Barkley blasts his alma mater on race. Former NBA star Charles Barkley, never one to mince words, is blasting his alma mater for hiring a new football coach he says was based on race and not athletic credentials. Auburn University, had a chance to hire Buffalo University’s Turner Gill, a Black man who led a losing team to its first championship, but opted for Iowa State’s Gene Chizik, a White man who eked out a 5-19 record in two seasons with the Cyclones. Granted, Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Auburn four years ago when the Tigers finished with a 13-0 record and ranked No. 2 in the country, but Barkley’s not satisfied. “I think race was the No. 1 factor,” said Barkley, who played basketball for three seasons at Auburn during the early 1980s. “You can say it’s not about race, but you can’t compare the two resumes and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume.” Chizik replaces Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville, who won 85 games over the past decade but was forced to resign earlier this month. Gill, a former Nebraska quarterback, took over one of the country’s worst programs at Buffalo three years ago. He guided the Bulls to an 8-5 record and their first MAC championship this season, upsetting previously unbeaten Ball State 42-24 in the Dec. 5 conference championship game. Barkley has suggested that Gill’s White wife might have been a factor in Auburn’s decision to pass on the former quarterback.

Kings fire Theus. The Sacramento Kings have fired head coach Reggie Theus, the second Black head coach to lose his job in less than a week and the third of six since the season began. The Sacramento Bee reported Monday that Theus will be replaced, at least temporarily, by Kings assistant Kenny Natt. Kings also have fired assistant Chuck Person, according to ESPN. Under Theus, the Kings have stumbled to a 6-18 record this season. Last year, Theus left New Mexico State University, and led Sacramento to a surprising 39-43 record. That’s a far cry from their current position, last place in the Pacific Division. Theus is the sixth NBA coach to lose his job this season, joining Maurice Cheeks (Philadelphia), Randy Wittman (Minnesota), Sam Mitchell (Toronto), Eddie Jordan (Washington) and P.J. Carlesimo (Oklahoma City).

Philly fires Mo Cheeks. Maurice Cheeks, whose Philadelphia 76ers has failed to muster a winning record after making the playoffs last season, was fired Saturday. The front office had hoped that by acquiring power forward Elton Brand and extending swingman Andre Iguodala – to the tune of $80 million apiece – and giving another $25 million to guard Louis Williams, that the team would be competitive in the East. However, after reaching a disappointing 9-14, Cheeks became a casualty in a city starving for an NBA championship. Ironically, Cheeks, a graduate of West Texas State, led the 1983 76ers to the NBA championship, the last time the feat was accomplished in Philadelphia. 

Bob Jones University apologizes for racist policies. Bob Jones University is apologizing for racist policies that included a one-time ban on interracial dating and a refusal to admit Black students until 1971. In a statement on its Web site, which was posted Thursday, the fundamentalist Christian school founded in 1927 says its rules on race were based on culture, not religion. Stephen Jones, the school’s president, says the school decided to issue the apology because he still receives questions about the northwestern South Carolina school’s views on race. With about 5,000 students, the school had banned interracial dating until 2000. Go here to see the school’s statement.

Pastors boycott San Francisco NAACP event.  Some San Francisco pastors decided to boycott the city’s annual NAACP Banquet in protest of the civil rights organization’s stance on same-sex marriage. The group opposed the Rev. Amos Brown’s much publicized support for the civil rights of gay people to marry. Read the rest here.

Verizon workers who hacked Obama are fired.  The Verizon workers who reportedly hacked into an old cell phone account belonging to President-elect Barack Obama this year were fired, a Verizon source told CNN Friday. There is no word on how many people were fired, but the source said, “We now consider this matter closed.” Verizon reported the breach Thursday. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the transition team had been notified Wednesday, but that the president-elect no longer uses that phone, which has been inactive for months. The fired employees were hired “to take care of customers,” the Verizon source said, and they were not authorized to access customer records unless asked to do so by the customer.

U.S. official nix African refugee program. The U.S. State Department has ended a program that allowed African refugees with family members in the United States because DNA tests proved that many of the Africans were not really related. The program, established nearly two decades ago to assist people trying to escape political unrest and violence, accepted close relatives, including parents and children, of people already here. Most of the refugees flowed through Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Gambia. Of the 3,000 who were tested, most were originally from Somalia, Ethiopia, or Liberia, according to the State Department. “The program has been suspended,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood, noting that only about fifth of applicants from those countries had actual blood ties.

Worker is fired after hanging a noose at a children’s hospital. Authorities in Philadelphia are investigating a potential hate crime after finding a noose swinging in an electrical shop at The Children’s Hospital. The alleged culprit has been fired for the Aug. 11 incident, hospital officials announced this week, but they refused to disclose his name, which has infuriated some residents. The fired member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers allegedly hung a noose on a light fixture on the 13th floor of the Aberson Pediatric Research Center. According to FOX News 29, the worker’s colleagues had asked him at least three times to remove the racially offensive symbol. Children’s Hospital released a statement to the news channel that says: “We believe this to be a blatantact of racial intimidation, for which we have ZERO tolerance at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This has not happened before and was an isolated incident.” Jerry Mondesire, who heads the local chapter of the NAACP, says he believes the hospital handled the situation the right way.