{"id":733,"date":"2014-09-10T22:38:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T22:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/?p=733"},"modified":"2014-09-11T00:08:42","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T00:08:42","slug":"courageous-kareem-contradicts-racial-correctness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallstreetandkstreet.com\/?p=733","title":{"rendered":"Courageous Kareem Contradicts Racial Correctness"},"content":{"rendered":"

USA Today<\/strong> called it a \u201cracist e-mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN<\/strong> called it a \u201cracially charged e-mail\u201d<\/p>\n

In three separate articles, The New York Times<\/strong> called it \u201ca racially charged memo,\u201d \u201cracially insensitive views,\u201d and evidence of \u201cdeeply rooted racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports Illustrated<\/strong> said it contained \u201ca series of ignorant, racially insensitive remarks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those are the types of statements basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was referring to when he wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the pitchforks are already sharpened and the torches lit anyway, so rather than let them go to waste, why not drag another so-called racist before the court of public opinion and see how much ratings-bragging, head-shaking and race-shaming we can squeeze out of it? After all, the media got so much gleeful, hand-wringing mileage out of Don Sterling and Michael Brown.\u201d<\/p>\n

I applaud Mr. Abdul-Jabbar for courageously denouncing the paternalistic forces of racial correctness, who attacked Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson for writing a memo to business partners that, in fact, reveals no racist views. Quite the opposite. I refer you to Abdul-Jabbar\u2019s incisive article in Time Magazine<\/strong>, where he argues Levenson\u2019s e-mail was an \u201centirely reasonable\u201d discussion of how the Atlanta Hawks franchise could increase revenue by attracting more white fans to the arena. (Google \u201cabdul-jabbar bruce levenson email.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Lessons to be Learned<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the over-wrought world of political and racial correctness, actual words \u2013 what someone actually said or wrote \u2013 does not really matter. If someone \u201ctakes offense,\u201d then the remarks are \u201cracially charged,\u201d \u201dracially insensitive\u201d and even \u201cracist.\u201d Off with his head.<\/p>\n

By no means is this always about blacks taking offense from the remarks of whites. Juan Williams (did I mention he\u2019s black?!) lost his job at NPR because he said he got nervous when Arabs got on an airplane. Forget the 9\/11 attacks, the\u00a0Fort Hood massacre, the Boston Marathon bombing and dozens of other attacks by Islamic terrorists on innocents of all faiths; in NPR-land Williams\u2019 remarks reeked of \u201cIslamophobia.\u201d He had to go.<\/p>\n

What Levenson Actually Said\u2014the Opposite of Racism<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a business historian who has read thousands of business letters (mostly by 18th<\/sup> century merchants), I find Levenson\u2019s memo interesting reading. Operating in the real world of making a buck in the Atlanta entertainment market, he was simply trying to figure out how to attract more fans to Atlanta Hawks games. If you actually read what he said, as Abdul-Jabbar did and most reporters apparently did not, you can easily see he was not racist. He merely made the error of recognizing cultural and economic \u201cfacts on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levenson starts by observing that \u201cfrom day one I have been impressed with the friendliness and professionalism of the arena staff\u2014food vendors, ushers, ticket takers, etc.\u201d Because the Phillips arena is in a neighborhood with a large black population, I am pretty certain many of these employees whom Levenson praised are black<\/strong>. No sign of racism there.<\/p>\n

Then he considers \u201cwhy our season ticket base is so small.\u201d Speaking as a money-grubbing stock market investor, I would note that Levenson is talking here about the \u201cHoly Grail\u201d of running a business\u2014recurring revenue<\/strong>. Every business craves it. Rain or shine, heat wave or snowstorm, winning season or cellar dwelling, the revenue of season ticket-holders rolls in.<\/p>\n

So Levenson wonders, why does the Hawks\u2019 season ticket revenue suck<\/strong>, compared to other basketball teams? \u201cI was told it was because we can\u2019t get 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tickets and they are the primary demo for season tickets around the league. When I pushed further, folks generally shrugged their shoulders. Then I start looking around our arena during games and notice the following<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

–it\u2019s 70 pct black<\/p>\n

–the cheerleaders are black<\/p>\n

–the music is hop hop<\/p>\n

–at the bars it\u2019s 90 pct black<\/p>\n

–there are few fathers and sons at the games<\/p>\n

–we are doing after game concerts that attract more fans and the concerns are either hip hop or gospel\u201d<\/p>\n

Levenson goes on, \u201cMy theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites<\/strong> and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base<\/strong>. Please don\u2019t get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arena<\/strong> back then. I never felt uncomfortable. But I think southern whites simply were not comfortable<\/strong> 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 Phillips [the Hawks\u2019 arena] yet in our 9 years I don\u2019t know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage<\/strong>. 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 game<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concludes, \u201cThis is obviously a sensitive topic<\/strong>, but sadly I think it is far and away the number one reason our season ticket base is so low.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is obvious that Levenson is not racist or even racially insensitive:<\/p>\n