The End of an Era: Racial Implications, The NBA and Oakland

This morning I was on Facebook, just checking on my notification and doing a lot of thinking. I share a lot of different things that I feel are important on my page and every once and a while there may be a debate started on my page. I recently posted an article that was attempting to explain the logic and benefits of the Golden State Warriors firing a fan and player favorite, Coach Mark Jackson. This relief of his duties came off the brink of a 50+ win season and 2 straight playoff appearances. The Warriors were in fact a laughable team before Mark Jackson that achieved this in just his 3rd season of ever being a head coach. Mark Jackson was known for his cool demeanor and faith based approach that may have rubbed some players the wrong way such as Warriors Center Andrew Bogut. This approach was not an issue of most players in the locker room but the Mark Jackson and the Warrior Management did not see eye to eye. Despite becoming a decent seed in the extremely talented western conference, achieving 50+ wins and having franchise changing coaching career... Mark Jackson still knew his job was on the line. No matter what he achieved.

When I posted the article, I thought nothing of it. I woke to a cold comment by a San Francisco State student named Tyla Brown, whom I grew up with in Oakland and went to Frick Middle School with. She has always been extremely smart and those kinds of people that I grew up with I love to hear speak on things like this. She was kind enough to let me allow you guys to see her argument from my personal page and put it in the article. Thanks Tyla.

The argument that she had was extremely valid. To the normal fans cheering from places that aren't in the Bay Area this may not exactly make complete sense. Being that the fact that the team is getting better. The Warriors have a Class A coach that many people feel may become one of the greats. Why complain? Well Mark Jackson was released not on performance but on the personal opinions of him by the Warriors Front Office. This may not be racially charged but it may very well be. Mark Jackson was extremely "black" and not afraid to show it. This can be seen in his interviews or simply by the "unplugged" segments of NBA games with his numerous Muhammad Ali references. Can't get much blacker that Ali unless you quote Malcolm X. The Warriors since new ownership have changed a lot of things and this may be one of the largest and symbolic. They also have plans of moving the team that is shared between San Francisco and Oakland back to a brand new San Francisco stadium. This adds to the racial implications of their plans being that Oakland is a place that is majority African-American and San Francisco is a place that is not. The two places have two different kinds of stigmas and stature in American economy and ideals. 

The movement of the team is not just a concern to the fans because of moving the team across the bridge. The teams in Oakland have provided services that have helped to maintain the city's public school athletic programs and provided free tickets, dollar games, and among other things. I still remember my first Warriors game playing for D.B.C. in Oakland at Frick. I paid nothing to go. The things that these teams bring are irreplaceable in a city that has 22% of its households in extreme poverty according the 2010-2015 Oakland, California Consolidated Plan. The youth of Oakland, California would lose role models in a land where there is not much success of the same color. ESPN’s Tim Keown wrote this about the city and its team issues, “The stipend that comes with a head-coaching position in one of the six Oakland Athletic League high schools is $2,400, unchanged since 1986. Each OAL school receives $400 per season -- per season -- to cover football equipment. Without the generosity of the Raiders, who donate hundreds of pairs of cleats every year to the schools, many kids wouldn't be able to play. Without the renovation of Skyline's baseball diamond by the A's, there might never have been another true hop. Beam bought Skyline an ice machine before he left. Think about that: The school didn't have an ice machine. Now at least a player at Skyline who sprains his ankle can stem the swelling with a bag of ice.” This city that is now the robbery capital of America, has low school funding and had a 2011 violent crime rate per 100,000 of 1682.7 will gain another reason to lose hope with the loss of  teams that have grown to be pillars of the community. 

To some, these changes in Oakland team dynamics may represent a distance that is developing between not only what the team used to be and what the team used to personify. How the hometown Warriors used to be the Oakland team and now they expanding to belong to the world such as the old L.A. Lakers. These changes may be positive and bring revenue and light to the issues that go on in the city of Oakland and also San Francisco that has its own crime, drug and prostitution issues. Either way Mark Jackson will be missed and the racial implications will probably never be admitted if they exist. In light of the Donald Sterling issue, it may not be a surprise if there is a racial undertone or two. The reason for firing Mark Jackson was expressed as his "us versus them" attitude toward the front office along with his inability to coach the team how they wanted it coached. That may be very well true. Yet, my first question is what exactly started that attitude? In 3 years of coaching, how many mistakes do you get if the team is consistently improving? Steve Kerr is a big catch that can't get many complaints from NBA fans but you can't help but to wonder what was the true problem...