Dolphins new head coach, Mike McDaniel’s race, has gotten a lot of attention for probably the first time in his life.
To most people who don’t know McDaniel, when they saw him, they thought that he was a white man. After he was hired by the Dolphins, though, some applauded the team for hiring a multiracial coach, which confused many people because almost no one knew that he had some black in him due to his father being half black.
To make things more “interesting,” the 49ers, where McDaniel was the offensive coordinator, were awarded two compensatory 3rd round picks for developing a minority coach or GM.
McDaniel has now addressed his racial background, and it didn’t really clarify anything. He says that he just wants to be identified as a human and that he’s never had any experience dealing with racism but says his mom and dad experienced it. Because of that, he can identify with other people’s problems.
“It’s been very odd to tell you the truth,” McDaniel said.
“This idea of identifying as something. I think people identify me as something, but I identify as a human being. My dad’s Black, so whatever you want to call it … I know there’s a lot of people with a shared experience.”
We are all human beings, but that doesn’t change the fact of what our race is. If he doesn’t want to identify as black or white, that is his decision, but since he doesn’t want to be seen as black, he shouldn’t be counted as a minority hire. He is clearly saying here he doesn’t see himself as a minority or has struggled with anything that minorities have to struggle with daily. He has lived his life as a white man, which is why he has never experienced racism. How can someone be racist against you if they don’t know you are black?
Not the best press conference to start off your career as a head coach.
Flip the page to see the video from his press conference.
