One of the lines that sets off an alarm in me is when someone says, \u201cI\u2019m not a racist.\u201d\u00a0 The major lesson that I take from it is (a) to never make such a statement on my behalf, and (b) to try to make every effort to not say or do things that might be interpreted as racist.\u00a0 Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I fail.<\/p>\n

I have heard people say and seen people do things that set off my \u201crace-dar.\u2019\u00a0 I imagine that sometimes it\u2019s a real alarm; other times it\u2019s a false one.\u00a0\u00a0 Here are a few examples from the world of sports, a realm with which I am somewhat familiar.<\/p>\n

For the better part of the last decade, the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team has had very few African-American players on its roster, and those players have largely been fringe ones.\u00a0 The team has been well-endowed with Caucasian and Latino players and among them are some of the best players in the League. \u00a0The Cardinals won the World Series is 2006 and 2011, so no one can say that the organization wasn\u2019t doing everything within its power to win.\u00a0 In fact no one can say with evidence that the team has tried to limit the number of African-Americans.\u00a0 We are in an era in which the percentage of African-Americans in baseball has dropped from 20% to 8%.\u00a0 \u00a0Some teams have only one African-American player; others have none.\u00a0 The Cardinals largely swing between one and no African-Americans on the team.\u00a0 But in the mainstream community of St. Louis, this issue, or question, of why there are so few African-Americans on current teams is rarely, if ever, brought up.\u00a0 We seem to be scared to talk about race for fear that we might cause trouble. We rarely say that by ignoring it we\u2019re pretending that it doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The Cardinals have had a running feud for three years with the Cincinnati Reds.\u00a0 While the primary instigator of the first brawl was Johnny Cueto, a Cincinnati pitcher from the Dominican Republic, St. Louis fans have taken to placing the blame on Brandon Phillips, the Cincinnati African-American second baseman from Raleigh, NC.\u00a0 The problem seems that the Cardinals can neither accept Phillips\u2019 humor nor friendliness.\u00a0 He likes to tweet a lot and at times makes playful fun of the Cardinals.\u00a0 All in good jest; nothing more than that.\u00a0 In a 2011 game, Phillips gave Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina a playful tap on the shin guards, but Molina considered it a violation of his space and another brawl broke out.\u00a0 Ever since then, St. Louis fans and even announcers have described Phillips as being their nemesis and someone who hates the Cardinals.\u00a0 I cannot say that there is any racism involved on the part of some in \u201cCardinal Nation;\u201d I can only say that it smells a little like it.\u00a0 It makes me feel uncomfortable.\u00a0 It\u2019s also possible in some ways that Phillips and many of his teammates dislike the Cardinals because the team can appear to be a bunch of white Boy Scouts.<\/p>\n

The St. Louis Rams football team tried to sneak a talented African-American quarterback from Duke University named Thaddeus Lewis<\/a> through waivers a couple of years ago.\u00a0 Lewis had been exceptional in pre-season games with the Rams but he had little chance of replacing starting quarterback Sam Bradford who was both good and a $50 million investment.\u00a0 Lewis was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns and since has been a backup with the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills.\u00a0 But he could be valuable to the Rams in a couple of ways.\u00a0 First the team is weak at backup quarterback.\u00a0 Second Lewis can run a \u201cread option<\/a>\u201d offense; a style that is becoming to be a norm within the league.\u00a0 Third, at the very least Lewis could run a \u201cread option\u201d offense in practice against the Rams\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n

On a sports radio program in St. Louis, an African-American co-host suggested that the Rams might try to get Thaddeus Lewis back to strengthen themselves at the quarterback position.\u00a0 The white co-host said, \u201cFor what?\u201d\u00a0 Again, when I heard that, I felt uncomfortable.\u00a0 Would the white co-host have said that about a white quarterback?\u00a0 Maybe so, maybe not.\u00a0 It just seemed like too easy a dismissal of a quarterback who in his one NFL start completed 22 of 32 passes for 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception.<\/p>\n

The term \u201cread option\u201d has only come in style since then end of the 2012-13 season.\u00a0 That\u2019s because they playoffs featured three of the four such QBs in the league, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins, and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks.\u00a0 The fourth was 2011 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers.\u00a0 What virtually no one says publicly is that in a league that for decades was the domain of white quarterbacks, all four of these run-option quarterbacks are African-American.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know whether it would be better for football observers to say that teams should look for more read option quarterbacks or more African-American quarterbacks.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that there is a right or wrong about this; only that it seems that we\u2019re afraid to say \u201cAfrican-America\u201d or black for no particular reason.\u00a0 If there is a reason, perhaps we should talk about it.<\/p>\n

I have written several other articles on the recent history of race in St. Louis sports teams:<\/p>\n

\n
• Baseball and Politics \u2013 Part I<\/a><\/li>\n
• Baseball and Politics \u2013 Part II<\/a><\/li>\n
• Baseball and Politics \u2013 Part III<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  It has never been our desire to accuse anyone of being racist because (a) we have no basis for doing so, (b) it never leads to productive conversation.\u00a0 It might serve us well whenever we feel queasy about a race-related issue that we take time to think through our thoughts and not be afraid to check with others to get their perspective on it.\u00a0 If opponents of President Obama would challenge themselves to see how much of their opposition to his policies emanate, at least in part, from race, it would help.\u00a0 I have to acknowledge that I tend to favor his policies more because he is African-American.\u00a0 Perhaps I\u2019m practicing my own version of affirmative action.\u00a0 If so, I don\u2019t mind because I think that we are still some distance from equality.\u00a0 I continue to question my choices; I think that it would be wise for all Americans to do so because we have not cured \u201cour original sin\u201d of slavery.\u00a0 Let\u2019s continue to make special efforts for the next 50 years and then see where we are.<\/p>\n

  [See companion article: The new denial: How much of partisan gridlock is driven by race<\/a>.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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