Former Auburn coach and current US Senator has added another horrid title to his resume.
Islamophobe.
A little more than two years ago, I wrote this story on how Tuberville’s hidden racism should be a warning for all Black athletes to research the coaches they’re thinking of playing for.
No matter the size of the NIL payments, the national exposure you’ll receive or how you might thrive under their tutelage, nothing is worse than being under the rule of someone who “tolerates” your melanin in order to win but secretly hates you and those who look like you.
Tuberville has proved to be that person.
He refused to denounce white nationalists serving in the military, insulted teachers in urban areas and associated Black people a rise in with crime (which was a false claim). He also supported not certifying the votes from the 2020 election, wanted to overlook the January 6th insurrection and held up approval of over 600 senior military officers.
Yet he’s the same person who recruited and coached hundreds of Black football players at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.
He’s the same person who recognized that in order to win at Ole Miss, which was hamstrung by sanctions and a loss of scholarships, he needed Black players. So he suggested that if fans stopped waving the Confederate flag at games, they would have a better chance at recruiting (Black) talent.
Not that the waving the flag was wrong or that it symbolized hate.
No. That it deterred the recruitment of Black players.
Yet after 21 years of coaching Black players, he was perfectly fine with playing racial politics to win, and keep, his US Senate seat.
Now that Tr**p is in office and racism is rampant without recourse in Congress (check the disgusting feed of Rep. Andy Ogles if you can stomach hate, ignorance and vile inhumanity), Tuberville decided to complement his racism with Islamophobia through this disgusting post about NYC Mayor Mamdani.
He then doubled down after Politico posted that he suggested that Muslims are the enemy.
“To be clear, I didn’t “suggest” Islamists are the enemy. I said it plainly,” responded Tuberville.
He then continued his anti-Islam rampage by tripling and quadrupling down with more horrid commentary about Islam which I won’t repeat here, but to see it come from a US Senator is as embarrassing as it is infuriating.
Tuberville is unabashed in his hate for Islam, fearless in his stance against the religion and is basically daring anyone to check him on it. And others, like Ogles, are openly supporting him.
These are elected representatives calling for the expulsion of an entire group of people, a group which I belong to.
Tuberville and those of his vile ilk can no longer be dismissed or overlooked for they have created a dangerous environment for those of a darker shade and different religion, and they are overtly content with expressing their views and using their positions of power support it.
But don’t think these feelings suddenly sprouted.
No, deep seeded hate like this was just waiting to be watered, and that irrigation system arrived once he was elected to congress and didn’t have to worry about Black players or the Black vote.
That’s a damn shame and another example of why Black athletes, and their families, must find their spines, channel their inner-social activism and rise up to punish these coaches by not playing for them.
If Jason Campbell, Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown went elsewhere because they looked into who Tuberville really was, Auburn would never have gone 13-0 in 2004.
Yes, things were different 22 years ago, but both the past and present Tuberville are glaring warning signs for Black and Brown athletes.
He exemplifies coaches who disguise their hate in order to win. They are adept at turning on the blinders to secure the talent and means to win. After they’re done with the talent, they can freely reveal and express their true selves.
That’s what Tuberville has done and is doing right now.
He’s played everyone he coached and now he’s visibly against those who helped him win.
So to my Black and Brown athletes, and particularly to the families of those athletes, stop letting payouts and last names deter you from seeing the hate seething underneath the visor, hat or hoodie.
Instead, use your power to stifle those who wield that hate by denying them your talents.
That’s how you, and all of us, win for real.
