Racism in Sports and Entertainment

Denzel, Dennis and Shaq should be asked about their experiences with racism in their respective professions before revisionist historians like David Horowitz are allowed to tell their story (Column Right, July 23). Horowitz says that the fact that Americans can find a place in their hearts for minorities is “unprecedented in the history of nations.” First of all this presumes that all “Americans” are white, but that’s a different letter.

America’s love affair with black entertainment personalities did not begin with the huge salaries of a few basketball players. Nor does it tell us much about race relations in America. At the height of slavery in America, white slave owners “pampered” the big black “bucks” they paraded around from plantation to plantation for boxing matches. They threw a few extra scraps of food on their floor and some, perhaps, even gave their “money-making machines” a fraction of the night’s earnings. Sound familiar?

Billie Holiday was loved by white America, her record sales in that market making her one the most famous jazz vocalists of her time or any other. Yet she sang an incredibly haunting song called “Strange Fruit” that told of the black bodies she watched swinging from nooses in trees as she traveled to shows to perform for white people.

No affirmative action in sports? Let’s remember the faces of sports teams before 1960 or even during the ‘60s. Let’s remember the historic segregation of all American sports. At some point, someone took affirmative action to bring more people of color onto professional teams, which then led to an affirmative impact on the owners’ bottom line.

“Suburban white kids” want to “be like Mike” because he’s the greatest basketball player to ever play the game, and not necessarily because they have a special place in their hearts for black people.

ADRIANNE SHROPSHIRE

Los Angeles

* David Horowitz misses a crucial point in his commentary.

Sports operates the greatest affirmative action program in the country, only its beneficiaries are white males. How else can one explain the fact that despite the fact that blacks make up a majority of football and basketball players as well a sizable number of baseball players, the overwhelming majority of coaches, general managers and owners are white males?

STUART SHEFFER

Venice

* Does Horowitz want us to believe that the NBA owners are giving away money for the sake of not being called racist? While the NBA has been good to black basketball players, black basketball players have been great for the NBA and the owners.

Horowitz writes of opportunities that are clearly available. That might be true, but as everyone knows, that window becomes smaller and smaller as a person of color attempts to enter.

TIMOTHY HARRIS

Leimert Park