Ignoring Black Milestones Hinders Progress

In this day and age of media obsession over race, it was no surprise we heard endlessly about the two Super Bowl coaches being black and what it meant to the American culture. Honestly though, does it come as a shock to anyone that two men of such class and talent reach the Super Bowl? I was happy that Tony Dungy won the game because he's decent, honorable man who has suffered greatly in the past 14 months and can now put to rest the notion he's an underachiever as a coach.

Which leads to an interesting column by Michael Medved that wonders whether the vastly reduced levels of bigotry in this country lead to other problems.

The signs of reduced levels of racism have become so powerful and unmistakable, in fact, that the refusal to acknowledge this breathtaking decline in bigotry may soon comprise a greater threat to the black community than racism itself.

A new study by researchers for the “Black Youth Project” at the University of Chicago (in Barack Obama’s home town) shows disturbing levels of defeatism, paranoia and self-pity among 15 to 25 year olds.

Read the whole piece.

Another column I read this week which really hit home was by New York Post basketball columnist Peter Vecsey, who wonders, like I do, what the big deal was. Vecsey is probably 20 years older than me, but like I did, grew up in New York City idolizing black athletes of our respective generations--in his case, the legendary Jackie Robinson.

IN THE 1975 NBA Finals, Al Attles' Warriors beat K.C. Jones' Bullets in four straight games. It was the first time two African-American head coaches (assisted by another; the most vocal communicator in Washington's huddle was Bernie Bickerstaff) competed against each other for the title.

"People hardly made that big a deal about it," Attles recently told a friend of mine.

I can vouch for that, having covered that series, one I recall with indelible clarity; it was the last time I correctly predicted a championship-round winner.

Other than being aware the sport of basketball had shattered yet another racial barrier, I don't recall reading anything remotely lengthy about it, or that it was even branded a landmark occurrence. I know for sure I didn't feel compelled to celebrate its historical significance in print.

By that time in my life, it made hardly any impression on me. Why should it? I grew up idolizing Jackie Robinson, the first to integrate major league baseball/professional sports. In the mid-1950s, before heading over to Little League practice (Bill Gallo was our commissioner), I'd often camp out on my bike near the St. Alban's, Queens, home of the Brooklyn Dodger -- dying to see if he walked pigeon-toed in real shoes, too, and dreaming about getting his autograph.

My point about noting these two pieces is to underscore the fact that the overwhelming majority of our population is indeed colorblind. It would be welcome were the media in general to also become that way -- highlighting our common interests as a nation rather than constantly noting our differences as a means of dividing us.