Racist? Politician Tweets That if NBA Teams Disappeared Tomorrow, Street Crime Would Go Up

He tries to defend it later.

Mar 10, 2014
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We have another addition to the long list of Twitter fuck-ups from politicians. This tweet came courtesy of Minnesota State Representative Pat Garofalo.

Many readers found the tweet racist, and others questioned why he used "streetcrime" instead of "crime." Street is usually associated to low-income neighborhoods, which are typically made up of minorities. 

Garofalo responded to Deadspin and said that he didn't mean for the tweet to come off as racist:

I was talking about the NBA's high arrest rate and that their punishment for positive drugs tests are weaker than other leagues. No intent beyond that. The culture among many pro athletes that they are above the law is the problem, not people like me pointing that problem out.

As Bleacher Report pointed out, research from TideSport.org’s 2013 Racial and Gender Report Card found that 76 percent of NBA players are African-American. In addition to that, The Diss brought up figures that show the arrest rate in the NBA is below the national average.

[via Extra Mustard]

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