Reply #75: We can disagree on this. I don't jump to a racism charge quickly.

[Gormy Cuss]

I look for every other plausible reason before I presume racism, and the coach's remarks were unambiguous to me. Other coaches who use "speed" as code are only barely better than him in this regard. It's the same closed minded thinking that perpetuates sterotypes in a broad range of endeavors. If one thinks only a certain type of person can do the job, one will ignore other talented people who don't fit those preconceived notions. A coach saying "white men can't jump" should get nailed over that comment too.
Most corporate CEOs are white males. If I'm looking for a take-charge guy for my company, I guess I need a white guy. Women and people of color just don't have what it takes. That's not prejudiced, is it? I'm old enough to remember when the building trades and public service jobs like firefighting were shut off from women because of a presumption that women couldn't cut it -- they were of too small a stature and had weak musculature, not to mention their other female trouble. Otherwise reasonable people would swear they weren't biased, it was just stating reality.
If it walks like a duck,...