Court Battle on Ridge

Since we’ve been covering the neighborhood, we’ve come across some things that have been undeniable. Violence, drugs, poverty and racism are all issues that are holding the community back. In an attempt to overcome the racial divide, we decided to conduct a little experiment.

How well can sports help people of the community co-exist?

After finding an open basketball course, I grabbed my ball and decided to shoot around for a bit. While some guys ran a full court game on the next court, I noticed that there were a couple guys shooting around on the other end of my court.

To be clear, I was the only Caucasian on the court.

I waited to see if I would be invited to the other end of the court. After about 15 minutes, I decided to try a different tactic.

“You guys want to run a game of roughhouse?” I asked.

No response.

I tried once again.

“Do you guys want to play?”

“No, white boy," responded one. “Honkys don’t play around this way.”

I wasn’t knocking down any barriers here. I was also worried that things might escalate into something violent because, obviously, I wasn’t welcome on their court. Instead of pushing the issue, I shot around by myself for maybe ten more minutes before I decided to leave.

As I was leaving I heard a few more racial remarks and wondered to myself if Keith Van Horn went through any of this. Going into this experiment, I honestly thought it would work. I thought, with the strides we’ve made as a country, that sports were the great equalizer.

I was disappointed with the outcome. They say the best rapper is white and the president and greatest golfer are black, but you still can’t interact in certain neighborhoods depending on your race. That is sad.

By Dennis Bovell and Kelly White, Group 16