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The difference between hockey and basketball has to do more with the legality of all contact.
Basketball was created specifically as a non-contact sport; that's why there are so many fouls called. Hockey, on the other hand, just by the nature of guys moving very fast on a slick, hard-to-maneuver surface, allows contact up to a certain point.
The additional level of protection afforded in basketball, I believe, keeps much of the potential violence from escalating, whereas there isn't really a place to go in hockey except fighting.
Over time, hockey fans have just got used to the fighting as part of the game, while in basketball it was never allowed to get to that point.
Now, that doesn't mean that there isn't a racist element, but I don't think that's the main reason that explains the disparity.
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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun
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