Of Course Loretta Lynch Is Defending the NFL

No other Black person is more qualified to protect racist corporations than the former Attorney General

Photo by Michel Dwyer / AP

In spite of her family’s deep southern roots and a career spelled by a Catwoman-like balance as both civil rights-leaning prosecutor and politico darling, Loretta Elizabeth Lynch stands today as the biggest shield for institutional racism on a corporate level. No matter the size of her client’s bigotry or guilt, she remains on their frontline with saber and buckler ready to thwart all who’ve been victimized for simply being Black in the United States.

Her latest foe is Brian Flores, the former Miami Dolphins head coach who is currently suing the National Football League for being what it’s been since inception: racist. It all began when the head coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichik, sent Flores an accidental text congratulating him on receiving the Giants’ head coaching job. Except Belichik congratulated the wrong Brian. Brian Doboll — a white man — winning the job wasn’t the problem; that Black Brian’s scheduled interview with the Giants hadn’t yet happened was. Before he could make a case to become the Giants’ first African-American top dog in its 100-year history, the organization decided to go with a White candidate.

Flores quickly realized that he was collateral damage in a backfiring of the NFL’s “Rooney Rule” — an affirmative action policy created by the late Pittsburgh Steelers owner and chairman of the league’s diversity branch, Dan Rooney, that insists every NFL team interview at least two minority candidates when searching for a new head coach. It’s yet to be uncovered how many or if any minorities were interviewed by the Giants before Doboll’s hire. What’s certain is, after first being fired by the Dolphins last season despite squeaking out a winning record, Flores had reached a breaking point with his former employer.

On the first day of Black History Month, Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL for racist hiring practices. In the suit, he proclaims that the league is “managed much like a plantation.” Prior to the accusations, the NFL had only one Black head coach: Ironically, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, who was hired by Rooney and has become the league’s 15 season anomaly.