Minority report fails in sports

By Josh Griffin

Attorney Johnnie Cochran has threatened to sue the National Football League over the dearth of black head coaches in the league. When Cochran takes action, reaction is inevitable. Just ask O.J. But in the instance of minority coaches in the NFL, Cochran has struck a chord that better bring change.

The number of fingers on the human hand (Ronnie Lott excluded) also represents the number of black head coaches in the NFL since Al Davis hired Art Shell in 1989. Tony Dungy, Herman Edwards, Ray Rhodes and Dennis Green were the others, and only Dungy and Edwards are currently head coaches in the league. The fact that there are only two black head coaches in a league of 32 teams suggests a problem with minority recognition, especially as black players constitute two-thirds of the players in the league.

The NFL is not the only organization behind in the times. Major League Baseball has five minority managers working among the league's 30 teams. Two managerial hirings thus far this off-season have witnessed no minority hirings.

It is apparent that intervention is necessary, and I'm not equipped with the source of the problem, nor the solution to the problem. But it is going to require increased opportunities for minorities to seize leadership positions for us to reach a day where the average person can interact with another without basing judgment on the characteristics that mark ethnicity, religion or orientation.

While participating in the 1960 Rome Olympics, 18-year old Cassius Clay commented on the state of racial issues in America: "Oh, we got problems, but we're working 'em out. It's still the bestest country in the world." That may be true, but, 42 years later, there's still more to work out.