have plenty of role models, friends, family, exposure that allows them to internalize the rules of the game from within. My kids - not one of them (believe me, we talk about it a lot) - have this background. "My cousin went to community college for a year and now he works at a body shop," was as close as my newspaper class could come when they were discussing an editorial they were writing.
My Dad was the first member of his working-class family from a working-class town to graduate from college. There were a lot of fears he had to overcome and cultural norms he had to learn to accomplish this feat so I know this is not about race. But no one ever looked at my Dad and projected 1000 stereotypes onto him before he could even open his mouth to speak. Race does multiply this issue in a hurry.
My kids are fine in public. Everywhere we go, I'm proud to be their coach and thankful for the time we spend together. Sometimes they scare the 5h)t out of people but it's not their problem. I remind them a lot to watch their language but I have had to do that when I have taught kids of all races. They have a lot to learn about navigating their way through high school to college beyond just math, english, science.
Again, I'm not sure, if we are communicating clearly, where we are in disagreement?
[Edited by bebanovich on Mar 1st, 2006 at 05:45 AM]