http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/08/us/hawks-bruce-levenson-email/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Seems like a witch hunt that they interviewed 19 people and sifted through 24,000 pieces of evidence in order to find one racist e-mail from 2012.

Is it really racist to objectivly comment and ponder on why your franchise does not attract more white fans and to make observations on how much of the stadium entertainment appeals more to the African American audiences.

From skimming through the article it doesn't appear that he drops any n-bombs, says he doesn't like black people, or makes any stereotypical remarks. Seems that he just comments on how having a mostly black cheer leading squad, playing mostly hip-hop (instead of a balanced play list), and a majority black audience may not appeal to having a greater number of white season ticket holders. Seems objective and business oriented.

I'm sure business leaders make these sort of observations/comments all the time.

9/8/2014 9:28:20 AM

I still think this is a convenient way for a guy to look like he is doing the stand up thing and selling a team that he has tried to sell before. After watching the clippers go for 2 billion and knowing there were several other groups willing to shell out big cash for a NBA team it doesnt seem too far fetched that this is a businessman making a business decision.

Why not just come out and say you were wrong and feel truly bad oh and also gonna offload this team for a hefty profit to really show how bad I feel about all of this. Then people will view me as a guy who made a mistake and apologized, I can wash my hands of this franchise and get back to traveling the world on my yacht or something.

9/8/2014 9:37:12 AM

He self-reported the email... ^ is definitely right. At this point it doesn't matter what he said once it's labeled "racist" tough luck. Too much pent up rage from Sterling...

9/8/2014 9:42:52 AM

Quote :

"Then people will view me as a guy who made a mistake and apologized"

This has worked time and time again.

I"m Krallum and I approved this message.

9/8/2014 2:33:16 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DSGFsJGDsgE8&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=4_cNVJPhNIrlsASX_YGAAg&ved=0CBUQtwIwAA&usg=AFQjCNEtcsBFYVeu2_c1eMZvMHuJWh52MA

9/8/2014 2:40:11 PM

Doss2k is definitely right, this dude is just trying to sell the team. I don't understand why he had to copy-cat Sterling's poor judgement though. Dude should be like "Yes, I admit I did fuck the entire cheerleading squad, and now I will do the right thing and get paid sell the team"

9/8/2014 3:08:28 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/07/us/nba-hawks-levenson-racist-email/index.html

There's the full email. It's not really that racist IMO, but it's ironic that he's lamenting white racism as a primary cause of the lower sales:

Quote :

"My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don't know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games. I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders and while i don't care what the color of the artist is, i want the music to be music familiar to a 40 year old white guy if that's our season tixs demo. i have also balked when every fan picked out of crowd to shoot shots in some time out contest is black. I have even bitched that the kiss cam is too black. "

Which is a plausible theory I suppose, white people are stereotyped for being racist, and stereotypes exist for a reason, ya know?

The systemic angle here is that the black community in general has less wealth and income than the white community, which explains their lower revenue. If Bruce Levenson really wanted to increase his revenue, he would support political, social, and economic policy that meaningfully addressed the long-standing causes of this disparity. Somehow, I don't believe he's interesting in solving the long-term problem, he'd rather take the easy way out and supplant his black customers with white ones.

[Edited on September 8, 2014 at 3:10 PM. Reason : ]

9/8/2014 3:09:30 PM

Quote :

"The systemic angle here is that the black community in general has less wealth and income than the white community"

nice try, but in Atlanta this isn't the case.

9/8/2014 3:28:42 PM

K, but I'm not so sure about that.

9/8/2014 3:37:33 PM

It's a pretty transparent attempt to divest himself of a team he tried selling previously.

The content certainly isn't racist in the Sterling sense; it's framed insensitively, but it's ostensibly just a guy musing about his profit situation.

9/8/2014 7:49:47 PM

Quote :

"Regardless of what time a game starts, we have the latest arriving crowd in the league. It often looks and sounds empty when the team takes the floor."

Guess he's saying their fanbase is on BPT.

9/8/2014 9:13:56 PM

The truth is nobody in Atlanta gives a shit about the Hawks. Atlanta is a Football/Baseball town.

9/9/2014 10:26:17 PM