LA Lakers owner calls for unity

Buss says she is no longer willing to ignore hate, tells white friends to fight menace

LONDON: LA Lakers owner Jeannie Buss said on Friday, the Juneteenth holiday, she is no longer willing to ignore hate and called on white people to come together and acknowledge the racism that exists in the United States.

Juneteenth commemorates the US abolition of slavery under President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, belatedly announced by a Union army in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, after the Civil War ended.

Thousands marched through U.S. cities on Friday, capping nearly four weeks of protests and national soul-searching sparked by the death of a Black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis.

In a post on Instagram, Buss shared a picture of a note containing offensive language from a person named Joe, who described himself as a "huge Lakers fan", that she said she received on Monday.

The note, which opens with the words "Dear *****", tells Buss to "go to hell and join Kobe Bryant."

The picture contains three words that have been blacked out with a marker pen, including what appears to be a strong racial slur as well as the surname of the person who sent it.

"After much thought, I decided to share this letter I received on Monday so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there. This is happening in our world TODAY. Its real and it exists," Buss said in a post accompanying the picture.

"I have received letters like this over the years. The advice I always got? "Ignore it." I did. But not anymore.

"On this day, Juneteenth, I ask my white friends to join together, acknowledge the racism that exists in our country and around the world, and pledge to stop ignoring it. We all must do better."