Couple Things:
I HIGHLY doubt Levenson leaked this email to sell the team at the expense of ruining his reputation for life. He could've easily cashed out without doing so....see Bucks, Milwaukee/Kings, Sacramento.
All of the "privileges" of being wealthy just went out the door for him because of this....social/business to be specific. Who on earth is doing business with Bruce Levenson now? Good luck.
That being said, I don't think he's racist....just naive and aloof.
The race thing in Atlanta is a MASSIVE issue within business circles....has been and will be for years....and it works BOTH ways.
Quick story:
A few months back, went to a club here with a group of friends. Main friend that arranged the table frequents said club quite often and is a business acquaintance of the owner who is black. We went on a night that is known to almost all white. My friend brought a black friend that night......around 2am my friend gets a text from the owner saying how in the future that he can't bring any (insert very offensive racial slur that starts with an N here) to the club.
So yeah....business owners stereotyping blacks exists all over Atlanta....black on black...white on black..black on white...you can go ALL DOWN THE LIST.
When it comes to Ferry, he's also aloof. That being said, I don't think people should be saying those are his thoughts......everything out there says he was reading a scouting report that wasn't created by the Hawks but by another team. For all we know Ferry warned everyone before he read the report that he didn't condone these words but wanted to show transparency. I'm not saying that's what happened but I have to believe there's more to that than we know.
