Well DAMN! Black Star Power: Michael Jordan donates $2M to help community-police relations
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http://theundefeated.com/features/j...gs-of-african-americans-police/?ex_cid=espntw
Michael Jordan, widely considered the greatest basketball player in NBA history and the lone African-American majority owner of a franchise, has decided to speak out on the country’s growing racial and social unrest.
“As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers,” Jordan writes in a one-page letter released exclusively to The Undefeated. “I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.”
He used the letter to also announce grants of $1 million each to two organizations working to build trust between law enforcement and the communities in which they work: the Institute for Community-Police Relations, which was launched in May by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which was established in 1940 to work through the legal system to push for civil rights. It became a separate organization from the NAACP in 1957.
“Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference,” Jordan wrote.
Both groups were informed of the donations Sunday night.
“We’re surprised and shocked, but obviously thrilled,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director of the Legal Defense Fund. “We’ve been working on these issues for some many years, and it’s great to hear that Michael Jordan and his people are aware of our work and are willing to make a contribution.”
Added Terrence Cunningham, the IACP president and chief of the Wellesley, Massachusetts, police department: “What an opportunity for Michael Jordan to do this and help raise the discussion between police and the members of the communities they serve. The IACP aims to provide a toolbox for departments and communities to come together to discuss implicit bias and police legitimacy, and this is an opportunity to help that along.”
Jordan’s statement comes amid a renaissance of social justice advocacy by prominent athletes nationwide, hearkening back to the ’60s when figures such as Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were outspoken on the country’s problems, particularly the status of African-Americans. Current NBA superstars LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade opened the recent ESPYS awards show by imploring their peers to take larger roles in issues of racial injustice, gun violence and police brutality. Anthony will host a town hall meeting in Los Angeles Monday featuring an open dialogue between police, citizens and politicians.
On July 22, the Washington Mystics became the fourth WNBA team to show solidarity over recent police shootings by wearing “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts when they took their home court at Verizon Center before a game against the Los Angeles Sparks. The league originally fined the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury $5,000 apiece and their players an additional $500 each for wearing black warmup shirts before games on Thursday, but has rescinded those fines amid growing outrage.
Today’s statement is something of a public milestone for Jordan, who has been criticized over the years for his low profile in political and social advocacy. For instance, Abdul-Jabbar, in a 2015 NPR interview, said, “He took commerce over conscious. That’s unfortunate for him, but he’s got to live with it.”
Jordan has donated to the presidential and senatorial campaigns of Barack Obama, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign and, yes, despite numerous stories to the contrary, Harvey Gantt’s unsuccessful campaign against Sen. Jesse Helms in North Carolina.
For two decades, Jordan has been saddled with a quote attributed to him by an anonymous friend in former Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith’s 1995 book, The Second Coming, that he didn’t support Gantt because “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” In a later book, Smith said it was a joke, not a political statement and that he felt badly about the backlash Jordan received. But a spokeswoman for Jordan said he denies ever using those words. And a 1996Charlotte Observer story lists a $4,000 campaign donation made from Jordan to Gantt for his second Senate race.
Team owner, Michael Jordan at Time Warner Cable Arena on December 21, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Friends and advisers have defended Jordan’s social conscience over the years. In an interview last year with TMZ, longtime teammate Ron Harper said, “Some of the stuff he [does] may not get on TV like some other athletes like to portray themselves as conscientious Americans, but my boy MJ … he knows what he’s doing in life. Michael Jordan is caring.”
Lately, he’s also been more publicly vocal about issues of race and discrimination adversely affecting the league.
In 2014, before Donald Sterling was forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers in the wake of racist statements made over a taped phone recording, Jordan said, “As an owner, I’m obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views … As a former player, I’m completely outraged. There is no room in the NBA – or anywhere else – for the kind of racism and hatred that Mr. Sterling allegedly expressed … In a league where the majority of players are African-American, we cannot and must not tolerate discrimination at any level.”
And just this April, after the anti-LGBT bill in North Carolina began to draw intense criticism and boycotts, Jordan issued a statement from his team that read the “Hornets are opposed to discrimination in any form, and we have always sought to provide an inclusive environment.”
“I applaud Michael Jordan for these donations,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver told The Undefeated Monday. “His championing of important social issues including fundamental civil and human rights carries enormous impact in communities everywhere.”
His defenders over the years have argued that Jordan did not have to wage the fight for civil rights and mutual respect that many of his socially-conscious predecessors did in the 1960s and early 1970s. They said that Jordan’s ability to amass wealth and power after his playing days was the next rung of activism for the black athlete: the development of an economic blueprint that featured actual majority ownership in an NBA franchise. And with that wealth and power came the ability to not just advocate, but take action.
Today, the Hornets have more people in color holding top front office positions than any other organization in any major sport in North America. Since its inception, the Jordan Brand, valued recently at $2.8 billion by Nike, has always had an African-American CEO.
Jordan’s commitment to diversity, his spokeswoman said, has been long established. “But he’s always been very private and personal about many of these things.”
Of the decision to speak out and contribute his voice and money now, she said: “Michael was tired of just talking. He wanted to do something about the issue. This was very important to him.”
The decision to go public with his statement and donation was made about two weeks ago, the spokeswoman said. But they delayed an announcement after learning that the NBA would relocate the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina’s bathroom bill, which doesn’t afford protections to those in the LGBT community. Jordan did not want his announcement to take away from the focus on the LGBT community, she said.
Ifill, from the Legal Defense Fund, is hopeful that a contribution from someone of Jordan’s stature will help bring more awareness to a very important topic that has dominated the headlines this month.
“We’re at a critical moment in our country where people do need to step up,” Ifill said. “It’s important for people who have a profile of a Michael Jordan to step forward and identify this as a critical issue.”
Since the death of Michael Brown two years ago in Ferguson, Missouri, the defense fund has stepped up efforts to help remove bias from policing. The organization has worked closely with the Department of Justice, which in February help set up a pilot program for procedural justice training in six cities (Minneapolis; Birmingham, Alabama; Gary, Indiana; Pittsburgh; and Stockton, California). Those departments began training to help strengthen the relationship between those departments and the communities they serve.
“The success stories are important because we’ve seen in graphic display recently what’s not working,” Ifill said. “Dallas was making tremendous efforts in initiatives to transform their police department, and we believe those efforts will remain despite the recent tragedy. Every time community and law enforcement groups are willing to step forward and collaborate is important.”
Cunningham’s office was so stunned by the donation that it vetted the source to see if it was indeed Jordan. “What an interesting piece: police, race relations and athletics,” the Wellesley police chief said. “I’m thinking many of the 800,000 police officers were at some point athletes. I’m a white guy from suburbia, and I remember that when I played football it was all about the sport, and racism melted away.”
Writes Jordan in the statement, “Over the past three decades I have seen up close the dedication of the law enforcement officers who protect me and my family. I have the greatest respect for their sacrifice and service. I also recognize that for many people of color their experiences with law enforcement have been different than mine. I have decided to speak out in the hope that we can come together as Americans, and through peaceful dialogue and education, achieve constructive change.”
He added, “I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late,” he added. “I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent. We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers – who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all – are respected and supported.”
Jordan’s father, James Jordan, was murdered in 1993 during a roadside robbery in North Carolina by two men. One of the men convicted in the killing is eligible for parole this year.
Jordan ends his letter with a plea to to bridge the divide between law enforcement and the African American communities they police.
“We are privileged to live in the world’s greatest country – a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities. The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.”
Michael Jordan, widely considered the greatest basketball player in NBA history and the lone African-American majority owner of a franchise, has decided to speak out on the country’s growing racial and social unrest.
“As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers,” Jordan writes in a one-page letter released exclusively to The Undefeated. “I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.”
He used the letter to also announce grants of $1 million each to two organizations working to build trust between law enforcement and the communities in which they work: the Institute for Community-Police Relations, which was launched in May by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which was established in 1940 to work through the legal system to push for civil rights. It became a separate organization from the NAACP in 1957.
“Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference,” Jordan wrote.
Both groups were informed of the donations Sunday night.
“We’re surprised and shocked, but obviously thrilled,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director of the Legal Defense Fund. “We’ve been working on these issues for some many years, and it’s great to hear that Michael Jordan and his people are aware of our work and are willing to make a contribution.”
Added Terrence Cunningham, the IACP president and chief of the Wellesley, Massachusetts, police department: “What an opportunity for Michael Jordan to do this and help raise the discussion between police and the members of the communities they serve. The IACP aims to provide a toolbox for departments and communities to come together to discuss implicit bias and police legitimacy, and this is an opportunity to help that along.”
Jordan’s statement comes amid a renaissance of social justice advocacy by prominent athletes nationwide, hearkening back to the ’60s when figures such as Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were outspoken on the country’s problems, particularly the status of African-Americans. Current NBA superstars LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade opened the recent ESPYS awards show by imploring their peers to take larger roles in issues of racial injustice, gun violence and police brutality. Anthony will host a town hall meeting in Los Angeles Monday featuring an open dialogue between police, citizens and politicians.
On July 22, the Washington Mystics became the fourth WNBA team to show solidarity over recent police shootings by wearing “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts when they took their home court at Verizon Center before a game against the Los Angeles Sparks. The league originally fined the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury $5,000 apiece and their players an additional $500 each for wearing black warmup shirts before games on Thursday, but has rescinded those fines amid growing outrage.
Today’s statement is something of a public milestone for Jordan, who has been criticized over the years for his low profile in political and social advocacy. For instance, Abdul-Jabbar, in a 2015 NPR interview, said, “He took commerce over conscious. That’s unfortunate for him, but he’s got to live with it.”
Jordan has donated to the presidential and senatorial campaigns of Barack Obama, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign and, yes, despite numerous stories to the contrary, Harvey Gantt’s unsuccessful campaign against Sen. Jesse Helms in North Carolina.
For two decades, Jordan has been saddled with a quote attributed to him by an anonymous friend in former Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith’s 1995 book, The Second Coming, that he didn’t support Gantt because “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” In a later book, Smith said it was a joke, not a political statement and that he felt badly about the backlash Jordan received. But a spokeswoman for Jordan said he denies ever using those words. And a 1996Charlotte Observer story lists a $4,000 campaign donation made from Jordan to Gantt for his second Senate race.
Team owner, Michael Jordan at Time Warner Cable Arena on December 21, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Friends and advisers have defended Jordan’s social conscience over the years. In an interview last year with TMZ, longtime teammate Ron Harper said, “Some of the stuff he [does] may not get on TV like some other athletes like to portray themselves as conscientious Americans, but my boy MJ … he knows what he’s doing in life. Michael Jordan is caring.”
Lately, he’s also been more publicly vocal about issues of race and discrimination adversely affecting the league.
In 2014, before Donald Sterling was forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers in the wake of racist statements made over a taped phone recording, Jordan said, “As an owner, I’m obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views … As a former player, I’m completely outraged. There is no room in the NBA – or anywhere else – for the kind of racism and hatred that Mr. Sterling allegedly expressed … In a league where the majority of players are African-American, we cannot and must not tolerate discrimination at any level.”
And just this April, after the anti-LGBT bill in North Carolina began to draw intense criticism and boycotts, Jordan issued a statement from his team that read the “Hornets are opposed to discrimination in any form, and we have always sought to provide an inclusive environment.”
“I applaud Michael Jordan for these donations,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver told The Undefeated Monday. “His championing of important social issues including fundamental civil and human rights carries enormous impact in communities everywhere.”
His defenders over the years have argued that Jordan did not have to wage the fight for civil rights and mutual respect that many of his socially-conscious predecessors did in the 1960s and early 1970s. They said that Jordan’s ability to amass wealth and power after his playing days was the next rung of activism for the black athlete: the development of an economic blueprint that featured actual majority ownership in an NBA franchise. And with that wealth and power came the ability to not just advocate, but take action.
Today, the Hornets have more people in color holding top front office positions than any other organization in any major sport in North America. Since its inception, the Jordan Brand, valued recently at $2.8 billion by Nike, has always had an African-American CEO.
Jordan’s commitment to diversity, his spokeswoman said, has been long established. “But he’s always been very private and personal about many of these things.”
Of the decision to speak out and contribute his voice and money now, she said: “Michael was tired of just talking. He wanted to do something about the issue. This was very important to him.”
The decision to go public with his statement and donation was made about two weeks ago, the spokeswoman said. But they delayed an announcement after learning that the NBA would relocate the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina’s bathroom bill, which doesn’t afford protections to those in the LGBT community. Jordan did not want his announcement to take away from the focus on the LGBT community, she said.
Ifill, from the Legal Defense Fund, is hopeful that a contribution from someone of Jordan’s stature will help bring more awareness to a very important topic that has dominated the headlines this month.
“We’re at a critical moment in our country where people do need to step up,” Ifill said. “It’s important for people who have a profile of a Michael Jordan to step forward and identify this as a critical issue.”
Since the death of Michael Brown two years ago in Ferguson, Missouri, the defense fund has stepped up efforts to help remove bias from policing. The organization has worked closely with the Department of Justice, which in February help set up a pilot program for procedural justice training in six cities (Minneapolis; Birmingham, Alabama; Gary, Indiana; Pittsburgh; and Stockton, California). Those departments began training to help strengthen the relationship between those departments and the communities they serve.
“The success stories are important because we’ve seen in graphic display recently what’s not working,” Ifill said. “Dallas was making tremendous efforts in initiatives to transform their police department, and we believe those efforts will remain despite the recent tragedy. Every time community and law enforcement groups are willing to step forward and collaborate is important.”
Cunningham’s office was so stunned by the donation that it vetted the source to see if it was indeed Jordan. “What an interesting piece: police, race relations and athletics,” the Wellesley police chief said. “I’m thinking many of the 800,000 police officers were at some point athletes. I’m a white guy from suburbia, and I remember that when I played football it was all about the sport, and racism melted away.”
Writes Jordan in the statement, “Over the past three decades I have seen up close the dedication of the law enforcement officers who protect me and my family. I have the greatest respect for their sacrifice and service. I also recognize that for many people of color their experiences with law enforcement have been different than mine. I have decided to speak out in the hope that we can come together as Americans, and through peaceful dialogue and education, achieve constructive change.”
He added, “I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late,” he added. “I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent. We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers – who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all – are respected and supported.”
Jordan’s father, James Jordan, was murdered in 1993 during a roadside robbery in North Carolina by two men. One of the men convicted in the killing is eligible for parole this year.
Jordan ends his letter with a plea to to bridge the divide between law enforcement and the African American communities they police.
“We are privileged to live in the world’s greatest country – a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities. The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/s...-jordan-charlotte-nba-all-star-game.html?_r=0
For Michael Jordan, a Chance to Speak Up (for Once)
When Adam Silver informed Michael Jordan that he was pulling the 2017N.B.A. All-Star Game from Charlotte, was Jordan tempted to reprise the most memorable sociopolitical statement of his storied playing career?
As the owner of the Hornets in his home state of North Carolina, did Jordan wish to remind Commissioner Silver that supporters of a state law said to be discriminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people buy tickets, too?
A quarter-century ago, Jordan played it straight down the corporate middle when Harvey Gantt, a Democrat and the first black mayor of Charlotte, sought his support in a Senate race against an arch conservative, Jesse Helms.
Wary of alienating consumers from the products he endorsed, Jordan demurred. In “Second Coming,” a 1995 book by Sam Smith, someone described as an anonymous friend of Jordan’s quoted him as saying, “Republicans buy shoes, too.”
It sounded like something the acerbic Jordan might have said, he never denied it, and he did steer clear of Gantt and other divisive issues despite calls for him to embrace the leverage he possessed as the nation’s most iconic athlete across the 1990s.
Even so, he is still a barrier crasher, a role model, a change agent. Jordan’s extraordinary journey has taken him from a modest upbringing to an ownership fraternity that includes the prodigiously wealthy Steve Ballmer, Mark Cuban and Mikhail Prokhorov.
And Jordan is significant in another way, too. Starting with him, the stakes and opportunities became very different for contemporary athletes from what they were for Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and others so admired for being outspokenly audacious in turbulent times. They didn’t have lifestyles more akin to owners or the deep pockets with which to underwrite effective foundations or a charter school.
That has all changed — African-Americans now buy N.B.A. franchises, too. The very best players, the true revenue generators and league standard-bearers, can aspire to more than drawing up X’s and O’s, or shouting praise for the next generation from a broadcast seat.
Don’t think fronting an ownership group at some future date hasn’t occurred to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul, all in the news recently for following Carmelo Anthony’s lead in calling for athletes to speak out against gun violence after the latest police shootings of black males and the retaliatory targeting of police officers in Dallas.
Unlike Anthony and his buddies, Jordan has an establishment voice, though he uses it hesitatingly, still in detached character.
In late April, a month after the so-called “bathroom law” was signed into effect by Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, Jordan issued a statement on the matter after being pursued by The Charlotte Observer.
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It read: “As my organization has stated previously, the Charlotte Hornets and Hornets Sports & Entertainment are opposed to discrimination in any form, and we have always sought to provide an inclusive environment. As has been the case since the building opened, we will continue to ensure that all fans, players and employees feel welcome while at work or attending N.B.A. games and events at Time Warner Cable Arena.”
Nowhere was Jordan’s personal opinion, or objection. Outsports.com, a self-described “voice for L.G.B.T. athletes,” called the statement “weak,” but added, “At least it’s something.” Walking that fine inoffensive line obviously remains for Jordan the businessman a much trickier proposition than defying gravity as Air Jordan.
Five years ago, his team, mired in years of dubious management and desultory play, averaged 14,767 fans per game, 25th best in the league. This past season, the improved Hornets pulled in 17,485 fans per game, ranking 18th.
The growth isn’t earth-shattering, but it is substantial. The Hornets have been operationally ascendant, and the N.B.A.’s decision to take the 2017 All-Star Game elsewhere can’t possibly be helpful.
In these maddeningly polarized times, the stand taken by Silver and the league is bold and righteous, but it is also not without risk. It didn’t take long, in scrolling down the comments section of a New York Times article by Scott Cacciola and Alan Blinder about the N.B.A.’s move, to find readers who claimed to disavow the league for its latest push into politics.
The N.B.A. has long been a social trendsetter in American sports. Even its women’s annex, the W.N.B.A., captured a recent news cycle or two when some of its players wore warm-up shirts decrying the gun violence. The league promptly fined several players and teams for violating uniform policy, the same issue that Silver expressed concern about last week in Las Vegas.
For the W.N.B.A., and for Silver, it wasn’t about free speech. It was about contracts. The league, like Jordan, has agreements to fulfill on how it appears in public.
To make sure we understood there were no double standards, Silver said: “I am absolutely in favor of players speaking out and speaking from the heart about whatever issues are important to them.”
That is admirable but also probably reviewable, case by case. What if Anthony, James, Paul and Wade had gone to the ESPYs and taken an edgier stand? What if they had condemned only the shootings by the police?
These questions rise to Silver’s pay grade because franchise owners typically worry about their own problems. If they were all injected with truth serum, who knows what the consensus would be on the North Carolina law, or how much they would be willing to risk in opposing it?
Silver guided them through a predicament they didn’t create, the league having awarded the game to Charlotte before the law was passed. He came to his decision Thursday with patience and intelligence, mindful of the N.B.A.’s deserved reputation as the country’s most progressive professional sports league.
In moving the game, he also left the door open to a possible rescheduling in 2019, pending a resolution of the issue, a passing of the storm. But in the interim, maybe it’s Jordan’s turn. Let him lead the lobbying effort with the obdurate politicians.
He’s the local hero. It’s his team. And who, after all, is a better pitchman than he is?
For Michael Jordan, a Chance to Speak Up (for Once)
When Adam Silver informed Michael Jordan that he was pulling the 2017N.B.A. All-Star Game from Charlotte, was Jordan tempted to reprise the most memorable sociopolitical statement of his storied playing career?
As the owner of the Hornets in his home state of North Carolina, did Jordan wish to remind Commissioner Silver that supporters of a state law said to be discriminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people buy tickets, too?
A quarter-century ago, Jordan played it straight down the corporate middle when Harvey Gantt, a Democrat and the first black mayor of Charlotte, sought his support in a Senate race against an arch conservative, Jesse Helms.
Wary of alienating consumers from the products he endorsed, Jordan demurred. In “Second Coming,” a 1995 book by Sam Smith, someone described as an anonymous friend of Jordan’s quoted him as saying, “Republicans buy shoes, too.”
It sounded like something the acerbic Jordan might have said, he never denied it, and he did steer clear of Gantt and other divisive issues despite calls for him to embrace the leverage he possessed as the nation’s most iconic athlete across the 1990s.
Even so, he is still a barrier crasher, a role model, a change agent. Jordan’s extraordinary journey has taken him from a modest upbringing to an ownership fraternity that includes the prodigiously wealthy Steve Ballmer, Mark Cuban and Mikhail Prokhorov.
And Jordan is significant in another way, too. Starting with him, the stakes and opportunities became very different for contemporary athletes from what they were for Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and others so admired for being outspokenly audacious in turbulent times. They didn’t have lifestyles more akin to owners or the deep pockets with which to underwrite effective foundations or a charter school.
That has all changed — African-Americans now buy N.B.A. franchises, too. The very best players, the true revenue generators and league standard-bearers, can aspire to more than drawing up X’s and O’s, or shouting praise for the next generation from a broadcast seat.
Don’t think fronting an ownership group at some future date hasn’t occurred to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul, all in the news recently for following Carmelo Anthony’s lead in calling for athletes to speak out against gun violence after the latest police shootings of black males and the retaliatory targeting of police officers in Dallas.
Unlike Anthony and his buddies, Jordan has an establishment voice, though he uses it hesitatingly, still in detached character.
In late April, a month after the so-called “bathroom law” was signed into effect by Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, Jordan issued a statement on the matter after being pursued by The Charlotte Observer.
Want to Go to Rio?
Stay up to date on everything from the Games (the good, the bad and the ugly) with a daily email newsletter from Rio, and then receive a weekly roundup of sports news and behind-the-scene surprises after the Games.
It read: “As my organization has stated previously, the Charlotte Hornets and Hornets Sports & Entertainment are opposed to discrimination in any form, and we have always sought to provide an inclusive environment. As has been the case since the building opened, we will continue to ensure that all fans, players and employees feel welcome while at work or attending N.B.A. games and events at Time Warner Cable Arena.”
Nowhere was Jordan’s personal opinion, or objection. Outsports.com, a self-described “voice for L.G.B.T. athletes,” called the statement “weak,” but added, “At least it’s something.” Walking that fine inoffensive line obviously remains for Jordan the businessman a much trickier proposition than defying gravity as Air Jordan.
Five years ago, his team, mired in years of dubious management and desultory play, averaged 14,767 fans per game, 25th best in the league. This past season, the improved Hornets pulled in 17,485 fans per game, ranking 18th.
The growth isn’t earth-shattering, but it is substantial. The Hornets have been operationally ascendant, and the N.B.A.’s decision to take the 2017 All-Star Game elsewhere can’t possibly be helpful.
In these maddeningly polarized times, the stand taken by Silver and the league is bold and righteous, but it is also not without risk. It didn’t take long, in scrolling down the comments section of a New York Times article by Scott Cacciola and Alan Blinder about the N.B.A.’s move, to find readers who claimed to disavow the league for its latest push into politics.
The N.B.A. has long been a social trendsetter in American sports. Even its women’s annex, the W.N.B.A., captured a recent news cycle or two when some of its players wore warm-up shirts decrying the gun violence. The league promptly fined several players and teams for violating uniform policy, the same issue that Silver expressed concern about last week in Las Vegas.
For the W.N.B.A., and for Silver, it wasn’t about free speech. It was about contracts. The league, like Jordan, has agreements to fulfill on how it appears in public.
To make sure we understood there were no double standards, Silver said: “I am absolutely in favor of players speaking out and speaking from the heart about whatever issues are important to them.”
That is admirable but also probably reviewable, case by case. What if Anthony, James, Paul and Wade had gone to the ESPYs and taken an edgier stand? What if they had condemned only the shootings by the police?
These questions rise to Silver’s pay grade because franchise owners typically worry about their own problems. If they were all injected with truth serum, who knows what the consensus would be on the North Carolina law, or how much they would be willing to risk in opposing it?
Silver guided them through a predicament they didn’t create, the league having awarded the game to Charlotte before the law was passed. He came to his decision Thursday with patience and intelligence, mindful of the N.B.A.’s deserved reputation as the country’s most progressive professional sports league.
In moving the game, he also left the door open to a possible rescheduling in 2019, pending a resolution of the issue, a passing of the storm. But in the interim, maybe it’s Jordan’s turn. Let him lead the lobbying effort with the obdurate politicians.
He’s the local hero. It’s his team. And who, after all, is a better pitchman than he is?
do not
I repeat...DO NOT
allow the cac media to hate on this or sh*t on this or nothing
applaud it
celebrate it
so it is encouraged throughout our community
because if we do?
We can FINALLY shine the PROPER spotlight
on white folks who eat off our culture and say NOTHING
and corporations who say NOTHING
and white brown and OTHERS who want US to align with THEM but never ride for US.
We keep asking our BEST in sports, entertainment and business to get involved...
so when they DO we NEED to celebrate it regardless
on some ole FOX news sh*t.
watch REAL careful to see who SH*TS on this ESPECIALLY in a white media forum...
it was a long time coming and it aint over but salute MJ.
I repeat...DO NOT
allow the cac media to hate on this or sh*t on this or nothing
applaud it
celebrate it
so it is encouraged throughout our community
because if we do?
We can FINALLY shine the PROPER spotlight
on white folks who eat off our culture and say NOTHING
and corporations who say NOTHING
and white brown and OTHERS who want US to align with THEM but never ride for US.
We keep asking our BEST in sports, entertainment and business to get involved...
so when they DO we NEED to celebrate it regardless
on some ole FOX news sh*t.
watch REAL careful to see who SH*TS on this ESPECIALLY in a white media forum...
it was a long time coming and it aint over but salute MJ.
MICHAEL JORDAN: ‘I CAN NO LONGER STAY SILENT’
His statement on the shootings of African-Americans and the targeting of police officers
https://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jordan-i-can-no-longer-stay-silent/
As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers. I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.
“I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late. I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent. We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers – who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all – are respected and supported.
My donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization, will support its ongoing work in support of reforms that will build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement.
Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference.
“We are privileged to live in the world’s greatest country – a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities. The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.”
His statement on the shootings of African-Americans and the targeting of police officers
https://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jordan-i-can-no-longer-stay-silent/
As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers. I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.
“I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late. I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent. We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers – who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all – are respected and supported.
“Over the past three decades I have seen up close the dedication of the law enforcement officers who protect me and my family. I have the greatest respect for their sacrifice and service. I also recognize that for many people of color their experiences with law enforcement have been different than mine. I have decided to speak out in the hope that we can come together as Americans, and through peaceful dialogue and education, achieve constructive change.
“To support that effort, I am making contributions of $1 million each to two organizations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s newly established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Institute for Community-Police Relations’ policy and oversight work is focused on building trust and promoting best practices in community policing.
My donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization, will support its ongoing work in support of reforms that will build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement.
Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference.
“We are privileged to live in the world’s greatest country – a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities. The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.”
I seen this and couldn't wait to see BGOL responses to this. I wonder why now to speak up....... But gotta give credit where it's due..........that's a lot of cash to donate.
If Jordan released a limited edition sneaker where proceeds would go to the Black families effected by police violence...
this dude would COMPLETELY change the narrative of his legacy as a Black man in our community as a whole.
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I don't know about donating to the NAACP though,but good gesture
I was just coming to post this. People finally have what they have been asking for, Michael to weigh in.
He's still trying to walk that line though, donating to both police and NAACP, so people can't say he is anti police:
“To support that effort, I am making contributions of $1 million each to two organizations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s newly established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Institute for Community-Police Relations’ policy and oversight work is focused on building trust and promoting best practices in community policing. My donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization, will support its ongoing work in support of reforms that will build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement. Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference."
I'd rather have seen him donate to the Color of Change or Jesse William's group the Advancement Project.
He's still trying to walk that line though, donating to both police and NAACP, so people can't say he is anti police:
“To support that effort, I am making contributions of $1 million each to two organizations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s newly established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Institute for Community-Police Relations’ policy and oversight work is focused on building trust and promoting best practices in community policing. My donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization, will support its ongoing work in support of reforms that will build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement. Although I know these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, I hope the resources will help both organizations make a positive difference."
I'd rather have seen him donate to the Color of Change or Jesse William's group the Advancement Project.
Michael Jordan donates $2M to help community-police relations
What the fuck does that even mean?
What the fuck does that even mean?
Props to Mike....................Finally understanding that being an American & International ICON and a Black man billionaire in AmeriKKKa means that if you have any self-worth and dignity at all, unlike permanent coons like sambo clarence thomas, larry elder, etc.......then you must do something $$$$$$$$ and speak up when you see Black men being murdered by racist police.
Now can he stop Charles Barkley from cooning??
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READ
http://nyti.ms/29St4oY
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http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/us/police-videos-race.html?_r=0
The Raw Videos That Have Sparked
Outrage Over Police Treatment of Blacks
By DAMIEN CAVE and ROCHELLE OLIVER UPDATED - JULY 6, 2016
Raw video has thoroughly shaken American policing. Grainy images of questionable police behavior, spread through social media, have led to nationwide protests, federal investigations and changes in policy and attitudes on race.
“A lot of white people are truly shocked by what these videos depict; I know very few African-Americans who are surprised,” said Paul D. Butler, a law professor at Georgetown University and a former prosecutor. “The videos are smoking-gun evidence,” he added, “both literally because they are very graphic, which generates outrage, and figuratively, because people believe their own eyes.”
These videos include graphic scenes of violence.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/us/police-videos-race.html?_r=0
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Bronx Man Beaten & arrested by NYPD after asking female officer who searched him, why she searched him??
http://abc7ny.com/news/exclusive-bronx-man-claims-police-brutality-caught-on-camera/296032/
<iframe width="476" height="267" src="http://abc7ny.com/video/embed/?pid=296032" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Will Racist "white supremacist" indoctrinated cops ever
STOP SHOOTING BLACK MEN
and asking questions later????
Now can he stop Charles Barkley from cooning??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
READ
http://nyti.ms/29St4oY
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/us/police-videos-race.html?_r=0
The Raw Videos That Have Sparked
Outrage Over Police Treatment of Blacks
By DAMIEN CAVE and ROCHELLE OLIVER UPDATED - JULY 6, 2016
Raw video has thoroughly shaken American policing. Grainy images of questionable police behavior, spread through social media, have led to nationwide protests, federal investigations and changes in policy and attitudes on race.
“A lot of white people are truly shocked by what these videos depict; I know very few African-Americans who are surprised,” said Paul D. Butler, a law professor at Georgetown University and a former prosecutor. “The videos are smoking-gun evidence,” he added, “both literally because they are very graphic, which generates outrage, and figuratively, because people believe their own eyes.”
These videos include graphic scenes of violence.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/us/police-videos-race.html?_r=0
__________________________________________________________________
Bronx Man Beaten & arrested by NYPD after asking female officer who searched him, why she searched him??
Her search of him came up with Nothing
<iframe width="476" height="267" src="http://abc7ny.com/video/embed/?pid=296032" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Will Racist "white supremacist" indoctrinated cops ever
STOP SHOOTING BLACK MEN
and asking questions later????
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You have "lesser" athletes and Beyonce speaking up. Celebrities are organizing. He's feeling the pressure. Also, he may truly be hurt and emotionally affected, he was just putting his commercial and career interests first. Not to take away from the work that everyone else has been doing over the years, but Jesse Williams' BET unapologetically black acceptance speech gave everyone permission to show up and show out.
I said before that Jesse would separate the wheat from the chaff when we saw who'd rise to the challenge:
Or maybe he just took a minute to determine the best approach as to how to personally address the issues. Yall funny as fuck... First yall bitch because he didnt say shit now youre trying to fabricate more reasons to bitch now that he has taken an action. There still arw a whole lot of other 'stars' that havent said shit... Still waiting for the thread and bitchfest about them..
Also, with all this bitching, I wonder what the majority of you whiny ass jokers are doing for the cause besides bitching about what someone else is doing....
Also, with all this bitching, I wonder what the majority of you whiny ass jokers are doing for the cause besides bitching about what someone else is doing....
Basically...
KA-MOTHERFUCKING-BOOM!!!!!
Probably a lot more than your donation history....
It would be a lot easier and more money if you and everyone donated 5 dollars.
Never understood why people think celebs always got to come out the pocket.
Yeah... Im sure thats what pushed him over the top
that post is way to strong so early in the day fam!
just imagine f for ONCE we could pick one thing
JUST ONE THING to unite over and stop finding excuses...
what WE could accomplish together.
Damn.... i actually agree with you on something...
Da fuck is going on here?!?!?
I'm telling ya'll
it happening!!!
#bgolunificationday
we just need a Polo 90% off promo code to drop in a few hours and its ON!!!!!
He already loss the All Star Game thanks to the fucking gay mafia , might as well say something now.
That body cam law is some complete fucking bullshit that no one is talking about in the media.
That body cam law is some complete fucking bullshit that no one is talking about in the media.
ding...
Dude Im nervous as fuck!I'm telling ya'll
it happening!!!
#bgolunificationday
we just need a Polo 90% off promo code to drop in a few hours and its ON!!!!!
Not his problem
Hmmm....
The upper class negroes know Obama is out of office soon and they know after the poor blacks are targeted for extermination they would be next...
Now you make moves cause you see shit is serious and you realize you could be next..,
B4 u didn't care but you don't want to be a victim now....
The upper class negroes know Obama is out of office soon and they know after the poor blacks are targeted for extermination they would be next...
Now you make moves cause you see shit is serious and you realize you could be next..,
B4 u didn't care but you don't want to be a victim now....
