OT:Hawks Owner Levensen to sell team after 2012 racist email

[hst420]

Beanbag, I'm curious based on his email which policies you felt he was trying to enact that would marginalize anyone? I see where you could say he's advocating trying to attract more whites, and even I could see where you could say he's expressed a desire to attract less blacks, but I don't see him actually asking for any policies to marginalize anyone. Doesn't seem like he knows what to do about his perceived issue, other than try some game ops adjustments. I wouldn't call asking game ops to throw some top 40 or classic rock in the arena music as a marginalization. Now if he was suggest to stop selling tickets or giving free ticket give-away promotions to Black people, for sure.

Yeah, you're right the word 'policies' was incorrect on my part, but for me, the acknowledgment of the black fan base scaring away the white fan base is where the problem lies. It makes it apparent that the end goal (of financial gain) requires the reduction of the black fan base.

Yeah, although was Levensen wrong in his thinking? Or was it his acknowledgement and addressing of the attendance issue that was the problem? Were white people who predominately live in relatively safe suburbs around Atlanta intimidated to go into a black environment where they were the minority? Well according to Levenson yes and he managed to attract more whites by phasing out the blacks, further proving it to himself at least. I think the real problem isn't how an owner runs his own team, but how the racial divide and lack of honest and open discussions on the resentment and double standards of race in America. For instance addressing the resentment of white people by blacks and being targets for racially motivated crimes, often violent. The media doesn't like to address that because it doesn't fit their narrative of whites being discriminatory against blacks, i.e. slavery, segregation, old south. While racism exists on both sides, blacks are given the benefit of the doubt more often when it comes to potentially racially motivated crimes, and whites realize that their an easy target as a minority and any crime will be justified as monetary motivated (robbing) and not an infringement on their civil rights as whites (i.e. hate crime). Wait whites have civil rights? And cue the laughter, not uncommon. It's a whole can of worms, but the double standards exist on both sides, rife with hypocrisy.

Levensen approached a sensitive problem as he saw it as a racial divide problem, which does exist in America. Now was he wrong for acting on it? And enforcing policies to get his preference? Yes probably, with the purpose of marginalizing a minority it is wrong. Although if you think there isn't more overt racism going on in Corporate America you got another thing coming.

All Sterling wanted was for his gold digging hoe to stop bringing young black men to the games because it made him look bad, by implication she was sleeping with them and cheating on him. Was it really that bad? I think Sterling is the real victim, he had his First and Fourth amendment rights pushed aside. The media gave no consideration to his privacy or rights being violated, being recorded illegally for I believe years by this girl. Is he an ****? Yes a bigot? Maybe, but he's no worse than all the other predominately white NA Pro-sports owners.

In this culture of nothing but TMZ and people recording and snitching on other people for rude, offensive or politically incorrect behavior or statements is getting way out of hand. No wonder NSA snoops to high heaven, the public can't get enough of the trash gossip and passing judgement on well known people who behave just like them and then pay the large repercussions, unjust in most cases. If you're not offending someone, somewhere on some issue chances are you're probably sitting on the fence on a great deal of issues.

There's nowhere in the Constitution or the Charter of Rights where it protects you from being offended by something someone says. Relevant side topic, imo.

[Inevitable]

I've read the Woj article, I can't decipher what Ferry was trying to say. Deng had some African in him? Huh?

[Danchan]

Honestly, as a black man who also happens to be a business man, I really wasn't offended by this email. Obviously the whole subject matter can easily be interpreted as racist but where do you draw the line!? Mind you I only perused a few paragraphs so if there was anything in there that was actually malicious please flame away.

The guy is trying to fill the arena & is dealing with issues that are real but also happen to be hurtful to people. I don't know what else to say. Our society is complicated.

that's because you are the 10%

Why does this matter?

You really don't know?

[5playersnot1]

All of that is true, but the additional point of 'whites being scared blacks' suggests that changing game ops isn't just geared towards adding whites, it's also gearing towards losing blacks.

In making the (likely valid) assumption that some whites are scared of the black crowd, he buries himself because it suggests the need to diminish said crowd. It's that need to diminish that is the main issue that I have. It's not that any of his suggestions are racist in and of themselves, it's that the end game of the changes is to lessen the percentage of black fans at the arena.

I like you're overall message, but I think this part is a big reach.

We know his arena was half empty. It was half empty while predominantly catering to the black community. (100% black cheerleaders, majority black kiss cam, music, free tickets to poorer black communities, etc). There's absolutely nothing wrong with marketing to any community, however, if you're marketing to one community over another, in this case black, and you're not filling the stadium, then the marketing mix should change to a degree to be more inclusive.

Given the stadium is half empty, why do you interpret a tweaking of the product as trying to reduce absolute numbers of black fans? Why can't the tweaks to marketing be used to fill empty seats? Filling empty seats is the goal. If the currently marketing doesn't do that, why not try to change that? Net new fans is the goal, and trying to exploit a market segment that is under represented makes the most sense.

Do you really think that a few non-rap songs, a few non-black cheerleaders (not all, a few), more diverse kiss cam, free tickets to other communities/groups that may generate previously unknown interest, would be seen to drive black fans away from the NBA? My guess is that they would take a country song the same way I take it when they play Bieber at the ACC. They're doing it for another group in attendance, the song for my demographic will come later.

On another note - Imagine CNN wrote an article on a professional sports team that only hired white cheerleaders. Only allowed white people on the kiss cam. Only gave away tickets to white communities. Do you think there would be a massive backlash? It would be a PR nightmare. This guy saw the opposite of that in the team he purchased. It was detrimental to his investment, and however poor the structure of his email was, it appears he was brainstorming ideas to fix the inequality. If we can't discuss race issues, how can we eliminate racism?

[Kevin Willis]

that's because you are the 10%

Why does this matter?

You really don't know?

I'm assuming he's talking about the Talented Tenth.

[J Dilla]

this should be raptors intro next year

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFY2kJ96jNY[/youtube]

[MEDIC]

that's because you are the 10%

Why does this matter?

You really don't know?

No.

[Harold_and_Kumar]

Beanbag, I'm curious based on his email which policies you felt he was trying to enact that would marginalize anyone? I see where you could say he's advocating trying to attract more whites, and even I could see where you could say he's expressed a desire to attract less blacks, but I don't see him actually asking for any policies to marginalize anyone. Doesn't seem like he knows what to do about his perceived issue, other than try some game ops adjustments. I wouldn't call asking game ops to throw some top 40 or classic rock in the arena music as a marginalization. Now if he was suggest to stop selling tickets or giving free ticket give-away promotions to Black people, for sure.

Yeah, you're right the word 'policies' was incorrect on my part, but for me, the acknowledgment of the black fan base scaring away the white fan base is where the problem lies. It makes it apparent that the end goal (of financial gain) requires the reduction of the black fan base.

Yeah, although was Levensen wrong in his thinking? Or was it his acknowledgement and addressing of the attendance issue that was the problem? Were white people who predominately live in relatively safe suburbs around Atlanta intimidated to go into a black environment where they were the minority? Well according to Levenson yes and he managed to attract more whites by phasing out the blacks, further proving it to himself at least. I think the real problem isn't how an owner runs his own team, but how the racial divide and lack of honest and open discussions on the resentment and double standards of race in America. For instance addressing the resentment of white people by blacks and being targets for racially motivated crimes, often violent. The media doesn't like to address that because it doesn't fit their narrative of whites being discriminatory against blacks, i.e. slavery, segregation, old south. While racism exists on both sides, blacks are given the benefit of the doubt more often when it comes to potentially racially motivated crimes, and whites realize that their an easy target as a minority and any crime will be justified as monetary motivated (robbing) and not an infringement on their civil rights as whites (i.e. hate crime). Wait whites have civil rights? And cue the laughter, not uncommon. It's a whole can of worms, but the double standards exist on both sides, rife with hypocrisy.

Levensen approached a sensitive problem as he saw it as a racial divide problem, which does exist in America. Now was he wrong for acting on it? And enforcing policies to get his preference? Yes probably, with the purpose of marginalizing a minority it is wrong. Although if you think there isn't more overt racism going on in Corporate America you got another thing coming.

All Sterling wanted was for his gold digging hoe to stop bringing young black men to the games because it made him look bad, by implication she was sleeping with them and cheating on him. Was it really that bad? I think Sterling is the real victim, he had his First and Fourth amendment rights pushed aside. The media gave no consideration to his privacy or rights being violated, being recorded illegally for I believe years by this girl. Is he an ****? Yes a bigot? Maybe, but he's no worse than all the other predominately white NA Pro-sports owners.

In this culture of nothing but TMZ and people recording and snitching on other people for rude, offensive or politically incorrect behavior or statements is getting way out of hand. No wonder NSA snoops to high heaven, the public can't get enough of the trash gossip and passing judgement on well known people who behave just like them and then pay the large repercussions, unjust in most cases. If you're not offending someone, somewhere on some issue chances are you're probably sitting on the fence on a great deal of issues.

There's nowhere in the Constitution or the Charter of Rights where it protects you from being offended by something someone says. Relevant side topic, imo.

To satisfy my whimsy, what do you think is the main contributing factor towards high crime rates? What's the basis of your assumption that black-on-white hate crimes are under-reported?

In the United States, African Americans are disproportionately represented in the justice system, here in Canada it is First Nations people who are primarily over-represented. Why do you think this is?

I'll give you a hint at what these groups have in common, they're the groups most likely to be living in poverty! If they want to talk about all the fun stuff you want to talk about they will eventually have to talk about the elephant in the room and root causes of the problem which no one wants to talk about.

Furthermore, your 'whites have no civil rights' argument reminds me of the "why do we have black history month, shouldn't we have white history month?" argument. Consider the fact that.. EVERY MONTH IS WHITE HISTORY MONTH! All our laws are already catered towards white people, made by white people and enforced primarily by white people.

[dagger]

Well, the stereotypes in which Levenson dabbled haven't been helped by today's revelation of the Ray Rice elevator video.

The Baltimore Ravens have just terminated Rice's contract.

[gamer4Life]

Should have just traded for white players if he wanted more white people to come to games.

[ATLTimekeeper]

All of that is true, but the additional point of 'whites being scared blacks' suggests that changing game ops isn't just geared towards adding whites, it's also gearing towards losing blacks.

In making the (likely valid) assumption that some whites are scared of the black crowd, he buries himself because it suggests the need to diminish said crowd. It's that need to diminish that is the main issue that I have. It's not that any of his suggestions are racist in and of themselves, it's that the end game of the changes is to lessen the percentage of black fans at the arena.

I like you're overall message, but I think this part is a big reach.

We know his arena was half empty. It was half empty while predominantly catering to the black community. (100% black cheerleaders, majority black kiss cam, music, free tickets to poorer black communities, etc). There's absolutely nothing wrong with marketing to any community, however, if you're marketing to one community over another, in this case black, and you're not filling the stadium, then the marketing mix should change to a degree to be more inclusive.

Given the stadium is half empty, why do you interpret a tweaking of the product as trying to reduce absolute numbers of black fans? Why can't the tweaks to marketing be used to fill empty seats? Filling empty seats is the goal. If the currently marketing doesn't do that, why not try to change that? Net new fans is the goal, and trying to exploit a market segment that is under represented makes the most sense.

Do you really think that a few non-rap songs, a few non-black cheerleaders (not all, a few), more diverse kiss cam, free tickets to other communities/groups that may generate previously unknown interest, would be seen to drive black fans away from the NBA? My guess is that they would take a country song the same way I take it when they play Bieber at the ACC. They're doing it for another group in attendance, the song for my demographic will come later.

His premise is that the potential white season ticket holders are scared off by large crowds of black people. Presumably by watching them kiss on a large tv screen.

The whole email is full of thoughts that could be from a ranting racist fan. He's complaining about how late the crowd shows up He's encouraged by the "rowdy college crowd." Let me guess, that rowdy college crowd has enough disposable income to buy season's tickets?

He may have taken the time to actually do some market research, too, because I'm sure he would have discovered that his arena is half-empty because the Hawks spent most of the past decade in the lottery and not because white people are afraid of black people.

[dagger]

All of that is true, but the additional point of 'whites being scared blacks' suggests that changing game ops isn't just geared towards adding whites, it's also gearing towards losing blacks.

In making the (likely valid) assumption that some whites are scared of the black crowd, he buries himself because it suggests the need to diminish said crowd. It's that need to diminish that is the main issue that I have. It's not that any of his suggestions are racist in and of themselves, it's that the end game of the changes is to lessen the percentage of black fans at the arena.

I like you're overall message, but I think this part is a big reach.

We know his arena was half empty. It was half empty while predominantly catering to the black community. (100% black cheerleaders, majority black kiss cam, music, free tickets to poorer black communities, etc). There's absolutely nothing wrong with marketing to any community, however, if you're marketing to one community over another, in this case black, and you're not filling the stadium, then the marketing mix should change to a degree to be more inclusive.

Given the stadium is half empty, why do you interpret a tweaking of the product as trying to reduce absolute numbers of black fans? Why can't the tweaks to marketing be used to fill empty seats? Filling empty seats is the goal. If the currently marketing doesn't do that, why not try to change that? Net new fans is the goal, and trying to exploit a market segment that is under represented makes the most sense.

Do you really think that a few non-rap songs, a few non-black cheerleaders (not all, a few), more diverse kiss cam, free tickets to other communities/groups that may generate previously unknown interest, would be seen to drive black fans away from the NBA? My guess is that they would take a country song the same way I take it when they play Bieber at the ACC. They're doing it for another group in attendance, the song for my demographic will come later.

His premise is that the potential white season ticket holders are scared off by large crowds of black people. Presumably by watching them kiss on a large tv screen.

The whole email is full of thoughts that could be from a ranting racist fan. He's complaining about how late the crowd shows up He's encouraged by the "rowdy college crowd." Let me guess, that rowdy college crowd has enough disposable income to buy season's tickets?

He may have taken the time to actually do some market research, too, because I'm sure he would have discovered that his arena is half-empty because the Hawks spent most of the past decade in the lottery and not because white people are afraid of black people.

Actually, they've been in the playoffs for seven years in a row.

[beanbag]

All of that is true, but the additional point of 'whites being scared blacks' suggests that changing game ops isn't just geared towards adding whites, it's also gearing towards losing blacks.

In making the (likely valid) assumption that some whites are scared of the black crowd, he buries himself because it suggests the need to diminish said crowd. It's that need to diminish that is the main issue that I have. It's not that any of his suggestions are racist in and of themselves, it's that the end game of the changes is to lessen the percentage of black fans at the arena.

I like you're overall message, but I think this part is a big reach.

We know his arena was half empty. It was half empty while predominantly catering to the black community. (100% black cheerleaders, majority black kiss cam, music, free tickets to poorer black communities, etc). There's absolutely nothing wrong with marketing to any community, however, if you're marketing to one community over another, in this case black, and you're not filling the stadium, then the marketing mix should change to a degree to be more inclusive.

Given the stadium is half empty, why do you interpret a tweaking of the product as trying to reduce absolute numbers of black fans? Why can't the tweaks to marketing be used to fill empty seats? Filling empty seats is the goal. If the currently marketing doesn't do that, why not try to change that? Net new fans is the goal, and trying to exploit a market segment that is under represented makes the most sense.

The problem is that he acknowledges the issue that too many black fans is keeping away white fans. The suggestion being that the number of whites won't rise unless the number of blacks dwindles. While he suggests game ops changes, this isn't an all encompassing plan, but simply a suggestion of one way to change the metrics.

Do you really think that a few non-rap songs, a few non-black cheerleaders (not all, a few), more diverse kiss cam, free tickets to other communities/groups that may generate previously unknown interest, would be seen to drive black fans away from the NBA? My guess is that they would take a country song the same way I take it when they play Bieber at the ACC. They're doing it for another group in attendance, the song for my demographic will come later.

No, his suggestions are a lousy way to achieve his goal, but I still believe the goal is to both increase the number of white fans and reduce the number of black fans.

On another note - Imagine CNN wrote an article on a professional sports team that only hired white cheerleaders. Only allowed white people on the kiss cam. Only gave away tickets to white communities. Do you think there would be a massive backlash? It would be a PR nightmare. This guy saw the opposite of that in the team he purchased. It was detrimental to his investment, and however poor the structure of his email was, it appears he was brainstorming ideas to fix the inequality.

The Atlanta Hawks are not a case of a 'professional sports team that only hires black cheerleaders. Only allows black people on the kiss cam. Only gives away tickets to black communities'. The fact is the black community in Atlanta is the community that is interested in the team and that is why they are being catered to. Now, the owner is saying 'we can't make money off blacks, we need to turn our fan base into predominantly white'. The owner would prefer to have white fans because they have more money. The reason they have more money as a whole over blacks is rooted in racism.

If we can't discuss race issues, how can we eliminate racism?

We can discuss racism, in fact we are discussing racism right now. It doesn't mean we shouldn't call this out for what it is though.

[dagger]

Here are a couple of well written articles that add some perspective and information

http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2014/09/08/ ... um=twitter

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/bruce ... team-sale/

[Totem]

Should have just traded for white players if he wanted more white people to come to games.

ahem... Kyle Korver...

[hst420]

Yeah, you're right the word 'policies' was incorrect on my part, but for me, the acknowledgment of the black fan base scaring away the white fan base is where the problem lies. It makes it apparent that the end goal (of financial gain) requires the reduction of the black fan base.

Yeah, although was Levensen wrong in his thinking? Or was it his acknowledgement and addressing of the attendance issue that was the problem? Were white people who predominately live in relatively safe suburbs around Atlanta intimidated to go into a black environment where they were the minority? Well according to Levenson yes and he managed to attract more whites by phasing out the blacks, further proving it to himself at least. I think the real problem isn't how an owner runs his own team, but how the racial divide and lack of honest and open discussions on the resentment and double standards of race in America. For instance addressing the resentment of white people by blacks and being targets for racially motivated crimes, often violent. The media doesn't like to address that because it doesn't fit their narrative of whites being discriminatory against blacks, i.e. slavery, segregation, old south. While racism exists on both sides, blacks are given the benefit of the doubt more often when it comes to potentially racially motivated crimes, and whites realize that their an easy target as a minority and any crime will be justified as monetary motivated (robbing) and not an infringement on their civil rights as whites (i.e. hate crime). Wait whites have civil rights? And cue the laughter, not uncommon. It's a whole can of worms, but the double standards exist on both sides, rife with hypocrisy.

Levensen approached a sensitive problem as he saw it as a racial divide problem, which does exist in America. Now was he wrong for acting on it? And enforcing policies to get his preference? Yes probably, with the purpose of marginalizing a minority it is wrong. Although if you think there isn't more overt racism going on in Corporate America you got another thing coming.

All Sterling wanted was for his gold digging hoe to stop bringing young black men to the games because it made him look bad, by implication she was sleeping with them and cheating on him. Was it really that bad? I think Sterling is the real victim, he had his First and Fourth amendment rights pushed aside. The media gave no consideration to his privacy or rights being violated, being recorded illegally for I believe years by this girl. Is he an ****? Yes a bigot? Maybe, but he's no worse than all the other predominately white NA Pro-sports owners.

In this culture of nothing but TMZ and people recording and snitching on other people for rude, offensive or politically incorrect behavior or statements is getting way out of hand. No wonder NSA snoops to high heaven, the public can't get enough of the trash gossip and passing judgement on well known people who behave just like them and then pay the large repercussions, unjust in most cases. If you're not offending someone, somewhere on some issue chances are you're probably sitting on the fence on a great deal of issues.

There's nowhere in the Constitution or the Charter of Rights where it protects you from being offended by something someone says. Relevant side topic, imo.

To satisfy my whimsy, what do you think is the main contributing factor towards high crime rates? What's the basis of your assumption that black-on-white hate crimes are under-reported?

In the United States, African Americans are disproportionately represented in the justice system, here in Canada it is First Nations people who are primarily over-represented. Why do you think this is?

I'll give you a hint at what these groups have in common, they're the groups most likely to be living in poverty! If they want to talk about all the fun stuff you want to talk about they will eventually have to talk about the elephant in the room and root causes of the problem which no one wants to talk about.

Furthermore, your 'whites have no civil rights' argument reminds me of the "why do we have black history month, shouldn't we have white history month?" argument. Consider the fact that.. EVERY MONTH IS WHITE HISTORY MONTH! All our laws are already catered towards white people, made by white people and enforced primarily by white people.

Well obviously poverty and underprivileged schools plays a large part in the cycle of poverty, crime and deviant behavior. However, there are a lot of opportunities afforded to minorities especially black and hispanic who excel in school and work and are taken above similiar and sometimes more qualified caucasians or less sympathetic minority groups (i.e. affirmative action). Yes blacks in america and native americans are targeted and legislation has passed which discriminates the underprivileged, primary those two minorities.

However, the biggest elephant in the room is the African American culture. Which has become distorted from the values and ideals of civil rights, freedoms, peaceful disobedience, forgiveness and understanding beset by Martin Luther King, into a gangster or thug mentality wherein some young blacks get sucked into. One where there is a lot of hesitation in reporting violent crime for fear of being labelled a 'snitch' and face possible repercussions as a result isn't helping things. And the resentment and anger towards whites from the horrors of slavery and segregation still very fresh in the minds and hearts of some African Americans. Whether that's right or wrong, nevertheless still exists. The media does nothing but stir the pot, MSNBC has Reverend Al Sharpton who in my opinion is a race baiter and ambulance chaser. Nothing more than a pariah to the black community that knows a thing or two about living in real subjugation and disenfranchisement, also know that a significant part of the problem is the willingness to give into the pitfalls of criminality in the black culture.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of racism and bigotry in America, although one side sells and the other doesn't. The white guilt of subjugating the blacks has permeated those who have no responsibility for it. So it sells, furthermore the justice system seems very hesitant to charge African Americans with hate crimes towards whites, because of the media and NAACP backlash, not to mention civil rights leaders Reverend Al and Jesse Jackson. Both of which have both been quoted as saying Anti-Semitic remarks, however not in private. Hate crime charges by blacks onto other minorities like jews or caucasians is unreported. Nobody's hands are clean. Knock-out game ring a bell? The media calls it a game, meanwhile in actuality it is a violent assault not to mention likely racially motivated.

The narrative the media likes to perpetuate is one of continued if not increased racism and bigotry becoming exposed. Meanwhile I think it's safe to say America is less racist and discriminatory now than it ever was ten, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty years ago. Not saying it's perfect, there is plenty of room for improvement. Although it'll never be perfect and the sins of the past will probably ensure that unfortunate reality.

[beanbag]

Well obviously poverty and underprivileged schools plays a large part in the cycle of poverty, crime and deviant behavior. However, there are a lot of opportunities afforded to minorities especially black and hispanic who excel in school and work and are taken above similiar and sometimes more qualified caucasians or less sympathetic minority groups (i.e. affirmative action). Yes blacks in america and native americans are targeted and legislation has passed which discriminates the underprivileged, primary those two minorities.

However, the biggest elephant in the room is the African American culture. Which has become distorted from the values and ideals of civil rights, freedoms, peaceful disobedience, forgiveness and understanding beset by Martin Luther King, into a gangster or thug mentality wherein some young blacks get sucked into. One where there is a lot of hesitation in reporting violent crime for fear of being labelled a 'snitch' and face possible repercussions as a result isn't helping things. And the resentment and anger towards whites from the horrors of slavery and segregation still very fresh in the minds and hearts of some African Americans. Whether that's right or wrong, nevertheless still exists. The media does nothing but stir the pot, MSNBC has Reverend Al Sharpton who in my opinion is a race baiter and ambulance chaser. Nothing more than a pariah to the black community that knows a thing or two about living in real subjugation and disenfranchisement, also know that a significant part of the problem is the willingness to give into the pitfalls of criminality in the black culture.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of racism and bigotry in America, although one side sells and the other doesn't. The white guilt of subjugating the blacks has permeated those who have no responsibility for it. So it sells, furthermore the justice system seems very hesitant to charge African Americans with hate crimes towards whites, because of the media and civil rights leaders Anti-Semitic Reverend Al and Jesse Jackson. Hate crime charges by blacks onto other minorities like jews or caucasians is unreported. Nobody's hands are clean. Knock-out game ring a bell? The media calls it a game, meanwhile in actuality it is a violent assault not to mention likely racially motivated.

Simply to say 11 months out of the year is white history month

Serious question: How far does your head go up your ass before this post comes out?

[hst420]

Well obviously poverty and underprivileged schools plays a large part in the cycle of poverty, crime and deviant behavior. However, there are a lot of opportunities afforded to minorities especially black and hispanic who excel in school and work and are taken above similiar and sometimes more qualified caucasians or less sympathetic minority groups (i.e. affirmative action). Yes blacks in america and native americans are targeted and legislation has passed which discriminates the underprivileged, primary those two minorities.

However, the biggest elephant in the room is the African American culture. Which has become distorted from the values and ideals of civil rights, freedoms, peaceful disobedience, forgiveness and understanding beset by Martin Luther King, into a gangster or thug mentality wherein some young blacks get sucked into. One where there is a lot of hesitation in reporting violent crime for fear of being labelled a 'snitch' and face possible repercussions as a result isn't helping things. And the resentment and anger towards whites from the horrors of slavery and segregation still very fresh in the minds and hearts of some African Americans. Whether that's right or wrong, nevertheless still exists. The media does nothing but stir the pot, MSNBC has Reverend Al Sharpton who in my opinion is a race baiter and ambulance chaser. Nothing more than a pariah to the black community that knows a thing or two about living in real subjugation and disenfranchisement, also know that a significant part of the problem is the willingness to give into the pitfalls of criminality in the black culture.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of racism and bigotry in America, although one side sells and the other doesn't. The white guilt of subjugating the blacks has permeated those who have no responsibility for it. So it sells, furthermore the justice system seems very hesitant to charge African Americans with hate crimes towards whites, because of the media and civil rights leaders Anti-Semitic Reverend Al and Jesse Jackson. Hate crime charges by blacks onto other minorities like jews or caucasians is unreported. Nobody's hands are clean. Knock-out game ring a bell? The media calls it a game, meanwhile in actuality it is a violent assault not to mention likely racially motivated.

Simply to say 11 months out of the year is white history month

Serious question: How far does your head go up your ass before this post comes out?

It's not very difficult to suss out, I'm surprised you can't see more of the angles and decipher the media's spin.

[beanbag]

Well obviously poverty and underprivileged schools plays a large part in the cycle of poverty, crime and deviant behavior. However, there are a lot of opportunities afforded to minorities especially black and hispanic who excel in school and work and are taken above similiar and sometimes more qualified caucasians or less sympathetic minority groups (i.e. affirmative action). Yes blacks in america and native americans are targeted and legislation has passed which discriminates the underprivileged, primary those two minorities.

However, the biggest elephant in the room is the African American culture. Which has become distorted from the values and ideals of civil rights, freedoms, peaceful disobedience, forgiveness and understanding beset by Martin Luther King, into a gangster or thug mentality wherein some young blacks get sucked into. One where there is a lot of hesitation in reporting violent crime for fear of being labelled a 'snitch' and face possible repercussions as a result isn't helping things. And the resentment and anger towards whites from the horrors of slavery and segregation still very fresh in the minds and hearts of some African Americans. Whether that's right or wrong, nevertheless still exists. The media does nothing but stir the pot, MSNBC has Reverend Al Sharpton who in my opinion is a race baiter and ambulance chaser. Nothing more than a pariah to the black community that knows a thing or two about living in real subjugation and disenfranchisement, also know that a significant part of the problem is the willingness to give into the pitfalls of criminality in the black culture.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of racism and bigotry in America, although one side sells and the other doesn't. The white guilt of subjugating the blacks has permeated those who have no responsibility for it. So it sells, furthermore the justice system seems very hesitant to charge African Americans with hate crimes towards whites, because of the media and civil rights leaders Anti-Semitic Reverend Al and Jesse Jackson. Hate crime charges by blacks onto other minorities like jews or caucasians is unreported. Nobody's hands are clean. Knock-out game ring a bell? The media calls it a game, meanwhile in actuality it is a violent assault not to mention likely racially motivated.

Simply to say 11 months out of the year is white history month

Serious question: How far does your head go up your ass before this post comes out?

It's not very difficult to suss out, I'm surprised you can't see more of the angles and decipher the media's spin.

I can suss out the fact that you had about 30 posts in 2 years prior to this topic. Think there may be something special here grinding your gears.

[Ari_Emanuel]

Why does this matter?

You really don't know?

No.

There is some sentiment within and outside of the black community that an educated black man who is more upwardly mobile is disconnected and out of touch with the problems of that community.

Some non blacks point to us and say "see, he/she's successful, racism is overblown and he/she is living proof".

Some blacks point to us and say "He/she was simply lucky/is an uncle tom/house negro/forgot where he came from/etc etc".

Two sides of the same coin. Those simplistic generalizations are false for the most part.