Sorry, Raleigh and Atlanta – the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is staying in Charlotte.
On March 3, CIAA commissioner Jacqie Carpenter announced that the Queen City will continue to host the men’s and women’s annual basketball tournament – which takes over the city for almost a week, bringing with it thousands of visitors and hundreds of parties and events – for at least another six years. In addition, the conference will move its headquarters, in Hampton, Va., here.
Cue the respective cheers and groans.
This was the first time in six years that I did not attend a tournament week party. (I’ve been on both sides of the bar since the CIAA first came to Charlotte in 2006, so service industry folks, I know the exhaustion of working a crowded party.) But I did experience some of the excitement in Uptown Saturday night while walking around, losing myself in the crowd of cheerful out-of-towners who were in our city to have a good time.
A good time. That’s all the alumni and friends of these 12 historically black colleges and universities are looking for when they visit Charlotte. (Not unlike the visitors who come to the area for the big NASCAR race or the ACC championship game.) That Charlotte has the capacity to host such an event and get something in return makes me wonder why anyone would not embrace the news that the CIAA will return through 2020.
- CharlotteVibe.com
- The CIAA 2014 Step Show Throwdown; Greeks vs. Greeks took place at Grady Cole Center, Feb. 28.
For insight, I perused my Facebook newsfeed – a mostly terrible idea, considering everyone’s got an opinion but few take the time to really research what they’re talking about. One person, though, did suggest that moving the tournament back to Raleigh (which hosted CIAA for six years) would return the focus of the event back to basketball. At least her intentions seemingly came from a good place.
Of course, for some (more than some), the underlying discomfort boils down to race relations. A friend of a Facebook friend commented on a thread that CIAA weekend lacks inclusivity because the conference is made up of HBCUs. But let’s be real: A large majority of Charlotte’s young, non-black partiers stayed as far away from downtown as possible last week, and not because it “lacks inclusivity.”
No one told them to stay away. No one told them they wouldn’t be welcomed.
It’s hard for me to understand why the same people who usually embrace the Uptown nightlife scene, with its parking fees, crowded bars and high-priced drinks, avoid it so emphatically during CIAA. Is it fear of, even for a short period of time, being in the minority? Of getting a small taste of what it’s like to be black in Uptown on any other Friday night?
CIAA weekend is the only time of year that I know my well-dressed black boyfriend and his well-dressed black friends won’t be turned away at the door of an Uptown nightspot.
As part of the agreement to keep the CIAA in Charlotte, the city, Mecklenburg County and Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority will provide $1.4 million in funding per year to be distributed among the conference’s 12 schools. Seems like a small price to pay, when in 2013, according to the Visitors Authority, the tournament brought in about $30 million in direct spending and $47 million in economic impact.
If the city is going to continue to host such an impactful event, it needs to step up its game – manage traffic better (the congestion on 5th Street Saturday night looked like the exodus of scared citizens trying to escape a virus outbreak in any zombie movie); help protect visitors from price-gouging at hotels and parking lots ($50 to park in a lot? Really?); and request Uptown regulars take part in the festivities instead of ignoring their swift departure.
The bottom line is, the CIAA tournament is the largest annual tourism event in Charlotte, and it’s here to stay. We might have problems with some colors, but green we should not.
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This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2014.
For fear of being the minority? Are you serious? And to be clear, by non-black you mean white. First of all, it’s more crowded than any normal weekend. Second, many if not most places are bought out by party promoters months in advance and then people are charged a very high price at the door and drink prices are also raised. Would you please provide an example of some establishment that has turned away your well dressed black boyfriend? With your position you’ve not done a piece on doorman racism? CIAA is the only time of year he and his friends are let in? I call bullshit and yellow journalism. Look, CIAA sucks. Really sucks. It sucks for the bartenders (they don’t make shit) and it sucks for anyone not wanting a $50 cover charge and $14 drinks. I have worked 4 straight CIAA tournaments and after this one I will never do it again. Yes I am a white male bartender who works uptown. I guess that makes me a racist. I noticed that nowhere in your piece did you mention the shooting. Nice. I see a Pulitzer in your future Kimberly.
Has CL asked CRVA how they calculated their “economic impact” figures? Every *independent* study that looks at sporting event/venue subsidies – studies conducted by full professors who are Ph.Ds in economics and specialize in sports economics – concludes that such subsidies result in net *losses* for the cities doling out that cash. CBS and the NY Times both had prominent pieces during Super Bowl week quoting economists who showed that the NFL inflated “economic impact” numbers up to ten-fold, and that many merchants actually lost business because their regular customers stayed away.
WinstonSmith, you must be the most myopic bartender in Charlotte if you’re unaware of the years of black patrons being turned away at such Epicentre establishments as Suite; this was especially a problem about 2-3 years ago. As for the shooting, yes, one did occur during CIAA Weekend. Are you claiming that no shootings occurred in Charlotte during the other 363 days of any given year?
I’m white and had a good, safe time being downtown during CIAA. But a cracker perspective like yours does no one any favors.
Racism is alive and well in the south. CIAA and this community’s reaction to it is a sad display of how much ground we still have left to cover. http://i.imgur.com/xduToUj.jpg
If a business wants to close during a notoriously busy party time thats their right, I dont think it has anything to do with color. There are plenty of businesses in spring break destinations for example that close or dont rent/do business to spring breakers during that time, they dont want to deal with it and that’s their choice, welcome to capitalism.
I have only one question, and it is the same question I ask about every huge event:
How big a check did the city write them? That is, after all, the way such decisions are made. You have to be the high bidder. Then you have to pompously proclaim that poor people are the “entitlement class”.
For some reason, most black people don’t tip or tip a smaller amount than they should. I have seen it so many times. Yes, I am white. My black friends that work in the service industry will tell you the same. Ask anyone that works in the bar or restaurant. If they are being honest, they will confirm it. Imagine you are a waiter or waitress, busting your ass to provide good service, and you get a small or no tip from a large group. You are depending on tips to pay your bills, and provide for your family. I would not want to work the week of the CIAA tournament. The ACC tournament, football weekends, or the week of a NASCAR event, servers do quite well.
Responding to DLP 8:29 AM:
The PGA just announced that the Wells Fargo championship will continue to be played at Quail Hollow Club at least through 2019, and that it will be played WITHOUT millions in taxpayer dollars – unlike the CIAA.
I wonder what the reaction would be if the PGA got $8.4 million and the CIAA didn’t get a penny…
Jackson63:
The entire concept of tipping is just a scam to allow your employer to avoid paying minimum wage. It makes your compensation optional at the discretion of the customer. I do tip, and since my wife used to be a waitress many years ago, I understand your complaint, but the fact is that tipping is optional. Your complaint should be against your employer.
I am black and have done service industry work in the past and I must admit that black people do not tip very well. It’s simply the truth. While I do agree that employers are primarily to blame for lack of pay in the service industry, it’s still the classy thing to do. Given how flashy and fashionable we tend to be at nightlife events, if you do not tip it shoots a hole through what you are attempting to portray of yourself and creates a negative impression of us as a whole.