Profanity is wrong. Period.

Do I slip occassionally? More times than I care to admit, but I'm working on it.

When is it proper to curse in a sporting event? Never

Should you ignore or disregard? No, but sometimes all it takes is a look or a frown to convey that it is unacceptable if from afar. Other times, it takes an eyeball to eyeball discussion with the player. I personally many times have a player stop and look me in the eyes before I begin communicating with him. This ensures that he "hears" me and that I consider his action serious enough to take a second out of the game.

When is it OK for players to use racial slurs? Never. I'm not going to police the bench, but if I hear it, I'm going to again provide some gesture or look if they are away from me, and tell them that it's unacceptable if near me.

As far as opposing players trash talking in this manner, they may first get a warning, then flags, and if persistent or flagrantly disrespecting my guidance, off they go to the locker room.

Mr Rutledge:

You are apparently going to let 1 Black call another N__ but are not going to allow a White to call a Black that?

When 1 player calls another a faggot, how do you know both are not indeed queer?

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.

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.

I would expect that from you.
 

I can always see the color of a player, I cannot see the sexual preference of any of them. And if there was a gay player on a team, I will take a wild guess that no one else knows it (just a guess). So if you want to think they are the same thing, be my guest. They are not, but one of the reasons we have racial problems in this country. Everything is not right or wrong or Black and White.

Peace

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. ;)


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

To me, I warn the player in A that if I hear him cussing again I will flag him. All others I flag for 15 USC.

Why are you surprised?? You clearly have 1 set of rules for Blacks and another for non-Blacks.

Black people have been trying to tell people of the Caucasian persuasion that for a long time. Now you want to act like you are surprised. Typical. ;)

Peace

I didn't really read all of the messages because I'm really busy at work, but in my game, if there is any slurring (racial, religious, etc...) at all, from one player to another, a flag is throw with possible ejection.

I don't care what religion you are, what skin colour you have, etc.... I run a zero tolerance policy. Everybody knows this is ow we do things and we rarely rarely have an issue.

Mike

Black people have been trying to tell people of the Caucasian persuasion that blacks clearly have 1 set of rules for Blacks and another for non-Blacks for a long time? :confused:

A racial slur is a racial slur, no matter what race the person is who uses it.





[Edited by BktBallRef on Aug 6th, 2003 at 09:18 AM]

Tony, this is not North Carolina
 

I expect someone that is white or is not apart of that particular group to say that. Especially the with the backdrop of what is in the culture and in the music industry. Funny you never hear Eminem use that word, but you hear 50 cents, Busta Rymes or JA Rule use these words all the time. So there is a difference and it really does not matter what you think. You are not of that persuasion, so your opinion only goes so far. Especially when it comes to what I or other Black officials are going to do and how we handle it. ;) I am sure there are put downs or "slurs" that you would not even recognize because you are not within the group of people that use them. There are more words than the N__ word that fit the same definition.

No different than me trying to tell Spanish speaking officials how to handle language issues when they are on the field.

Peace

Enough Already!!
 

Mr. Rutledge and others,

With all due respect, why don't we get back to football discussion. We are not going to solve the topic of race relations here!

Certainly, we all bring biases onto the field. Heck, we're human and all have different faults. But, the best officials I've seen (choose your color, race, religion, etc.) do their best to be as objective as possible when working a football game. They minimize their subjectivity and rule based on fairness as prescribed by the rules.

Any official that uses the common sense necessary to call a good game for the purpose of providing preference to players, coaches, etc. is providing a disservice and hurts all in our avocation.

Re: Enough Already!!
 

With all due respect, this is very much about football. And if you think it is not, do a Brother Rice/Crane Football game and tell me if you will not have to deal with this issue in some way?


Well that sound all great in the "utopia" that you like to live in, but when I did Proviso East/Oak Park River Forest game, race was brought into the game right off the bat. Not something I wanted or wished for. And guess what, I had to deal with it, regardless of how objective I was about it. To also add, I was approached in a manner that some of my crew members were not addressed. But maybe if my head was in the sand, I might not realize that I have to stop a potential timebomb waiting to happen. I had to address it with my crew members (Black and white) that day, it plays a part in how we handle it and how we discuss it here.


You are right. But common sense varies from your background and your experience. And if you have never had to do any games in any sport and race was an issue or going to be one (whether you liked it or not) then I can see your point of view. But if you do a Chicago Catholic League team against certain Chicago Public League teams, you will see and experience some racial issues on the field. And considering that many Black kids do not see very many (depending on area) officials with my color, they approach me much differently than they do my white counterparts. Just the way it is.

Peace

Obviously the race issue is very complicated, and therefore I do not have the time or space to give it its due here, so I want to stick with the practical problem of the game situaion.

As a white man I do not understand why 2 black people can call each other the N-word and no offense is taken, but I accept that that is the situation, and personally I have no problem with two blacks using that word among one another. I do however see a problem allowing a double standard on the football field.

If in the huddle of a team of all black players, one says to the other "hey go out there and hit that N--" referring to the other team's black running back, I could be inclined to do nothing. What happens though if few plays later a white player on the second team says "lets go get those N--'s." If I don't penalize the first situation how do I explain the flag on the second? "Well, you have to understand the culture differences between you and the other team. If you did, you would know that it is acceptable for one black to use that term towards another black, but it is unacceptable for you to use it." No matter how well intentioned it may be, the double standard will create a world of problems.

Furthermore, there are many whites who have been "accepted" into the black culture and can refer to black friends and team mates as N--'s. If a white player uses the N word, am I supposed to ask his teammates if he is one of the players "allowed" to use the word, or do I just automatically penalize him because the standard for white players is they are never allowed to use the word?

I know it sounds like I am taking the easy way out of this, but under the situation of a football game, it is not practical to be able to consider the cultural aspects of the actions and words being used. In the context of a football game, I find it a bit ridiculous to use the rule "it's OK for blacks to use the word, but penalize any white players who use it." Understanding and applying all the aspects of a players culture to the football game are difficult, and I admit it is oversimplifying the issue to say "it's a penalty for anyone who uses the N-word," but it is no more of a simplification than saying "only black players can use that word." Unfortunately neither situation provides a satisfactory answer, so I believe the best course of action is to use one standard for every player.

Mr Rutledge,
I too am a black official, was raised in a black community, and educated in a black educational institution. I applaud your willingness to speak openly and honestly about these issues. But I still respectfully disagree with you and here's the reason why. There is nothing wrong with seeing the world as "black and white" as long as you do not allow your views of "black and/or white" to offend, harm, or place at an unfair disadvantage as a result of your views. You must be very careful when you allow your personal bias's to influence a situation like this. Without a doubt, the best way to deal with this situation is to handle it in a professional manner and leave your personal bias out of the situation. Easier said than done you might think but I think how you handle this situation is what separates the men from the boys--the professional from the amateur--wisdom from foolish--right from wrong.

"Do the Right Thing"
--Spike Lee