The reality of equality

This morning I sat watching “Get Up” on ESPN during which a “minority” coach who had just been fired from his previous job as an NFL head coach, was being interviewed following his filing of a racial discrimination lawsuit against the National Football League and specifically three teams. Among his allegations, the coach reports not only going to a job interview knowing the team had already decided on another candidate for the job but also alleging that the people interviewing him for a another position (head coach) were apparently inebriated when they showed up. His lawsuit is in part an effort to “change the hearts and minds” of the people that decide who fills vacancies for head coaching jobs in the League. (I would guess his attorneys see a possibility of making a “few bucks” here. So how does this lawsuit impact his chances for two different coaching jobs that he is in line to be interviewed for? And why is he even looking for another job at this point? Why do coaches get fired anyway? Your win/loss record sometimes is the deciding criteria for keeping or terminating. It’s because their team is not performing like the owners and other powers-that-be expect and the blame typically falls back on the head coach. This is not something that just happens to minority coaches. Instead, regardless of skin color, if you’re the head coach and your team keeps losing, your job is on the line and at some point, you will be fired and looking. It happens all the time, usually after a team’s season is over and sometimes in the middle of the season. However win/loss is not always the reason. Remember that sometimes, coaches surrender their current position in favor of a better job and more money. So why is there only one black coach left in the NFL at this time? If you’re an NFL coach and have an ethnic background that is in part Hispanic, Indian or Asian, does that make you a “minority” coach? If, so how many “minority” head coaches are really currently employed as such in the NFL. The first thing that comes to mind is that this coach has never had a losing record in any season during his current tenure with the team. But there may be other reasons why you stay or are shown the door. Your passion for what you do drives you to choose a certain kind of work. Loving what you do will never shield you from termination, as long as you work for someone else. This is true for anyone, including myself. When you are passionate about what you do and have done the best job that you are capable of, what happens in the end is not in your hands. You are not in control. I can relate to this coaches frustration but will rules and laws really change the hearts and minds of men? It’s a pipe dream. It’s not going to happen. You function in life within the rules and reality of how things really are, cry out in your own way when you believe you were wronged, but what else can you really do? Those who make the hire/fire decisions will always find ways to circumnavigate the rules, pick the person they want and push out those that no longer fit the big picture, regardless of skin color. You can end segregation but racial bias is deep-rooted and can be harder to prove and unfortunately easier to conceal. So, does one throw up their hands and give up when they believe that they’re not getting an “equal opportunity” to compete for a job opening? No. But regardless of the outcome of these lawsuits, the bitter pill to swallow is that discrimination (and not just racial) will continue. It may not be as apparent as it was but if you cry “Racial discrimination!”, it’s not news to anyone and certainly not any person “of color”, or specifically non-white. Think about this. It even goes beyond color of skin. Let’s include religion, political preference, sexual preference and the list goes on and on if you’re looking for reasons (subtle or otherwise) why people accept or reject you, choose you or someone else. Consider this. Maybe, just maybe you are not the most qualified person for the job just as your former employer determined at the job you had. Attorneys on either side are only after the billable hours and the financial reward of winning a case, with the possible exception of those who do pro bono work. “You pay nothing unless you win!” Does that sound like someone who really gives a damn about the heart and soul of the lawsuit? It’s all motivated by possibility and promise of financial reward. They’re in if they smell money. Who believes otherwise? You can point out, as part of this particular lawsuit how, in the past 20 years, there has been a minimal number of black coaches, although there are so many of them out there, who are qualified and waiting for their chance. Are you expecting to get a job because you are experienced, qualified, seeking that opportunity AND are a “person of color”? Life is not fair. People don’t “play fair”! In a perfect world, we would all be color blind and playing on an even field. But that’s not reality. Forget that this involves the National Football League and imagine this similar situation with any other company or corporation. Let’s just say that of 200 managers in your company (regardless of what kind of business you’re in) and only two or three of them fall into the “minority” category. Should your company be under scrutiny for not being more diversified in your efforts to change those numbers for the sake of appearing to be “doing the right thing” and affording equal opportunity? Isn’t the definition of discrimination about choice and if you are not a person of color, believe you’re a qualified applicant and do not get chosen, does that mean you were not discriminated against in other ways? If you’re white, applying for work in a “minority” owned business and a “minority” applicant gets chosen over you, have you possibly been victimized? Maybe. Maybe not. Prejudice exists in this country but while this lawsuit sheds light on it, the big picture unfortunately remains the same. It is the way this world keeps turning and is only more or less apparent, depending on the situation.