Dear Mr. Khan…..
The above picture is of my father on his retirement day. Next to him is former Jacksonville mayor Ed Austin and State Attorney Harry Shorstein. May dad was an investigator for the State Attorneys office and before that he was a JSO(Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office) corrections officer, motorcycle patrolman and then detective. My dad was actually also in the same police academy graduating class with former Jacksonville sheriff Nat Glover, one of the first classes to graduate black officers. When my dad started with the state attorney office he was the only black investigator…. with more experience than a lot of the other investigators…. but paid the least amount than everyone else…. Until he brought the issue to Ed Austin and it was corrected.
I’m telling you this because I need you to understand the cloth that I’m cut from.
The color of my skin has never been a problem to me. but I see how it’s a problem to other people. With you being the only minority NFL owner, I’m sure you understand. Look, we are still in the south and it is what it is but my issue will always be representation. That matters… Having a seat at the table matters. Because when you don’t have that seat at the table things like the picture below happens.
A National NFL spot and not one person of color was available? So….. Are we not season ticket holders?
Are we just good enough to run and catch the ball….. work security…. cook and sell your food… but not be represented in advertising?
Let’s take the players out of the equation. I’m not talking about the Football side of your operations, in fact I think that Tom Coughlin has gathered a truly diverse staff on that side of the building. Even without the Rooney Rule, Coughlin has always been a straight shooter no matter the color of your skin, but on your other side of the building the story is a bit different.
I honestly don’t expect there to always be a Sashi Brown or Michael Huyghue walking around. But what I do expect is that there is a cross representation of EVERYBODY. When I handled the music, I made sure I played EVERYTHING (some pop, country, classic rock, hip hop)… And believe it or not you have people who still aren’t happy. Of course that is another story for another day.
Back to the subject at hand…. I’ve always got from you that you want the best people in roles to help your company. How would I look trying to give you advise on the automotive industry with all the success you’ve had with Flex-N-Gate?
Well… Jacksonville is more than what you are seeing. I was born and raised here, and contrary to what certain executives in your organization feel we as african americans are part of the fabric of the community.
A few professional teams have diversity & inclusion staff who makes sure that there is cultural awareness and sensitivity practiced throughout the organization. Now Mr. Khan, by no means am I suggesting how you should run your organization, but understand up until last august I worked WITH the Jaguars for about 10 years. Yes I said WITH and not FOR but can we agree that sitting in meetings, creating custom audio pieces for in game and sponsors, plus being a part of the team making the Fan Experience rating rise in Jacksonville gives me a bit of credibility.
My skill set and experience were never important enough to warrant FOR even though it was for the US Government (I was a Audio Subject Matter Expert). That was always puzzling to me because if you spend millions of dollars on the best video boards for your stadium, you may want to also make sure the audio that accompanied it was also top notch.
I’m sure that someone is reading this and saying…. “Oh he’s just mad” but not really. How can I be mad? I’m a Black man in the USA. Setbacks and challenges are the norm to me. I’ve sat in Hussain Naqi and Steven Ziff’s office… Across the lunch table form Chad Johnson and tried to form some sense of synergy with the organization. So I’m going to the top, just like my dad had to do with Ed Austin and bring attention to a few facts.
Representation matters….. Bold Events… Daily’s Place….. Jaguars Black…. Representation matters….. We can do so much more than run up and down your field.
