It's a "milestone" that speaks to the state of American culture, business and sport. NBA is moving the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, due to the league's objection to the state's House Bill 2 (HB2), which limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the state.
This is far from the first bad thing that has happened to North Carolina since the law was put in place earlier this year. PayPal canceled plans to bring hundreds of jobs to the state. Hollywood bigwigs promised not to film any more productions there. Bruce Springsteen and Cirque de Soleil canceled their shows. The lost revenue is easily in tens of millions. The estimate economic impact of the All-Star Game alone costs $100 million.
According to state senator Dan Blue, leader of the minority Democratic party, NBA's decision further sullies North Carolina's reputation. "If North Carolina, through HB2, is going to be the place of inequality and unfairness and hostility, they're not going to participate in it."
Skidmore College American Studies Professor Daniel Nathan believes that a large part of that decision is due to the racial makeup of the league, in which more than 75% of players are black.
The players themselves have set their own precedents for making statements, wearing hoodies in solidarity with Trayvon Martin and "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts in solidarity with Eric Garner.
As LGBT people have become more accepted, big businesses have become the LGBT movement's greatest ally. Consumers, particularly the youths who tend to be more liberal, expect businesses to take stands on social issues.
In the Jim Crow era of the 1950s, NBA teams from other states threatened not to come back to North Carolina because of how black players had been treated in Charlotte, separated from white players for meals and made to stay in separate hotels.
Charlotte Hornets' owner, Michael Jordan, was reported to be among the NBA insiders who tried to talk to legislators about changing the law. When the news came that the state would be losing the game, he expressed his disappointment as well as hope for that event might return to Charlotte as early as 2019. The league expressed that same hope. But is unlikely to happen if the law stays as it is on the books.
Source: TIME
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