I usually hate quoting news stories to this degree, but I didn't want to omit any details.
A new professional basketball league boasting rosters made up exclusively of white Americans has its eyes set on Augusta, but the team isn't receiving a warm welcome. The All-American Basketball Alliance announced in a news release Sunday evening that it intends to start its inaugural season in June and hopes Augusta (GA) will be one of 12 cities with a team.Here's the obligatory local news report. I love how the anchor says the station's FaceBook page is "blowin' up". Sweet.
"Only players that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are eligible to play in the league," the statement said.
Don "Moose" Lewis, the commissioner of the AABA, said the reasoning behind the league's roster restrictions is not racism.
"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."
The Atlanta-based league, which will operate as a single-entity owning all of its teams, is looking for local contacts to pay $10,000 to become a "licensee" in one of 12 cities throughout the Southeast. Lewis said he has already received threats from people opposed to the roster restrictions and several cities have told him to stay out of town. Lewis said he has yet to hear from any one in Augusta.
"We need a local person ingrained into the community to make this successful," he said.
Lewis said he expects to eventually find support in every town with a team.
"People will come out and support a product they can identify with. I'm the spoken minority right now, but if people will give us a chance, it'll work... The white game of basketball, which is essentially a fundamental game, works."
Lewis said he wasn't sure where the team will play.
I'll resist the temptation to make an unnecessary statement about the lack of good white, American-born players in the NBA. But seriously, all race issues aside, what sort of talent does this guy expect to sign for a segregated league? There aren't even that many white dudes in the D-League as-is. You'll essentially scrubbing the bottom of the barrel here if you want to field anything better than a rec-league team. And BTW, who the heck would be caught dead at such a game? Will they allow black fans to buy tickets, or if the pure, fundamental game something only white fans can appreciate?
Then again, maybe this league would be pretty interesting, if only because we'd get to see stuff like this all the time.[1]
The A-ABA... Where Dap-Jackin' Happens.
Given this "Moose" Lewis' sketchy past (the guy is a wrestling promoter. End of story), it's unlikely this ever comes to fruition, but the fact that anyone could even dream up the concept of KlanBall™ tells you enough about the fallacy of post-racial America.
That said, I really don't find this concept to be "racist". Sports leagues are as pure an example of free-market capitalism as they come. If it's legally admissible to have an all-women's or all men's league, why would there be a problem with an all-white league? I'd buy my Augusta GrandWizards™ replica jersey today, but I'm not sure they'd sell one to a "colored".
On the flipside, if Rush Limbaugh wanted to own a pro sports team, this is his best shot. Get yours, Rush. Get yours.
Question: Is this a Chappelle's Show skit turned real life, or is this "Moose" Lewis guy simply doing this for some sort of weird publicity stunt?!?
Basketball league for white Americans targets Augusta [AugChron]
[1] Boy, does Michael Jordan know how to pick talent or what?!!?
