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defrogI’ve been holding off on posting this because initially it looked like a hoax to me. But apparently Fox News, NBC and CBS have actually looked into it and discovered that it’s real. At least to a point.
And so ...
ITEM: The All-American Basketball Alliance intends to start its inaugural season in June.
The pitch: it’s for white American players only.
Don "Moose" Lewis, the commissioner of the AABA (and former promoter for the International Wrestling Union), said this isn’t racist:
The AABA is looking for 12 cities to host games. No one has accepted so far.
Now ... I’m still not 100% convinced this is for real, if only because the AABA doesn’t even have so much as a web site to its credit (or, if they do, they really need an SEO manager). Even the “press release” announcing its intentions isn’t online. No sports organization hoping to launch in six months in 12 cities is going to be that low-profile. And even though Moose Lewis does exist and is talking about it to the press, I’m not sure just how serious he really is about this. Also, I’m not entirely sure it’s legal.
However, here’s something worth pointing out: if the AABA is for real, it’s already got an audience. Check out the comments sections of most of the major sites that ran the story (as well as controversy magnets like HuffPo), and yr going to see a hell of a lot of people actively supporting the idea.
The reasons vary slightly – some agree with Moose that basketball would be a better experience if you didn’t let non-whites play it, while others roll out the old “If blacks can have the Negro College Fund, why can’t we have all-white basketball leagues?” chestnut. (And none of them are racist, either, they say.)
Granted, for all I know these people are the same five Net trolls under different names. On the other hand, I’ve heard far too many people in my time complain about Affirmative Action being reverse discrimination against Whitey – and using it as justification for all-white organizations in the interest of equality.
So I think the numbers are there.
Anyway, it’s the latest example of Kinder, Gentler Bigotry in the US where people convince themselves that it’s not racism if you don’t hate whoever yr discriminating against. “I don’t hate black people, I just want a basketball league where they’re not allowed to play because they ruin it cos of their blackness. It’s not like I’m burning crosses on their lawns telling them not to show up for practice.”
Sort of like how it’s not homophobia as long as you don’t actually beat up gay people. Or it’s not torture as long as yr not causing organ failure.
It’s times like this I start thinking there’s nothing wrong with humanity that an asteroid the size of Texas couldn’t fix.
Just kidding. Still, it’s another reminder that as far as we’ve come, we’ve still got a hell of a long way to go. If that’s what Moose is trying to tell us, then he’s succeeded wildly.
PRODUCTION NOTE: Not to be confused with the All-American Basketball Alliance of 1977, which attempted to compete with the minor league Continental Basketball Association but only lasted one season.
Is it cos I is black,
This is dF
And so ...
ITEM: The All-American Basketball Alliance intends to start its inaugural season in June.
The pitch: it’s for white American players only.
Don "Moose" Lewis, the commissioner of the AABA (and former promoter for the International Wrestling Union), said this isn’t racist:
"There's nothing hatred about what we're doing," he said. "I don't hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here's a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like."
Lewis said he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of "street-ball" played by "people of color." He pointed out recent incidents in the NBA, including Gilbert Arenas' indefinite suspension after bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room, as examples of fans' dissatisfaction with the way current professional sports are run.
"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?" he said. "That's the culture today, and in a free country we should have the right to move ourselves in a better direction."
Lewis said he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of "street-ball" played by "people of color." He pointed out recent incidents in the NBA, including Gilbert Arenas' indefinite suspension after bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room, as examples of fans' dissatisfaction with the way current professional sports are run.
"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?" he said. "That's the culture today, and in a free country we should have the right to move ourselves in a better direction."
The AABA is looking for 12 cities to host games. No one has accepted so far.
Now ... I’m still not 100% convinced this is for real, if only because the AABA doesn’t even have so much as a web site to its credit (or, if they do, they really need an SEO manager). Even the “press release” announcing its intentions isn’t online. No sports organization hoping to launch in six months in 12 cities is going to be that low-profile. And even though Moose Lewis does exist and is talking about it to the press, I’m not sure just how serious he really is about this. Also, I’m not entirely sure it’s legal.
However, here’s something worth pointing out: if the AABA is for real, it’s already got an audience. Check out the comments sections of most of the major sites that ran the story (as well as controversy magnets like HuffPo), and yr going to see a hell of a lot of people actively supporting the idea.
The reasons vary slightly – some agree with Moose that basketball would be a better experience if you didn’t let non-whites play it, while others roll out the old “If blacks can have the Negro College Fund, why can’t we have all-white basketball leagues?” chestnut. (And none of them are racist, either, they say.)
Granted, for all I know these people are the same five Net trolls under different names. On the other hand, I’ve heard far too many people in my time complain about Affirmative Action being reverse discrimination against Whitey – and using it as justification for all-white organizations in the interest of equality.
So I think the numbers are there.
Anyway, it’s the latest example of Kinder, Gentler Bigotry in the US where people convince themselves that it’s not racism if you don’t hate whoever yr discriminating against. “I don’t hate black people, I just want a basketball league where they’re not allowed to play because they ruin it cos of their blackness. It’s not like I’m burning crosses on their lawns telling them not to show up for practice.”
Sort of like how it’s not homophobia as long as you don’t actually beat up gay people. Or it’s not torture as long as yr not causing organ failure.
It’s times like this I start thinking there’s nothing wrong with humanity that an asteroid the size of Texas couldn’t fix.
Just kidding. Still, it’s another reminder that as far as we’ve come, we’ve still got a hell of a long way to go. If that’s what Moose is trying to tell us, then he’s succeeded wildly.
PRODUCTION NOTE: Not to be confused with the All-American Basketball Alliance of 1977, which attempted to compete with the minor league Continental Basketball Association but only lasted one season.
Is it cos I is black,
This is dF
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great screaming drunken jesus
on 2010-01-23 12:56 pm (UTC)As if race has anything to do with the dumbing down of our culture. With the militarization and coarsening of our culture. With the intense commoditification of violence in our culture. With the disdain for decency and intelligence in our culture. It just happens to have been by and large (quite largely even) WASP men whom facilitated all of the above, but no matter, 'our' culture is comprised of all of us altogether.
This stupidity isn't just racism, it's stupidism, inaneism, anal banalism, and phenomenally boring: Race based discrimination is racism, duh. I can't believe it has any support whatsoever. Then again, I suppose I can.
I discovered this shit a week or two ago:
http://hypercrypton.livejournal.com/profile
big huge sigh...
no subject
on 2010-01-23 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-01-24 02:24 am (UTC)It's not racist, it's like the Special Olympics where only those of us who were picked last are allowed to compete.
-- JF
The numbers don't lie...
on 2010-01-26 04:54 am (UTC)