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Atlanta Hawks to Be Sold
By Monte Kivo of BettorsChat.com
Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson stated this Weekend he's selling his majority interest in the NBA team. This comes after a 2012 e-mail that Levenson sent to a colleague with racial inflammatory comments. The e-mail talks about how there are more black fans at the games vs. white fans. And Levenson implies that white fans are worth more for the Atlanta Hawks than black fans.
It started with Levenson stating that "The Atlanta Hawks need 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tickets." It continued with Levenson breaking down the stats of the number of fans at the games that were black vs. white.
Levenson stated that the following stats were hurting the Atlanta Hawks, because white people had been pushed out by black fans of the Atlanta Hawks.
70% black fans
Cheerleaders are all black
Music is Hip Hop
The bars are 90% black
There are hardly any father son's at the games
After the games concerts are done to draw more fans, but it's mostly hip hop or gospel
Then Levenson stated "After looking at other arenas especially Washington Wizards which is predominately black community has no more than 15% of the black fans being in attendance."
Levenson also stated that "he believed that Southern whites simply were not comfortable being in the Atlanta Hawks arena or at a bar where they were a minority."
Levenson announced an apology and that he was selling his majority interest in the Atlanta Hawks.
Levenson also stated "If you're angry about what I wrote, you should be." "I'm angry at myself too. It was inflammatory nonsense. We may all have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them."
The Reverend Al Sharpton said "NBA ownership should be more diverse." "Doing business with minorities must be part of the package," The National Action Network President said in a statement. "Otherwise we are just trading billionaires for billionaires, rather than changing unfair exclusion for a better policy."
This is the second NBA owner to sell a team because of racist comments. Los Angele's Clippers owner Donald Sterling was forced by the NBA to sell the team after racist remarks about black people surfaced.
One wonders how men of this stature become to making racist remarks. One would think that with dealing with different races etc, in the general business and the NBA would lead these owners to not being racist. However, this is not the first time racist has come up in professional sports and I doubt it will be the last. It's a shame that the NBA league, the players, the fans etc, have to put up with these types of comments.
By Monte Kivo of BettorsChat.com
Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson stated this Weekend he's selling his majority interest in the NBA team. This comes after a 2012 e-mail that Levenson sent to a colleague with racial inflammatory comments. The e-mail talks about how there are more black fans at the games vs. white fans. And Levenson implies that white fans are worth more for the Atlanta Hawks than black fans.
It started with Levenson stating that "The Atlanta Hawks need 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tickets." It continued with Levenson breaking down the stats of the number of fans at the games that were black vs. white.
Levenson stated that the following stats were hurting the Atlanta Hawks, because white people had been pushed out by black fans of the Atlanta Hawks.
70% black fans
Cheerleaders are all black
Music is Hip Hop
The bars are 90% black
There are hardly any father son's at the games
After the games concerts are done to draw more fans, but it's mostly hip hop or gospel
Then Levenson stated "After looking at other arenas especially Washington Wizards which is predominately black community has no more than 15% of the black fans being in attendance."
Levenson also stated that "he believed that Southern whites simply were not comfortable being in the Atlanta Hawks arena or at a bar where they were a minority."
Levenson announced an apology and that he was selling his majority interest in the Atlanta Hawks.
Levenson also stated "If you're angry about what I wrote, you should be." "I'm angry at myself too. It was inflammatory nonsense. We may all have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them."
The Reverend Al Sharpton said "NBA ownership should be more diverse." "Doing business with minorities must be part of the package," The National Action Network President said in a statement. "Otherwise we are just trading billionaires for billionaires, rather than changing unfair exclusion for a better policy."
This is the second NBA owner to sell a team because of racist comments. Los Angele's Clippers owner Donald Sterling was forced by the NBA to sell the team after racist remarks about black people surfaced.
One wonders how men of this stature become to making racist remarks. One would think that with dealing with different races etc, in the general business and the NBA would lead these owners to not being racist. However, this is not the first time racist has come up in professional sports and I doubt it will be the last. It's a shame that the NBA league, the players, the fans etc, have to put up with these types of comments.
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