re: ATL Hawks Owner Looks to Sell because of "Racist Email"

quote:

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My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don't know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games.

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As a former Atlantan I have to say he's correct about that. Is it right that people view the Hawks this way? Probably not but that perception exists. I don't remember any white people ever going to Hawks games. I've been to a game once, 20 years ago with a friend who was Obamixed, other than that nope, just one game. Been to more Braves games than I can count and Turner field is in a worse area, crime wise, than Philips.

I'm not a racist, I just don't like Basketball very much. Too much scoring.