This football coach of Korean heritage found out what it’s like to be on the “wrong” side of diversity when he applied for a job with an unnamed NFL team recently.
Despite a resume that includes 55 games of experience as an NFL offensive tackle – the first Asian American first-round draft pick in history – and 10 seasons as an assistant coach under Super Bowl winners Andy Reid and Doug Pederson, Chung was turned away.
“It was said to me, ‘Well, you’re really not a minority,” Chung told The Boston Globe.
Chung is Korean, as are both of his parents.
“That’s when I realized what the narrative was,” Chung said. “I was blown away, emotionally paralyzed for a split second. I asked myself, ‘Did I hear that correctly?’ ”
Seems like he’s pissed his “diversity/minority go to the front of the line “ card isn’t valued as much as others. ( dirty secret. Based on nationwide assaults, it seems like blacks dont like Asians. Last time I looked quite a few blacks in nfl )
Boo fucking hoo. You’d be happy to play the race card in your favor Mr Chung , and now your sad that there is actually a hierarchy to this race hustle shit, and you’re not at the top of that totem pole?
Boo hoo.
Upvoted.
Yep, those who cry that they don’t get to be more equal than others can look for sympathy in a dictionary (it’s there between shit and syphilis).
I think he has a legitimate gripe.
Exactly what I was thinking. Playing the diversity card is the best, except it’s bad when it doesn’t apply to you. I wonder if he sees the illogic and hypocrisy in his argument.
Indeed.
If he had only coasted on his abilities instead …
I say sit back, don’t take sides and watch them fight.
My (heavily Asian) SF Bay Area is going apoplectic over “AAPI HATE”. Every random crime that is suffered by Asians is now characterized as AAPI HATE. Hence “we have to STOP AAPI HATE”. Underlying this (mostly) nonsense is … “Trump started this, because he said ‘Chyyynah Flu’” … “Trump sent dogwhistles to his ‘racist’ followers to hurt Asian people”. Nevermind that 99% of all street crimes against Asians (are there any other kind?) are perpetrated by BLACK people … or by random mentally ill homeless people.
White people, and especially Trump supporters have nothing whatsoever to do with AAPI HATE.
Mr. Cheung might want to check out the constituency that is the source of all AAPI HATE … hint: 78% of all NFL players. Not only are you NOT a minority in their eyes … they actually HATE you. Yep. HATE you even more than white folk. They HATE you because “your people” are good at math … and math is ‘racist’ … so … Koreans are racists. Make a note of it, Mr. Cheung.
Institutional racism exists, just not pointed where they are saying it is.
“Institutional racism exists,………..”
Yea the prison systems anywhere in the world self segregates pretty quickly into racial boundaries.
I understand his frustration…a bit. This actually has nothing to do with race, as Asians are now referred to as “white adjacent”. Same standard is used for university admissions and school curriculum changes. What “white adjacent” means is you can do math too.
Is “white adjacent” the same as “multiracial white”? Asking for a friend.
To them , it is a fluid thing, like a made up in your head gender that they use depending on the issue.
Asians are considered a race needing protection when the liberals want to blame the violence committed on them by African-Americans on white supremacists instead, but “white adjacent” when they show with their academic success that there are no systemic hurdles against anyone succeeding in the US if they put in the right amount of effort and make the right decisions.
Kind of like how the group invading our border is a people who need crimes ignored, financial handouts, to be allowed to jump the immigration line to get into our country, and because of their hardships back where they came from be treated like a whole separate race in the US even though they aren’t , but when one of them kills a more favored identity in a valid self defense shooting they become a “white hispanic”.
Hispanic White … See: George Zimmerman
White people are a minority world wide, we should be reaping the benefits.
Try being a white person without an advanced degree looking for work in any Asian country……….even with one.
Quite seriously, we better understand that they define us by our skin color and unless we band together and help each other, we will perish. It did not have to be this way but we let too many of them in to put that Gini back in the bottle. It will be Balkans in the end.
Playing football in school is one thing.
To be a grown man and waste your ability on an ….amusement is disgusting.
Ditch digger is more important to progress than Bill Bellichick.
Anyways, if he was good, instead of credentialed, he’d been hired.
Interesting example … the one NFL coach who dresses like a ditch digger … 🙂
Doesn’t dude realize that a lot of black ex players don’t get hired because they’re dummies?
All Asians are smart, right, so he should be programming or something.
There is nothing mysterious about pre-judgement. Its a fact of life. Its cultural, racial, territorial, clannish.
Just try not to be a dick and we’ll all get along better.
This article is just what I would expect an ass-rag like the Globe to come up with. They never actually tell you what level of coaching job Chung was attempting to be hired for, though they reference the Rooney rule which is only for the top jobs of coordinator and head coach
In looking at Chung’s background, he should have been groveling for any type of NFL coaching job he could get. A successful NFL coaching trajectory is to start as an assistant coach for one of the units (offensive line, defensive backs, etc.), then after a period of several years be promoted to the main coach (not assistant) for that unit. Some coaches will then just have a decent career tied to that one part of a team, while the better ones eventually get a chance to be the coordinator for the whole offense or defense. Again, that can become a fine career on its own while the best strive to become head coach of a whole team.
Chung, on the other hand, after ten years in the private sector, became an assistant offensive line coach and though employed by some successful teams, worked for nine years and was never promoted beyond that point. He had the resume of someone who ages out of the NFL (you want to give these assistant jobs to a guy who has potential), like a military officer who can’t get promoted beyond a certain rank. He certainly didn’t have the resume to be interviewing for a job where the Rooney rule came into play, and if he was it was a team wanting to interview a guy that would satisfy the rule without actually being a viable candidate for the job.
They referenced his race. That’s the issue here. If the interviewer would have stuck to vetting credentials, it would have not been an issue.
There is an actual story here, but because of how the coach referenced his race Chung and the Globe missed what it was.
They are arguing that a qualified candidate isn’t being considered for a job because he is a minority, but the wrong one. My point is that his resume shows him nowhere near qualified for a Rooney Rule level job, so that story doesn’t fly.
The story they are missing is that NFL teams appear to be meeting Rooney rule requirements by interviewing the correct minimum number of minority candidates, but they actually circumventing the intent of the rule by interviewing minority candidates who are hopelessly under qualified for the job that is open.
They are plenty of minority unit coaches and coordinators in the NFL who are well qualified for promotion and they could have interviewed them, but then you have a harder time explaining why you hired a white guy instead. So, you bring in guys like Chung to check a box, but not actually consider for the job.
He appears to have an open and shut EEOC case. The silver lining here … is that he’s just about gonna get paid Colin Kaepernick sized $$$$ … to just go-away. I hope it comes out of Roger Goodell’s offensively huge $$$ salary
Split on this one.
Koreans certainly are a minority, and shouldn’t be told they are a “wrong minority”. But no one should be trying to use their race to help get themselves a job.
Minority? Everyone is in a minority of one kind or another.
I am a man and there are more women
I went to private schools and most went to state gulag indoc centers
…..and on and on
Sounds sort of like he’s upset that he doesn’t fall into the ‘gets special privileges’ section more than anything.
If he’s as good as he says he is, he shouldn’t have gone in expecting special treatment for being a minority.
The same rubbish is now well established in the medical field. “White and Asian” get lumped in together, because treating Asians as a separate minority would completely blow a hole in the the whole white-supremacist-systemic-racism B.S. given the numbers of Asians making it into medical school and the profession generally. Conveniently, lumping in individuals of East Indian origin with “Asians” allows the race hustlers to use a bit of verbal legerdemain to avoid the painful (to them) truth that skin colour is in fact no barrier to achievement. Facts don’t fit the narrative? No problem: redefine the “facts”.
Chemical determinism should not be used as a substitute for job-specific qualifications. As an aside, why wouldn’t whites be considered “a minority” in the NFL? I don’t watch it but when I glance at the TV when others do, all I see is black dreadlocks sticking out of most of the player’s helmets.
Meh….Who cares 1 Iota about Pro Sports of ANY kind.??
Whiny knee bending millionaire mouthy arrogant mofo’s the lot. (IMO of course)….
Am done with them all, Hockey Jerseys up for sale, subscriptions cancelled. They, will get nothing from me from this point on…
TV telecasts ignored, I’d rather watch a rerun of I love Lucy ffs. Given I cut the Cord 4 yrs ago, there is more watchable enjoyable material than one could ever hope for..!!
My interest in PRO sports is waning and near zero. The EPL is about the only Pro Sport left for me. PS … the only reason they’re still kneeling? No fans in the stands. The SECOND fans return to the stands … it will be embarrassing to kneel while the whole stadium is booing. The idiotic FA will end the entire farce.
This is only being reported widely because of the current “anti-Asian hate” canard being put about by the Red Chinese, sponsors of the regime in north Korea (among so many other of the misfortunes of mankind).
If Americans hate Red China, it’s obviously because of “anti-Asian racism,” not the fact that every other Asian nationality hates Red China too.
I’m calling BS: I seriously doubt an NFL team would blatantly violate the EEOC provisions verbally to an applicant. They might violate them covertly and purposefully. But, no potential employer is going to explain to the applicant that they aren’t hiring them because of race.
Not buying it.
I applied for free HVAC training once. Then I was told its only for native indians.
Where’s my newspaper article?
The reason they discriminate against Asians is because Asians are more like white people. They would still discriminate against white people if the choice was Asian v. White.
I’ve been the wrong minority my entire life….
Step one when talking to any of these race baiters is to define the terms, in writing.
“We’re here to discuss your racism.”
“Okay, what definition of the word racism will we be using? Let’s get that written down so we can refer back to it later. This should be pretty straightforward and acceptable, right?”
“what it’s like to be on the “wrong” side of diversity”
You mean the Wong side of diversity…………