Article pointing finger at Racist Referees

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

I freely admit that I have NOT travelled the country like you have, Tom. Having said that, in your travels have you ever seen black, Asian, Hispanic, or female refs who have been promoted because of their race/gender/minority status???

And, have you (tomegun) surveyed for how many white refs that feel they don't get the level of games they think they deserve? (without connecting it to a reason....not because of race...just that they feel they don't get the assignments).

What it comes down to is that MOST refs of all demographic groups feel they don't get the games they deserve...that they are held down. Some chose to blame it on racism, some on gender, some on politics, some on the man in the moon.

Refs, as a group, and as part being able to do the job at all, must have a bit of an ego and must believe they're good. Most of the ones that don't have an strong ego either don't get into officiating or crash and drop out in 1-2 years.

Surveys have often shown that about 80% of the surveyed group think that thier abilities are above average....and simple math shows that at least 30% of the group is simply wrong (some of those that think they are average or below may be in the above average group...making the percentage that are wrong even higher)....and many of those that are above average may not be as far above average as they think.

The fact is that there are only so many preferred games to be worked and a lot more less than preferred games. The numbers just don't support a lot of people getting the top games....not matter who they are. When the refs don't get there, many look for excuses rather than reasons....and I see that attitude just as much in white males as any group.

[Mark Padgett]

What is most disheartening is that people still have preconceived notions about something they refer to as "race". The genome project proved scientifically there is no such thing as far as science is concerned. What humans share is commonality of genetic tagging. For example, genetically, being a white male I share more genetic traits with a black male than I do with a white female. This fact throws the concept of "race" right out the window. Eventually, (I hope) it will finally be accepted by everyone that human beings are just that - human beings - and should be judged as individuals based on their behavior.

Of course, I'm not holding my breath until that happens.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

What is most disheartening is that people still have preconceived notions about something they refer to as "race". The genome project proved scientifically there is no such thing as far as science is concerned. What humans share is commonality of genetic tagging. For example, genetically, being a white male I share more genetic traits with a black male than I do with a white female. This fact throws the concept of "race" right out the window.

Mitochondrial Eve is the name given by researchers to the woman who is defined as the matrilineal most recent common ancestor for all currently living humans. Passed down from mother to offspring, her mitochondrial DNA is now found in all living humans: every mtDNA in every living person is derived from hers. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of Y-chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor, although they lived at different times. She is believed to have lived about 140,000 years ago in Eastern Africa: specifically, in what is now Ethiopia, Kenya, or Tanzania. Mitochondrial Eve is the MRCA of all humans via the mitochondrial DNA pathway, not the unqualified MRCA of all humanity. All living humans can trace their ancestry back to the MRCA via at least one of their parents, but Mitochondrial Eve is defined via the maternal line. Therefore, she necessarily lived at least as long, though likely much longer, ago than the MRCA of all humanity. The existence of Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam does not imply the existence of population bottlenecks or a first couple. They each may have lived within a large human population at different times.