Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban has weighed in on race in the wake of the controversy around his fellow NBA owner Donald Sterling's bizarre rants. While I don't think Cuban will keep Sterling off the front page for long and probably won't lure Barbara Walters to come out (once again) from her most recent retirement to interview him, I think his words are worthy of comment.
I mean is it really so bad what he said? Keep in mind a few years ago Jesse Jackson himself made a similar comment.
Having spent a career in law enforcement, I think the experience gives you an extra sense when it comes to sizing people up as to whether they represent a threat-no matter what ethnic group they belong to. As one example, it enables you to take one look at a black guy and conclude he is no threat at all.
Back in the 1980s, I had to travel from my home office of Pittsburgh to Philadelphia for a one-day training class. It was my first time in the city, and I was staying at a downtown hotel. I had no car, so I set out on foot that evening (alone) to find a place to have dinner. I should note that I was armed. Walking along a somewhat deserted street, I saw a group of young black males, late teens-early twenties, about a block away walking behind me. They were loud and my impression was they were looking for trouble. So I did what Mark Cuban would do. I stepped up my pace and found a street with more people around. Sure I was armed, but I didn't really want to shoot anybody that evening. Besides, I was hungry. I wanted to find a restaurant and a pub.
Did that make me a racist? After all, I would have done the same thing had I been in Frankfurt, Germany and seen a group of neo-Nazi skinheads heading my way.
I have not yet heard any outcry coming from black sports commentators or athletes regarding Cuban's comments. I suspect most of them are nodding their heads and thinking they would cross the street as well if confronted with either of Cuban's examples. Cuban was merely trying to give his own insight, even if somewhat awkwardly, into a societal issue.
Let's move on.
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Having spent a career in law enforcement, I think the experience gives you an extra sense when it comes to sizing people up as to whether they represent a threat-no matter what ethnic group they belong to. As one example, it enables you to take one look at a black guy and conclude he is no threat at all.
If Gary can do that, he's not a racist. Unfortunately, some people in law enforcement take short cuts.
Anyone who denies that a group of loud black teen-agers could not POSSIBLY be looking for trouble and worth avoiding, or even calling the police about on occasion, has never lived in a neighborhood frequented by such loud black teen-agers.
Incidentally, I grew up in a small midwestern city where there were NO black teen-agers, and somehow there were still bands of loud young men I tried to avoid.
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