NBA and Whitewives

“Girrrlll, that’s what they all do: Cling to a sista while they’re broke and in school. Then get a contract and put a ring on the white girl hand.” Yeah, if you haven’t said it you’ve heard it. The greatest issue in American racism is not separation of the races; in this melting pot we call America, it is actually the sexuality of the races. The notion, the irrational fear, that the black man is some brainless sex fiend fixated on white women, has fueled the hate groups. Is it a by accident, or coincidence, that the view is still propagated by the media? YAAAMS thinks not. The truth of the matter is that 90 percent of African-American married NBA players (such as Pat Ewing, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond) are married to African-American women. But most people believe that the majority of African-American NBA players are married to non-African-Americans. Why? Because the media highlights and shows the African-American player’s wife who is not African-American five times more than showing the African-American wife. This biased or selective coverage gives people the false impression.

Look at the marital status of the 2001 NBA All-Star rosters:

Eastern Conference

Player

Marital Status

Allen Iverson Married to African-American woman           

Tracy McGrady Married to African-American woman           

Alonzo Mourning Married to African-American woman           

Vince Carter  Married to African-American woman           

Grant Hill   Married to African-American woman           

Allan Houston Married to African-American woman           

Stephon Marbury  Married to African-American woman           

Anthony Mason  Not married    

Dikembe Mutombo   Married to African-American woman           

Theo Ratliff   Married to African-American woman           

Glenn Robinson   Married to African-American woman           

Latrell Spreweel   Engaged to African-American woman          

Jerry Stackhouse Married to African-American woman           

Western Conference

Player

Marital Status

Jason Kidd     Married to Arabic-Indian woman      

Kobe Byrant  Married to Hispanic-Caucasian          

Shaquille O’Neal   Engaged to African-American woman          

Tim Duncan   Married to Caucasian 

Chris Webber Not married    

Kevin Garnett Not married    

Karl Malone   Married to Philippino woman

Gary Payton   Married to African-American woman           

David Robinson   Married to Hispanic woman  

Rasheed Wallace    Married to African-American woman           

Other Examples of How the Media Distorts Perceptions During the 2000 NBA playoffs, Shaquille O’Neal, Los Angeles Laker, announced his engagement to an African-American woman. The media did not cover the engagement. When fellow LA-Laker Kobe Bryant announced his engagement to a non-African-American, all the media was abuzz with the story.

Another Example: Despite all the O.J. Simpson trial coverage, many people did not even know his first marriage was to a black woman and that they had three kids together. The media rarely interviewed or featured her; instead, many photos of Simpson and his white wife were constantly in the press. The sad thing is, even before the trial coverage-for years, in fact-groups similar to YAAAMS had been pressuring the media to show more African-American wives of African-American professional athletes.

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