Strong Circumstantial Stench Suggests, Racism In Golden State Warriors Moving From Black Oakland to White San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, June 23, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Allen Jones, a longtime resident of San Francisco (1960) and a self-proclaimed, “Racism sniffing dog”, believes there is a strong circumstantial stench of racism that has many barking as the reason the Golden State Warriors are moving from their current home in a Black community of Oakland, CA to a new arena in the newest San Francisco community called, Mission Bay. And a coalition has been formed to bark, not bite, with two June 2018 SF ballot measures just to bring attention to 21st century racism in “Everyone’s favorite City.”

- The first measure is a statement putting all owners of professional sports on notice that the days of them using and abusing loyal fans are numbered. And the SF Department of Elections has vetted the measure and only needs 9,543 signatures to be placed on the June 5, 2018 SF Election. It proposes a Declaration of Police for SF:

Thou Shall Not Covet Policy of San Francisco shall be: We the People of the City and County of San Francisco California will not invite, entice, encourage, cajole or condone the relocation of any professional sports team that has previously established itself in another municipality and has demonstrated clear and convincing support from community and fans for at least twenty years and is profitable. And we stand against any sport team ownership group that attempts to avoid payment of an outstanding public debt. Instead of looking for an opportunity to take from our neighbors we wish to fully support each other and the entire Bay Area.

Once the signatures are verified, SF City Hall, the NBA, the Warriors and San Franciscans who support the move will have to counter a campaign that asks questions like:
1. Why does San Francisco, which has an annual tourism industry of $14 billion need to take one of the jewels of Oakland, which only has an $800 million annual tourism industry? Racism?
2. How does San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee justified warning the restaurant chain, Chick-fa-Lay, against trying to bring its chain restaurant business to San Francisco because the chain seemingly does not support the LGBT community but would “never apologize” for grabbing the Warriors from a Black community? Racism?
3. How does a politician’s (SF mayor) “Legacy project” to bring the Warriors to San Francisco trump the 45-year legacy of the Warriors in Oakland? Racism?
4. When former Los Angeles Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, made remarks of racism against the Black community, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver moved swiftly to force Sterling to sale the team. But the thought of moving an NBA franchise from a Black community never occurred to the NBA Commissioner who endorses the move with no mention of race? Racism?
5. Why would the owners of the Golden State Warriors think that taking a team from a Black area of Oakland, where they could have had a pick of spots on 153 acres of land choose an 11-acre plot of land at a much higher cost, which is across the street from a Children’s Hospital and Medical Center? Racism?
6. Why would the current Warriors ownership group, who bought the team for $450 million in 2010 and today, according to Forbes is worth “$2.6 billion” insist on stiffing the city of Oakland and the county of Alameda for the unpaid portion of upgrades estimated at $60 million for their current arena? Racism?
7. And why would the NBA Commissioner have a name, “NBA Cares” as its charitable arm but offer no care to a Black community that will be most negatively impacted by the Warriors move. Racism?

The second ballot measure focuses on the S.F. Entertainment Commission and expands the membership to include 4 people with clear experience in health, safety, traffic and disabled issues. The measure was developed in response to the process that allowed an 18,000-seat arena with 225 events per year, to be built across the street from Medical Center that has an emergency room. Interestingly, the Entertainment Commission seat representing ‘Public health interests’ was marked as ‘vacant’ at the November 2015 meeting when the Commission gave its conditional green light for the project. This charter amendment will need 52000 signatures to make the June 2018 SF Election.

Jones says, “Common sense says, politicians and corporations who consider all people equal would not do to any community what they have been doing for way too long, disrespecting. Stadiums and arenas built in many Black communities become a major part of the community. And there is a way to prevent professional sports teams from using emotional blackmail in many cases, demanding municipalities pay to keep the team. If other municipalities simply do not wait on the Good Neighbor Coalition’s, “Relocation of Professional Sports Teams” measure to be voted on next year”, but pass similar measures, teams in the future would not be able to easily walk away from millions in unpaid debt, which in the case of the Warriors is moving 10 miles and avoiding to pay a debt of $60 million.


About the Good Neighbor Coalition:

The Good Neighbor Coalition was created by Allen Jones, a San Francisco resident since 1960 and a Warriors basketball fan since 1975. The goal of the Coalition is to promote greater respect for loyal sports fans and communities specifically Oakland/the East Bay and ensure that an incompatible entertainment venue doesn’t spell disaster for patient care, medical research and health services in San Francisco.
A non-profit, 501c4.

Allen Jones
Good Neighbor Coalition
4157567733
email us here