As a former high school football player and a huge fan of any sort of football, there is nothing that I appreciate more than a good football game. Recently though, the sport has come under intense scrutiny for supposed racism and diversity problems.
For instance, some have criticized the lack of diversity of coaching and management positions both in the NFL and the college levels. Critics have constantly called for quotas or certain "special" hiring practices, which essentially means interviewing a black coaching candidate before any others. As a minority in America, I am sympathetic to race issues, and I am disgusted to see a person discriminated against just because of his skin color. However, I do not find this to be an example of the existence of racism in the NFL today.
For instance, we often see criticism of the management and coaching positions of the NFL, but rarely hear anybody criticizing the lack of racial diversity of NFL players. We are all cognizant of the fact that most of the players in the NFL are black, yet there is never a call for quota systems to include more Asians or whites on the field. Is this because of systematic oppression of these groups by the NFL? Perhaps Asians have just been told over the years that football is not their sport and that they should focus on stringed instruments and integration by parts instead of tackling and throwing. The more likely scenario is that blacks have just demonstrated a better ability to play the sport and have been selected for their merits.
A couple of years ago, my good friend from high school gave me the opportunity to speak to his uncle, none other than the famous coach Bill Parcells. I remember one time he asked me if I wanted to continue to play football in college. Being the idiot that I was, before I said anything, I said to him, "Uh, Mr. Parcells ... I hope you know that I'm Asian." In hindsight, I have no idea why I said this, as he quickly responded in Parcell-fashion and retorted, "That's [expletive]. I don't care if you are white, black or Asian, if you can play football, you'll play football."
Basic economics dictates that a team will be punished for discrimination. The purpose of every NFL team is to create the best product on the field and to try to win the Super Bowl. Thus, the team's interests would be served by placing the best-qualified players, coaches and managers they can get. Good coaching is an essential piece of winning in football. For instance, Parcells transformed a mediocre Cowboys team into one at the top of the NFC East. Likewise, talented teams like the Buffalo Bills display a haplessness and inability to win, in part because of terrible coaching.
If a general manager wants to be racist and intentionally chooses a non-minority coach over a more qualified black one, he will do so knowing full well his team will not be as strong. Furthermore, an opposing team would be more than willing to pick up this qualified coach and improve their results. In a sport where front office personnel are often fired very quickly for a poor showing on the field, the general manager will likewise be held accountable for choosing the less qualified coach. This analysis holds for all levels of football personnel.
It is improbable that a team would be willing to utilize the services of black athletes who have demonstrated their competency but then turn around and discriminate against qualified black coaches. Qualification, not race should be the overriding factor in determining if one should win a position, like Parcells aptly noted. In a free-market system, one bears a significant cost in discriminating solely on the basis of race.
Every year, Korean and Chinese students at Hopkins play a tremendously sloppy but fun game of football against each other on the Beach: a tournament known as the "Rice Bowl." The sight of a bunch of Asians going up against each other in a game of football certainly looks unusual, especially considering how there are virtually no Asians who play professionally. However, if you keep watching, you'll notice: We really aren't that good at the game. Maybe there's a reason we aren't in the NFL Racial quotas have no place in professional sports.
--Kane Kim is a junior economics major from Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
