For the People: A Little White Lie.
A new basketball league is being formed that will only be open to men “that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race”. That’s right – basketball for white boys. This was reported in the January 19th edition of the Augusta Chronicle, and picked up a day later by numerous outlets including Yahoo! Sports and the Huffington Post. The story was met with audience responses that were shocked at the blatant racism and anachronistic attitude.
How could anyone living in 2010 truly believe that this would be acceptable? It took only a few minutes of thought to answer my own question – no one. No one living in 2010 would believe that an all-white sports league would be acceptable.
I think the whole thing is a lie.
I’m not laying accusations of fabrication at the feet of the news outlets that ran the story nor am I finding fault with the Augusta Chronicle. After doing a little research, though, I can’t help but think the paper might know a thing or two about the central figure in this story that would give them cause for suspicion.
Don “Moose” Lewis is the creator and star of this controversy. He is quoted in the Chronicle’s story as not being racist or prejudiced at all but, rather, looking out for the minority white athlete. Ironically demonstrating the exact racism which he claims to be no part of, he states that his league will be focused on fundamental basketball, as opposed to the “streetball” that non-whites prefer to play. Before his words make you vomit, let me tell you a little bit more about Moose and his history, and maybe his intentions will begin to clarify.
Lewis has apparently been trying for at least a decade to get a basketball minor league up and running, with little success. His background is boxing promotion and, interestingly, professional wrestling. I found information, including part of a press release, about Moose’s ideas from back in 2004:
“Mix in the best of the Harlem Globetrotters, the XFL and its cheerleaders, and professional wrestling – and you have the red, hot, GBA! You will see players “high-fiving” each other, teams with their respective music, disc jockeys spinning club music, players at the end of the game tossing their jerseys into the stands, players screaming after a successful shot or key play, players in the stands at halftime, music artists at intermission, and ticket stubs redeemable for discounts on merchandise and admission to entertainment establishments.”
I also found a bulletin board on which Moose used to contribute, and his own posts paint a picture of a man who has a poor sense of humor, a careless insensitivity, and a record of failure. The latest controversy doesn’t even appear to be the first time that he has suggested the creation of a whites-only league.
So, if 2010 is not the first time Lewis has tried to create an all-white league, but last time it was just a joke (sponsored by a sheet company! Hilarious!), are we to believe that he is serious now? Are we meant to infer that he’s telling the same bad joke twice, hoping that we’ll now find it funny?
His comedy extends past cloddish racism and into creepy sexism as well. In 2008, he tried to establish a women’s minor league. Some of the teams that your daughter could have hoped to join: the Harlem Harlots, the New Jersey Nasty, and the Charlotte Shame. I’m not kidding. He also issued a press release (he later claimed it to be the work of hackers) in which he stated that his female players would take the court in bikinis, which would be auctioned off immediately following the game.
Moose Lewis is a modern P.T. Barnum, hoping to cash in on the fools born every minute. Though a racist he may be, his purpose in the latest news is not to defend his all-white fantasy, but rather to make people aware of his name. He seeks notoriety, because he knows notoriety to be the easiest form of free publicity. He wants to be known, to further his career aspirations. A lot of people fell for it on January 20th, and I’m fueling it now by calling him out.
By the way, I forgot to mention that you can have an all-white team of your very own in your city. All you have to do is send Moose $10,000. I’m not lying.
Jake Negovan strives to shine a light on truth and hypocrisy when the mainstream media overlooks those small details. “…For the People,” Jake’s column is his platform to address the issues that our country faces as we continue growing toward a society of equality.
