Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel says he identifies as a “human being,” and finds it “weird” that the subject of his race comes up so much.
McDaniel’s father is black, and his mother is white. McDaniel, however, thinks the whole discussion is very strange.
During a press conference Thursday, he was asked about his racial identity.
According to Pro Football Talk, McDaniel is annoyed by the whole “identity” discussion.
“It’s been very odd, to tell you the truth, this idea of ‘identifying’ as something,” McDaniel said on Thursday.
“I think people identify me as something, but I identity as a human being and my dad is Black,” he added. “So, whatever you want to call it, I know there’s a lot of people with a shared experience. It’s weird that it comes up because I’ve just tried to be a good person. And I think my background opens my eyes a little bit. I don’t have any real experience with racism because I think you identify me as something close to — I don’t know. I know my mom experienced it when she married my dad. I know my dad experienced it, that’s in my family. But I guess that makes me a human being that can identify with other people’s problems.”
Of course, the discussion has been the topic of the year as the number of black coaches has dwindled in the NFL over the last few years. And the Dolphins themselves have also found trouble over the topic as former coach Brian Flores has sued the team alleging racial discrimination.
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