Camaraderie in the locker room and on the field should translate to camaraderie off the field. We succeed and sometimes falter together and support one another without giving a second thought to race. We are the arbiters of fairness and justice between two factions that do not care who we are or what we look like, not to mention the spectators berating us and wishing our demise. We get along because we are united by the stripes and bound by something more profound - the relatively small percentage of people with our scars. Several years ago before a game at a Historically Black College or University, my umpire was singing along to a song commonly referred to as the Black national anthem, so we learned about it on the spot from him. My officiating colleagues have witnessed me fast on game days that fall on Yom Kippur, some even learning about the holiday for the first time. Unlike a traditional fraternity, we are afforded the opportunity to learn about one another’s differences. People often compare officiating organizations to fraternities, but that comparison could not be more disparate. We are comfortable around our fellow officials and we know they will not be offended by the things we say, and in the unlikely event they are, an apology is sufficient and we move on. Sure, we have differences and even prejudices, but we embrace the differences, and often laugh at them, never thinking about acting on the prejudices, just knowing they exist. My kids call my officiating friends their uncles - and their children their cousins - regardless of whether they look like them. My closest friends are officials, and we gravitate toward each other regardless of race because we have common interests and goals. The bad seeds usually weed themselves out and do not make it. How good? I would argue that an overwhelming number are good people. We know that regardless of the color of the person inside the jersey, that person is generally good and ultimately our greatest ally. Why? Because we must go to battle with people we trust. Most important, our colleagues are Black and white, but we are all the same when we don the uniform. We are covered in the pattern of stripes of equal width, so there is no mistaking our neutrality. Our rulebooks are written in black and white, but we interpret the gray. Black and white are neutral colors, and we are charged with practicing neutrality. The colors of our stripes mean more than just differentiation from the participants. But those of us who officiate know we are different, we are special and that the stripes unite us. I am not saying there has never been racial injustice in officiating, nor am I saying there are not lingering issues. Given the current state of affairs in this country, it is important to reflect on how officials are well ahead of the curve with regard to racial harmony. A century later sports in general, and officiating in particular, is more diverse than ever. Perhaps the selection of black and white stripes of equal width was more prophetic than originally intended. And so, the black-and-white striped shirt was born. The mixup so bothered Olds that he appealed to a proprietor of a sporting goods store to make a shirt that would set him apart from the players. In 1920, a quarterback passed a ball to a referee named Lloyd Olds after mistaking his white shirt for a team uniform. However, the trouble was some teams also dressed in white, including a group of Arizona football players. The notion was that a formally dressed gentleman had an air of authority, which is what you wanted in an official. Ave you ever wondered why officials wear black and white stripes? In the early days of football, referees wore white dress shirts, bow ties and beret-style hats.
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