Posted by I was thinking about the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams with a head coaching vacancy to interview at least one ‘minority’ candidate during its hiring process. Many have decried the rule as a case of the dreaded (and idiotic) “reverse-racism” and the spirit of the rule has been violated many times by well-meaning organizations that for various reasons had already settled on a non-minority candidate even prior to firing their head coach. It’s also true that minority candidates probably wouldn’t want to undergo a sham interview.
The issue highlights one of the major transitions we face in Amrikan society. While much out-and-out racism is on the wane, we are now faced with internalized or institutional racism, which is a much more difficult issue. Public and private policies such as Aff.Act or the Rooney Rule will never been be cleanly applied. Their intention is to level the playing field, to put individuals in a position to achieve success commensurate with one’s abilities and work ethic, despite the structural challenges still present in our society.
In moving towards a truly color-blind/racism-free society, we’re going to have a lot of stops and starts. It’s not going to be perfect. But while we’re still getting thurr, let me quote a piece from Chris Rock’s 1999 Bigger & Blacker Special:
Racism everywhere. Who’s the maddest people? White people.No, you watch the TV, watch 60 Minutes. You see white people pissed off, man.Man, the white man thinks he’s losing the country.You watch the news: “We’re losing everything. We’re fucking losing. Affirmative action and illegal aliens… and we’re fucking losing the country.”Losing? Shut the fuck up. White people ain’t losing shit.If y’all losing, who’s winning? It ain’t us.Shit, there ain’t a white man in this room that would change places with me.None of you would change places with me. And I’m rich!That’s how good it is to be white.There’s a white, one-legged busboy in here right now… that won’t change places with my black ass.He’s going, “Nah, man, I don’t wanna switch. I wanna ride this white thing out. See where it takes me.”That’s right, ’cause when you white, the sky’s the limit.When you black, the limit’s the sky!
