I am not a Alabama fan, in fact, the opposite. However I do not believe Bear Bryant was racist. He could have done more to stand up to Governor Wallace but I do not consider Bear to have been racist. Bear was also not a Martin Luther King but comments from some of his former assistant coaches and players certainly do not indicate he was racist. On one occasion Bear recruited a outstanding black quarterback to play another position and told the kid Alabama was not ready for a black quarterback. That was probably true in the state of Alabama at that time.
Now that could be said of many head coaches. I believe it was the great Alonzo Smith "Jake" Gaither, Florida A&M head coach, that supposedly stated; He would not just recruit a white player because he was white. He would be a good white football player.
