Toro
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Like most black Americans, Texans associate head coach Romeo Crennel and his family have experienced racism over the course his life.
During a conversation with Texans chairman Cal McNair and other members of the McNair family, Crennel recounted his wife being the only coaches’ wife not invited to a luncheon and being called by a teacher from his daughter’s school to tell Crennel that his daughter “was holding hands with a white boy at school and that was a problem.”
Crennel said that racial issues have been “swept under the rug” at times, but George Floyd’s murder has brought issues of racial inequality to the forefront of national attention in recent weeks. Crennel doesn’t expect things to radically change overnight, but believes “the fire is hot right now” and that he’s hopeful that will lead to necessary changes that move things forward after “the black race has been on the bottom of the totem pole for 400 years.”
“We’ve got a guy being killed in open daylight,” Crennel said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “Something is wrong. It has to be fixed. The sooner we can fix it, the better off the world will be. I’m encouraged by the diversity. I’m encouraged by the spread of the protests. I’m encouraged that they’re still marching. Change needs to occur. It’s conversations like this. If we can influence the people of power to do a little something, then that’s going to help everybody.”
In addition to larger societal issues, Crennel also spoke about helping black coaches rise up through the ranks. He said his conversations with younger coaches who have spoken to him “gives me hope about our people getting opportunities” in the future.