Monday, August 14, 2006

Another Team-name Controversy



We read:

"Some leaders of Buffalo's black community say they consider the new name for the city's minor-league basketball team, the Silverbacks, offensive and racially insensitive. They say a silverback - an adult male gorilla - is an inappropriate nickname for a team with a large number of black players because bigots have referred to blacks as "gorillas," "apes" and "monkeys." ...

The team, which plays in the American Basketball Association, has carried the name Silverbacks since May. The team played as the Rapids last year under former owner Gary Nice, who sold the franchise to co-owners Dan Robbie and Todd Wier last December. The new owners had to change the team's nickname because Nice retained the rights to the Rapids name.

Wier asked the team for input, and Modie Cox - who serves as a player and assistant coach - came up with the winning idea. A silverback is an older male gorilla who is a respected leader of his group, said Cox, a devoted fan of Discovery Channel's Animal Planet network. "We're going to go out there; we're going to demand that respect," he said of the team."

Source

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