Clippers Owner Not So Sterling
Al Campanis. Jimmy the Greek. Marge Schott. Rush Limbaugh. Ben Wright. Don Imus. Fuzzy Zoeller. These are all the names of prominant announcers, personalities and owners or front office people who have lost their jobs, had to sell ltheir teams, or had their careers ruined by racially (or sexually) insensitive comments.
Now, you can add Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to that list.
Well, not officially. Not yet. It’s prbably going to happen though. The suits that run the NBA will find some way to force Sterling to sell his Clippers, a team he has owned for decades. They will make some kind of back alley deal, sweeten the pot for Sterling, or maybe even pay him to sell out. The NBA probably feels like they have to after what happened today.
What happened today was that word that a tape recording, apparently recorded surreptiously, came out with what is believed to be Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to publicly show off pictures of herself hanging out with black people.
In the nearly ten minute recording, posted on the TMZ website, the male voice, presumed to be Sterling, says he is opposed to the woman, presumed to be his girlfriend, posting pictures of herself with Magic Johnson on her instagram page, “why are you taking pictures with minorities, why?” He then continued with “”Don’t put him on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. … And don’t bring him to my games, OK?”
Finally, the voice said, “Yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to promo, broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?”
Now of course you realize that this is 2014, and not 1974. Sterling might have gotten away with saying those things then, but not now. Not with the culture police out there ready to pounce on anything anyone says that they deem “racially or culturally offensive”. The overwhelming outrage about this surprises me, but at the same time, doesn’t surprise me at all.
The thing is, the people who are the most outraged with what Sterling said–primarily the media–are the ones with the microphones, and the cameras. They are the ones who are telling the rest of us just how outraged we should be.
Just like with what happened to yours truly, whenever someone says something like this, or is caught doing so, the general reaction that you hear about is like the Salem witch trials. From the reaction I have heard today, you would think that a suspension of Sterling would not be enough. The NBA forcing him to sell his team wouldn’t be enough. Really, the only punishment acceptable should be to have Sterling take a swim in his backyard pool and then have someone throw a plugged in television set or toaster in it. Either that or a firing squad. Just put the sick bastard away quickly. He is not fit to be in our society. Pardon the murderers, but get rid of this guy. He’s a MONSTER!
It really frightens me about how our country is going. The thing is, for every person who is so outraged about comments like Sterlings, there are probably at least as many people who feel the same way Sterling does. I’m not saying that’s a good thing. I’m just saying that those people are the ones who you will never hear from. They quietly go about their lives with that belief system, telling no one, and being fine, upstanding members of their community. They are not monsters. Donald Sterling is not a monster either.
I know it sounds like I am defending Sterling. I am not defending what he said. IF that was indeed his voice, and he did indeed say those things, I can’t defend him. Sterling has had two lawsuits against him about racist related things. One from former GM Elgin Baylor and one from the Southern California NAACP. By all accounts, yes, he is a racist. He is probably one of the worst owners in NBA history. He could very well be a scumbag. Does that mean he shouldn’t own an NBA team?
Let me explaion my main problem with this whole thing. First of all, this recording was obtained surreptitiously (for my Twitter haters–that means: without his knowledge), by his girlfriend in a private conversation at home. This was not said by Sterling at a dinner party, or to a media person, or in an interview, or amongst his golfing buddies, or in the owners box at one of his games. This was a private one on one conversation with his “supposed” girlfriend. This is also the same girlfriend, as it comes out, who is being sued by Sterling for embezzling nearly two million dollars from the Sterling family. She vowed that she would get even…wow, it appear that she did. Moral of this story–never underrate a woman with a vengeance!
I believe that those things have to be taken into account in this case. This was a private conversation with a person that Sterling THOUGHT he could trust. If he has racist feelings, I believe it was his intent to keep them to himself, and would never have said them to this woman if he knew he was being recorded. If we start penalizing anyone who even thinks racist thoughts, we are going to have to punish LOTS of people.
If you are so holier than thou that you are prepared to tell me that you have never laughed at a “black joke”–you’re a damn liar. If you are able to tell me that you have never chuckled at a joke about “dumb blondes” or women drivers or women in general–you’re a damn liar. If you never laughed at the old joke, “why do Jews have such big noses? Because air is free”–you’re a damn liar. If you tell me you’ve never made a comment or even thought to yourself that most of the crime in most inner cities happen in the ghettos where all the blacks and hispanics/Mexicans live–you’re a damned liar! If you are a black reader, and you are telling me you have never referred to a white person as a “cracker” or a “honkie”–you’re a damn liar.
Everyone’s reaction to this story is so hypocritical. Outwardly, they are saying how outraged they are on camera, but stop at their favorite pub on their way home from work and tell black jokes to the guys on the stools next to them.
Oh, and here is another thing that bothers me. This whole racial thing doesn’t go both ways. If you are white and have money, and say something controversial, you are fired and buried. If you are black and your name is Charles Barkley, you can make all kinds of comments about white people not having the genes that allow them to jump, or as he said when asked about his teams not getting calls being a racial issue, “This is why I hate white people…they are always trying to turn everything into a racial issue”. That gets a pass. Barkley didn’t get fired. In fact, he is still announcing, and is as popular as ever.
If you are Floyd Mayweather, and you call your rival Manny Pacquiao a “yellow champion”, and ordering that “motherf’r to make me a sushi-roll and cook me some rice”. That gets swept under the rug and no one hears about it. He wasn’t forced to quit boxing. If you are Shaq in 2002, when asked about the emergence of Yao Ming, said to Fox Sports “Tell Yao Ming ‘Ching-Chong-yang-wah-ah-so'”, you don’t lose your job, nor does Fox Sports even make a big deal about it.
Donald Sterling is just the latest in an example to all of us white folks: Don’t get caught saying ANYTHING racially insensitive to anyone, anywhere. Should he be suspended? Yes, he should. Should he be forced to sell his team? No, I don’t believe he should. You can’t penalize someone for the way they were brought up.
Let me put it another way. My parents would not have been happy if I dated a black girl. I never did. Partly because I haver had the opportunity, but partly because I knew how my folks felt. It didn’t make them bad people. As most people do, they kept those feelings to themselves. They were able to have black friends, and get along fine with everyone. I think my parents were both charming people. They were brought up in a different time, with a different mentality.
Donald Sterling is an older fellow too. He was probably brought up with the same beliefs. In his mind, his girlfriend hanging out with black people is fine, as long as she didn’t publicize it. He felt that it would reflect poorly on him. We don’t know who he hangs out with but Sterling wants to look as good as he can with them. I get it. I understand it. I don’t condone it, but I do understand it, and I wish everyone else would at least try to understand the whole situation before they stone Donald Sterling. As time goes by, fewer and fewer people are being brought up with this way of thinking. And that’s a good thing. I believe we just need to have patience for the ones who don’t.
And next time you are telling an off color joke….make sure no one has any running microphones!
