A year ago after the Toronto Raptors won the franchise’s first NBA championship on the road against the Warriors, team president Masai Ujiri’s celebration was tarnished by an encounter with a security guard at Oracle Arena.
Sheriff’s deputy Alan Strickland claimed that Ujiri instigated the incident and assaulted him as he tried to walk onto the court. He filed a lawsuit against Ujiri in February, citing “physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering,” according to the Globe and Mail.
Ujiri filed a countersuit against Strickland and the Alameda police department saying that the events that occurred were falsified and painted him as an aggressor.
Video released earlier this week as part of the countersuit proved Ujiri’s point. It revealed that he was initially shoved twice by the officer as he was making his way to his team on the floor before reacting in any way. The incident was captured on the officer’s body camera.
On Thursday, Ujiri reacted publicly to the video being released for the first time in a statement. In it, he astutely pointed out how success is not a deterrent for racist attacks against Black people in America.
“I was reminded in that moment that despite all my hard work and success, there are some people, including those who are supposed to protect us, who will always and only see me as something that is unworthy of respectful engagement. And there’s only one indisputable reason why that is the case — because I am black.”
Unfortunately, Ujiri’s statement is spot on. His success is not a deterrent to racism.
He also made it a point to say that it was because of that success that he had the resources to clear his name. Many other people who look like him don’t have those same privileges.
Ujiri has remained a class act throughout all of this. He could’ve issued a statement that was much harsher than this and he wouldn’t have been wrong to do so.
Instead, he chose to use his words to push forward a greater cause and shine a light on the inequities Black people and people of color face in America every single day.
Shoutout to him. Hopefully, he’ll get the justice he deserves soon.
