Jackson plans to protest hiring at state Capitol

Jackson plans to protest hiring at state Capitol


MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday he plans
to
protest Alabama's decision to hire Mike Shula at the state Capitol next
week.


Shula was hired as football coach Thursday over Green Bay
assistant
Sylvester Croom. Jackson said in a telephone interview from Chicago
that he
wants to draw attention to the selection of Shula, who is white, over
Croom,
who is black.


Croom was an All-American at Alabama and spent 10 years as an
assistant coach with the Crimson Tide.


Shula, son of NFL coach Don Shula, has spent 15 years as an NFL
assistant, including the past three with the Miami Dolphins. He played
at
Alabama but has no experience as a head coach or on a college staff.


"They chose culture and legacy over excellence and it's
insulting,"
Jackson said.


A message left with Alabama athletic director Mal Moore seeking
comment was not immediately returned.


Jackson said his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition was organizing a rally at
the
state Capitol for Wednesday night to address the coaching situation and
other issues related to racial inequality in Alabama.


"This issue is just suggestive that the culture of racial
exclusion
... is still prevalent in Alabama," he said. "It's not just in football
coaches, it's in bank lending, mortgage lending, the criminal justice
system."


Jackson said the decision to hire Shula showed that the state has
not
progressed far enough beyond its segregationist past.


He compared the university's decision to hire Shula to Gov.
George C.
Wallace's "stand in the schoolhouse door" on June 11, 1963, when
Wallace
sought to prevent two blacks from enrolling at Alabama.


"Wallace ... blocked the doors many years ago," Jackson said.
"Now you
got athletic departments closing the doors."


Alabama president Robert Witt and Moore told Jackson before they
hired
Shula that they were considering minority candidates for the job.


Croom was interviewed along with Shula and Carolina Panthers
coach
Richard Williamson, who is white.




--
"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of
the
press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of
speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the
freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who
serves
beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows
the
protester to burn the flag." ~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC