Finebaum, like most of these SEC homers need to come out and say what they really mean "We hate Miami not because of what they do on the field, but because we don't like it when our minority athletes feel free to be themselves, and aren't dancing for massa" Just like whenever I hear "Thugs" in regards to our student-athletes, I know that the person is too gutless to say the N Word. Our student-athletes graduate, they are doing good in their communities, and are playing good football. Why would any rational person hate this team? Then again, Jimmy was graduating his kids at a high level, and they were active in the community back then too, so this isn't anything new.
I grew up in the South. The thing about race relations in most southern places isn't necessarily the overt racism. You actually see a lot of the real "ugly" racism in Northern states and cities (ahem, Boston). I lived in a small town in rural Appalachia that was basically segregated, but you didn't see a lot of the hostile racism. White folks were generally happy to help black folks, give them jobs, help out after a disaster like a fire/flood-
as long as the black folk knew their place. The white folk would be proud of the black folk who "made something of themselves"- a black lawyer, doctor, or state trooper was highly respected. No one begrudged their success or thought, "Oh that black guy took my job because of affirmative action" (again, a sentiment I'd see in the north). But god forbid they or their children tried to date a white person or draw attention to themselves by doing things like demanding membership to the local country club. You see- that meant they were forgetting their place. And that brings me to why Finebaum and his Alabama ilk hate Miami. They don't see themselves as racist- they love the black kids on their team (and even respect the black kids on other SEC teams) because they understand their place in southern society. But then the "thugs" from Miami arrived on the scene in the 1980s and didn't just beat the good ol boys at the game they once ruled, but embarrassed them on national tv repeatedly. So that (and a bag of turds) is at the core of Finebaum and those like him. That ain't ever gonna change.
