tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8612844.post113042334707600719..comments2023-10-02T04:25:26.717-04:00Comments on Prophet or Madman: Fishering for an AnswerBrainwisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05365589218358614091noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8612844.post-1130462839418668782005-10-27T21:27:00.000-04:002005-10-27T21:27:00.000-04:00Coach DeBerry is a man with a great reputation and...Coach DeBerry is a man with a great reputation and 22 years of coaching experience at the Air Force Academy (his record is 164-99-1). Why is it that we question his racial attitudes now? Why is our knee jerk reaction to forgo any reasonable examination of the content and context of his statements and instead proclaim them 'a mistake,' 'racist' or 'offensive'.<BR/><BR/>Where can we talk about racial issues in this culture? If we cannot discuss these things rationally, with neither pride nor prejudice, within the world of ideas found in academic university life, where can we? What will be the effects of a culture that prizes equality over freedom? A culture that is so stigmatized by the possibility of personal offense is one where the hallmarks of the liberal society, freedom and responsibility, will undoubtedly be subjected to the tyranny of the minority.<BR/><BR/>See <A HREF="http://blog.mccannta.com/mccannta/2005/10/air_force_acade.html" REL="nofollow">Air Force Academy Football Coach Criticized For Frank Comments on Race</A><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://blog.mccannta.com/mccannta/" REL="nofollow">mccannta</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8612844.post-1130431873484197112005-10-27T12:51:00.000-04:002005-10-27T12:51:00.000-04:00Hmm, this reminds me of the "Jimmy the Greek" comm...Hmm, this reminds me of the "Jimmy the Greek" comments back in the 80's (?). I think his comments were more shocking, though. <BR/><BR/>I fall into the camp that you can't make these kinds of general statements, even if there's a complimentary aspect to them. Attributing success or failure to a person's / team's "race" really takes you down a bad road quickly. <BR/><BR/>I do think that society and the media is a little jumpy over the race issue - many things are called racist when they are not. But, in this case, I think DeBerry needed to be called on his remarks. <BR/><BR/>As to who should be offended, well, probably lots of people. To the white guys on both teams, he said, "You are inferior, because you are white", and to the black guys, "You are superior (only?) because you are black". He didn't qualify it by saying "more muscular, better conditioned, etc." - it was just black vs. white. <BR/><BR/>-JimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com