hawks owner selling Team

[8]

wait... what are you revolting against exactly?

Entities that make decisions I should be making for myself. You know, defending the Declaration of Independence. That sort of stuff.

 

[The Midnight]

Entities that make decisions I should be making for myself. You know, defending the Declaration of Independence. That sort of stuff.

But you get to have a vote, no?

 

[8]

But you get to have a vote, no?

Lol

 

[TroutBum]

But you get to have a vote, no?

Yup.

Lol

Half my kingdom says this guy doesn't vote. (but looooves to complain)

 

[8]

Half my kingdom says this guy doesn't vote. (but looooves to complain)

Half right. I don't vote because I can do basic arithmetic. It makes little sense statistically for me to do so.

I don't actively complain. I mostly just keep to myself, or I'll talk to people of a similar mind about how basic microeconomics could save us all. I realize how fruitless complaining is, and recognize the negative effects that have come from reacting to 'complaining' in the first place. So yes, I sometimes express my frustrations with the ineptitude of some of our fine, human institutions, but I don't complain because things happen exactly as they should. Pointless to complain about natural human behavior. I'm just disappointed everyone is not like me, as we all are (at least, from a standpoint on what the role of government should be in our individual lives (I'd be pretty pissed if everyone was actually like me because I'm not gay and even though I'm well endowed it would still not be that great and we would all walk around ************ and probably die at the same time and humans would go extinct unless I discovered an animal I was sexually attracted to and had some sort of mutant offspring in which case humans would still be extinct anyways and our seed would live on half-realized in this illegitimate product of bestiality))

You can't bet half of nothing, turdface.

 

[GVC]

Sure, I agree. Good thing this one wasn't a false alarm, right?

What Ferry said was prejudiced and incredibly stupid, but it wasn't racist. The distinction being made is between Africans and other players, most of whom are also Black. It's a cultural stereotype.

 

[moevillini]

I dunno GVC, I know we've had discussions and split hairs about this in countless threads, but it still seems pretty racist to me. According to the definition, "racist" implies a statement indicating that one race is superior to others and it seems to me that Ferry's comment fall into this category

www.thefreedictionary.com/racist
The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. 2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race

good article here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/13/us-basketball-racist-incidents-danny-ferry-luol-deng

some quotes from the article:

Leading African-American athletes and team managers have joined in a display of reconciliation designed to relieve American basketball of allegations of institutional racism that have dogged it for months.

Last week the Nigerian manager of the Toronto Raptors, Masai Ujiri, said he hoped for "learning and forgiveness" after a string of incidents in which National Basketball Association executives and owners have disparaged black players

............

Last week Bruce Levenson, part owner of the Atlanta Hawks, announced that he would sell his $300m stake in the team after an investigation uncovered an email in which he complained that the team drew an "overwhelmingly black audience".

Danny Ferry, the Hawks' general manager, was then heard assessing British player Luol Deng, currently with the Miami Heat and formerly with the Cleveland Cavaliers: "He's a good guy overall," Ferry was reported as saying. "But he's not perfect. He's got some African in him."

He added: "And I don't say that in a bad way, but he's like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back."

............

In Ujiri's letter to Toronto's Globe and Mail, the former player said that while Ferry's comments could not be unsaid, a person's true character was discovered through their ability to learn from and then move on from mistakes. "One of the truly important things we must learn is how to forgive," he wrote.

Ujiri and Deng said they did not want young black players to be hurt by the incident. Young players from Africa are renowned around the basketball world for their work ethic and their decency, wrote Ujiri. "If he [Ferry] has made an honest, isolated error, we should forgive and move on."


Other former players suggest that comments read as racist may not always be founded in racial bias. According to the former LA Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Levenson's leaked email about the Hawks' struggle to "get 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tickets" because "the black crowd scared away the whites" may have been racially insensitive, but not necessarily racist.

If the predominance of black cheerleaders, hip-hop and gospel music was skewing the Atlanta Hawks fanbase towards a black market, then questioning it was part of the owner's job.

............

Ujiri prefers to focus on the positive. He has spoken to Ferry, and Ferry apologised to him and others, including Deng. He hopes to see Ferry at one of his camps in Africa soon. "My hope is that we will soon see Danny Ferry at a Basketball Without Borders camp as well, so that he may come to know us. Because when we know better, we do better."

 

[GVC]

According to the definition, "racist" implies a statement indicating that one race is superior to others and it seems to me that Ferry's comment fall into this category

I disagree. The vast majority of players have "some African" race in them. I doubt this would have to be repeated every time decision makers are discussing a Black player; it would just be implied (fwiw, the Hawks added no White players this offseason...). He clearly makes the distinction because Luol Deng is actually from Africa, and was raised by African parents. Still incredibly ignorant, but not racist.

 

[moevillini]

I disagree. The vast majority of players have "some African" race in them. I doubt this would have to be repeated every time decision makers are discussing a Black player; it would just be implied (fwiw, the Hawks added no White players this offseason...). He clearly makes the distinction because Luol Deng is actually from Africa, and was raised by African parents. Still incredibly ignorant, but not racist.

aha, got it! (I think)
You're saying the distinction is that Deng is ethnically African (Sudanese), and that Ferry's comment had more to do with his ethnicity than strictly just his race. Or something like that.

 

[GVC]

aha, got it! (I think)
You're saying the distinction is that Deng is ethnically African (Sudanese), and that Ferry's comment had more to do with his ethnicity than strictly just his race. Or something like that.

I think culture is more accurate than ethnicity, although neither is terribly useful when generalizing over an entire, diverse continent.

I think Ujiri's comments are useful: LINK

 

[moevillini]

I think culture is more accurate than ethnicity, although neither is terribly useful when generalizing over an entire, diverse continent.

I think Ujiri's comments are useful: LINK

Some of Ujiri's comments were mentioned in the link I provided, but thanks for the link with the full text of his words.

Whatever it's called, in some ways I think Ferry's comments are even more insulting when taken in the context of nationality or ethnicity than as racist comments.

In a way, it could be implied that he's saying that African-AMERICANS have been "Americanized" enough that this sort of undesirable "African" trait is no longer a factor.

For many Bulls fans in Chicago, Luol Deng has long been one of our favorite players in the league, so that makes it all the more difficult to stomach these comments.

At any rate, I like what was said in your link

...Danny’s mistake will remain tied to him for a long time. What he’s said can’t be unsaid, but we must measure his heart. If he has made an honest, isolated error, we should forgive and move on....


...Luol will move on from this and continue in his work, of which professional basketball is only one part. I hope to see him soon back home in Africa, where we will work with the many young people who understand that to have a little bit of African in them is to have the pride of a continent inside you.

My hope is that we will soon see Danny Ferry at a Basketball Without Borders camp as well, so that he may come to know us.

Because when we know better, we do better.

Masai Ujiri is president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors.