Gregg,
I have tremendous respect for you and the Spurs, and have been a Spurs fan (even though I'm not from San Antonio or even Texas) for over 30 years. The reason for my respect is that the Spurs have never been a team of a super-star, though they have had many on the team. The philosophy has consistently been that of team over individuals. Given that longstanding history, I'm sad that I have to write this letter.
I was born in poverty in downtown Detroit Michigan. My dad was a gas station attendant, and my mom was a Hop at a drive through restaurant until my sister and I were born. We lived in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment with little to nothing. My dad started an apprenticeship into plumbing, which when he felt like working and didn't blow money on drugs and alcohol allowed us to move into an 800 square foot home. Our staple meal for more years than I wish to count was pinto or navy beans cooked with a ham hock. A ham hock was the only meat we could regularly afford, but we were fed and full. Mom was always there, but dad was either working or partying with friends.
When my parents divorced, I was bounced between them as most kids are when bribes and promises are used as a way to avoid child support payments. Thankfully, that only lasted a few years before my dad died.
Mom did what she thought was right trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. She married a guy with a job but also a drunk. It was not uncommon for her, my sister, or myself to find ourselves with a knife at our throats or wrists with step-dad threatening to kill us. Perhaps more unnerving was him threatening to shoot us all while we slept. At a certain point, you just say "Go ahead and kill me then."
I started working at 15 years old so that I could have my raggedy car and insurance to drive it. I also could purchase clothes that kind of matched what the other kids at school were wearing, and a bit of entertainment. Mostly drum sticks since that was my release from the world, but I even saved enough for a portable tape player and purchased the occasional tape.
Just after turning 17 and not knowing how I could escape my environment I enlisted in the US Army. Within two weeks of graduating high school I was off to boot camp. The Army taught me a whole lot about myself and others, and I'd not be the person I am today without service. It also gave me the opportunity to put money away for College.
After the Military I started College just as I had planned. I didn't realize that the max pay from the Army college program was barely enough to cover tuition, but I sucked it up and worked full time to keep a roof over my head and scraped together enough mac-n-cheese money to live. I happened to find my knack with computers during college.
When I started working with computers, I spent 12 - 48 hour stretches working and learning. My dedication and devotion paid off, and I was soon one of few top notch high performance and high availability experts in my field, long before we had terms for them.
I became a parent and for numerous reasons became a single parent shortly after. I have raised my kid since 10 months old on my own.
Due to a work injury I had to have my shoulder reconstructed. I also had to have my knee operated on several times due to damage caused in the military which I had neglected to fixed out of fear of Army Doctors. Even though my vacation time was eaten up for health reasons, I could at least get it done. I had a decent job and insurance, so I considered myself lucky
I am proud to say not only I have moved from poverty to the middle class, but I am able to pay for my sons college tuition out of pocket. I have no debt, and he will graduate college with no debt. He will be able to pick up where I leave off, and have a better life and give a better life to his children and my grand children. As it should be.
Here is an important fact for you to consider. Everyone I know who has moved up from poverty has done so with the same recipe. Motivation, dedication, determination, and persistence. The same exact qualities you expect of your players.
Here is another more important fact for you to consider. I know plenty of people from all races, genders, religions, sexual orientations, and beliefs who have moved up the same way.
Considering the combination of national origins, races, of Religions of Spurs players I would hope to be considered insane if I suggested that you brought any of these players on the team because of their race, national origin, Religion, or any other factor but their work ethic and abilities. I would further be insulting everyone of those players and questioning their work ethics and abilities in raising such a question.
Yet you claiming "Whether it’s the LGBT movement, women’s suffrage, race, it doesn’t
matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially
white people because we’re comfortable. We still have no clue of what
being born white means." does exactly that to me.
I had to work my butt off to get ahead, and expect everyone else to be able to do the same if they wish!
If you really have no clue what being born white means, let me give you a very simple definition. Write it on your hand or make a small tattoo, because it's really simple. It means the same exact thing as being born any race, ethnicity, or any other discriminating container you wish to put people in being born means. It means "we were born".
I would agree if you had said "if you are born in poverty you are going to have a hard time moving up." because that is a true statement. That is not what you said. You also conveniently ignore the fact that because we are born in the USA we can actually move up if we have the qualities in the recipe.
Tell me Gregg, which part of my life to you believe to be comfortable.
The parts where as a little kid I got to watch my drunk dad vomit? Getting beat with a belt afterward? Going fishing after school when I was in Junior High so that we could have meat for dinner? Wondering if I was going to be alive in the morning for many of my high school years? Wondering if I should kill the guy to protect the rest of the family and risk going to jail myself? Perhaps you believe it was comfortable searching for body parts in the Military? How about wondering which class I can't take because I won't be able to afford rent, or how I'm going to eat when my bank account was at 0.00 and payday is 4 days away?
Do you know that there are millions of people like me, or who came from tougher backgrounds than I did?
Your lack of empathy and willingness to discriminate against people under a false flag of "equality" is quite frankly disgusting.
Gregg,
I don't believe I have done anything to deserve you, and people like you, stuffing both your middle fingers up at me. You are within your rights to do it, and I respect your rights.
That said, I am not obligated to support you or the platform you stand on while you flip me off. I won't be watching any more Spurs games and won't buy any Spurs material or merchandise. I will tell everyone I know to turn your games off. I am returning your one finger salute right back.
You just lost a long time fan!
If your statement happened to be a mistake, Lord knows I have made plenty, here is what to do to make things right. Use the same platform you used to flip me and people like me off to apologize. Make it sincere. Like most people I am forgiving of mistakes.
Sincerely,
SP
