Tuesday, January 1, 2019

GET ME REWRITE: NFL reduces number of Black coaches by 71.4%



Firing of Several Black Coaches Puts N.F.L. Hiring Under Scrutiny by Bill Pennington and Ken Belson.  (The New York Times, 12/31/2018
The N.F.L.’s 32 owners made an unexpected announcement after meeting a few weeks ago: The league was strengthening rules that obligate teams to consider minority candidates when hiring coaches and executives in their front offices. 
At the time, the league said it was just trying to beef up existing regulations, not reacting to criticism that teams had been skirting the rules for years. “Our focus was simply: How do we make the Rooney Rule better?” 
Robert Gulliver, the league’s chief human resources officer, said, referring to the rule adopted in 2003 and named for Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time who pushed for the regulations.

Related reading:
The legacy of the man behind football’s Rooney Rule—requiring interviewing minority candidates—lives on in Silicon Valley.  (Quartz, 4/15/2017)
In the world of tech, the Rooney Rule is a crude tool for a complex problem. But given how much time and money Silicon Valley has spent trying to solve their issue with equality, even a blunt instrument is worth trying.

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