“Some Charlotteans—who accepted the former team’s reptilian owner, George Shinn—are disturbed that the owner of their new team is black and are complaining that he is the beneficiary of race preferences. “I know, I know. It seems laughable that a billionaire would have any acquisition tainted with charges that he got something only because of his race. Alas, nothing about race in America is laughable. “How unlaughable? So much so that a Web site eliciting comments about the new team was shut down because, it said, ‘the debate on the NBA ‘talk forum’ has declined to racial slurs, race-baiting and sexual comments about city officials.’”
