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Originally Posted by johnny d
Here is where I think your analogy to Spanish speaking communities and basketball officiating falls apart and why I disagree with your position on this issue. You are correct, it would be foolish not to have sales people who can speak Spanish working locations where the majority, if not all your potential customers will be speaking that language. However, you do not have to be of Hispanic decent to speak Spanish fluently.
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I did not suggest that one individual has to speak Spanish, but you better have people in the office that do in that kind of community. And if everyone in a community speaks Spanish you better have several. That really was not a comparison to officiating other than to say that what works in one place, might not work in another place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnny d
A person of any race or ethnicity that is capable of speaking Spanish would be able to work effectively in that area. In basketball, the thing that is analogous to language in your example is knowing the rules and mechanics. It is not being of the same race or ethnicity of the participants. Therefore, it shouldn't matter what the race or ethnicity or gender of the official is calling the game, as long as they can effectively speak the language of basketball.
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Actually being of the same race as someone is not about knowing the rules, it is more about how you interact with the participants. There is a big difference in how African-Americans interact with African-American officials than they do someone not of that race or culture. And when we have conflict it might be easier to understand the interactions and to deal with the interactions. That is just a fact as it is in other aspects of life. So if you are a person that is not used to certain places, that might be hard for you to adjust to or deal with. That is why you know we have people that have no desire or understanding of what it is like to work games in the CPS. And there is a reason there are only certain officials that work those games as us from the suburbs almost never get asked. So it must matter to someone, it is just who is doing the assigning.
Peace