Anyone who cannot see the separate and unequal set of rules that existed in the Bobby Williams’ situation is obviously ignorant or racist.

What happened to Williams is typical of what happens to African Americans every day in corporate America. What Trustee Joel Ferguson pointed out is the inconsistency with which the rules are applied regarding whites and blacks.

Williams’ predecessors were given the duration of their contracts to build a program. Williams was not. Williams had not destroyed or hurt our program. MSU is a lifetime .500 program. He was doing no worse than any other coach at this point in their tenure. Simply stated, Williams was not given a fair shot at developing his program.

This is not about Athletics Director Ron Mason being a racist.

The Williams situation is about the general public and fans being less tolerant and quicker to pull the plug on a man, perhaps because of his race.

Sure, a white coach might have been criticized just as much as Williams, but do we really think that a white coach would have been fired and replaced by a black coordinator?

The fact that Morris Watts has been designated as our “savior” despite the fact that he has failed miserably in his job of play calling for MSU testifies to the unfairness of Williams’ dismissal and the age-old double standard.

I wonder how many white critics would want to be an African-American in our society?

Terence Pitre
accounting graduate student