OT: ATL Hawks Owner

[Dogdeacon]

Expect Ferry to be fired soon.

Link

I think Ferry's comments, even if he was simply reading a 'scouting report' written by someone else are far worse than the owner's and I'm shocked he hasn't been fired (but agree he very likely will be soon). You don't show up to a conference call having not read the material you are going to read and to re-read that to a large group absolutely shows racial insensitivity.

Normally the 'slippery slope' argument is BS, but this is clearly a direct fall-out from the Sterling fiasco. The good news here is that it exposes how racial machinations occur behind the scenes.

 

[aceboon]

yea Ferry has to go, I'd say the note about his hiring practices in the minority owner's email is more damning than the comment about Deng.

 

[Strummer]

Expect Ferry to be fired soon.

Link

The letter is a bit histrionic, but it makes the right point.
The letter is wrong in that it claims that Ferry depicted all blacks as cheats. Not so at all. He said, only, that the black player had some "African" in him. I think this is an obvious reference to the fact that most Africans live in banana republic countries where graft and corruption are the norm. It may also be a reference to the Nigerian and Liberia scams that have been propagating for the better part of a decade now. See, for example, how Nigerians are portrayed in the movie District 9 (great movie). I guess I'd liken this to somebody saying that asians are sneaky or eastern europeans are violent. Not particularly racist against a particular race, but rather a broad insult against a region.

In the end, however, the comment was racist and insensitive and stupid, and, even if the guy shouldn't be fired for the racial comments, he should at least be fired for being a dumb ass. Seriously, how can you be born and raised in America in today's culture and not understand that these sorts of references are not for sharing?

 

[superjohn]

Ferry is finished, deservedly so.

 

[huskypantz]

If the data in fact says that white males 35-55 have more disposable income to spend on season tickets, well that ain't racist. If he thinks whites are less likely to attend an event because the majority of attendees are black or because the ambiance caters to blacks, that's a theory that may or may not be correct, but it's not racist.

Danny Ferry, now that's racist.