New England Patriots' new head coach suggests not being racist requires you to 'see color': 'I do see color'

The new head coach of the New England Patriots suggested on Wednesday that not being racist requires someone to "see color."

At a press conference officially introducing Jerod Mayo as the new head coach of the Patriots franchise, a reporter asked about the significance that Mayo is the first black head coach of the Patriots.

Team owner Robert Kraft responded by describing himself as "really colorblind in terms of ... what I feel like on Sunday when we lose" — referring to his goal of hiring the people he believes will best position the Patriots to win NFL championships — but Mayo admitted that he doesn't feel the same way.

"I do see color because I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism," he said.

"Whatever happens — black, white, disabled person ... for the most part people are like, when they're young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means. But what I would say is, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. It goes back to whatever it is: black, white, yellow, it really doesn't matter," he continued.

"But it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have," Mayo added without clarifying what "problem" he was referring to.

Whether people should "see color" is hotly debated.

Advocates of anti-racism, for example, argue that seeing color is a prerequisite for racial reconciliation. Advocates of color blindness, on the other hand, say no one should be pigeonholed because of or reduced to their skin color.

Still, there is a divergence in perspective even in the small fraternity of NFL head coaches.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles, who is also black, denounced seeing color in October 2022 when asked about Steve Wilks being named, at the time, interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

"We don't look at what color we are when we coach against each other. We just know each other," Bowles said. "I have a lot of very good white friends that coach in this league as well, and I don't think it's a big deal as far as us coaching against each other, I think it’s normal. Wilks got an opportunity to do a good job, hopefully he does it.

"And we coach ball, we don't look at color," he declared.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!