Mavericks’ Cuban pushing for conversations to a racism problem in need of a solution
Another story on eliminating racism in America, which means by now you likely have put this aside to ignore another liberal piece of propaganda.
[Do you care enough to keep reading? Because this is on you.]
We are now into the third week of America’s great protest, which has morphed into a global march down major avenues in cities large and small. They have brought out millions of people, and toppled statues of history’s most accomplished bigots.
Watching similar scenes play out from Fort Worth to London to L.A. to Miami over the last week, we have seen violence, and perhaps over the noise we are able to hear why this is happening. Again.
So what are we going to do it about it?
What does concrete, tangible success look like?
Removing some memorials does only so much, because it doesn’t improve the path, or life, of the disenfranchised.
On Tuesday morning in Victory Plaza outside the main entrance of the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks hosted “Courageous Conversations,” an event that featured members of their organization talking to a small audience about their experiences with racism.
[Do you care enough to keep reading? Because this is on you.]
Team owner Mark Cuban said the event was the idea of team president Cynthia Marshall.
No one in the NBA, or maybe any other sport, has tried any harder to address all of this more than Cuban. Certainly no one in his position of power, influence and wealth, has been any more vocal or any more visible.
The two hours of listening was both sad, and inspiring. We’re still here.
Marshall’s concept was to expose people to the stories of the people they know.
Here is one I didn’t know, but learned after listening:
Most of the time when white people say “We had the talk” with their kids it means we talked about sex. When African Americans say they had “the talk” with their kids, there is a good chance it has nothing to do with sex. It’s typically a reference to how parents must prepare their kids for how to deal with law enforcement officials.
Marshall’s ambition is that one day the talk will be able to be eliminated.
[Do you care enough to keep reading? Because this is on you.]
At some point, the protesting will stop. At some point, people have to return to their regular lives.
Then, what?
“When you have scenarios like this people tend to get excited and involved early and it tails off as it goes on,” Cuban said. “We wanted to make sure we sustained our efforts and stay involved in the community. And turn this not into a time of protest but a time of results.”
If we are here in 2021, or 2031, having these same “courageous conversations,” then the only part that was courageous was that we bothered to stop and listen. If listening qualifies as courageous, then we really only listened to look the part rather than play the part.
If we are here in 2021, or 2031, the results were negligible.
“All of these leaders who are in places, they can measure this,” Marshall said. “I’m not talking about just numbers. You know when there is bias, implicit and explicit bias, in your system. You have people that operate with those biases. You have to purge that, so everybody gets a shot.”
The intention is good. The execution should raise concern.
Because just giving something away is not a solution. Creating genuine understanding, awareness and opportunity for advancement is.
“There is nothing that’s going to turn around in two years. It’s all an ongoing conversation,” Cuban said. “Took me a lot longer than two years to come to an understanding. You can’t expect the whole country to change in two years. It’s going to take time.
“Hopefully in two years we’ll still be having conversations but more and more people truly understand what’s happening in these minority communities. And white people in particular will have a better understanding and more empathy. So the Gen Z kids now, they will look at us and laugh at us for being so stupid for the way we were.”
[Did you care enough to keep reading? Because this is on you, and me.]
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 7:40 PM.
