School Superintendent Said "You Can't Count On A Black Quarterback"

He *Mistakingly* Spills His Thoughts On The Internet

A Texas superintendent for the Onalaska Independent School District let the world know how he really feels about Black quarterbacks and now he’s trying to backpedal.

According to Chron.com, Lynn Redden — who oversees the Onalaska school district almost 100 miles north of Houston — commented on a Facebook post promoting a Chron.com article about the Houston Texans’ recent game loss. He blamed the Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson for the loss. In the last play of the game, Watson held onto the ball as the final seconds counted down on the clock. He completed a pass to receiver DeAndre Hopkins, hoping he could make a last-second, game-tying field goal, but time had run out by then.

In response, Redden commented on the Chron.com post saying, “That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I’ve seen in the NFL. When you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black quarterback.”

Oh really?

Redden thought he was responding to a private message from a friend when he posted his comment, but nope. It was right in the comment section of the Chron.com post.

Redden said he deleted his comment when he realized it wasn’t a direct message. “I totally regret it,” he told Chron.com.

But it was too late. A Spring resident, Matt Ericksen, sent Chron.com screenshots of the post on Monday morning. Ericksen said he didn’t have kids in the district, but he wanted to bring attention to what he thought was a blatantly racist comment.

“It’s important to make sure horrible words are met with consequences, especially for those in powerful positions with influence,” Ericksen said.

Despite all this, Redden still seemed to get away with his anti-Black comments. He told Chron.com that he hasn’t faced any consequences so far, as of Monday afternoon. He said he understands how folks might’ve interpreted his post as racist, but he didn’t intend for it to come off that way.

Mhm.

Redden said he was referring to statistics when he made the comment about Black quarterbacks. “Over the history of the NFL, they have had limited success,” he said.

According to The Washington Post, a 2017 study by University of Colorado researchers show that unconscious racial biases influence views on quarterbacks. There have been two Black quarterbacks who’ve led their team to the Super Bowl, with Russell Wilson being the last one in 2013. According to the University of Colorado study, Black quarterbacks are seen as “talented and strong and their white counterparts as smart and hard-working.”

So yea, your regular old racist thinking.

Redden says he hopes none of the students in his school district saw his post. “I wish it had never been posted,” he said.