Readers: What did you make of Jerod Mayo’s comments on colorblindness?
"What I will say, though, is I do see color because I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism."
The Patriots hired Jerod Mayo as head coach earlier this month.
Mayo is not only Bill Belichick’s successor, but also the first Black head coach in franchise history. The Patriots were founded in 1959.
Mayo’s hire comes nearly sixty years after the Celtics hired their first Black head coach, Bill Russell, in 1966. Alex Cora, who is Puerto Rican, became the Red Sox’ first minority manager in 2017.
Last week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was asked what Mayo’s status as the franchise’s first Black head coach meant to him.
“I’m really colorblind in terms of I know what I feel like on Sunday when we lose,” Kraft said. “And I can just tell you that after my family, my passion is with the New England Patriots, and there’s something else very close second, but winning at the Patriots is my passion. I want to get the best people I can get. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he’s best to do the job.”
Mayo, however, said he saw things differently.
“What I will say, though, is I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism,” Mayo said. “Whatever happens, Black, white, disabled person — even someone with disabilities, for the most part people are like — when they’re young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means.”
“But what I would say is, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. It goes back to whatever it is, Black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter, but it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
Mayo joins Mike Tomlin, DeMeco Ryans, Todd Bowles, and Antonio Pierce as one of five Black head coaches in the NFL. Miami’s Mike McDaniel, whose mother is white and father is Black, identifies as biracial.
According to the NFL’s diversity and inclusion report, there were 197 white head coaches hired between 1993 and 2023. There were 37 head coaches of color hired during that timeframe.
According to a 2022 Washington Post report, around 60 percent of NFL players are Black. There are no Black majority owners in the NFL. Two of the league’s 32 owners are minorities, according to the Associated Press.
So, tell us: What did you make of Mayo’s comments? Does colorblindness result in equitable outcomes for all? Or does it hinder the ability to address racial discrimination when it happens? Share with us in the form below or e-mail us at [email protected]. Your response may be used in an upcoming Boston.com article and/or its social media channels.
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