Quote:
Originally posted by Derock1986
Rutledge,
I can relate to everything you said in your post but I would probably handle it a little differently. While I certainly understand the use of racial slurs by people of the same race is rarely found to be offensive, the rules of the game prohibits its use and therefore should be penalized in all situations. As an official, we must remain impartial and enforce the rules equitable across the board. I would try to avoid situations where my personal bias could influence my judgement and give the perception of a favoritism.
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If you think so. But I do not enforce rules just becasue it is there. There is always situations that change the reaction I might have or not have. And if you think no one takes personal values and personal preferences on a field, I guess we can all live in that fantasy world if we want to. I choose to live in the real world and understand that everything I do on a field or court has some of my personality involved. But I guess we all can dream.
Quote:
Originally posted by Derock1986
Most of those kids know very little (and probably could care less) about the troubled and ugly history of race relations in this country. If you want to educate our youth on racial issues, how "you" handle racial situations today will have a far greater impact than telling them what happened in the 50's and 60's.
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We do not have to go back to 40 to 50 years ago to have kids understand racial strife. They can go to yesterday and figure out what is the issues with race. And they do not have to go look at what is happen in larger society, all they have to do is take it to a court or field and see the biases that take shape on a weekly basis. Hell a crew I worked with most of last year had a situation in a playoff game, where the issue of racial discrimination became an issue in the outcome of the game. So much that comments were made by a losing coach that suggested it was that way (In the Chicago Sun-Times I believe).
And considering that I am Black and a "white hat," outside of the Chicago Public League, I can count maybe one other official that is of my race that shares my pigmentation. So much that it was an issue for me and my crew, and we did not even kick the ball off in a game early in the year. I am not talking here about just players and their behavior, I am talking about coaches and fans that fuel this behavior as well. At least as a football official I have not had to experience many games were "race" was an issue, but it happens quite often during the basketball season. I guess we all do not have the same issues during our games.
Peace