{"id":25491,"date":"2014-09-12T10:32:39","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T02:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=25491"},"modified":"2014-09-11T23:35:37","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T15:35:37","slug":"civil-rights-leaders-say-they-are-offended-after-hawks-cancel-scheduled-meeting-with-team-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/09\/12\/civil-rights-leaders-say-they-are-offended-after-hawks-cancel-scheduled-meeting-with-team-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil rights leaders say they are offended after Hawks cancel scheduled meeting with team CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Illustration<\/a>
Illustration by Michael Tipton<\/a> \/ Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ATLANTA\u2014The Atlanta Hawks cancelled a scheduled meeting between their CEO and city civil rights leaders Wednesday, prompting one of the group\u2019s leaders to say his community was greatly offended.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Markel Hutchins said the meeting with CEO Steve Koonin was called off \u201cat the last minute.\u201d He later said he received a call from Hawks spokesman Garin Narain on Tuesday night asking the appointment be postponed.<\/p>\n

Hutchins said he needed to hear that request from Koonin, and because Koonin didn\u2019t personally cancel the meeting, the group of 12 civil rights leaders showed up as planned.<\/p>\n

When they entered Philips Arena and were told there would be no meeting, Hutchins and the other leaders said they were insulted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire civil rights community, locally and nationally, have been offended, the likes of which we have not seen in this community in decades,\u201d Hutchins said.<\/p>\n

The group asked for the meeting to discuss what Hutchins said was the Hawks\u2019 \u201cdisrespect for people of colour.\u201d The request followed racially charged comments by Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson and general manager Danny Ferry.<\/p>\n

In a statement Wednesday, the Hawks asked for patience from the community and said they want to reschedule the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cKoonin postponed today\u2019s meeting last night,\u201d the Hawks\u2019 statement said. \u201cThis conversation is a priority for us. We are committed to having this meeting and will work with community leaders to reschedule as soon as possible. We ask our community to work with us, be patient with us, and help us heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hawks did not say why the meeting was cancelled.<\/p>\n

Levenson said Sunday he will sell his majority share of the team. Koonin said Tuesday Ferry has been punished but won\u2019t be fired.<\/p>\n

Hutchins said when he arranged the meeting with Koonin on Monday night, he made it clear the group wanted Ferry to lose his job.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps one of the reasons why they cancelled the meeting is we made it very clear we were going to demand in our conversations that Danny Ferry be fired or resign,\u201d Hutchins said. \u201cThere is no way that a man who uses the kind of language and holds the kind of sentiments that he does should be the general manager of the basketball team in the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the cradle of the civil rights movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others also have called for Ferry to be fired. Former NBA great Magic Johnson said late Tuesday on his Twitter feed \u201cAtlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry should step down after making racist statements about NBA player Luol Deng.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deng and Ferry are former Duke players under Mike Krzyzewski, who is coaching the U.S. team at the\u00a0World\u00a0Cup. Krzyzewski said he couldn\u2019t comment on the controversy involving his former players because he hasn\u2019t followed the news.<\/p>\n

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, serving as an assistant on the U.S. team, defended Deng on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been around a better person,\u201d Thibodeau said. \u201cHe\u2019s not only a great basketball player, he\u2019s an even better person. I\u2019ll stand by Luol any day. He\u2019s good. He\u2019s done a lot of great things in the community. He\u2019s a great human being. He\u2019s a very humble guy. He has a lot of integrity. I can\u2019t say enough good things about him. … It was a privilege for me to be his coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thibodeau said he \u201ccan\u2019t imagine\u201d why Ferry made the statements.<\/p>\n

Ferry made inflammatory comments about Deng in a conference call with the Hawks\u2019 ownership group in June when the team pursued Deng as a free agent. Ferry described Deng as someone who \u201chas a little African in him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deng, who was born in what is now South Sudan, now plays for the Miami Heat. He responded to Ferry\u2019s comment on Tuesday by saying, \u201cI\u2019m proud to say I actually have a lot of African in me, not just \u2018a little.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n

A letter from co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. to Levenson recommended that Ferry resign or be fired. Gearon said Ferry made that description of Deng to the team\u2019s ownership group.<\/p>\n

Gearon\u2019s June 12 letter to Levenson said Ferry went on to say, \u201cNot in a bad way, but he\u2019s like a guy who would have a nice store out front and sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Gearon: \u201cFerry completed the racial slur by describing the player (and impliedly all persons of African descent) as a two-faced liar and cheat.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Barcelona, Spain contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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