The Atlanta Hawks are currently trying to put out several public relations nightmares due to reported allegations of racism from within the organization.
First, there was team owner Bruce Levenson. Levenson voluntarily agreed to sell his stake in the Hawks after he voluntarily reported a racially incendiary email that he sent to others in the Hawks organization. He then released a statement explaining his actions on Sunday.
“Over the past several years, I’ve spent a lot of time grappling with low attendance at our games and the need for the Hawks to attract more season ticket holders and corporate sponsors. Over that time, I’ve talked with team executives about the need for the Hawks to build a more diverse fan base that includes more suburban whites, and I shared my thoughts on why our efforts to bridge Atlanta’s racial sports divide seemed to be failing.
In trying to address those issues, I wrote an e-mail two years ago that was inappropriate and offensive. I trivialized our fans by making clichéd assumptions about their interests (i.e. hip hop vs. country, white vs. black cheerleaders, etc.) and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another (i.e. that white fans might be afraid of our black fans). By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans.”
This is a sample of what the emails looked like.
Bruce Levenson's racist email. He's now being forced to sell the Hawks http://t.co/gNHMgURis4 pic.twitter.com/MFdeV5U05K
— Ashley Nicole (@girllovesports) September 7, 2014
But wait, that’s not all!
In addition to Levenson, it is now also being reported that Danny Ferry, the Hawks general manager, made a racist remark about Luol Deng when he was going over a scouting report on Deng this offseason. The Hawks were exploring the option of signing Deng before Deng decided to sign with the Miami Heat.
Reportedly, Ferry said of Deng: “He’s still a young guy overall. He’s a good guy overall. But he’s not perfect. He’s got some African in him. And I don’t say that in a bad way.”
It’s unclear what Ferry meant when he reportedly said that Deng’s “got some African in him” but the remarks were inflammatory to the point that the Hawks opened up the investigation that led to Levenson selling his stake in the team.
Ferry was on the phone with seven Hawks owners and was reading off a report in which the information, Ferry said, had been gathered through a network of scouts, officials, players, coaches and others around basketball.
Hawks CEO Steve Koonin told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Ferry had received an undisclosed punishment, but would remain as GM.
The disparaging racial reference to Deng triggered at least one team owner on the call to pursue an independent investigation into how the organization operated in regard to race. The search uncovered the 2012 email that Levenson sent to Ferry and two minority owners that ultimately led to Levenson’s decision, under pressure, to sell his stake in the Hawks.
