The Rooney Rule, established in 2003, requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations opportunities.
The first time I'd heard of this rule was earlier this week when former USC coach Pete Carrol was hired as the Seattle Seahawks new head coach. Then someone mentioned that the Seahawks first had to satisfy the Rooney Rule and interview a minority candidate. They did so by interviewing Leslie Frazier, the Vikings defensive coordinator.
Let's picture how that conversation went shall we?
Hi is this Leslie Frazier?
Yes, this is Leslie.
Hi this is the Seattle Seahawks, how are you?
I'm fine... how are you?
Good thanks. Listen, we are about to hire Pete Carrol as our head coach, but before we can do that we have to interview a black guy. Ya know the whole Rooney Rule thing.
Are we seriously having this conversation?
Listen, we've booked you a flight out to Seattle, which let me tell you is beautiful this time of year. So you're in right?
Oh oh, wait... one more thing. You are black right?
...
Ok, so we'll see you in a few days.
The Rooney Rule is a racist concept plain and simple. To mandate the hiring or interviewing of anyone, regardless of race is just plain wrong. This reminds me of the Super Bowl a few years ago when Colts and Bears were playing. It was mentioned ad nauseam that both head coaches were black. Doesn't this perpetuate racism? Can't we just talk about how they are both really great coaches, and that the color of their skin has nothing to do with the fact that their teams were in the Super Bowl?
Monday is Martin Luther King Day, let's reflect on the fact that his "Dream" was to live in a time when a person wasn't judged by the color of their skin, but rather by the content of their character. Given the existence of things such as the Rooney Rule, it's painfully obvious that we do not currently live in such a time.
Posts
2 comments:
Interesting...I've never heard of the "Rooney Rule" but it reminds me so much of the affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan. I won't dredge all of that up again but suffice it to say that in the 32 years since the reverse discrimination "Bakke Case" was heard by the Supreme Court... absolutely nothing has changed. Racism is alive and well in this country. Happy MLK Day!
BTW, does that term 'reverse racism' make make you crazy or is it just me?
All in all we do minorities a disservice by giving them an advantage in anything. When civil rights leaders talked about equality, that is exactly what the meant, to remove the incline and replace it with a level playing field.
Post a Comment