Wallace's legacy lives on in Alabama

[magicmike]

Following on the Jordan = Slave thread, what do you guys think about this?


http://www.collegesports.com/sports/...051003aab.html

[Dwolfson20]

"He compared the university's decision to hire Shula to Gov. George C. Wallace's "stand in the schoolhouse door" on June 11, 1963, when Wallace sought to prevent two blacks from enrolling at Alabama."


Ridiculous, in my opinion. Jackson is supporting a good cause, but he needs to do a much better job of picking his fights, rather than jumping into every situation he can find and calling "racist."

[blubbla]

Another reason why I don't like Jesse Jackson.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

Ridiculous. Jesse Jackson is awful. He has no right to veto coaching candidates.

The problem with Jesse Jackson is that he is out of a job and out of influence if he doesn't constantly find some excuse to scream "racism." It's no longer about finding issues that will help minorities, it's about grabbing headlines. Way to go, Jesse. You provide fuel for the far right - and I'm sure you're fine with that since it cements your place in the public eye.

IMO, Jesse Jackson is a modern version of the minstrel show.... the white mainstream media love him because he represents what white racists think of blacks. He gives the whites someone to feel good about hating. He does as much as any other one person in the country to keep blacks down.

[magicmike]

I agree with the sentiments regarding the "Reverend Jackson," although I admit I do enjoy watching or listening to him give a speech because he has such excellent command of the technical tools of public speaking.

But might he not have an arguable point here? Based on resume' Croom seems to be better qualified than Shula. Shula has never been a head coach, and has never coached in college. Croom has never been a head coach either, but he coached fifteen years at Alabama under Bear Bryant and Ray Perkins before moving to the NFL, where he has been for just about as long as Shula. Croom had a distinguished career as a player at Alabama and, from what I read, remains a significant part of school folklore. At the end of Alabama's spring practice every year one of the prizes they give out is the "Sylvester Croom Commitment to Excellence Award."

Of course you don't hire a head coach based solely on resume', but without knowing more I can't be so quick to dismiss Jackson's interest in this case as another example of his foolishness.

Among Division 1A schools only 4 out of the 117 head football coaches are black. I am and always will be a firm believer in meritocracy over quota systems in hiring, but that ratio is one I just have a real hard time understanding in the year 2003. I guess what I'm saying is I can't be so sure that race did not play a major factor in this particular hiring decision.

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

It's fine to criticize in the aggregate, but silly to say "Coach X should have been hired over Coach Y." A lot of job interviews are based on intangibles. I agree that college coaching is a good ol' boys network, but it certainly does not help to criticize one program.

And I agree with you about his public speaking - he is truly a master of the art.

[magicmike]

Originally posted by Eckstein 4 Prez
It's fine to criticize in the aggregate, but silly to say "Coach X should have been hired over Coach Y." A lot of job interviews are based on intangibles. I agree that college coaching is a good ol' boys network, but it certainly does not help to criticize one program.

A lot of job interviews are indeed based on intangibles, such as skin color or cultural differences. No one can deny that is a fact of life.

Personally I tend to believe that the person who has acquired or earned the power to hire for his organization ought to have wide latitude in making that decision, but I recognize and accept that too many people have abused that power too often, so now in America we aspire to and expect higher standards.

But your point is well taken. I do think that on paper Croom's experience seems objectively stronger and more relevant than Shula's, so Jackson at least appears to have a leg to stand on in this case. Is the University of Alabama's athletic department run by racists? I would like to think not, but I have no facts upon which to form an opinion one way or the other, and neither do most of the rest of you. Does Jackson believe the University of Alabama's athletic department is run by racists? Well, I don't know, but so far as what he's trying to accomplish I don't think it really matters.

I agree that Jackson takes foolish positions far too often for his constituents' own good, but you have to admit that he accomplishes something by taking actions like this one, in the sense that similarly situated decision makers in the future are forced to consider the ramifications of what they choose to do. So I think folks like Jackson and his supporters would say that yes, it does "help" to criticize one high profile program, to set an example others need to consider.

Anyway, does anyone else other than me think the University of Alabama should have been able to get someone a lot better than Mike Shula?

[Dwolfson20]

Originally posted by magicmike
A lot of job interviews are indeed based on intangibles, such as skin color or cultural differences. No one can deny that is a fact of life.

Personally I tend to believe that the person who has acquired or earned the power to hire for his organization ought to have wide latitude in making that decision, but I recognize and accept that too many people have abused that power too often, so now in America we aspire to and expect higher standards.

But your point is well taken. I do think that on paper Croom's experience seems objectively stronger and more relevant than Shula's, so Jackson at least appears to have a leg to stand on in this case. Is the University of Alabama's athletic department run by racists? I would like to think not, but I have no facts upon which to form an opinion one way or the other, and neither do most of the rest of you. Does Jackson believe the University of Alabama's athletic department is run by racists? Well, I don't know, but so far as what he's trying to accomplish I don't think it really matters.

I agree that Jackson takes foolish positions far too often for his constituents' own good, but you have to admit that he accomplishes something by taking actions like this one, in the sense that similarly situated decision makers in the future are forced to consider the ramifications of what they choose to do. So I think folks like Jackson and his supporters would say that yes, it does "help" to criticize one high profile program, to set an example others need to consider.

Anyway, does anyone else other than me think the University of Alabama should have been able to get someone a lot better than Mike Shula?

Yeah. Mike Price.

Seriously though, I agree with Eck that it's very difficult to judge from one situation like this whether or not racism was involved. For me to come to that conclusion, I would need to see a definite pattern in Alabama's hiring of coaches in all sports over, say, the past five years. Unless it's totally obvious, like if Alabama interviewed Croom and the athletic department janitor, and chose the janitor, then I think there is a serious sample-size issue and it's very dangerous to throw around things like racism.

[nddurst]

And I agree with you about his public speaking - he is truly a master of the art.

So was Hitler.

[magicmike]

Originally posted by nddurst
So was Hitler.

Absolutely.