An open letter to Don "Moose" Lewis, the Georgia community, and the world at large.
By Corey Washington
Regardless of what you think about Martin Luther King Day, many recognize that day as a time to reflect on how far the United States has come concerning race relations. So when a news story came out of the Augusta Chronicle on Martin Luther King day of 2010, most people thought it was a sick joke. Don "Moose" Lewis, the commissioner of an all-white basketball league, released a press release to the Augusta Chronicle, that expressed interest in Augusta, Georgia as one of the cities for this all-white league.
According to the press release of the AABA (All-American Basketball Alliance), the only players who qualify are "natural born US citizens with both parents of the Caucasian race". When asked why the restriction on color, Lewis said that the NBA is shutting out many white players. Lewis wants the AABA to focus on basketball fundamentals instead of the typical "streetball" played by "people of color". Lewis cited recent events involving the gun charges of Gilbert Arenas and past events in the NBA involving black players as a reason for an all-white league. Lewis claims that it will be automatically safer for patrons if all of the players are white. He goes on to state that fans would not have to worry about players flipping them off, attacking them, or grabbing their crotch. (Don't go to a baseball or hockey game) it's obvious that Lewis is referring to the incident at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neil, and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers got into physical altercations with white Detroit Pistons fans in the stands. What Lewis fails to mention is that it was the drunken and obnoxious behavior of the fans that provoked the incident. (Someone threw a cup of beer at Ron Artest.) Clearly, those NBA players crossed the line, but those fans also went way beyond being spectators.
Let's look at Lewis' other line of reasoning for wanting an all-white league, the issue of streetball versus fundamentals. While it is true that the NBA has its share of showmen, those who are the best players know when to hotdog and went to stick to the fundamentals. Players like Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan come to mind. They were very flashy at times, but very effective. They worked on basketball fundamentals first, then they developed and honed their skills in order to even have the option of performing more complex maneuvers. When the game was on the line, they were all business. My favorite player, Dominique Wilkins, was known as one of the most flamboyant players in the NBA. However, his greatest moment was a duel with the fundamentally sound Larry Bird. In Game seven of the 1988 NBA Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, these two small forwards went back and forth and played a game of basketball at such a high level, that it moved the legendary and fundamentally sound coach, Red Auerbach to declare: "Greatest quarter I ever saw in 42 years in the NBA". Then you have non-flashy black players like: Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Craig Hodges, Tim Duncan, Oscar Robertson, and even Wilt Chamberlain. All of these players were very fundamentally sound in their positions. On the other hand, you have flashy white players like: Pistol Pete Maravich, Steve Nash, Jason Williams (white chocolate), Da Professor (streetball And One legend), Rex Chapman, and Brent Barry(the only white winner of a NBA slam dunk contest-1996).
I mention all of these players to show that you cannot categorize basketball fundamentals according to race. According to Lewis, he subscribes to the Jimmy "the Greek" Synder theory of blacks being "natural athletes". He says people of color can "make up for their shortfall in fundamentals, with their natural athleticism".(He has obviously never heard of Harold Miner.) Let's be perfectly clear. You have to be fundamentally sound to make it to the professional level of any sport. Coaches want people who are going to help them win. It's not like in college, where you are limited to selecting from your student body. Professional leagues attract the best players. If all of those players happen to be white, then so be it. If they happen to be all black, same rule applies. If there is a mixture races, then so be it. As long as you put together the best team, that's all that counts.
With Augusta's murky and tempestuous past concerning race relations, one begs to wonder: Why select Augusta? Ray Charles refused to perform at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia because of segregation. When they agreed to desegregate, he came back and fulfilled his obligation. Desegregation of education has also been very messy here in Augusta. Even in 1899 (Cumming versus Richmond County Board of Education), this issue garnered national attention, going all the way to the Supreme Court. This case shot down an attempt to close white high schools until they reopened black ones. This was three years after Plessy versus Ferguson, which gave us the "separate but equal" doctrine, thus clearing the way for state imposed segregation. With Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 making segregated schools illegal under the "equal protection" clause of the law, how would Augusta respond to this landmark case? Not very well!
The Richmond County school system had to be sued by a group of private citizens to force them to desegregate the schools. That was in 1964, 10 years after Brown versus Board of Education. It wasn't until the 1970s, that Augusta's Board of Education finally came up with a plan for desegregation. As of this writing, Augusta is still under a federal court order for the desegregation of its schools.
We have not even mentioned one of Augusta's ugliest racial incidents, the riot of May 1970. We are approaching the 40th year anniversary of the riot. On May 11, 2010, Augusta will mark the anniversary, not with joy and celebration, but with somber reflection and forethought. With all of these issues of the past, not to mention the current uncertainty of the racial make up of the County Commission, do you think Augusta is ready for an all-white basketball league? If you think so, please go back and read this article over from the beginning. In fact, keep reading it until you join the rest of us in the present, and stop living in the past!
Corey Washington
(Author of Plain Talk volume 1)
This is an excerpt from Plain Talk Volume 2-Digging a little Deeper
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