Letter of the day: Address racial disparity on the sidelines and elsewhere

Rachel Blount's column on the small number of black coaches in college football ("Another hurdle to conquer: the coaches' office," Nov. 11) underscores the need for affirmative action programs not only in college coaching, but in all areas of public life where people of color are underrepresented. The notion that the lack of black coaches is not due to "racism" is misguided. The article points out that those in charge, overwhelmingly white, tend to hire those like themselves or those already in their networks. White people have the privilege of not thinking about race in their daily lives; people of color do not have that luxury. Unless we are willing affirmatively to reach out beyond our racial, gender and other comfort zones and look beyond our narrow networking circles, whether in coaching, business or education, we cannot hope to have the diversity that we desire in all walks of life. MAURY LANDSMAN, MINNEAPOLIS