Post in this thread if you want to read and contribute to a thoughtful (if exhaustive) treatise on race and leadership in football

[xerxes]

I'm white and from my point of view I don't see these guys as being more white friendly then the others. I like cam because of his talent. I like Russell Wilson because of his talent. I like kaepernick because of his talent. I like any player because of his talent level. I feel if you go into a "white group" watching football and ask if they like him or not you'll find that if he is on the team they like they'll love him regardless of being white friendly. Ask them about a player on a rival team they will not like him because he plays for that team. I feel like this whole white friendly non sense is a myth. When we get past seeing someone race first is when we get past all of this.

I think this is a fairly common sentiment. Here's a counter argument that is better articulated than I could make it.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6919.html

Race is a very loaded topic, and is difficult to summarize briefly. In my own experience, I have managed people from several different racial backgrounds, and I have never come up with a good way to have those conversations because everybody is an individual and approaches it differently.

One of my employees got extremely offended when I tried to ask whether our different races was affecting our ability to relate. At almost the same time, I had another conversation with an employee who did feel it was a problem. We had a long talk about it, and had a much stronger working relationship afterwards.

In short, people are complicated. I think you have to build a relationship and mutual respect with the individual. For a lot of people, race is a critical competent of who they are, so to ignore it is to disregard something vitally important to them. So personally I don't feel ignoring race is a solution.

[AppStatePanther]

It helps make you look more "conformed" in some peoples eyes.

LOL.