From: Naithan
Jones
Date: Nov 1, 2005 2:08 PM
Subject: Notre Dame and racism
To: ballstate68@aol.com
Dear Mr. Whitlock,
As a fellow Kansas Citian and a black Notre Dame fan, allow
me to state my feelings
The
Notre Dame vs. Washington was the worse weekend for me as a black man
and an ND fan that I can remember. Being black has/had nothing to do
with me being an ND fan until that weekend. Nothing. I'm just a person
who happens to be black. I have views that are birthed from a mother
that is half Irish and half Jamaican (what a mix) and those views are
to work hard, earn what you get, don't accept handouts, treat others
like you would treat yourself or your own family, and in all situations
be slow to speak, humble and meek in your approach, and wise in your
application of ideas and advices. I had no idea that I was being taught
corner stone philosophies of what some people consider "conservative"
and neither did she. I have taken to all of those principles and I did
so at a young age. To be quite honest with you all it's the reason I
was drawn to watching and rooting for ND at 10 years old, while
watching them at 3AM via satellite as a boy living in Europe.
I have been saddened, disrupted, and boiled in many
directions this weekend as I watched and listened to the senseless and
irresponsible comments and antics from adults that look like me that
should know better, Frankly I think a large portion of American blacks
are just plain dumb when it comes to racial assessments and
assignments, and I think their European counterparts are wholly smarter
in their approach and understanding of it. They judge everything on a
visceral level and come to the same conclusion on every matter that
happens to involve a negative outcome for a fellow black person. I've
lived all over the world and I can tell you this, there is no where on
this planet where black people are treated better and given more
opportunities than the United States. No where. Black people in this
country have no clue how good they have it here, and perhaps that is
part of the problem here. They have no perspective. Now let me say
this, I'm not so naïve as to think racism isn't alive and well in
this
country, hell I've experienced it myself on occasion, but I also knew
it when I saw it and it wasn't debatable. The funny thing about those
situations though is that I felt uncompelled to report r talk to
someone about it when it happened mainly because clams of racism are
empty these days due to the very thing that Saunders and the liberal
PC/black media are doing.
I have never been more ashamed of my (supposedly) educated
voices of my community than now. We are at an all time low, with the
antics of Jesse Jackson and Sharpton and their ilk, and now this. ND
football used to be an escape from this stuff for me but alas now it
has even tracked me down here. All I ask for as a black man is to be
given the same opportunities that everyone else similarly credentialed
would receive. That's all, no more and no less. Zook was not performing
after three and he was canned, Cutcliffe was over performing historical
standards for his institution, and was fired, both of them after three
years. Why should I expect preferential treatment for Ty above those
other coaches because he looks like me? That would be racist on my part
wouldn't it? It would also signal that for me and people like me we
will always be dependant on special treatment to be successful, which
to me would signal more of a slap in the face than any racial slur. In
it's essence that is the core of my beef with the welfare state under
Carter and Reagan and Clinton. Welfare in essence was set up in my mind
to the tune of share cropping, and dependence. I sometimes feel that
the 70's/80's welfare mentality is what guides a lot of this knee jerk
reactionary prose and rhetoric. The philosophy that we need someone to
help our poor silly souls out, because we earned a pass due to
oppression that took place 200 years ago. It disgusts me, and if
anything it makes us look like wimpering fools that cry wolf every five
minutes in order to generate fear and guilt that in turn will keep the
milk tit flowing with milk. That topic is best breached another day
though.
So to a point, since the firing of Ty was (supposedly)
racist (according to Ty and Saunders et. Al.), doesn't that in essence
make his hiring racist as well, if we follow logic through that would
is the only plausible answer. It's as vapid as saying "Bush went to war
for oil and Haliburton" or if you like "Kerry is commie". Senseless
bumper sticker rhetoric that doesn't respect the issue fully or the
persons the issues touch. At the end of the day we are all less
respectful to the issue and each other because of it.
There are other African Americans who feel the way I do,
but are too afraid to do so publicly because as we've seen with others
like us they ostracized and marginalized in our community and are made
to feel as outsiders with labels like "sell out" or "uncle Tom". That's
sad, because for a group of people that wants change so bad they sure
don't accept the other point of views that would accommodate such a
thing.
I have a gut feeling and it isn't so good at this time. I
feel that the trust between some alums and subs that happen to be of
differing sides of the racial line in this debate about Notre Dames
treatment of Ty will suffer. I think most of the African American subs
and alums understand but I think its only human nature for the ones who
got burnt (mainly te white alums) to feel shell shocked and harbor
distrust. I don't think most will have this reaction but I think a few
will and that in my estimation is the real sadness in this tragic
episode.
I am upset, angry, sad, frustrated, furious, and full of
grief. Most the emotions I have towards Ty Willingham (a man I expected
better from) and you, Jason, are rangy. They go from disbelief all the
way to rage. If any one thing is holding us back it's the slave
mentality of persons like Ty and Saunders and dare I say a slight
majority of Africa Americans that voice themselves this way. That's
right I said it, it's slave thinking. It's slave mentality. These are
men that wouldn't know anything about "the struggles" per se. Not that
I would, but I'm a hell of a lot less wealthy than they are, and I feel
I have a hell of a lot better perspective on this stuff than they do,
and I also feel I understand what Dr. King wanted better than they do.
Today, we have been reduced to using Dr. Kings legacy like a weapon
instead of building upon it's great foundation. Even in the immense
wealth that this country (with al of it's problems) has heaped upon
these men and with all of the things that Dr. Kings legacy has afforded
them they are still not grateful enough to not understand the virtues
that I learned from that little Irish Jamaican woman from south London
years ago.
I weep today for the state we are in.
Comparing Ty to Weis
Comparing
Ty to Weis is not a conversation any Irish fan or sub alum should even
dignify with an engaged response but since I'm here, I will this last
time. For the twelve or so people in this world who are still under the
spell of Ty's marketing strategy I will give you some clear common
sense articles of common sense differentials. Ty was promoted from a
position coach to a head coach. He never spent time as a coordinator so
in turn he has never built a game plan, he has never had to game plan
against any other coaches, and he has a limited X's and O's pedigree.
This will of course obscure his vision on hiring those who do handle it
because he doesn't have the wherewithal to know a good coordinator from
a bad one. This is especially bad because due to his lacks as an X's
O's coach his fate is tied exclusively to his coordinators.
The second problem with his political promotion in the
coaching fraternity is respect. He hasn't cut his teeth as a
coordinator with any other up and coming coordinators and that has
limited his arsenal of respect and coaching connections. No coaches
respect him as a professional because no one knows him as a coach. He
has never made a name for himself in their circle. They don't respect
him because they don't know him and they don't know him because he
didn't earn respect by coming up like Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops,
Tedford, Jim Tressell, and just abut any other coach worth their salt
came up. Coaching is a tight knit fraternity and one bonded by working
with guys up through the ranks. When major jobs are given to position
coaches because of their color it is noted by those coordinators that
are worth their salt and aren't getting jobs. This is why Ty can't get
an OC. Why should they slave for a guy and make a guy successful that
no one respects and that will ultimately get the credit for your
success when quite frankly he doesn't even understand your schemes.
With Ty, Stanford did what Stanford does. They experimented
with political correctness, but this time on their football program.
They hired a position coach. It has hurt Ty Willingham more than it has
helped him.
I am black myself, but being black doesn't divorce me of
common sense. The media is crying about the plight of black coaches but
quite frankly I don't see it. There just aren't any black coordinators
to choose from. I can see clearly why this is happening.
Having played college football I have several friends that I
am still in contact with that obviously played as well. To a T I have
only ever seen one black player have a motivation to be a grad
assistant coach. Why? They love the game and all, but the pay isn't
there. Also to a T, I have seen several of my former white player
friends come back as grad assistants. Why? They say it's because they
love the game more than money. Am I saying that this is always the way
it is? No, but it certainly seems to have been an analogue in my
experiences. No coordinators, no head coaches. The cultural aspect of
coaching cannot be ignored. Many young black grads just aren't
interested in coaching. They just aren't. Many aspire to play for
various pro and semi pro football teams and the others want to go to
grad school or join the working world. Many of the white players want
to do the same, but I also see many of them that want to coach. Bad
enough that they will tough it out financially for a few seasons and
work hard.
Enough with that rant. Ty wasn't getting it. He was ill
prepared for the stage that the ND job is. He made poor hiring choices.
He was loyal to the wrong entities. he was arrogant to a fault. He was
arrogant without reason. He was poorly organized. He lacked the talent
to recruit and so did his staff of stiffs. He managed ND like a
position coach turned head coach would. He allowed ND to be skewered in
the media after firing him, an outcome that he himself engineered with
false loyalty. He did that for a buyout. He not once in the three days
there after spoke to the media and told them to call off the dogs. He
very cryptically praised ND only when pushed in his first interview
after the firing which was after five days of media damage. Damage was
already done. His father figure act was just that, an act. It was a
cover for his deficiencies as a professional. He was let go. Good
riddance
With Weis you have a guy that is universally respected in
the coaching world. A guy that has cut his teeth as a coordinator with
the best and against the best. You have an ND grad that witnessed first
hand how a great ND team is supposed to look, feel, act, and play. He
brings in a staff that is universally heralded as a top staff. His
D-Back coach could be a defensive coordinator himself and three of his
assistants could be head coaches today. Weis has coached five positions
as a position coach and produced Pro-Bowlers each time. He has
coordinated four Super Bowl featured offenses. Two of them winning
Super Bowl offenses. He has done that with no first round TALENT. Weis
won the state championship in his first and only year as a high school
head coach. Weis has taken a group of players that you media types up
there in your ivory tower of sports talk said would go 1-5 to open, and
has them eight points from being undefeated (including a nail biter to
USC). Anyone that saw Willinghams 8-0 start and compares it Weis start
hasn't watched much Notre Dame football or the have an agenda to
further. I'll assume you're a smart man Jason, but upon doing so I'll
have to admit my repulse at your antic.
I'm sorry that you feel the need to paint a whole group of people
as racists because of the color of those involved, and it saddens me
that we have cheapened the word so much so that it has become a career
furthering cliche' buzz words for the like politicians, sports
editorialists, entertainers, and other public figures. Sadly, it has no
more function, potency, or use due to the misuse that it has
incurred at the hands of your ilk.
Nate Jones