DALLAS GAMTEX’S RESPONSE TO THE ATLANTA DEBACLE OF SUNDAY, JULY 7th, 2002

The annual Atlanta July 4th reunion is meant to bring about camaraderie and
foster unity between Gambians resident in the United States. What happened
on July 7th, 2002, was a far cry from that noble goal. Many have heard, but
few saw what happened in the scorching heat on the fateful afternoon of July
7th, at Adams Stadium in Atlanta.

To shed light to the many versions being floated around about what actually
happened, we have decided as a team to offer a collective response from our
point of view. Some very ugly things were said. While we don’t need to get
into the specifics, lest we trigger a massive finger-pointing diatribe, we
would say that the hosts grossly mishandled the episode. That, we believe,
is a generous understatement. Nevertheless, there were two people in the
persons of Malick (Njok) Secka, and Modou Njie, who despite missing their
opportunity to lay down the fair and equitable rules that we sought for the
previous night, came back the next day on Sunday to redeem themselves. These
were the only two people from the Atlanta community who made any attempts to
reason with us in order to bring about a resolution to the problem. It is
indeed a respectable feat that they accomplished, so we commend them for
their efforts, although it did not resolve the problem.

Time can indeed be a cruel partner in the dispensation of justice. Barely a
year has passed, and attempts are already being made to marginalize the
horrific experience we had in Atlanta last year. For the benefit of those
that suffer from mental amnesia, and those whose wish it is to silence the
voice of the victim, we ask that you bear with us while we recap the
chronology of the history of the issue of contention.

Last year, Dallas beat Seattle in their opening game. Naturally, as is the
case in every sporting event, Dallas expected to play in the subsequent
round of the tournament. It’s important to note here that the Senegalese
team from Ohio had lost their opening match. It’s also important to note
that the games started very late, and the field was very poorly lit. Upon
realization of the potential problem that the last two items listed posed,
Dallas formed a delegation and approached the Atlanta Organizing Committee,
and suggested that since time was working against all the participants in
the tournament, every team that lost their opening game should sit out the
rest of the tournament. This was not suggested to spite the Ohio team. In
fact, we became good friends over the next two days. Upon making our
suggestion, Atlanta agreed that it “made a lot of sense”, yet they insisted
that Ohio was still going to play another game because Atlanta had asked
Ohio to stay after they lost their opening game. In your normal everyday
interactions with people, you expect that when one finds a better idea than
the one currently tabled, then the latter is supplanted with the former.
That was not to be the case. Whether it was inflamed egos, or a desire to
show who was in charge, Atlanta stuck to their guns despite acknowledging a
better idea than the one they had contemplated.

To make the story short, darkness fell just as we feared, before we could
play our second match. In agreement with Detroit whom we were supposed to
have played, we opted not to play in the dark; rather, we wanted to wait
till the next day. Using heavy-handedness and a high degree of insolence, we
were told in no uncertain terms that together with Detroit, we have been
disqualified from the tournament, in favor of none other than Ohio. Allow us
to remind the audience that we did win our first round match, and had
traveled over 700 miles to Atlanta from Dallas. The injustice was too grave
to bear, so the next day, we went back to the soccer field to take our
rightful place and participate in the semi-finals. We believed it was
unconscionable to sit and watch a losing team, Ohio in this case, move on to
the next round while the victors from the previous round sat out. Is it not
true that in every sporting event anywhere in the world, the victors advance
to the next stages while the losers sit out? We believe the answer is in the
affirmative, so it was a real shocker when the Atlanta soccer team found it
necessary to call the police on us, and when asked by the police about what
they wanted done to us, some of them specifically responded, “take them to
jail”. This of course was in the wake of the September 11th terrorist
attacks, which had triggered an avalanche of xenophobic anti-immigration
laws. The callosity and thoughtlessness of those responsible is
incomprehensible. However, we were determined not to be cajoled, and would
not cower into submission by the mere presence of law enforcement
authorities. We reasoned with the authorities, and they understandably
agreed with our position. It was only after the police indicated an
unwillingness to arrest us for standing steadfast for our rights that the
host team, Atlanta, started any meaningful negotiations with us. Sadly, the
episode has left an indelible mark in the cerebra of those victimized.

The issue of contention was dictatorial and heavy handed, providing only for
Dallas’ acceptance of an arbitrary ruling by Atlanta for the forfeiture of a
game that Dallas won against Seattle. After repeated attempts to point out
to the hosts that in any tournament anywhere in the world, the winning teams
advance, and the losing teams drop out, Atlanta decided to offer a “take it
or leave it” ultimatum where we were required to either participate in a
penalty shootout under unfavorable lighting against Detroit, or pack up and
be disqualified from the tournament. As insulting as that was to our efforts
in being consistently present at the July 4th festivities over the years, we
kept our composure and sought out to resolve the issue through dialog, but
that avenue was also shut down by Atlanta. Somehow, Atlanta assumes they own
the festivities, and that the other teams are mere invitees. We contend that
we make the tournament and festivities possible. Without the participation
of the guests, Atlanta wouldn’t have a tournament to host. As basic as that
would appear to even the uninitiated in organizing multi-faceted events, the
Atlanta steering committee missed all those cues, prompting us to read that
our efforts are not appreciated.

We find the need to educate the audience on the relevance of our
participation in the July 4th festivities. Not only do we add value to the
quality of the tournament by performing at the highest levels of discipline
on a yearly basis, but we ultimately do add to the quality of life for all
Atlantans by virtue of our contributions to the local economy in the form of
the expenses that we incur during our usually brief stay in Atlanta. We
could have, and should have pointed out that we pay an average of $800 per
individual for the July 4th trips to Atlanta. That generates great benefits
to the Local economy within what is usually a short three-day event. To
crunch some hypothetical numbers, the rate of fiscal growth to the Atlanta
local economy resulting from the participation of the guests (Dallas
included), could be summarized as follows, assuming 1000 guests, each
spending $800 during the 3 day event : (((365days / 3) * ($800 * 1,000
people) = 121 * 800,000 = $96,800,000 in just one year. That is quite
substantive for any economy. If you factor in the case that this is a
recurring annual event, the significance of our contributions to the Atlanta
economy becomes very significant. The organizers failed to see this, despite
repeated attempts to highlight the value of our contributions to the
reunion.
By failing to see our worth in facilitating the successful completion of the
tournament, Atlanta decided to call law enforcement authorities to oust us
from the playing field. It should again be noted that at no time prior to
calling the police did the Atlanta officials try to negotiate or reason with
us on Sunday, July 7th, 2002. That, sadly represents the state of affairs in
many African countries, where the leadership usually assumes arbitrary
rules. The penchant to use force, rather than dialog, is anathema to good
governance, and when that penchant is not checked and abrogated, the cancer
that breeds from it can be detrimental to society at large. Our Dallas
convoy that makes the annual pilgrimage to Atlanta is usually small, but
that size ought never have been a factor used to insult and disrespect us in
the manner that the Atlanta officials promulgated. Again, we reserve our
severest wrath to those who perpetrated this grave injustice upon us, while
simultaneously levying heavy tariffs on the Gambian community of Atlanta,
the majority of whom have been extremely gracious over the years.
Somehow, the very basic bread and butter of the market economy model has
remained elusive to the Atlanta organizing committees of past and present.
If you feel unfairly criticized by the above statement, it is probably
because as a team, we have never made any fuss about other injustices meted
out to us by previous organizing committees. We don’t expect to change the
culture that is so indelibly ingrained in the much maligned psyche of our
kindred in Atlanta who perpetrated the said egregious felony, but we do
cherish the hope that our defiance of their hegemonic attitudes towards
lesser known teams, would imbue them with conscientious behavior that will
attempt to mend the fraternal cords that they so flagrantly dismembered. If
we succeed in accomplishing that, then we would consider it one giant step
for Africa. That wish of ours may be a utopian dream, but even if the
organizing committees of Atlanta exhibit more restrained behavior towards
other teams as a consequence of their experience with us, whether directly
or through the sagacious guidance of history, we would consider that as
making progress in the long and arduous journey of attempting to rectify the
ills that we believe often manifest in African disputes.

If you are following our line of argument, you would notice that we believe
our encounter with the Atlanta officials is bigger than Atlanta. In fact, we
think the orchestrators of that ignominious act are miniscule and
inconsequential when you look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture here
is “Conflict Resolution”, the acquisition of which skills would go a long
way into ushering peace and tranquility in the African subregion of the
globe. Lest we are accused of arrogance and pontification, we should point
out that while we are looking at the bigger picture and the greater
implications of the now well known “Atlanta Fiasco” within Gambian circles,
we should hasten to chastise last year’s soccer tournament leadership for
the infamy that they have brought to bear upon themselves and the tournament
as an entity symbolic of Gambian unity in the diaspora. They should be
pilloried for their ineptitude, but we will take it that their youthful
exuberance, coupled with the naiveté of thinking that the police have an
answer for all problems, got the better of them on that fateful day.
Consequently, as a team, we hold no grudge against them, but we do intend to
host a similar annual festivity henceforth, because we fervently believe
that we can do better. If we fail in doing better, then it shall not be for
lack of trying, but if that turns out to be the case, then we shall humbly
come back and ask for clemency. At any rate, the spirit around our camp is
so high, and our willingness and ability to dispense equitable justice so
well documented that we don’t think we will fail.

So on that note, please consider this an invitation from us to you, the
Atlanta community, and the rest of the Gambian community in the United
States, to join us August 29th, 2003, through August 31st, 2003 in Dallas
for what would hopefully be a very well organized soccer tournament and
other festivities. We offer this invitation this early only to expressly
show our courtesy to you, but rest assured that a formal invitation would
follow when we determine that all the logistics are in place. We thank you
for your past efforts in hosting the July 4th festivities, and we wish you
continued success in all your endeavors.

Signed (for GamTex in Dallas) :
Tamsir A Mbai
Malick M Senghore
Modou Faal Kamara
Yusupha Badjie
Abdul F Betts
Foday Singhateh
Basiru Ndow
Fala Njie
Ebou Njie
Essa Gye
Alieu Martin
Anthony Chery
Arthur Gabbidon
Esau Williams
Moses Gabbidon
John Camara
Gaston Mendy
Bakary Dembo Sanneh
Lamin Jabbi
Lamin Janneh
Momodou John

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