The NFL Is Not Racist
The NFL is a den of vice, but racism is not one of those vices, and the left is using chance variation to argue that it is. The majority of NFL players are black, and blacks are over-represented relative to their percentage of the population in most positions—including most staff and coaching positions. Sorry, there aren't that many NFL teams and when you are dealing with small numbers things like two of three black head coaches getting fired will happen. It would be very different if we had 100 black head coaches and 66 got fired. Low sample sizes lead to greater noise and variance (on a percentage basis).
There is this idiotic story in the Atlantic alleging racism because Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions was kept on while Culley was fired---even though Culley won one more game than Campbell. But the difference is, which the article mentions in passing, that the Lions have been a woeful team for decades; the Texans have, despite not making the Superbowl, an overall better franchise record. So the Texans and the Lions are not really comparable franchises, which is the article's main conceit. Furthermore, the Texans had the largest point differential of any team in the NFL this year---a metric the Atlantic article conveniently omits. While they did have a better win rate than the Lions, there are a number of outlets that have placed the Texans at the very bottom of the NFL rankings, another fact the Atlantic article chose to omit. When evaluating a team, there is more to look at than mere win rates. A team that got hammered in all its losses might have farther to go than a team that lost slightly more games but by a much smaller margin. (Here is some evidence that the Texans have historically been better than the Lions: Look at the record of their head to head matchups. The Texans are winning that series 4 to 1.)
As for Flores, the other coach mentioned (though given much less time) in the article, I think his lawsuit has some merit with respect to the Dolphins but is completely frivolous with respect to the other teams named in the suit. He was fired because he refused to comply with the Dolphin's corrupt (but to be expected) manipulation of the draft system by deliberately tanking games. There is no reason to believe racism played a role: He was fired not because he was black but because he was honest. And, if he drops this lawsuit nonsense, he still has decent prospects of obtaining another position. He won't, however, even be interviewed if teams see him as being irritable and litigious; he is talented but not so talented that teams will risk being sued. If he were more even tempered, he would see that the Dolphins are the only team he should be suing.
Flores’ complaint against the Giants is especially absurd: His allegation is essentially that the Giants followed the Rooney Rule which requires teams to interview minority candidates. The very rule racial advocacy groups insisted be put into place is now a symptom of racism. Of course, Flores’ allegation is absurd—interviewing someone despite the fact that you have another candidate who you presently prefer is not a symptom of racism. You are still being given a chance.
Flores might think that he is helping other black people move up in the league, but he is not. Now teams may be worried about hiring a minority candidate because they might receive backlash in the event they decide to fire him. Teams have been known to fire coaches who have had winning seasons because they think that coach cannot take them to a Superbowl win. Firing losing coaches, esp. very losing coaches, is utterly commonplace and hardly constitutes evidence of racism.
Sorry, I don't like the NFL, but the accusations of racism are absurd. End of story. NFL teams care about winning and making money, not about race. They would hire any coach who can deliver wins.