That column doesn't make me feel I'm any nearer the truth than I was before. One red flag about journalistic laziness/sloppiness:
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That seems to be the general consensus. I wasnt at the game, but Ive spoken to lots of objective people who were. No one appears to have seen what Mr. Williams saw.
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The stands are not often filled with objective people. It shouldn't take long to give more examples or at least be transparent about how one comes to the conclusion that no one appears to have seen what Mr. Williams saw. You spoke by phone with peole from both schools, you talked to one writer and a photographer you know who were there? Williams may be a total crackpot, but I'm not buying or rejecting it from a writer with a point-of-view who won't take more trouble than this to establish credibility.
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Maybe, if Coach Williams truly believed that his players were discriminated against, he could have used the situation as a learning experience to explain that life isnt always fair, but you still play by the rules and live with the outcome.
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These are the insidious comments that seem to inevitably come out of incidents like this that are patronizing fluff or worse. If you really think you and your students are the victim of racism, don't say anything about it, just teach that life is unfair and learn to deal with it? We let you share our drinking fountains and our schools, we gave Dr. King a Holiday, we watch Dave Chappelle reruns, if anything else comes up, shut up and deal with it!? When it's appropriate, my students will learn from me that life is not fair and that, ultimately, their destiny is in their hands. But I will not be helping teach them that remaining silent is part of some mutually exclusive trade-off in that bargain. My daughter will grow up learning the world is not fair, she will face discrimination AND she is free to speak her mind and sometimes, unfortunately, face consequences for that.
Williams was bound by a rule against speaking out inappropriately against officials and he should face whatever consequence awaits him for this. If he's a crackpot then wave goodbye to him on his way out. But can you please spare us the hand-wringing over "playing the race card" and the fake moralizing over not teaching kids that the world is unfair and that racism must be overcome. I don't believe people are genuinely worried about kids in these cases, I think they are more intent on stifling racial debate that they can't handle.