As the NBA was in the process of booting DONALD STERLING over the racist comments he made on tape, one of his most vocal critics was Atlanta Hawks majority owner BRUCE LEVENSON. But over the weekend, Levenson announced that hes selling his controlling interest in the team, because of some racist comments HE made two years ago. It doesnt seem like he was being outed . . . hes coming clean on his own. In the summer of 2012, Levenson sent an email to his co-owners and general manager Danny Ferry . . . complaining that the teams increasingly black fanbase was scaring away their richer, white season ticketholders. He said, quote, I start looking around our arena during games and notice the following: Its 70% black, the cheerleaders are black, the music is hip-hop, at the bars its 90% black, there are few fathers and sons at the games . . . Were doing after-game concerts to attract more fans and the concerts are either hip-hop or gospel. He demanded some white cheerleaders, and whined that the contests all had black contestants, and, quote, the kiss-cam is too black. He added, quote, I think Southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority . . . and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base. (Heres the entire email. ajc/news/sports/complete-e-mail-sent-by-levenson/nhHbD/ ) In a statement, Levenson called that email inappropriate and offensive, and added, quote, If youre angry about what I wrote, you should be. Im angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense . . . I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism, and I strongly believe that to be true. That is why I voluntarily reported my inappropriate email to the NBA.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:42:40 +0000
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