Quote:
Originally Posted by tomegun
First I want to say that I know several officials who post here, to include Brad, personally and I would hope they all know race is not something that keeps me from treating anyone fairly. Now on to my point.
Do the people on this board realize that blacks have historically been kept out of certain positions because it was perceived we weren't smart enough? Management positions, coaches, quarterbacks, etc. At one time black teams weren't supposed to be smart enough to defeat a white team. I say that to ask again, do you really think none of this prejudice impacts officiating?
In addition to the perceived notion that we aren't smart enough, there is the issue of the good old boy network that is D1 assigners. I know there are several D1 assigners who are black, but there are still those who aren't and could have a long history of hatred.
This discussion shouldn't be a lecture, but it shouldn't be so easily blown off either. The race card exists and we need to ask ourselves why. I'm also wondering if those who blow this off would blow it off so easily if we were talking gender.
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VERY WELL STATED TOMEGUN!!!
I don't disagree with anything you've just said. Real and valid cases of racial discrimination and racism have existed and even still exist and should be dealt with.
But, care must be taken not to claim broad racism exists in areas where the data just doesn't support the claims. That will only hurt the ability to address real cases.
The point of the following is to illustrate that, sometimes, perceived imbalances and attempts to have action taken don't always come out as hoped. The group trying to make a point about inequities would have been better served to consider the situation from a neutral point of view before making a issue...
A few years ago, a local unionized employer had a grievance filed against it by a group of black employees with the claim that they were being discriminated against in overall job hiring. The employer, rather than taking a position on the issue, referred the issue to an external agency that was well respected in matter of minority affairs. After they completed their study, they released their conclusion. Their conclusion was that minorities in general were only slightly underrepresented and but blacks were substantially overrepresented based on the local population and the company needed to hire more Hispanics and Asians and fewer blacks. Needless to say, the group that filed the grievance was a bit upset with the result