The psych studies on unconscious racism are kinda scary tbh. There are studies where they send out identical resumes with only changing the name to be a typically white name or black name and the white names get more requests for interviews. There's the old doll study where kids of different races tended to rate white dolls more highly than black dolls (and even the black kids in the study were usually doing this too). Unconscious racism and racial bias are probably definitely things that happen. In the NFL, an equal or less qualified white coach might get the nod over a black coach because he still seems like a better candidate.
I dunno about the Rooney Rule. It's got quotas teams need to meet for minority hires now and meeting quotas comes with all sorts of baggage. Teams are going to hire less qualified people to meet the quotas, and they're also going to hire more qualified people who seemed less qualified because of a racial bias too. If it's more of the former, then you'd want to drop the rule. If it's more of the latter, keep it until you find a better system. The trouble is we have no way of actually knowing what the rule is really achieving.
People are flawed. We all are. Unconcious racism hits the nail on the head. Racism at its core is just a dislike for something different. As a society, we have used the term racism to relate to skin color. But it’s much deeper than that. Any two people are going to find things to dislike about each other. Regardless of race. Race is just an excuse to dislike something or someone I don’t know or understand.
Having said that, the Rooney Rule is a good thing. As I understand it, a team has to interview at least one person of color. I’m not sure about any quotas. What it does do is allow people who might not be considered just because of their name, skin color, ethnicity, whatever a foot in the door.
The disregard that some might have for hiring only whites might be intentional or unintentionally racially biased. I’ve been in personnel and have been responsible for hiring. Whether you know it or not bias does creep in. People hiring might have a type in mind for a job based on their own personal experiences with previous people in the position having an influence on the decision. For example, someone being interviewed might remind the interviewer, even in a slight way of a characteristic that the previous person had in the role. The interviewer could think consciously or even unconsciously that they don’t want them based on one simple thing. It doesn’t mean that person isn’t the best for that job, just that bias creeped in and helped make the decision.
The Rooney Rule at least opens the door for those that might not be considered otherwise. The decision still lies with those doing the interview. Racism is real. Those that have gone before set the table for how they think things should be. Racism isnt conquered over night. It’s going to take awhile for humanity to reach Gene Roddenberrys vision in Star Trek of true equality for all.