This is the latest step in Clinton's attempts to broaden the participants in the race dialogue - ESPN was chosen because researchers have found that its primary audience is largely white and male - a group that is underrepresented in the race dialogue. Clinton hopes to discuss such issues as the hiring of blacks and other minorities to upper-level positions in the sports industry, as well as stereotyping and racism in and around sporting venues.
Some critics worry that broadcasting such a debate on this network will trivialize these important issues and perhaps even reinforce racial stereotypes of athletes. But racism in the sports industry makes the race initiative particularly salient - ESPN is a good venue for this event.
In many ways, the sports world is a microcosm of the country (in some ways, it works better than general social interactions). Athletes of all races and backgrounds work closely together and are forced to cooperate in order to win. Winning in most sporting events means overlooking racial stereotypes and treating teammates as equals. Yet at the top of this idyllic base is a largely white majority pulling the strings. The White House hopes that it can make people - especially white males - more aware of the racial imbalance in sports and foster more debates on the issues of promoting minorities to management positions.
This new debate will hopefully re-ignite Clinton's once-highly touted racial dialogue initiative. In recent months, this agenda has been lost in the shadow of a potential military action in the Middle East and sexual misconduct allegations against the president.
The lack of interest in this initiative, however, is not entirely due to other surrounding issues. The White House has not done a wonderful job of advertising many discussions that already have taken place in towns across the country, and it has failed to promote more discussion outside of the roundtable context. What began with such vigor has dwindled into a lifeless and unmet promise. It truly is unfortunate that meetings led by such notable scholars and politicians as John Hope Franklin and former Sen. Bob Dole are not given much lip service.
Airing a debate on race and racism on ESPN is a good step in restarting the race initiative program. The forum could reach out to an audience that otherwise would not participate in the race dialogue. The debate should use the ills of the sports world as a starting point for education and possible problem solving, but it should branch out to more everyday issues such as the dearth of minorities in management positions in other industries.
If nothing else, this debate will capture the attention of a significant group of citizens and generate interest in future debates. Therefore, the White House must work diligently to advertise upcoming discussions and create diverse panels of experts for these debates. A problem as great as racism takes tremendous effort to counteract. Clinton should use the ESPN debate as a stepping stone for further discussions. True progress with racial issues cannot be achieved without the involvement of all races.