WaPo columnist Michael Wilbon writes that Air Force Academy football coach Fisher DeBerry is being unfairly pilloried for saying his slow white cornerbacks are not able to defend against fast black wide receivers.

DeBerry has nothing whatsoever to apologize for. I understand that any kind of categorization, especially along racial lines, can be risky...But our fear of any discussion involving race should not eliminate common-sense observations. Since Jason Sehorn retired from the NFL a season or so ago, how many white starting cornerbacks are there in the NFL? The answer, as far as I can find, is zero. And even if I missed one or two, fact is that a position based largely on speed is 99 percent black in the NFL. That’s not the same as making a presumption about the intelligence or character of cornerbacks, black or white. It’s fact, Jack. DeBerry didn’t offer any cultural or empirical evidence about cornerbacks; he just said he would like faster ones, and as the NFL demonstrates, the fastest ones are black. That isn’t even debatable.

Wilbon concludes:

The coach didn’t say his school should lower admissions standards to let in more black students, as Paul Hornung said Notre Dame should do. DeBerry didn’t do an Al Campanis and say somebody lacked the necessities (primarily the intellectual necessities) to do a specific task. And he certainly shouldn’t be lumped in with the likes of Jimmy the Greek, who gave a drunken anthropology lesson of how the big black buck (to use his words) was mated with the big black slave woman to produce the best athlete.

DeBerry didn’t insult any race or ethnic group. He offended some folks who confuse politically incorrect public speaking with bigotry. What I find a hundred times more offensive was when DeBerry hung a banner proclaiming, “I am a member of Team Jesus Christ,” in his locker room one day after the academy superintendent announced plans to increase the school’s fight against religious intolerance.

Overbearing evangelism (is that doubly redundant?) at the Air Force Academy has indeed been a problem, highlighted by a recently-filed lawsuit. The Air Force's chief of chaplains Maj. Gen. Charles Baldwin has angered evangelicals by suggesting prayers be non-denominational, but additional remarks by Baldwin in a videotape strike me as condoning a continuation of the potentially offensive atmosphere of religious evangelizing at this high-profile public institution.

Baldwin, a Southern Baptist, advised chaplains that the guidelines do not prevent senior officers from discussing their religious beliefs with subordinates. "This is America, and for those of us who come from belief systems that require us to tell others of our faith and what we believe, this is so important that we feel free to do this. Just have to put it in the right context and never again coerce anyone to believe something that they don't want to believe," he said on the videotape, obtained by The Washington Post.

....The guidelines, worded as recommendations, urge commanders to be "sensitive" about discussing their faith with subordinates. "The more senior the individual, the more likely that personal expressions may be perceived to be official statements," they say.

...Michael "Mikey" Weinstein, a 1977 Air Force Academy graduate, filed a lawsuit Oct. 6, contending the Air Force violated the Constitution by allowing aggressive evangelizing at the academy. He said he plans to bolster the suit by adding four active-duty lieutenants, including his son, Casey, as plaintiffs. Weinstein took issue with Baldwin's contention that senior officers can share their religious beliefs with subordinates as long as there is no coercion. "It can't be done noncoercively when you're on duty," Weinstein said. "How does a junior officer say to a senior officer, 'I don't want to listen to this' without worrying about offending the senior officer?"

I'm with Weinstein. I'm for freedom of religion, and freedom from religion. Belief systems which "require" believers to "tell others" of their faith need updating in today's world. While I have always been quick to spring to the defense of churched Americans and even religious conservatives, against the crude mockery of the Left's cultural warriors, I take just as much offense at the notion that anyone should have someone else's religious beliefs or statements imposed on them unwillingly or without explicit permission granted, first. If I really want to hear all about your faith, I'll ask.

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Posted by Matt Rosenberg at November 1, 2005 05:09 PM