[JRutledge]

As I have said before I am a Black male. I have gotten opportunities moving to the Chicago area that I probably would not have gotten if I was not Black. Now I am talking about HS, but I have been told that certain conferences want Black officials in them. I was even told by a white coach (all his players are Black except for one), that he wanted me to do his games and would recommend me to the assignor. The assignor appartly does not have very many Black officials in the conference and he was not happy about it. This coaches school has a huge tournament during the Christmas break, and they will not allow the assignor to handle it because he does not hire many Black officials. I guess it is about appearences and the viewing of intergrity. I did a tournament on Wednesday that had an all Black team with a Black coach. They were the only one in the entire tournament and I was under the impression that one of the reasons I did the game because I was Black. My partner was Black also.

The game has in many cases, especially at the highest of levels mostly Black players and a growing number of coaches. I think like the women's side, they want people officiating the game that reflect the participants in the game. Now, that can be a debate of whether or not that is fair, but that seems to be the reasoning. I know that I do not get the opportunity in some cases because I am Black and that I really do not care about. Each league is different and each level is different. But I do feel that this is a great question and should be discussed, because I have been told in no uncertain terms that me being a Black official, I would move up really fast. But I do believe that I must be good in order to do that. I do know that in women's college, I have heard several assignors tell me that, if it was a choice between the good male officials and the good women's official, they would choose the women offical. And at least in that case, I do not disagree. There are women playing the game, not men.