It seems like it's just another way to push racism back to the top. Which isn't something that should be done. I think it's a terrible, terrible idea.

Terrible idea? Yes.

BUT!

I believe he is fully within his rights to do so if it's going to be private. He's not forcing anything on anyone, no one is being forced to join. Dude just wants his own, white, basketball league. Nothing wrong with that. Well, lots wrong with that, but nothing legally wrong with that.

To answer the question about neo-Nazis and the KKK, they're despicable, but again, fully within their right to congregate and bitch about minorities. There's no law against it so long as they're not hurting or harassing others.

---

Fun story. A buddy of mine's brother works at Carlson Craft (not sure if that's local or a chain), and apparently he got an order to make the seal for the grand wizard of the KKK. He misspelled 'wizard' on purpose to spite them (not sure how he misspelled it, though).

Terrible idea? Yes.
Racist? Yes.
Legal? Unfortunately so.

I'm frankly all against it.

But, would you make a law or try to change the law so that he couldn't?

Oh, isn't this interesting?


Personally? I see nothing wrong with the idea itself. A new basketball league? Okay, sure! White people only? Well, that's a little racist -- and the fact that 78% of men in the NBA are black doesn't seem a little racist, too? It does to me. It's also true that the average height for black men is ever so slightly shorter than for white men, so that doesn't really affect the statistic. Are they more athletic? Maybe. But is it possible it's just a little racist? Certainly. Of course, it might just be chance.

(Please note: two wrongs do not make a right, but I just felt the need to point that out since no one seems to care about that little detail. )


Ethical? Racist? Wrong? I can't say -- who am I to judge right and wrong? -- but in my opinion, it is very likely racist, and thus wrong. However, the man has not seemed to be against black people, simply wanting to see a team of good, professional, white players on a court. Is that racist? Your mileage may vary, but I don't think so. If there were an all-black basketball league, how many people would be complaining? How many people here would maintain that it's racist, if they'd never seen this or even thought of an all-white league existing? A better example: If someone were to start an all-black baseball league, would anyone be complaining? (As a side-note, it's a random sport and I don't watch it much, so I don't know how many black people there are in baseball.)


I don't care, myself. They have all the right in the world to do it, and as long as it's not hurting anyone, I'm fine with it. If I were to start a soccer league for homeschoolers in my area (mind you, I probably couldn't right now), would that be illegal? Nope. In fact, there are homeschoolers-only junior sports leagues in the area. It's mostly for fun, to my knowledge, but the point stands. Though it's not a sensitive issue, it's the same principle: allowing only one class (for lack of a better word) to partake in it. Is that so wrong?


I see no reason why it shouldn't happen, and anyhow, it's legal, so it can't be stopped.


Ehh...sure. As long as they aren't hurting anyone, I see no legal reason not to, and I'm all for celebrating who you are as long as you aren't being prejudiced against anyone who isn't the same as you. Hating people? It's not illegal, and I wouldn't honestly care as long as they didn't start plotting world takeover or something. That's just me, though.


Not sure about Chris, but I wouldn't. Like I said, I have no problem with this as long as it's not violent or genuinely racist. So no, I wouldn't. Plus, I'm pretty sure that's unconstitutional...but then, so are income taxes and the like.

As a whole, I'm neutral -- that was just to present a few points in favor of it, or at least not against it, since no one really has yet. XD



Slightly off-topic: Interestingly, the New Zealand rugby team is called the All Blacks. It's not racist, as their uniforms are, in fact, black, but still...odd. O.o

I pretty much entirely agree with what Nitro has said. But to answer your rhetorical question, I would have just as much of a problem with an all-black anything as I would an all-white. I would have the same view that it's legal, their choice, and entirely ignorant. But so long as it's not affecting me, that's all I can say. If it's private, the law can do nothing and as long as it's not infringing on others, we can't do anything (or the law, again, in this case). I can only judge that the people who partake in it are idiots for their choices.

However, I would say your example of homeschoolers is different. Being homeschooled, they don't have the option to play sports like everyone in a public/private school. That's giving an opportunity to kids who otherwise wouldn't have one. Making something based on race, something that isn't restrictive anymore, doesn't do that, and therefore, it is ethically wrong, if not legally (and that's how it should be).

Racism will always be an issue. Things like "Black History Month" keep it alive and well, after all.

Thank you!

Accusations of racism are being flung around nowadays like mystery meat during a food fight in a public school cafeteria (excuse the relative randomness of the example...I've been out shovelling snow all day, so my brain is frozen), especially in politics. Actual racism isn't as common as you'd think. Obama being elected president actually stirred up more accusations of racism than it did settle them. Anyhow, I don't mean to bring this in the direction of politics, though, so I'll get off that topic.

The thing is, black people have as much right to make an all-black basketball league as white people do, so it's not infringing on their rights; it really has no negative effect on them at all, and if they wanted to, they could make their own club for black people only. Someone can be as racist as they want as long as it's not injuring or harassing other people, and no one can do anything about it whatsoever, with the exception of refusing to service them in a public industry, franchise, or the like, and as wrong as I think it is, it just doesn't cause an issue like going out and slaughtering someone of a different skin color, nationality, religion, or gender would. It's certainly segregation, but it doesn't infringe on their public rights at all, or anyone else's, and it doesn't hurt them physically, mentally, or emotionally (well...it shouldn't).

So, just another few comments. Is nobody going to, y'know, debate with me? XD It's an interesting subject and I probably won't win it since I'm so neutral on it, buuut...

Sorry, but you're far too correct on the issue to disagree with you, Nitro.

But to add a little something of my own, seeing as Black History Month and Obama were brought up. The fact that we're drawing attention to race and racism is what's keeping it alive. The fact that we have month devoted to people of a certain skin color (never mind the fact that they could be African, South American, Indian, or Australian--in other words, not in any way connected to each other EXCEPT by skin color) and that we think it's a big deal that we have a black president. You can't stop racism. It will always exist; it even exists in animals. What we can do, as a society, is ignore it. Not pretend like it doesn't happen, but acknowledge that it shouldn't matter. Obama is black. So what? That should NOT be the issue. His skin color does not dictate his ability to be president. So instead of throwing our hands up in praise that we *finally* have a black president, or chastising him for being such, let's just say, "Hey, we have a president who isn't Bush. Now let's see what he can do."

This is long winded and confused; my mind is just kind of 'bleh' right now. My point with this whole thing is, as the others have mentioned, the guy wanting an all white basketball team, though deplorable, really amounts to fuck-all in the grand scheme of things. He's within his rights, so let him be ignorant on his own or with people who agree. The rest of us civil minded people can ignore him. He gets what we want, we get what we want. That's the beauty of America and the freedoms we have. He thinks one way, we think another. Let's let each other be. If it amounts to anything more than that, we're doing something wrong.

Does that mean I killed the debate?

I agree with pretty much everything else you said, by the way. Too tired to say much else right now. XD

Killed it? No. It just means you don't get to argue with me.

If you wanna see how a debate with me turns out, go back a few pages and find the death penalty debate. I honestly just got sick of keeping up with it, which is why it just sort of ended with Eric's rebuttal.

Heh. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I already skimmed it -- it seemed slightly repetitive towards the end (but maybe that's because I had just had three cans of coke before reading it and couldn't sit still), but it was very interesting. I was tempted to add something but it doesn't really matter.