Racial Discrimination In Professional Sports

Jackie Robinson, the first black professional baseball player credited with breaking the color barrier in sports, described his battle against racism when he said, “I know that I am a black man in a white world. In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made” (Calcaterra). Here, Robinson conveys the challenges of African Americans in modern professional sports. The ongoing struggle against racial discrimination is seen in the NFL today through the extremely low number of minority head coaches in the sport. Minority coaches face challenges because, as a result of longstanding stereotypes and assumptions, they are often viewed as less capable than white coaches to lead a team and not hired for those positions. Introduced …show more content…
Today, the effects of the Rooney Rule do give hope that NFL team leadership can become more diverse; however, critics remain skeptical if the policy does enough. A problem in the NFL right now is that decisionmakers still hold beliefs and values that reflect racial stereotypes of the past. The lack of minority coaches in the NFL is, “camouflaged by the racial composition of its athletes,”...because, “significant barriers persist in the industry’s upper-management positions. Most of these barriers are based on longstanding, negative perceptions of race—both explicit and unconscious” (Collins). Many years of discriminatory thinking resulted in a pattern of behavior of excluding minorities from high-level coaching positions. Fans do not always notice the lack of minority coaches because many of the players are African American, but this does not disguise the fact that it remains a problem. In January 2016, a university study examined the careers of NFL coaches from 1985 to 2012, and their research showed that black coaches career paths moved more slowly than white coaches, even though the Rooney Rule had been in effect for a decade of that time period. Following the research, they concluded, “the stagnant number, rather than a sign of success, is a result of shortfalls in hiring minority coaches in the assistant ranks. This deficit limits the number of …show more content…
Decisionmakers need to give minority coaches the opportunity for further engagement in an NFL team's coaching staff and future plans. Beyond the opportunity to be a head coach, NFL leaders have, “talked about the opportunity not only to have a diverse candidate slate for coaches and GMs, but about the best practice to have multiple diverse candidates. We've talked about the best practices being applied to coordinator positions” (Wilner). This plan further allows minority coaches to be considered for a role in an organization, even if it’s not being the head coach. Furthermore, Mark Maske of the Washington Post insists the league is making strong efforts to expand the rule by stating, “The NFL will informally expand the Rooney Rule to encompass some coordinator hires. It’s a needed move, especially with the push toward offensive coaches and the relative absence of minority coaches with expertise in coaching quarterbacks, designing playbooks and game plans, and calling plays” (Florio). Giving minority coaches the chance to become a coach at a different position on a team could lead to pathways to coach at a higher rank, such as the head coach. The experience they gain by coaching at a lower rank can be crucial for the next time these coaches are interviewed to become a head coach in the NFL. They will gain the qualifications and “expertise” the top jobs