Article pointing finger at Racist Referees

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

I apologize for the hyperbole. But what criteria do we use for diversity? Do teams of Asians/Hispanics/Muslims/Native Americans also deserve diverse referee crews? What about teams of nerds? (As a former Capt. of the Nerd patrol this one is close to the heart).

Let us stop talking about diversity as if we are really talking about all those groups. The reality in most jurisdictions is basketball is likely played at higher levels amongst African-American and Caucasian players. And Muslim is a religion and I know people that are Muslim and no one knows it by looking at them.

I would think simply put officials on the game that looks like the participants. Now you do not have to do this in ever situation, but if an assignor or supervisor makes an effort, it is probably not hard to do. Obliviously this can be shaped by the area we are discussing, but you tell me that if they did not put more officials on these games being discussed, this article is not made?

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

The original author used the word bias, instead of racism. Did you understand that his use of the word bias meant a subconscious reaction vs. the conscious act of racism? Can one ever become significantly less biased?

If I recall, there are a lot of articles that question our biases or integrity as official. And it is a common back drop.

And in my last post season game, I had one team that is from an All Black area in the suburbs and another school that was in the city, but a private school that was still had mostly Black players. The private school is in the shadows of where the White Sox play and in a very non-white area.

The entire night there were comments about where we were from and what we were used to. The funny thing is I was the only Black official. Both my partners were Caucasian. I live in one of the less diverse areas in the suburbs. One of my partners lives in the city and works probably more city ball as a whole than I do. My other partner lives in a south suburb, but works in many places that it is clear there are not a lot of white players. And the vast majority of the crowd was Black. The entire night there were comments about where we were from or indirect comments about my race as it related to my partners. And it was assumed by only our race by fans that we were from places we obviously were not from or they did not realize where any of us worked games. And many of the comments from the suburban team, was that I lived in the city and had it out for the all-Black team. Or I was accused of being for the all-Black team and not for the private Catholic school. It became a joke during halftime and after the game. And this experience is more common than just in the post season.

Let me also say this. I was supposed to work at another playoff game in another area. Based on what I know the teams I would have had would have been between a public school and another private school, but the racial divide would have been different. There were some problems with some assignments in the place I ended up working and I was moved. The common assumption was that I was moved because I was African-American and they needed at least one Black official on the game I ended up working. Where as the place I came from this would not have been as much of a factor. Talking about these issues does not bother me and often is apart of my officiating life. And it is really the case in the sport of basketball.

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

You challenged me on my reading of Dr. King. I admit to now being better informed. This link was a good summary I think. Misusing MLK Legacy and the Colorblind Theory

Understand I consider myself kind of a MLK historian, because I was raised with King's speeches (I had a few books with just his speeches) and I had parents that grew up in that era and in the south of and civil rights movement. It kind of bothers me sometimes when people sum up MLK's life to one speech and takes the facts of that speech out of context.

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

Is the US getting better or worse in terms of race relations? Are we making progress? Will race always divide us? What signs can one use to judge if we are improving or not?

It is about the same if not worse, Because we cannot even have an honest discussion without people getting up in arms because there was even a brush of race being discussed. The man did not even mention racism, but you would think he committed a crime. And if he feels there is racism, so what. That is his opinion and many people feel there is racism in many aspects of society and sports have nothing to do with many of those cases. After all it is his opinion, just like people have opinions that someone who has never worked a game in certain areas cannot referee (very well). It does not mean the claim is true or valid. I just think the man was a little misguided and as usual he does not know the ins and outs of officiating. What else is new?

Peace