Kevin Broadus and Binghamton University - food for thought

Recently I spoke about the racial discrimination lawsuit brought by Binghamton Men's Basketball Coach Kevin Broadus against Binghamton University. The suit alleges discriminatory action by Binghamton University against Coach Broadus, who is the only African American Head Coach at the University, in regard to a secondary NCAA violation.

I further sought to contact Coach Broadus for an interview, to discuss this case and his views on race relations, coverage by the major media, the disparity of Black head coaches in colleges and professional sports , and what it is like to be a head coach. I received a response from Linda Kenney Baden, Esq. who is representing Coach Kevin Broadus in this legal matter, which states that he is declining to do any interviews at this time.

"Coach (Kevin Broadus) had wished to personally respond to you, if only to say he enjoyed your courageousness in dealing directly with some of the issues your article touched upon."

But the statement from Ms. Baden on behalf of Coach Kevin Broadus does give some insight, I believe, on the views of Coach Broadus.

"...he (Kevin Broadus) expresses the importance of availability of opportunity for young people, including those with sports abilities. Coach does not believe that we should assume, for whatever reason that a young person, won’t be able benefit from education access, while allowing a person with athletic talents to reach for his or her own personal dream. Some dream to become leaders in academia. Others wish to become accomplished sports figures. As so clearly demonstrated in the recent hit movie about Michael Oher, “The Blind Side”; had some of the coaches, schools, and public taken the position they have regarding rigid “standards” that have been espoused in this case, that gifted young man would have been a casualty of society rather than the person he is with the accomplishments he has achieved."

In regard to the issue of how Binghamton University has handled the matter of the NCAA violation - that Kevin Broadus self-reported - Baden states

"Yesterday, a local newspaper printed, as a result of their FOIL demand, the first public admission that BU has 19 coaches that have committed secondary violations. They have not indicated what year these numbers are from or what position or coach committed them. Nor does it appear, as far as I can tell from the article(s), have the total number of the violations been revealed or the context of any of them. However, the spokesperson confirmed, according to media reports, exactly what Coach has maintained: that no other coach has ever been 'suspended’ because of secondary violations."

Further lawyer Baden finishes the letter with

"As to Coach (Kevin Broadus), he does not seek to avoid responsibility for the inadvertent secondary violations that he both self-reported and apologized for committing. But he does seek fairness and equal treatment. You only need to GOOGLE the words NCAA+secondary+violations and more than 50 pages of articles will reveal how such coaches are normally treated by both the NCAA and schools. While the NCAA does not publish an annual compilation of same, there are some locations that contain overall numbers gleaned from occasional interviews. For example, there is one news article that has printed the following statement admission attributable to the Director of Public and Media Relations for the NCAA that secondary violations ‘are commonplace’ and further, for instance in one snapshot year alone the

“…NCAA received self-­reports of 2,972 secondary violations from 331 Division I schools in 2008. That’s about nine per school. Some schools report dozens of violations.”

[Note - I was later informed by Ms. Baden that the above quoted secondary violations pertain to NCAA football and not basketball. Given that there are no reports on this from the NCAA in regard to other sports, the quote does give some perspective on the matter.]

I checked the statement of Ms. Baden about the google search for NCAA secondary violations and found 129,000 responses for a total of 68 pages of items.

Reflecting on all of this, I have to wonder what effect this action (as is alleged) by Binghamton University is having on other aspects of the college. Nothing happens in a vacuum, especially at a college campus. If any administrator, teacher, and/or coach can be singled out and ostracized - based on race or any other factor independent of their character and actions - how does this affect their ability to interact with the students? How does this come out in what is being taught? Could this in some way be stifling independent thought or limiting what students might learn? What example is being stated clearly and in no uncertain terms if the allegations are correct?

It's been a long time since I was a student at college, but I imagine that observing a college treat a head coach in a disrespectful manner potentially for the mere fact of his skin color would lead me to have serious reservations about what the world outside the cushy confines of academia is like. Thus it seems to be a disservice to both the faculty and students. One that seems to demand resolution and open discourse - which apparently is not happening.

I agree with Coach Kevin Broadus that students deserve the opportunity to learn. I agree that a rigid view that appears based in bias only serves to hurt and not help all involved as well as those tangentially involved.

I believe that the world, and America, is difficult enough that students - while not treated with kid gloves - deserve a respite and to be given the knowledge that racially based bias (or any bias for that matter) is unacceptable; rather than not only being tolerated but enforced.

If the allegations are correct, then Binghamton University has done a greater disservice than just to Coach Kevin Broadus. If true they have given a future generation of Americans a mindset more akin to the early 20th century than the 21st, which is obviously not the purpose of the institution.

I thank Kevin Broadus for reading my original post on this subject, and in providing a response to my request for an interview via his attorney. He had no obligation to do either.

I do hope that when Coach Broadus is ready to do interviews again, on this subject or the Binghamton Men's Basketball team or any other topic, that I will have the chance to interview him then and provide that to you my readers.

Kevin Broadus has a common problem

College basketball is a staple of many small communities. It drives regional, and national, competitions and has been known to start more than one bar brawl. But is college basketball racial?

That is the question consuming Binghamton New York right now. Because Kevin Broadus of the Binghamton University men's basketball team remains on suspension for what has been called a 2nd rate NCAA violation - one that is claimed no other coach has been similarly disciplined for. Broadus also happens to be the only African American head coach, and has filed a racial discrimination complaint against Binghamton University.

Some might not see this as a big deal. Others will note that the suspension has been going on now for 6 months, and really was over a minor infraction. Yet others will see the fact that the Greater Binghamton area is comprised of about 4% minorities, and is hardly considered an area of diversity in understanding or anything else.

For me the issue goes far broader. It's not just about the lack of minorites as head coaches (in college and professional sports), it includes the lack of ownership of African Americans and other people of color in major sports teams. It includes the overwhelming emphasis people of color have been led to have about pursuing sports careers and little else. It's about the virtual non-existence of people of color in positions of authority and prominence. It's about the media's blind eye to almost any but the most negative issues regarding people of color. It's about the racial divide in America continuing to be as problematic as ever before.

"In fact I was trated differently by further having the respondents [Binghamton University] hire, for $1 million, an outside entity to allegedly survey the Binghamton Atletic Department when in fact, the direction of the survey ended up being an investigation mostly into myself, other minority coaches, and other minority professors who were percieved to be my friends soley because of our color and ethnic status." - The complaint as filed by Kevin Broadus

Imagine other coaches having their friends and colleagues investigated because of the color of their skin. Say a similar investigation was made on Jews, or Evangelists, or smokers. Would you say that was outrageous? Or would you say, as some have in Binghamton, that he is just overreacting?

Try to understand why there are no African American owners of teams in major sports. Consider that there is a massive disproportion of minority head coaches across the country. Then step away from sports and consider the same overwhelming disproportions in the entertainment industry, politics, business ownership and executive status, ect. When you think of this in that context can you really say its just an anomoly? That out of the more than 30 million African American population, out of the well qualified former players and wealthy successes, barely any hold positions of leadership?

You can take this argument to almost any aspect of life. Police departments, politics, business, just look around. Ask the question why there is such a disparity, and why in almost every occassion any infraction is so severely responded to when people of color are involved. IE. Tiger Woods was not the first, nor last, celebrity to have a daliance in his marriage, but I don't see the outrage and media spectacle being the same with Sarah Bullock's husband.

Perhaps I'm on a bit of a tangent. It may not be as clear as I wish this to be said. It's not because the issue is so small, but because it is so large. It is so common most don't look at it, willfully or not.

Does Kevin Broadus deserve the treatment he is getting? Maybe not. Is it due to his race? Possibly.

But the real question that is never asked is why this problem, and moreso its true causation if racially based, is never addressed though it occurs nationally in every aspect of life?

Imus, Rutgers basketball, and Rev. Al Sharpton - 4.9.2007.1

Ok, I’m a bit behind on this event. What can I say, I don’t like basketball and I don’t listen to either the Imus radio show or the show of Rev. Al Sharpton. As such I only recently found out about the disparaging comments made last Wednesday by Mr. Don Imus. To say I am upset is an understatement.

For those that may be in a similar situation as myself, Mr. Imus called the Rutgers women’s basketball, “…some nappy-headed hos”. This was in response to Mr. Bernard McGuirk’s comment, “some hardcore hos.” By the way, no one has asked for the resignation of Mr. McGuirk, though his comments are no less insulting. Obviously there are a lot of problems here.

Let me start with Mr. McGuirk. The fact that he calls Black women hos is despicable. I understand the argument that calling women as such is common because rappers and hip-hop entertainers do so, but that does not make it proper. I have discussed rappers using such insulting terms to describe women, I disagree with that and I disagree with this. He provided the fuel by which the far better known Mr. Imus created this furor. While I am in favor of severe actions against Mr. Imus, I feel Mr. McGuirk cannot be left out either.


As for Imus, well I’m not surprised. There has been a long history of ill-toned comments against African Americans by him. This is just another example, and furthers the viability of his being removed from the air. I find his apologies half-hearted, motivated by fear of losing his position more than his own true feelings.

Mr. Imus has tried to excuse his commentary, when speaking to Rev. Sharpton, by referring to the fact that other African Americans entertainers and people use this term often. That did not fly with Rev. Sharpton, nor does it with me. That seems to remind me of the comment my mother used to say, “If everyone jumped of a bridge, would you do it to?” To claim that one person should be excused because of the infantile actions of another, when both are acting badly, assumes that everyone involved and everyone listening is stupid. I am not, nor do I believe you my readers are either.

I understand that at 66, Mr. Imus is part of a culture that believe calling Black Americans “colored” or the n-word was a commonplace act. He grew up and was taught that African Americans were second-class citizens at best, and that the need to be separated from them socially and economically was an imperative. I understand that that was the truth of the time of his formative years. Yet that does not excuse his actions. As a seemingly intelligent man, who has worked for decades in entertainment and has lived in the probably most diversified city in the nation, he should know better. He should be capable of understanding that individuals are not stereotypes, and that stereotypes invariably target the worst aspects of any group of people.

An intelligent man does not need to demean women. An intelligent man does not need to comment on a group of sports players based on their hair or its style. An intelligent man does not need to make back-handed “compliments” to be humorous. Most importantly an intelligent man accepts the responsibility and repercussions of their actions and comments, even when this is a detrimental result. That is part of my expectation of any intelligent man.

Pleas that Mr. Imus is a good man are irrelevant. Even less relevant by the fact that it is Mr. Imus making the plea. To speak about the acts of kindness he does for a few does not excuse the damage he does to millions. I don’t care if Mr. Imus despises African Americans. That’s his choice. I do care how he speaks about us in a public forum.

I don’t agree with anyone referring to someone’s hair/hairstyle in a discussion that pertains to anything but that. Hair does not define a person any more than skin color. Does the fact that Mr. Donald Trump may have a hairpiece change anything about him? Does that mean that all men that might have a toupee share his exact qualities? If such an argument sounds ludicrous then the words of Mr. Imus are no less so. What I would like to hear Mr. Imus, and Mr. McGuirk, explain is what makes the Black women of the Rutgers basketball team hos. Then I want to hear what makes their hair nappy. And then perhaps I can hear how either of these comments have anything to do with basketball or the abilities of these women. I would listen to Mr. Imus explain that, and I’d like him to do this in front of the women that he has nationally demeaned. And then he should still be fired. Not resign, fired. He has given up his right to save face in this matter.

I do not often agree with Rev. Al Sharpton, but I find his one comment to be correct, “I accept his apology, just as I want his bosses to accept his resignation.”

This is what I think, what do you think?