The NBA's Quiet Problem With Prison Exploitation
Tom Gores, owner of the Detroit Pistons, also owns notoriously abusive prison telecom and banking giant Aventiv.
The NBA has put itself at the vanguard of the movement for racial justice in America. The court at the Disney World bubble is emblazoned with the words “Black Lives Matter,” and players have insisted that the league live up to those words. Last week’s three-day playoff strike, after the shooting of Jacob Blake, led to an agreement on the establishment of a social-justice coalition and related advertising focused on civic engagement, advocacy for criminal justice and police reform, and ballot access. On that last point, all franchises that own their home arena vowed to “work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 election.”
The rise of sports figures as a social and political force mirrors past eras; think John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their fists in Mexico City in 1968, or Curt Flood’s fight for labor freedoms in baseball. The radicalization of basketball stars, using their platform to condemn injustice, is similarly inspiring.
At the same time, however, there has been an uncharacteristic silence about how one of the league’s owners is responsible for systematic abuses against people of color.
https://prospect.org/justice/the-nbas-quiet-problem-with-prison-exploitation/
