I’m not convinced that moving on from Scalley would be the best option

[chinngiskhaan]

for the University’s reputation. Depending on the context of what happened, I think that using Scalley and his experiences to promote change could be a much better look.

Would abruptly firing the guy in order to save face really work out so well for the university? This happened many years ago, and the university did nothing about it then. If the university just claims they didn’t know until now, and then they fire him, how exactly does that change the hot water that the university is in??? In my mind, that would just look like an institution ran by white people trying to sweep more institutional racism under the rug, rather than actually addressing the issue at hand and trying to create change.

At any rate, firing Scalley certainly does not mean that the incident wouldn’t be used against us by rival schools when recruiting, and it may even make explaining it more difficult. It seems more effective to me to have Scalley himself explain to a young man’s parents that he made a big mistake, and he has become a better man, with a better understanding of racial issues as demonstrated by some something that he has done that clearly shows this to be the case (a regular speaking assignment, charity event… I don’t know, those all seem like very white people institutional ways of dealing with a problem, maybe his players will have better ideas of how he can make ammends?). 

The reason we are having all of these protests in the first place is because white america has done the scapegoat thing. They’ve fired the guy in charge numerous times, and no real progress has been made. People want real, lasting change, not just punishment for those that were in the wrong.

So lets say Scalley gets fired, and some other guy comes into a recruit’s home and the parents ask them about the incident. “that man no longer works for us ma’am.” “ok… well… what about the other people involved who must have known about it but did nothing? If he did it out of ignorance, what about all the other guys coaching and playing on the team that are from the same community as Scalley, and who presumably have the same ignorances? What about them?”

I don’t know. If Scalley said what he said as an insult (I highly doubt that is the case) then obviously he needs to go… But otherwise, I’m not convinced that canning him and creating as much distance as possible is really the best way to go long term. I’d rather see the University use this incident as an opportunity to create lasting change and awareness in our community.

Just as an example of something that is somewhat similar, but having nothing to do with race at all… In my profession, I hear about people who have unintentionally left young children in their cars (or some other form of accidental child neglect), and gotten back in their cars only to realize that they left their baby in the car seat, and their child has passed away. (yes this is a very different situation, I know). This is absolutely illegal to leave your child in a car seat until they die (obviously). It is a crime, and a fairly serious one at that. However, many judges have found that having the guilty parent speak at events, or perform some other sort of public service in order to raise awareness to the problem is a much more effective way to create positive change in the individual responsible, as well as in their communities, while also not letting the perpetrator off the hook.

What I would love to see is this: *Assuming that the vast majority of players, current and past, that are people of color are on board* Scalley (as well as others at the university) should speak to each of these players individually, as well as their families, whether they have expressed concern or not, to find out what he and others at the university could do to provide a more appropriate environment for these young men, and their families. This would be a huge educational opportunity, one that I would hate for the University to miss out on.

Firing Scalley would be a wasted opportunity IMO.

[idahoute]

I agree wholeheartedly.  Context is going to be important and likely the major factor determining what the investigating party and University will decide.  We will wait and see.  I’m not black and I have no grounds to voice an opinion on the matter but I do know Morgan.  Before the alligation he sent out his unsolicited tweet in support of the black community because that is his core belief.  Unfortunately it backfired on him and someone wants to call him out on it.  That is fine and that is their perogative and if Morgan didn’t heal the wound(s) and address the issue back when it happened, he certainly has manned up and done it now.  Morgan is uber emotional, passionate, and a bigger than life personality.  This is why he is such a great coach but also why he has gotten himself in trouble.  My uninformed belief and opinion is there are a lot of loose tongues in that atmosphere and things that would make our ears ring are pretty common on the field and in the locker room.  I truely believe Morgan used extremely bad judgement and used language he felt was acceptable as an athlete peer.  Racist to me means someone believes another race is in someway inferior, in someway different, and in someway he/she speaks, acts, and discrimantes against that race.  Morgan is a football coach and would take a bullet for any of his guys regardless of color.  That is not racist.  I would hate for the man to be labeled for life as something he is not because he used poor judgement.  You watch, if given the chance Morgan has the strength and character to unify the team and make them stronger….

[Whitty]

Completely agree. Bad judgment, NOT racism… Morgan is an incredible man from what I’ve seen and I will be very disappointed in the University if he is made an example and fired (based on current information of circumstances).

[User Suspended]

And this is what p**ses off the black community.  The white people circle the wagon on one of their own. Racist or bad judgment – the black community feels the same type of “forgiveness” is not given to them.

It’s impossible for white people to TRULY understand this feeling ( i don’t because I’m not black) but I can imagine how some people feel they aren’t given the same benefit of the doubt.

Utah/mormons has it’s own stereotype issues…Utah football has tried hard to tap down those stereotypes, but I got to tell ya, Utah will need to do MORE than other universities in an attempt to keep those stereotypes tapped down.

The Utes selling point was “Family”. Well guess what, one of the white/mormon coaches dropped the N word….but it was only bad judgement, so don’t worry about it

Try selling that to a Florida recruit and his family

 

[ironman1315]

Most of the African American players I’ve seen are coming out in support of Morgan. 

[User Suspended]

I get it. I don’t think Scalley is racist. As a white male of a certain age, I know exactly what he did. Seen it/heard it many times. But we’ve (white people) all got the wake-up call notice. Which is good – about time.

But I got to tell ya, if some coach say in Georgia, said the worst possible thing about the mormon religion ( not sure if you’re mormon) but then said, sorry it was bad judgement, would you still send your kid way across the country to a place that has no other mormons?  Do you get it?

This is what Utah is facing.

 

 

[ironman1315]

There’s really nothing that’s equivalent in the LDS culture to that word. So it’s difficult for me to say. So I can only base this off my personal opinion and how I try to deal with ignorance as compare to hate against my faith. And in my view ignorance can be educated and overcome. The way to do that is with love and patience.

 

[pedro]

Wait, you can’t understand it but your not black but yet you feel free in stating emphatically that “this is what p**ses off the black community”.  Fact is you’re not a minority and you cannot understand it.  Fact is ignorance exist in every culture about every other culture and part of resolving the issue of racism is working through that ignorance.  

MS may very well have been ignorant as Sly is staing.  However much of the community (all races) are quick to assume he was being racist.  They need to not be ignorant just as MS should not have been ignorant.  If this had been of maliciouis intent, I would say fire the guy.  It clearly wasn’t.  In all cases of alledged racism we should look at the intent.  Rather than be offended, educate.  

It can be done, it should be done, it must be done!

[chinngiskhaan]

I’m not deciding whether it was racism or not. That’s not for me to decide. I’m just saying, if the players past and present want scalley around, there are ways to turn this into a potential net positive for the program.

[Charlie]

One of the problems with the word that is the focus, is that in some context it is a horrible racist word while in other context some use it in everyday friendly conversation. Most often when used in friendly conversation it is between and among African Americans. When someone is responding to an African American that has used that word by repeating the word, it may be accepted or at worse bad style. If overheard by someone else or in this case directed in error to someone else, and without context, it can be interpreted wildly different than intended. The issue highlights the problem of a word that can have two extreme opposite meanings. If we want to eliminate use of the word, should we eliminate use of the word by anyone under any circumstances? Is there any explanation possible that explains use of the word as friendly conversation? I am curious, was the person that saw the word in error, satisfied with the explanation or has a third party that heard the story repeated the event in an attempt to hurt the coach? Was there an injured party that felt the pain of discrimination? I feel it becomes much worse if the recruit or his family feels injured. I feel bad for all involved including the other coaches and players.

[User Suspended]

“If we want to eliminate use of the word, should we eliminate use of the word by anyone under any circumstances?”

smh….so white.

So the blacks better stop saying the n word or no deal?  We really need to look into the mirror. Think bigger, you’re better then that

[CB]

@Pace Alright bud, that’s enough virtue signaling for today.

“smh….so white.”

Wtf does that even mean? You claim to be holier than all, yet your racism is on full display. What if I said “smh…so black.” directed towards something someone did. See how that might not be ok to say?

Concering one of your comments above:

And this is what p**ses off the black community.

From what i’ve seen over the years and even weeks, the people that are getting the most p**sed off are the virtue-signaling white lefties like you. Stop acting like you know what black people want/think like. I’m white and i’ve lived half of my life in a place where I was a minority. I was close to people and families of different colors then me and they treated me like family and we loved each other. Regardless, I was of a different culture then they were and even though I was pretty knowledgable and aware of how they are culturally, I didn’t grow up like they did. You don’t know what black people want, and I know acting like you do makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, and gives you an excuse to call yourself a good person, but it’s really cringe and it’s time to stop.

[Charlie]

Thank goodness this will be figured out by someone that will understand the problem much better than someone that only hears a sound bite. It is possible to miss the signal for needed change, but it is also possible to overreact to a problem that does not exist. I think the only thing that makes sense is to wait for the whole story and/or wait for informed folks to make a good decision. For sure, it would be a mistake to react to the story in a way to manage appearance without consideration for what actually happened including the context of the event. This has the possibility of going either way and there is detail that could persuade me either way, but we are not there yet.

[Author]

Posts