This should not shock my African audience here since we do it all the time in Abuja and our state capitals. Yes, advertising tender opportunities for projects which HAD been executed and commissioned. Those advertisements are for cleaning up the policy procedural books.
But that such can happen in America’s largest sports empire, the National Football League, will come as a shock to many. A man, Brian Flores, was supposed to be interviewed for a head coach job but in an accidental message, another coach was already sending congratulations to someone who HAD been hired for the same job!
A big accidental message indeed. Largely, if the guy had not received that message, he would have gone ahead – 3 days later – without knowing that he was just coming to help the team make up a number: we also interviewed minorities and ended up picking the guy we picked. Yes, the black dude was given an opportunity but he failed. But no one will know that the job was not available when the guy came for the interview.
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It is very unfortunate indeed. The color of your skin, sound of your name, gender, etc must not be the yardstick to allocate opportunities in the world. It was the same message I put when ex-President Trump team said that Ngozi Okonji-Iweala was not qualified for a WTO top job, even when Ivanka Trump was out there negotiating trade deals with China. A World Bank former executive with MIT PhD and a fashion diva; the difference comes down to color of the skin!
From Nigeria where discrimination comes from the sound of your name (Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, etc) to America where it is defined by color, people should consider the implications of these toxic systems. No human will feel good knowing that a job you are preparing to interview in 3 days HAD already been concluded! That is not the spirit of sports and I hope it changes.
Last Tuesday, the National Football League dismissed Brian Flores’ claims of racial discrimination in the league’s hiring processes as “without merit.” Over the weekend, however, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did an about-face, sending a memo to all 32 teams calling efforts to promote diversity among head coaches “unacceptable.” Seven teams have hired a head coach since the regular season ended, but only the Miami Dolphins have selected a minority candidate, Mike McDaniel. (LinkedIn News)
People, what is wrong with humans? Why is the sound of our names, the color of our skins, etc, are so powerful against decent, honour, values, etc in societies?
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