--- title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bruce Levenson's Email Wasn't Racist description: Sure, there are assumptions he makes that are cringeworthy—but the questions about how to attract more white fans were entirely reasonable. canonical: https://time.com/3296175/bruce-levenson-atlanta-hawks-racist-email-kareem-abdul-jabbar/ author: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-08T10:50:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:44:24.491Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bruce Levenson Isn't a Racist, He's a Businessman og:description: Sure, there are assumptions he makes that are cringe-worthy—but the questions about how to attract more white fans were entirely reasonable. og:url: https://time.com/3296175/bruce-levenson-atlanta-hawks-racist-email-kareem-abdul-jabbar/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt398a57601c163c13/6986a243810bbb05acc934cb/bruce-levenson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1800 og:image:height: 1013 og:image:alt: Bruce Levenson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bruce Levenson Isn't a Racist, He's a Businessman twitter:description: Sure, there are assumptions he makes that are cringe-worthy—but the questions about how to attract more white fans were entirely reasonable. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt398a57601c163c13/6986a243810bbb05acc934cb/bruce-levenson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bruce Levenson Isn't a Racist; He's a Businessman > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2498540e-3e6e-436b-a892-b81d825bbe18&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar On Racism [Watch (HLS stream): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar On Racism](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QPdUnHb2.m3u8) (2:21)  _Published 2014-05-05. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How To Tell If You're a Racist Like Donald Sterling_  by [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://time.com/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/)  ## Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Sep 8, 2014 10:50 AM UTC  Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson Atlanta Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson Dave Tulis—AP  by [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://time.com/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/)  ## Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Sep 8, 2014 10:50 AM UTC Well, the pitchforks are already sharpened and the torches lit anyway, so rather than let them go to waste, why not drag another so-called racist before the court of public opinion and see how much ratings-grabbing, head-shaking and race-shaming we can squeeze out of it? After all, the media got so much gleeful, hand-wringing mileage out of Don Sterling and Michael Brown. The only problem is that Atlanta Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson is no Donald Sterling. Nor is [his email racist](http://time.com/3292250/atlanta-hawks-selling/). In fact, his worst crime is misguided white guilt. I read Levenson’s email. Here’s what I concluded: Levenson is a businessman asking reasonable questions about how to put customers in seats. In the email, addressed to Hawks president Danny Ferry, Levenson wonders whether (according to his observations) the emphasis on hip-hop and gospel music and the fact that the cheerleaders are black, the bars are filled with 90% blacks, kiss cams focus on black fans and time-out contestants are always black has an effect on keeping away white fans.  From left: Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Dominique Wilkins Courtesy of Iconomy, LLC Seems reasonable to ask those questions. If his arena was filled mostly with whites and he wanted to attract blacks, wouldn’t he be asking how they could de-emphasize white culture and bias toward white contestants and cheerleaders? Don’t you think every corporation in America that is trying to attract a more diverse customer base is discussing how to feature more blacks or Asians or Latinos in their TV ads? Back when the original _Law & Order_ first launched, there was a cast shake-up that added more women, reportedly in an effort to attract more female viewers. MTV shows like _Finding Carter_ and _Teen Wolf_ can’t get through an emotional scene without a pop song coming in to sing to the viewer what they should be feeling, because that’s what their demographic wants. Car companies hire specialized advertising agencies to create ads to appeal specifically to women, blacks and Latinos. That’s business. Sure, there are a few assumptions he makes that make me cringe a little. For example: “My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a significant season ticket base.” On the other hand, I have no evidence that he’s wrong on either count. Even if he is, the question still needed to be raised, because racism is a realistic possibility as to why whites in Atlanta may not be coming. To Levenson’s credit, in that same paragraph, he dismisses fans who complained about the arena’s site as code for racist fear that “there are too many blacks at the games.” He further decries the white perception that even though the percentage of blacks in attendance had lessened, they still feel it’s higher and therefore somehow threatening. His outrage seems authentic. Businesspeople should have the right to wonder how to appeal to diverse groups in order to increase business. They should even be able to make minor insensitive gaffes if there is no obvious animosity or racist intent. This is a business email that is pretty harmless in terms of insulting anyone — and pretty fascinating in terms of seeing how the business of running a team really works. The thing that makes me mad is that Levenson was too quick to rend his clothing and shout mea culpa. In his apology, he wrote, “By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans.” But that’s not the message in the email at all. If the seats had been filled, even if by all blacks, the email wouldn’t have been written. He wasn’t valuing white fans over blacks; he was trying to figure out a way to change what he thought was the white perception in Atlanta so he could sell more tickets. That’s his job. _Abdul-Jabbar is a six-time NBA champion and league Most Valuable Player. Follow him on Twitter (_[_@KAJ33_](https://twitter.com/kaj33)_) and Facebook (_[_facebook.com/KAJ_](https://www.facebook.com/kaj)_). He also writes a_ [_weekly column_](http://losangelesregister.com/go/kareem) _for the L.A._ Register_._ ## Transcript [00:00] From what I can tell, more whites in America believe in [00:02] ghosts than believe in racism, and that's why we have [00:06] shows like Ghost busters and not racist busters. [00:08] [ LAUGH ] As a general rule things don't [00:13] end well if the sentence starts let me tell you [00:16] something I know about the Negro. People see the fact [00:20] that a black American could get elected President, they [00:23] see that as the end of racism. That's absolutely [00:27] not the case. [ NOISE ] It's a milestone in a marathon. [00:31] Just a tip for you. [ LAUGH ] Don't start your sentence [00:34] that way. I think it's pretty created a false sense of [00:38] achievement that we've done everything that we need [00:40] to do, and that we can just slump back into being [00:44] complacent. Racism, unfortunately, rears it's head in [00:47] places that you would never expect at, at times that [00:50] you would never expect. I think the President is in a [00:52] tough position because as a Black American, if he's. [00:55] Too proactive or too enthusiastic, about dealing with [00:59] racism. People think he has agenda. White Americans [01:02] are not a group that is targeted, so it's a surprise to [01:06] many White Americans that discrimination and bias can [01:10] affect people's life. They, they think it's a thing of the [01:13] past. We have shows like John Stewart and Stephen [01:16] Colbert they're like colonoscopies into America's [01:18] bowels. You know, they're looking for the polyps of [01:20] intolerance. There is no racism in America. There's [01:23] more Cholera in America than there is -. Than there is [01:27] racism. [ SOUND ]. More Cholera! Yes. Racism has [01:30] gone the way of [ NOISE ] where you drink. [ LAUGH ] [01:32] And I think that by pointing those things out and [01:36] ridiculing them we get a chance to identify issues [01:40] and and deal with them in a meaningful way. You know [01:43] there's only one lead story today and that is the racist [01:46] comments of LA Clippers owner and Darth Vader with [01:49] his helmet off, Donald Sterling. [ LAUGH ]. Racism has [01:52] obviously been a hot topic with regard to sports. And, [01:56] and Mr. Sterling's problems, but racism as it relates to [02:00] society at large is something that we don't talk about [02:03] enough. And inclusion should be the keynote of, of [02:06] American life. We have people from all over the world [02:09] that come here, and they can become American [02:11] Citizens and have a, have a wonderful life here. 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