Well, it finally happened — the worst thing ever to occur anywhere at any time.
“In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth we pay tribute to @celtics legend #RedAuerbach for being the 1st @NBA coach to draft a black player in 1950, field an all African-American starting five in 1964 and hire the league’s 1st African-American head coach (Bill Russell) in 1966.”
That was the tweet posted on Twitter by the Boston Police Department. And we want to point out again that it is the. worst. thing. ever.
Auerbach, you see, was a white man. He was the legendary coach for the Boston Celtics basketball team from 1950-1966, winning nine NBA championships.
Now, we get it. Black History Month is a time to celebrate black people. But it’s worth remembering that a lot of people helped blacks throughout history — stood up against racism at its worst. And those people were black, of course, but also white, Hispanic, Asian, everything under the sun.
Should they be included in Black History Month? Maybe not. But Auerbach really was a pioneer — as the tweet said, he was the first coach to draft a black player and first to field an all-black starting five.
But in today’s easy-to-bruise climate, apparently there can be no tolerance for such a grievous error.
Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson blasted the police department on Twitter. “Only in #Boston do the @bostonpolice honor Red Auerbach for #blackhistorymonth. So we already have the shortest month and now this,” Jackson tweeted. “Please file this under Hell Nah aka Not Having it aka Not Ok. #bospoli #Boston #mapoli.”
The BPD was forced to delete the Auerbach tweet and apologize.
Some on Twitter rejected the apology.
But plenty were miffed that nowadays, even an apology is not enough.
Again, was the tweet great? No. But whatever happened to giving someone the benefit of the doubt? The BPD praised a man who helped blacks make great strides — and set NBA players on the path to making millions a year. When people took exception, they killed the tweet and apologized.
And still that’s not enough? Just when you think it can’t get any worse . . .