12/21/24
September 07, 2014
Atlanta Hawks to be sold after owner reveals racist email:
I wrote an e-mail two years ago that was inappropriate and offensive. I trivialized our fans by making clichéd assumptions about their interests (i.e. hip hop vs. country, white vs. black cheerleaders, etc.) and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another (i.e. that white fans might be afraid of our black fans). By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans.
posted by Etrigan to basketball at 11:55 AM - 10 comments
One wonders if the league will hand out, er, consequences for Ferry and others in the know who didn't report this.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:20 PM on September 07, 2014
"I wrote a very bad email, and I should be punished. If I'm forced to sell my team for, oh I don't know, one or two billion dollars, I accept that as a consequence of my actions."
posted by grum@work at 12:54 PM on September 07, 2014
He actually seems to be making a real apology instead of the "I'm sorry if your feelings got hurt" kind of thing. He's totally owning up to saying something offensive and seems to actually understand (or at least be able to reiterate what his PR team has told him) why his statements were offensive.
posted by LionIndex at 01:20 PM on September 07, 2014
The Seattle SonicHawks?
posted by tommybiden at 05:05 PM on September 07, 2014
Levenson has six other owners and the Hawks are worth an estimated $425 million, so his payday isn't likely to be anywhere close to $1 billion.
The email makes me wonder how much he could have talked about the marketing challenges of attracting more white fans to the Atlanta Hawks without it being considered racist. Is it an issue he can't touch at all, so discussing things like music genre choices and white fans being the minority in the arena bars is off limits? Or is there a code he's supposed to use?
I also wonder if the Braves moving their stadium north to the county with no mass transit is in part about race. Fulton County (current home) is 48.1% white, 44.6% black. Cobb County (new home) is 56.0% white, 29.6% black.
posted by rcade at 06:01 PM on September 07, 2014
The email makes me wonder how much he could have talked about the marketing challenges of attracting more white black fans to the Atlanta Hawks Toronto Maple Leafs without it being considered racist.
It's probably going to sound racist regardless of which race was the focus...
Side note: I found this line in the email particularly weird.
Our kiss cam is better done than any in the league.
How does one determine that?
posted by grum@work at 06:42 PM on September 07, 2014
Or is there a code he's supposed to use?
"Upscale."
posted by Etrigan at 07:48 PM on September 07, 2014
I also wonder if the Braves moving their stadium north to the county with no mass transit is in part about race.
I thought there was a post here decrying that very thing. If not, it might have been at Deadspin: #1, #2. Still, you can't complain about the decision since the populace had their say. As long as they agreed with the plan.
posted by yerfatma at 09:20 AM on September 08, 2014
Thankfully this has given Kareem fodder for his Mr. Contrarian column.
posted by yerfatma at 02:52 PM on September 08, 2014
The email