Roy Exum
As half of America wonders how a Texas school superintendent still has a job, the other half of the country now understands that being dumb is no crime. Minutes after the Houston Texans dropped a ugly 20-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, an upset educator – obviously with a full head of steam -- pounded this sentence out on his Facebook page: “That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I’ve seen in the NFL. When you need precision decision-making you can’t count on a black quarterback.”
Minutes later, it dawned on Lynn Redden, superintendent of the Onalaska Independent School District, what he had actually posted and, while he rushed to yank it down, another Texan made a screen-grab with his cell phone and put the racial message out for all to see. The school superintendent claimed he thought he was emailing a buddy.
Redden explained, “I immediately took it down. I totally regret it” but also claimed the snippet was taken out of context. “In no way was it meant to be racist but I can easily see how it could be taken that way. I wish it had never been posted.”
Redden was bemoaning the fact the Texans’ quarterback, Deshaun Watson, played poorly and allowed the clock to run out at the end of the game What Redden said his note meant was that black quarterbacks have a rough time in the NFL. “Over the history of the NFL, (black quarterbacks) have had limited success,” he said.
The superintendent’s judgment has been called into question and his school district – about 100 miles north of Houston – will meet in a special session tomorrow. Calls to the school district were not returned but an official statement read, “Onalaska ISD regrets that an inappropriate comment has been attributed to the district's superintendent.
“The OISD does not condone negative comments or actions against any race. The district values every individual and therefore the district will take the appropriate measures to address the situation expeditiously and completely."
Much of what will occur depends on what is in Redden’s contract but a surprising number of readers at the Houston Chronicle were not nearly as upset as you might think – the “freedom of speech” issue becoming surprising parallel to the NFL players who have been allowed to kneel during the national anthem.
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KIPCHOGE EXTRAORDINARY MARATHON RECORD RUN IN BERLIN
Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge finished last Sunday’s Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 1 minute, 39 seconds — smashing Dennis Kimetto’s previous world record of 2:02:57 by an astonishing 78 seconds, the largest margin in more than 50 years. Kipchoge, who lost his pacesetters some 15 miles in, posted an even more impressive 2:00:25 last year in Nike’s Breaking2 event, though the race wasn’t officially recognized. The 33-year-old has now won 11 of the 12 marathons he’s raced, including the Olympic gold medal in 2016.
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ONE MAN’S TESTAMENT
I have been sick and NEEDED a doctor.
I have encountered trouble and NEEDED a police officer
I have lived through times of war when our nation NEEDED our military.
I have NEEDED farmers every day.
I have NEEDED an auto mechanic, a plumber, a house painter and a lot of other everyday people.
But I have NEVER -- not even once -- NEEDED a Professional Athlete, a Media Personality or a Hollywood Entertainer FOR ANYTHING.
royexum@aol.com