Breaking It Down to Black and White

It has been said patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Well, these days the charge of “racism” is the last refuge of the coward.

Take a capitalist risk, NBA players. Band together to form a league. Find partners, form joint ventures, tap into Wall Street, raise capital, sell franchises, make arena deals, hire office staff, organize scouting networks, set up marketing agreements, attract fans, etc.

In short, to get the return of the entrepreneur, become one. But stop whining “racism” when you don’t get your own way. It no longer plays in Peoria.

KENNETH J. ARTINGSTALL, Glendale

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Bill Plaschke’s questioning that the radically different treatment of Sprewell versus Greene may have been race related was accurate, and his idea of a remedy shows that he is part of the problem. His position that Greene should have been fined in the area of $500,000 for his actions and Sprewell should have had a $23.7-million contract nullified for his hardly draws any parallel. In truth, a one-game suspension for Greene sounds about right, and a 10-game suspension for Sprewell would have been more than adequate. But a $6.4-million fine wasn’t enough for Sprewell. according to Plaschke, and it seems he wants Greene to play the sacrificial lamb to support his warped view. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say I just don’t think he likes Johnnie Cochran.

DOUGLAS LITTLETON, Dana Point

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Your Thursday sports headline, “Is It About Race,” was bigger than the front-page headline of “U.S. Attacks Iraq.” I thought I was reading a Jerry Springer show topic instead of the sports page. Talk about irresponsible journalism, and trying to create a race controversy out of an unrelated sports story. Kevin Greene in the heat of an NFL football game and Latrell Sprewell have absolutely nothing in common, forget the “race card” and don’t even insinuate that this is a black-versus-white issue. It is irresponsible journalism such as this that has become the problem.

NEAL GERVAIS, El Segundo