Dabo's dilemma

The Sports Grouch tells it like it is

Posted 6/24/20

It’s not easy being a football coach in these times.

You are already suspect if you are white and you can become a pariah if you carelessly speak your mind.

We live in a time when young …

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Dabo's dilemma

The Sports Grouch tells it like it is

Posted

It’s not easy being a football coach in these times.
You are already suspect if you are white and you can become a pariah if you carelessly speak your mind.

We live in a time when young radicals want to rewrite our history, obliterate the lessons learned from our country’s trouble past, ban books, tear down statues and turn city blocks into vigilante-controlled hostages. 
All of this is in the name of brotherhood, fairness and equality of opportunity.

Take Dabo Swinney, the coach who led Clemson to 2 national championships.
Swinney has criticized Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests in the NFL.
While NFL coaches, players and fans had mixed feelings, Swinney said, “I don’t think it’s good to be a distraction to your team. I don’t think it’s good to use the team as a platform.” 
He suggested more harshly that if you are don’t like how you are treated in America go elsewhere.
Today, many think that sounds harsh and uncaring.

Views change
That was before an unarmed black man, George Floyd, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer with a long history of complaints against him. Why this officer was not fired years ago has not been explained.
It was also before a new wave of riots – many triggered by hate groups on the left and right – swept big cities as protesters condemned racial injustices.
Then Clemson’s star quarterback took a leadership position on social media.
“I’m siding with my brothers that deal, and continuously deal, with things I will never experience,” Trevor Lawrence, who is white, wrote to his 88,000 followers on Twitter. 
“The injustice is clear. So is the hate. It can no longer be explained away. If you’re still ‘explaining’ it—check your heart and ask why.” 

As criticism rose, Swinney released a 14-minute video statement saying, “I stand with my players and I will help them any way I can to unify people and help create positive change.” 
He cited black employees he hired at Clemson and said “black lives significantly and equally matter.”
He said he encourages players to express their views but cautions them to be aware of the heightened media scrutiny of them as Clemson players.  \\

The racial slur
Swinney also explained his handling of a racial slur involving assistant coach Danny Pearman.
He said that Pearman repeated the “N-word” a player had used to a black player but he did not call the player that word.
“There is a big difference,” he said. “I would fire a coach immediately if he called a player the N-word, no questions asked.”

It seems to me that my fellow white Americans have a lot to learn about the problems of our fellow black Americans that, as Lawrence said, “We’ve never experienced.”
I’m interested in your view. Email me at Chroniclesports@yahoo.com

Dabo Swinney, Clemson, Trevor Lawrence, Colin Kaepernick

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