I never understood this line of thinking. Part of it is that my family is used to being a small minority and we're fine with it. My gentile father grew up in a Catholic family in what had been a predominantly Muslim area for 500 years. My maternal ancestors have spent the last 2000 years in diaspora. I actually think I like it. I don't know how I'd handle living in Israel, for example.
But the other part of that is that I don't understand what impact this has on an average NBA player. Detroit is 80% black and I do not for a second believe that any Pistons players live in predominantly black parts of Detroit or Detroit Metro. Based on where the Jazz players tend to live around SLC, I assume they live in the whitest places imaginable. I also find it difficult to believe that the higher the black population of the city is, the lower the racism you face. A white police officer doesn't care if the city is 5% black or 50% black when pulling you over for driving a "suspiciously" expensive car. What would be the benefit of living in a city with a larger black population for someone who's a multi-millionaire from the start?
I mean, you can deny it all you want but there's a reason SLC has the reputation it does.
I'm assuming you're white (Jewish, I'm guessing, in the US). You've probably lived your entire life in a city where white people made up at least a huge chunk of the population.
I don't think anyone on this forum really knows what it's like to be 3% of a population when it comes to skin color - at least on a consistent basis. Maybe the LDSers experienced it on their two-year mission but not in a realm of daily living that you'd expect from someone who actually lives and interacts in the area. You know, that stands out. It's not religion. I grew up Catholic in Salt Lake City. Catholics make up roughly 5% of the state's population, so just slightly more than the percent of Blacks in Salt Lake City. The difference is that if I'm out doing stuff, it's very unlikely you'll know I grew up Catholic. Unless you saw me at Mass or maybe I had a rosary or I was refusing to eat meat on Fridays ... but there's not a lot of tells there.
If all Catholics were a different color, though, I think I'd stand out waaaaaaaay more than I do now.
And I would probably find that a bit tough at first. Maybe I'm able to overcome it and it's not a big deal. But I don't know how many times I've heard jokes from locals who say when they see a Black person out and about, they assume it's a member of the Jazz.
The difference between Atlanta and Salt Lake is that if you're Black in Salt Lake, you're standing out. Yeah, you're probably standing out in Atlanta too as a celebrity but it's different when 50% of the population is also Black. You have that culture that doesn't exist in places like Utah.
There is a very limited Black culture here.
I absolutely think that can play a factor in whether a player wants to settle down in their early 20s here in Salt Lake.
You might not and that's great. But I think the proof is in the pudding. Why else does Salt Lake consistently score high on NBA Players' worst NBA cities?
THIS from 1992!
Considering all 27 cities in the NBA, there are some fine candidates for the worst place in the league. There's always Cleveland, everyone's favorite urban joke. Washington has that shocking murder rate. And there's always Detroit. Enough said. But the worst city to visit in the NBA? At...
www.deseret.com
Does that mean Utah is never ever destined to keep talent here? No. I just think it's going to be a bit more difficult and their postseason flameouts probably aren't helping.