Atlanta Hawks Have Another Racial Blunder, Thanks To GM Wes Wilcox
SMH. Y’all remember when former GM Danny Ferry got the Atlanta Hawks all fawked up making racial comments about Luol Deng ? And then the situation got worse when former owner Bruce Levenson’s comments about white fans vs. black fans were revealed? Well now Hawks GM Wes Wilcox is apologizing for making light of the angry black woman stereotype by using his OWN HOUSEHOLD as the example.
The comments were made during a “Chalk Talk” event for 200 season ticket holders and club members before the December 7 Miami Heat game when season ticket holder Clarenton Crawford offered to renew for two more seasons if the Hawks were to fire coach Mike Budenholzer and hire Mark Jackson. Other fans spoke up about the need for a veteran point guard and another complained about the Hawks’ best players getting less playing time.
According to Deadspin, Crawford and another source who was present said that Wilcox, who is white, tried to diffuse the tension with a joke:
“I know you guys may be angry with me, but I’m used to it because I have a black wife and three mixed kids, so I’m used to people being angry and argumentative.”
YIKES…
Crawford penned an email to Hawks CEO Steve Koonin on Dec. 16 expressing how he and his wife were offended both by Wilcox’s remarks and his having turned to ask another white employee if his joke was okay. Wilcox quickly responded but Crawford wasn’t satisfied because the racial issue wasn’t addressed.
Peep the correspondences below:
In a statement released to Deadspin, Wilcox said, “At an early December chalk talk, I made a self-deprecating comment at my own expense regarding my family, which is multi-racial. This joke offended Mr. Crawford and his wife and for that, I apologize.”
Soooo is that apology sufficient or not? In the meantime the Crawfords had a sit-down meeting earlier this week with Koonin and Hawks senior VP Nzinga Shaw, who was hired by the Hawks as the NBA’s first diversity officer following the Ferry and Levenson scandals. Crawford says Koonin has apologized on Wilcox’s behalf and Shaw has been counseling Wilcox.
Do you think the Hawks have done enough? Is Crawford overreacting?
