Don Haskins

Don Haskins 

Don Haskins was the head coach of the University of Texas at El Paso basketball team in the 1960s. Don Haskins would lead the basketball team to the finals and win the NCAA national tournament in a specific year. Haskins would decide to start the best five basketball players the team had and not choose based on skin color like the other teams had done. 

In the 1960s there was still racism and Haskins decided to start the best players based on their technical acumen and not based on the color of their skin. It was noted that while desegregation laws existed since 1963 because of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, there was still racism in sports because teams started basketball players based on the color of their skin and not necessarily based on their talent. 

Despite the racism that existed in the 1960s, Haskins decided to be just and play with the best players instead of going along with racism. Because Haskins started the best basketball players, the team won the National Championship. This describes the importance of being egalitarian and just. Haskins was able to be independant and distinct and did not go along with the crowd in the 1960s.

Despite living 65 years later, there is still racism in the sports world seen since the 2010s. There were talented athletes who were benched because of their skin color (seen in different examples in soccer most notably and also other sports). This was noted in different sports and allows us to know that the 2010s described that talented athletes were envied by socialists. Even in the sports world where talent and discipline should be appreciated and recognized, there was envy. Despite the times that we live in, we can remind ourselves of amazing individuals who fought against racism.