There is no color in basketball

An all-white basketball league has been proposed recently by an Atlanta man who is commissioning what he is terming the "All-American Basketball Alliance." Anyone without two Caucasian parents or those not born in the United States will be banned from playing or coaching in the league. Commissioner Don "Moose" Lewis seems to feel the fundamentals are lost in the National Basketball Association and that it is dominated by "streetball" and "people of color."

As much as I hate to be one to shed any sort of light on such a heinous and disgusting story, I feel it is not only important to be aware of the hypocrisy and blatant racism of this organization, but more importantly, I feel it is crucial to speak out against it for the sake of all American citizens.

Lewis claims racism or hatred of any kind is not the motive for the creation of the league, but points out that in the NBA, "white, American-born citizens are in the minority now." Yes, Mr. Lewis, they may be in the minority, but that is because if you paid any attention to socio-economic trends within the last 50 years, you would realize basketball is the most commonly played sport among children and teenagers living in poor urban areas. Unfortunately, this typically happens to include a huge majority of African-Americans and a basketball is likely all these families can afford for their children's recreational activities.

While the white kids in your economic circle were being rushed off to private baseball lessons or tennis practice at the country club after school, many minority athletes were playing basketball for hours. Thus, basketball helped to pass time while they waited for their single mothers to get off of work so the family could eat something that night.

In an interview, Lewis asked, "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?" Implying these actions are solely done by African-American athletes shows Lewis' racism and ignorance to the scandals of white athletes such as Tom Brady, Ben Rothlisberger, Mark McGuire, or Pete Rose. Clearly the NBA isn't doing poorly due to a bit of vulgarity here and there because the interest in the talent level of the athletes far exceeds the brief moments of bad sportsmanship.

Maybe, Mr. Lewis, before simply claiming whites are being "pushed out of the NBA," and making excuses why whites need their own league, you could think of how to make these players better at the game rather than attempt to take our country's civil rights efforts back 100 years via your racist and intolerant organization. And maybe, just maybe, you should get some counseling about your obvious bitterness over all those times you got your ass handed to you in those three-on-three games on the playground.