There is a new face of white privilege in America, and it’s not a millennial having brunch in a Manhattan restaurant while getting publicly ridiculed. Oh no, the new face of white privilege is Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. Well, according to ESPN’S Stephen A. Smith anyway.
On Thursday’s edition of “First Take,” Stephen A. went off, suggesting that Garrett’s special relationship with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is the only reason he won’t be fired. And that relationship is a source of a kind of angst and envy for blacks who don’t enjoy that kind of arrangement.
“We understand that Tony Romo is important. The quarterback position is important. You can’t lose, but how in God’s name do you go 0-7? 0-7? You can’t win a couple of games? Anybody else would have been fired. But somehow Jason Garrett keeps his job. You know why he’s got his job? Because the owner loves him.”
“All I’m saying to you is that, what’s another person supposed to do with that? It’s not about my credentials. It’s not about my education. It’s not about what I’ve accomplished. It’s not about what I know. ‘Oh, I’m friends with the owner who’s like a father to me, so I get to keep my job.’ I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but it is rare in America that a black man has that luxury. And that is the problem. Jason Garrett is the walking epitome of the frustration and the disgust and the unfairness and the proverbial glass ceiling that black folks continuously allude to that never come their way. It’s a damn shame that this man is the head coach of this team, considering nothing but his record.”
“I don’t know him personally. I’m not taking anything away from him. I hear he’s a wonderful man. He seems that way. God bless him and his family. I’m not wishing anything. I’m just saying that the benefits that he enjoys is one of significant privilege.”
“Only reason I bring the black-white element into it is I am challenging when has a black coach had the benefit of such a relationship with an owner? You can say Marvin Lewis. Marvin Lewis has been to the playoffs six times.”
First of all, there’s no coach in America --white or black-- that has enjoyed a better relationship with an owner than black NBA legend Isaiah Thomas did with white Knicks owner James Dolan. Dolan paid and promoted Isaiah repeatedly, to do nothing except run the Knicks into the ground.
But I digress.
While it’s true that --unlike Garrett-- Lewis has been to the playoffs six times, there’s a very good reason why Jerrah has not sacked his coach, and it also has to do with the number 6. As in $6 million dollars per year over the next 5 years that Jones has agreed to pay Garrett.
Not only has Garett’s team been besieged by injury at all the wrong places, he’s also in the first year of a 5-year $30 million dollar contract. If Jones were to fire Garrett now, he would have to pay millions to Garrett in addition to the millions he would have to pay the next coach. Who, may or may not just patiently sit by and do whatever Jerry tells him to like Garrett does.
In other words, the color-coded reason for why Garrett will not be fired is not white. It’s green. A concept Stephen A. can and should be able to easily grasp if he would ever stop seeing only black and white.
But I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.
