Tonight I'm watching Monday Night football. (You know it's nice to see that the two best teams in the league - the Colts and the Bears - both have Black head coaches.) In the follow-up commentary on the game, the commentators began critiquing Arizona...it was a terrible loss. There is no excusing Arizona giving up a 20+ point lead.
But, what does football and this loss have to do with Reparations? The commentators began criticizing the Cardinals, and singled out Denny Green. Now, I am a firm believer that coaching bears much responsibility for a loss of this type. However, I want to look at the way the critique was played. Chris Berman started by saying, (paraphrase) we see the progress made by Luvie Smith, and Tony Dungy, and Marvin Lewis, and then we think about Denny Green...
Well true, Coaches Smith, Dungy and Lewis all have great programs and winning teams. They all took over teams that were struggling, and turned them around. But, of the 32 teams in the NFL are those coached by the aforementioned the only ones that were struggling? Why is it that only those teams with Black coaches were singled out?
A coach should be compared to his peers. He should be held to certain standards. But, why are we condemned to have White coaches with lackluster performances loom around the league (Rod Marinelli, Dick Jauron, Mike Nolan, Nick Saban). The way Chris Berman stated things, it was as though he made the judgment that bringing in some Black coaches has worked out, but that Black coaches still had a way to go.
The worst part was that Michael Irving and Tom Jackson heard this and didn't take the opportunity to point out the countless White Coaches who have had worse tenures with their teams. I'm not implying that Chris Berman even meant to slight Denny Green, however those comments don't help to alleviate the stereotypes of those who still suffer from acute cases of racism.
Again, racism call us to create teachable moments, where we uncover the vestiges of institutional racism that still plague our society - infecting the soul of our Country. Reparations is everywhere. It's not an issue of money. It's an issue of repairing the lives of a people - lives that were systematically broken. Reparations is about restoring dignity to a people. It's not about wearing a badge of victim. But, it is about using our various platforms as a chance to be vocal for those who have no voice in hopes of relieving some of their hardships. May God help us heal our wounds through steady doses of the truth.
But, what does football and this loss have to do with Reparations? The commentators began criticizing the Cardinals, and singled out Denny Green. Now, I am a firm believer that coaching bears much responsibility for a loss of this type. However, I want to look at the way the critique was played. Chris Berman started by saying, (paraphrase) we see the progress made by Luvie Smith, and Tony Dungy, and Marvin Lewis, and then we think about Denny Green...
Well true, Coaches Smith, Dungy and Lewis all have great programs and winning teams. They all took over teams that were struggling, and turned them around. But, of the 32 teams in the NFL are those coached by the aforementioned the only ones that were struggling? Why is it that only those teams with Black coaches were singled out?
A coach should be compared to his peers. He should be held to certain standards. But, why are we condemned to have White coaches with lackluster performances loom around the league (Rod Marinelli, Dick Jauron, Mike Nolan, Nick Saban). The way Chris Berman stated things, it was as though he made the judgment that bringing in some Black coaches has worked out, but that Black coaches still had a way to go.
The worst part was that Michael Irving and Tom Jackson heard this and didn't take the opportunity to point out the countless White Coaches who have had worse tenures with their teams. I'm not implying that Chris Berman even meant to slight Denny Green, however those comments don't help to alleviate the stereotypes of those who still suffer from acute cases of racism.
Again, racism call us to create teachable moments, where we uncover the vestiges of institutional racism that still plague our society - infecting the soul of our Country. Reparations is everywhere. It's not an issue of money. It's an issue of repairing the lives of a people - lives that were systematically broken. Reparations is about restoring dignity to a people. It's not about wearing a badge of victim. But, it is about using our various platforms as a chance to be vocal for those who have no voice in hopes of relieving some of their hardships. May God help us heal our wounds through steady doses of the truth.
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