Let's be clear here, I am not one of those crazy people that overuses the name of racism such as some of the politicians whom I disagree with. I have been called a "nigger" before. It wasn't a bad intent. The guy who called me it just thought it was cool So I calmly told him the origin of that word and he apologized for it and it was all good. But, I'll get back to that in a little bit.
If you don't know the issue, here it is in a nutshell, now former Colorado State Football coach, Jon Embree was fired yesterday after 2 years for bad performance. Now firings in College Football (FBS) are nothing new, but it was Embree's comments after he was fired that started the discussion. He exclaimed that if his skin color was different (white), he would probably still have the job. This comment at first glance just felt like another man playing the "black card." But after hearing his argument dissected, there's evidence to support that claim. The idea that his predecessor, whom happened to be white and happened to last his full contract term (5 years), was just as unsuccessful as Embree and received 3 more years was enlightening.
Couple that with the statistic that I stole from Stephen A Smith that notes: in the past 33 year, there have been 41 African American head coaches in FBS that left a team (voluntarily or involuntarily) and only 1 of them has been rehired. Now let me pause right there, because I don't have any statistics on their white counterparts, however let me point out 2 issues. Firstly, the fact that only 41 African American coaches were there in 33 years is alarming bad. Secondly, that's a little more than 2.5% of black coaches given a second chance.
Maybe Embree has some merit? Let's get beyond all the "official" mumbo-jumbo though.
We have a problem. I do not believe that racism is really alive in the public (maybe a little, but nothing compared to before), but I do believe that it still exists deep in the soul. When it all comes down to it, we all have racist/stereotypic tendencies. But, racism at it's core is a deep, ugly, nasty and rigid thing. Let's be clear, I'm not just talking about Black vs. White (and visa-versa). I'm talking about Black vs. Latino, White vs. Latino, Easterners vs. Whites vs. Blacks vs. Latinos...I can go on and on (all of them visa-versa). What I'm trying to say is that at it's core, it's a heart issue.
There are people that are going to blabber about how there were Christians that justified slavery using the bible in the 18th and 19th centuries, which is fine. And to that I say that I have a history degree from Messiah College when all I did was study stuff like that so I've heard it and I can refute it by saying one word: Different. In the past there were different values and understandings so you have to look at it with different lenses. You can't look down on an ideology in the past just because it seems invalid to you. At the heart of it, it may be unjust, but you have to understand why they felt that way. Unfortunately, that's beyond the scope of this blog.
Like I said before, it's a heart issue. It's not something I think we can tangibly change in 5, 10,or 15 years with strict legislation because when you try to force people to do something, there's resentment. But something needs to be done. Here's what I'm going to do, and I know I'm gonna sound like a Christan (Heaven forbid), but I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray for the nation. I'm going to pray my butt off!
When it comes down to it, the Bible tells us a story. It tells us a narrative of huge issues between Jews and Gentiles...aka Jews versus everyone else. For thousands of years, they hated each other. They fought wars, rumored wars, killed, torture, and sometimes married to the detriment of themselves. A lot of it stemmed because the Jews thought they were better than everyone else. And if I had to be honest, they were, because they were God's chosen people. BUT (and that's a big but) when Jesus came and died on the cross, he eliminated the "I'm better than you barrier." He took on the sins of the entire world. Thus, those that believe in him are now the "Jew" or the chosen one.
Wait! It can be taken a step further! Paul, in his letter to the Galatians tells us that we are all one in Christ! "There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ." (Galatians 3:28) That's the beauty of it. All one in Christ.
Lets be clear. Something needs to be done in FBS. Maybe they need to establish a Roony Rule such as in the NFL where at least one minority has to be interviewed during a coaching process. That was a good way at giving minorities exposure to other teams because while they might not be hired, at least other organizations might know who they are and say "hmmm...I never thought about Jon Embree, lets take a look."We are all family. We are all humans. MLK said that we are human first. We need to recognize and be proud of that!
I love all my black, white, Latino, Asian, male, female, lesbian, gay, short, tall, big-boneded, thin, light-skinned, and dark skin peeps. Just keep the love comin!
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