| These are cynical times, so it's easy to dismiss sports-as-healing-agent narratives as sappy hokum. And it's true that pro sports franchises (and major college programs) behave primarily as entertaniment businesses intent on leveraging a committed client base to maximize profits. But it's also true that those client bases (read: fans) are some of the most diverse of any industry (with apologies to the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Think about it: If you were to view a T-shirt emblazoned with the name or logo of any brand in the music industry, for example, you could make a guess about the background of the owner, and you'd have at least an 80 percent chance of being correct. But in every city in America, you can find people of all stripes wearing the home team's gear, especially when the team happens to be enjoying a successful stretch. Are the luxury suite owners mingling with the cheap-seats denizens? That's fairly unlikely, but for three hours, they'll all be pulling for the same result and feeling the same thrills and disappointments along the way. In Milwaukee, the Bucks are aiming to leverage that broad appeal to effect change in their community, and Post reporter Candace Buckner traveled there during the regular season to witness the outreach efforts firsthand. Bucks President Peter Feigin made waves in 2016 when he told the Rotary Club of Madison, Wis., "Very bluntly, Milwaukee is the most segregated, racist place I've ever experienced in my life." The comments raised some eyebrows because Feagin was speaking to rally public support of the Bucks' new arena, half of which was funded by taxpayers, and he portrayed the building as part of the solution to the city's divisions. But the team also has taken action, with players and executives leading discussions and providing aid to communities in need. And in January 2018, Feagin's words resonated in a different way, when Bucks forward Sterling Brown was involved in a confrontation with Milwaukee police, in which he was hit with a stun gun and suffered other injuries, an incident that started because Brown, a black man, had parked incorrectly. In a city that paid $5 million to settle civil lawsuits brought by 74 African American residents who claimed they were forced to take part in illegal body cavity and strip searches by police officers, the incident ratcheted up the tensions. At Gee's Clippers, the black-owned barbershop that is practically a museum of Bucks memorabilia and where Feigin stops in for a regular trim, the regulars know the city's realities, both good and bad. As one customer said, "Even though Milwaukee is segregated, we're going to all support the Bucks." —Matt Rennie, deputy sports editor   | | (Photo by Lauren Justice for The Washington Post) | | | | Milwaukee can't stop talking about the Bucks. The team hopes to create a dialogue about race. | | The Bucks, chasing their first NBA championship since 1971, have become a source of civic pride. But the franchise has a bigger goal: healing Milwaukee's long-held racial tensions. | | Candace Buckner • Read more » | | |     |
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