I've been seeing tweets about the All-American Basketball Alliance for a day or two, but I have ignored them because I just KNEW it was a hoax. Unfortunately, it is not. According to the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, "a new professional basketball league boasting rosters made up exclusively of white Americans has its eyes set on Augusta." Sounds racist, right?! The AABA commissioner, Don "Moose" Lewis, says, "There's nothing hatred [sic] about what we're doing. I don't hate anyone of color." What's his justification, then? Well…… "People of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now." Plus, "here's a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like."
OK… White people as a minority in 2010 is ridiculous. I saw that study on CNN, too, and it projected that by 2050, fifty-four percent of the population will be minorities. Right now… We make up about a third of the population. Black people currently make up 13% of the population and that same CNN study says in the same time frame, we'll only increase to about 15%. In any event, there is no single minority group that will compose a higher percentage than white people; you have to add ALL minorities together in order for them to even come near the number of whites. MOREOVER… Even if whites ever become the minority, they still run everything. To date, there has been ONE black president, 123 blacks in Congress, and 4 black state governors in the HISTORY of the nation. That's a long time.
Still… Our buddy Moose says, "People will come out and support a product they can identify with [and] the white game of basketball, which is essentially a fundamental game, works." People LOVE the NBA. According to Forbes, the NBA makes about $112 million a year. Who do you think is spending money on tickets? Certainly not black people and immigrants… And, what game of basketball is being played right now? Basketball was invented by a white man. The league was established by white people. The commissioner is a white man who has pretty much absolute control over policy.
Moose cites the Gilbert Arenas situation as examples of "fans' dissatisfaction with the way current professional sports are run." He asks, "Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch?" Funny… For his conduct, Arenas was suspended indefinitely and his transgression was away from fans. Moreover, this bad behavior isn't exactly the norm, but if it does happen, players are reprimanded. To the reasonable person this shows that the league is run with a high level of accountability. More still, in many of the famous cases of bad behavior (*cough* Artest... *cough*), the players were provoked by fans, so… I doubt those loons are worried.
Personally, I am not worried about the success of this league. It will fail. I do think Moose has all the rights afforded to every American citizen -- though I'm sure he doesn't feel that way about me -- so it's fine for him to try to start this league. After all… black people were excluded from many establishments throughout history and were forced to establish their own… But therein lies the problem for Moose. Whites are not excluded from anything, not even organizations designated for black people (think NAACP; my very own sorority, Delta Sigma Theta; and organizations like those). The NBA was created by white people and white people still make the rules. And, although they don't dominate the sport, some do very well: Larry Bird, John Stockton, Steve Nash, and my favorite Chris Mullin, to name a few.
Racism does not necessarily have to include hatred. No All-American anything can succeed without… um… ALL AMERICANS. And sorry, Moosey Woosey, that includes people who don't have two Caucasian parents and those who may be foreign born. =]
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