Soul Woman

My first day or two at my new school as a brand new teacher and one of the other teachers is trying to be helpful, I think.


She says to me: I don’t know if anybody has mentioned to you that there aren’t a lot of people of color at this school…

This IS Vermont, right? So of course there aren’t a lot of people of color in this small town at this small school in Central Vermont. This school is 1/3 the size of the school where I student taught and worked as a paraprofessional last year. There were only a handful of us at that school. So I kind of figured this school would be even less diverse – if there is such a thing.

Then, I saw the school was seeking a girls’ middle school basketball couch. I inquired of the Athletic Director as to the time commitment and responsibilities of the position. I swear he was salivating – a Black woman inquiring about basketball. He couldn’t get out fast enough a date for a quick interview. It reminded me of a silly movie 20 years ago entitled Soul Man. Some guy dyes himself Black so he could get accepted into Harvard Law School under a Blacks only scholarship. When he goes to participate in a pick-up game of basketball, the two teams literally fight over who will get him. And he is a terrible basketball player. It was one in a string of hilarious stereotypes gone wrong.

I don’t got game. I know nothing of basketball. But since it’s a small school I thought it was a wonderful way to get involved, build relationships, have fun, and become more physically active. I planned to work on basic fundamentals. After a couple of days of snickering when I passed him in the halls, I finally confessed to the athletic director. He still wanted to meet with me. I believe his thinking is that an inexperienced woman might be a little better than a male parent for girl’s basketball. I had my first interview which went very sell. Second interview this week.  We shall see…



If I do take the position, when and if offered, I may just have to be concerned about parents and fans.