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Was Hawks Owner Racist?


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#1 The Average Joe

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Posted 07 September 2014 - 12:13 PM

We had a pretty good discussion about race in the Ferguson thread, so I figure we can manage here.

 

Atlanta Hawks owner is stepping down after revelations of a "racist" email from 2012.  I read the email, and while I can see there are things that people might take as offensive, I don't see the racism. What I see, is a man trying to figure out why his business wasn't making money compared to other similar businesses. His observations certainly weren't racist, they were what he saw. Nobody is even disputing them. The only thing I can see that might be stereotyping were a few of his conclusions. Have we become so PC that the mere mention of differences in racial culture are racist?

 

I know the Chancellor of Harvard had to step down after a no confidence vote of the teaching staff because he dared to suggest that maybe the reason so few women were in math fields was because there are differences in men and women.

 

Can we no longer offer opinions as to WHY something is true without the PC police running us out of town? After all, political correctness is just the denial of UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH.  I, for one, would like to see GROWN UPS start acting as such. SOmetimes life gets uncomfortable, and you have to face uncomfortable things. Ignoring them does not improve them or make them go away.  What say you Folsom Forums? Should he step down?

 

http://www.si.com/nb...donald-sterling

 

 


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"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one" — Thomas Paine, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 (1776)

 


#2 Steve Heard

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Posted 07 September 2014 - 01:20 PM

I don't think his email is racist, but he sure does acknowledge what many of us already know but many others deny.

 

He says, "My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don't know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games.

 

My unscientific guess is that our crowd is 40 pct black now, still four to five times all other teams. And my further guess is that 40 pct still feels like 70 pet to some whites at our games.

 

This is obviously a sensitive topic, but sadly i think it is far and way the number one reason our season ticket base is so low."

 

He's telling a truth some people don't want to hear.


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#3 Rich_T

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Posted 07 September 2014 - 01:23 PM

I'm surprised that so many people can afford  to regularly attend NBA games, no matter what their race.  But certainly urban blacks are not the ones buying the high-priced tickets, hence I can see the attempt to draw Atlanta's white suburbanites into the city to spend their money.  But there is still freedom of association, and if people want to stay away, that's their prerogative.

 

As for the title of this thread, my overriding reaction is "Who cares?"  I have "racism fatigue" by now.

 

Another thought: NBA "owners" seem to almost be leasing their teams, as opposed to truly owning them.  There are too many terms and conditions of ownership to really consider them to be "owners" in the usual sense of the word.

 

Meanwhile, Adam Silver should do some more pondering about how punishments fit the (alleged) crimes when dealing with NBA owners and players.

 

I don't care if the Hawks' owner steps down or not.  But he should definitely not be forced to step down because of this.  It's a non-story.



#4 bordercolliefan

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Posted 07 September 2014 - 03:47 PM

I have "racism fatigue" by now.

 

Funny you say this.  Several times I've heard my 14 year old say "That's racist!" in a joking, sarcastic fashion in regard to something totally unrelated to real racism.  It's hard to come up with an example, but anyway I've wondered if the kids are so jaded by hearing this or that deemed racist, that to them it is something of a joke now to just blurt out a kneejerk "That's racist!" 

 

Not sure what to make of it. 



#5 supermom

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Posted 07 September 2014 - 05:54 PM

I don't think his email is racist, but he sure does acknowledge what many of us already know but many others deny.

 

He says, "My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don't know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games.

 

My unscientific guess is that our crowd is 40 pct black now, still four to five times all other teams. And my further guess is that 40 pct still feels like 70 pet to some whites at our games.

 

This is obviously a sensitive topic, but sadly i think it is far and way the number one reason our season ticket base is so low."

 

He's telling a truth some people don't want to hear.

I dont know if you could really call that a truth- or a truthism. Another thing, I am not entirely sure it is racism ( on the part of the fans not going to games).

 

There are lots and lots and lots of people all over every state I have been to, who will tell you that night time - in a city- near an arena is no place to be. They seem to attract people who regularly make poor choices. It just is-- a fact, from my personal perspective. 

 

Sure, some cities have higher percent of a certain race that lives near an arena or stalks the arena (race dedicated gangs and nutty out-of-control fans mostly come to mind). 

Im not sure that is a fault of the entire race that they are representing! More likely, I would just say, coppers need to get off their A-- ... in those towns and significantly lay down a rule. Game over- get your hiney outta dodge. 

 

I was a security guard a few years ago at a Halloween full or not so much costume 'dance' event for 21-and-over in Sacramento. All good and easy, a few arrests by the private guards- until closing time... Sac city cops showed up a few minutes before the event ended- in many cars and helped us get 100 + cars out of the parking lots and nearby road in less than 10 minutes... 

 

Fastest egress of a "fun time" I have ever seen. 

 

I got home that morning and couldn't help but laugh. You could hear the copper cars starting up and following suspected DUI right onto the street. 

 

Moral of the story, know your neighborhood, know your clientele (or mood of your fan base), and prep like it could be an emergency room night or a full-moon kind of thing.



#6 4thgenFolsomite

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Posted 07 September 2014 - 09:29 PM

Pc gone wild. He was being realistic and strategic, not racist. If you reverse black for white in his quote, it's pretty clear he is just being honest. Big mistake in today's world.

I've lived in the south. It's different there...
Knowing the past helps deciphering the future.




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