Why say ‘Five Shot on NBA All-Star Weekend’ instead of ‘Five Shot at end of MAGIC fashion convention’?
I’m not going to say I think this is racist, because racism is so esoteric, and what the hell do I know of what people think. However, this recent AP story grabbed me as something where the racial angle just screams at you.
NBA All-Star Game = Black people = shootings
–”‘Hip Hop City?’” Our Mayor wants to build a $450 million dollar stadium for these goons,” wrote Las Vegas gadfly Steve Miller in his newsletter.
Five shot during NBA weekend in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Five people were shot during the NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas, including one man who was critically injured, police said.
The shootings occurred in three separate incidents from Saturday night to Monday morning.
…
Police cited the high number of arrests and shootings to double the number of vice squad officers on the street and the lengthy party atmosphere. All-Star weekend also coincided with Chinese New Year and the end of the MAGIC fashion convention in Las Vegas.
Mayor, Sheriff call All-Star Weekend a success despite problems
Despite violence over the NBC All-Star Weekend, Mayor Oscar Goodman says it was one of the great weekends in Las Vegas history.
Not everyone agrees with him. In Tuesday’s Review-Journal, the majority of the letters to the editor were against bringing the game back because of the type of crowd it attracted to the city.
My only point is that the story only gives a cause-effect of the two events, without any facts. Absolutely it’s possible that people involved in the shootings had something to do with the NBA. But it’s just not a given, and I did not see anything in the paper pointing out that the shootings involved anyone connected with the NBA. Plus, it’s freakin’ Las Vegas. I honestly would have thought five shootings in a weekend was about normal.
–WKW
February 21st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I don’t believe that it’s racist to talk about the reality of what went on during All-Star weekend in Las Vegas. I work swing shift at a major Strip hotel and I was there. It wasn’t pretty.
Security normally has to respond to a fistfight in the casino about once a month. On that weekend, it was every 45 minutes. The guests that weekend were also very rude (couldn’t say three words unless one of them included “fuck”), they routinely threatened hotel employees, vandalized hotel property and generally acted like a bunch of idiots.
Our mayor keeps talking about getting an NBA team in Las Vegas. If this is the element that an NBA team would attract, I sincerely hope that it never happens.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:47 pm
It was a thugfest:
http://sports.aol.com/whitlock/_a/mayhem-main-event-at-nba-all-star/20070220103009990001