Results: Is Ignorance An Excuse For A Racist Comment?

It's been a heated Eastern Conference Final between the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks, but one Milwaukee fan took things too far with a racist tweet aimed towards Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia. Diehard Raptors know him well, and even casual fans who tune in from time to time can recognize Bhatia seated on the baseline. He's never missed a single home game in franchise history and often travels to away games, including Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference Finals. Are you familiar with this story?

When the racist tweet started making the rounds online, Raptors fans — and Bucks fans, for that matter — were quick to defend his honour, reminding us that sports can be a powerful tool for bringing people together. And even more amazingly, the man behind the racist tweet later got in touch with Bhatia in order to offer his own personal apology. The man claimed he had never been outside of Wisconsin and was not familiar with the Sikh culture. "I felt really sorry, and I felt like he hadn't seen the world at all," Bhatia said. Do you think not being exposed to different cultures and different types of people is an excuse for posting racist comments?

My belief is that if you are ignorant of other people's culture, which is essentially what this is, then keep your comments to yourself. Ignorance is not an excuse to make a racist comment. Do you agree or disagree?

Nav Bhatia is a class act, in both his response to this tweet and in his life. When Nav immigrated to Canada from India with his wife in 1984 to escape violent riots targeting Sikhs, he arrived with very little. After sending out his resume to hundreds of potential employers, a Hyundai dealership in Rexdale, Ont. finally gave him a chance in sales. He became one of their best salespeople on record, and now owns two dealerships. Nav's fame as the Superfan has allowed him to use his public image to improve the way Canadians view the Sikh community. He uses the game of basketball to drive home his message of inclusion. Every year, he buys thousands of tickets and donates them to underprivileged children. He also picks one game every season in April to promote Sikh culture by celebrating the Punjabi festival of Baisaki. . And seeing his beloved Raptors win the Eastern conference final on Saturday, was just about as good as it gets. Well, until the finals of course... Do you know another superfan who is as dedicated as Nav?