Open Mic: Come to Think of It...Racism in Sports Used as a Crutch

Let me start this discussion by stating that only someone very naive would think that racism doesn't exist in America anymore. Likewise, if it exists in life, it exists in sports. After all, sports are but a microcosm of life itself.

Yet I continually find that those who use the race card as a crutch against their own failings are misguided at best, and probably in denial.

Take Willie Randolph, for instance.

He may have some valid points about black managers being more closely scrutinized than their white counterparts, but let's be real: Mets' fans only care about wins and losses. If they were winning and playing up to their ability, there would not be calls for Willie's head.

For in baseball, fans can be a fickle bunch, especially in New York. Heck, the Yankees essentially canned Joe Torre, and he was like an icon.  And last I checked he was as white as rice.

Another argument that gets blown way out of proportion is that there aren't enough blacks in management in sports. Look, there are fewer blacks in the U.S. population, first of all. So the sample size from which to choose from is naturally less. 

That is a fact.

Second, there are much less blacks playing and watching baseball, at all levels. While I don't claim to have the answer as to why, I generally think that economics and race play a secondary role to the fact that the game is too slow for most African Americans.

Thus, with fewer blacks in the population, and less playing baseball, of course there are going to be far less managers and front office personnel in MLB. That just seems logical to me.

And I have a reverse racism question of my own.

How come there is no mass objection and flailing of arms over the fact that there are fewer whites in the NBA and NFL than there are blacks? How come that isn't troubling to anyone?

Look, until you walk a mile in a man's shoes, you cannot know what he's thinking or why he believes what he believes. Still, if one looks at the issue of racism in sports objectively, without injecting emotion, there seems to be reasonable explanations that go beyond racism.

It is true that people tend to gravitate toward those who are like they are, who share common attributes and similar morals and standards. And yes, subconsciously, perhaps even common skin color.

But that's why there are checks and balances in the system, such as fines for not interviewing minority candidates, for example.

I ask you, where are the minority candidates who have the necessary qualifications, that want to manage, but are being held back?

By qualifications, I'm referring to candidates that are willing to put the necessary time in to hone their craft at the minor league level, like Ryne Sandberg is doing with the Cubs, rather than simply demanding a major league opportunity just because they were a star player.

Where are these guys so we can examine if it is racism that is holding them back? Huh?

Cito Gaston is one who is often mentioned as a former manager that seemed to have some success yet hasn't had the opportunities. But while Dusty Baker and Don Baylor have had second and third chances, despite being black, I never seem to hear of Gaston applying for an open position.

In the NFL, Art Shell was always one who seemed to fall into this category. But when he finally did receive another opportunity, he failed miserably.

In the NBA, Avery Johnson is in demand but seems to want to wait awhile to decide his next move, which is his right. But you can bet he'll get another chance if he wants it.

Oh, and what about poor Barry Bonds?

If he wasn't black, so the thought goes, he wouldn't be targeted as he is.

But that's a bunch of bull.

He's targeted for many reasons, the most obvious being the fact that his cheating allowed him to break the most sacred and hallowed record in all of sports. And his is the face of what has helped make a mockery of home run statistics in a sport where stats are king.

True, it doesn't help that he has always been a jerk to the media, but that has nothing to do with his race.

Overall, the issue of racism in sports is one in which statistics skew the story.

Sure, if you just look at sheer numbers, there appears to be a problem here, but when you look at it objectively, you find that there really is no problem.

But it is difficult for people that have been exposed to racism in their lives to examine the issue without emotion, and understandably so.

It's kind of ironic, in fact.

Come to think of it, the only bias that seems to exist is in people's minds.