Alright, time to be controversial and talk about Donald Sterling. For those of you who don't know, Donald Sterling is the billionaire owner of the L.A. Clippers who also happens to be an extraordinarily big racist. On Friday, tapes of a conversation he had in private with his "girlfriend" were leaked and the news got out. A firestorm ensued, and yesterday he was fined $2.5 million, banned from the NBA for life, and will likely be forced to sell the Clippers. There's the back drop. Now let's dig deeper.
First off, the guy is racist and in the wrong, undoubtedly. I don't think there is a place in our society for people like him. That said, let's look at the punishment. I get what the NBA did here. They had to do it, but they had to do it because they are all about the money. There was no other reason for this. Anything less and they alienate coaches, players, and their fanbase, and they cannot jeopardize their profits in the midst of the NBA playoffs by not coming to a harsh, swift judgment on a guy that no one likes. But was the punishment fair? I'm going to say no, and I think there's so much hypocrisy inherent in the whole situation. I'm not banging the free speech drum here; the NBA is a group run by owners and players, and if they want him out, they have the right to do so. I am more speaking to the message they are sending being inconsistent. Here's the message: we don't want sleazeball people in our league.
Or is it? Is that the message, or is "we don't want racists in our league" the message? Or still yet, "we don't want white racists in our league"? It's a fuzzy picture. Certainly they, along with the rest of the professional sports world, couldn't care less about having sleazy people in the league. These leagues employ people from all backgrounds and of all skin colors who have been guilty of many things; they employ rapists, woman beaters, gang members, drug dealers, dog murderers, racists, people intolerant of LGBT people, etc. Where is the message being sent to those people? Michael Vick, you can murder animals and run an illegal gambling racket, welcome back to the NFL, here, take millions of dollars while you're at it. Jason Kidd abused his wife, had extramarital affairs, and has been caught driving under the influence. What did the NBA do about him? It's a ridiculous double standard that this league employs so many individuals who are guilty of actual crimes and have committed heinous acts, but when an owner has his private laundry aired and says some very racist things, now they have to bring the full force of the league down on him. Maybe I am misguided here, but I think that beating the crap out of your wife or murdering living creatures are worse than having some very misguided, disgusting beliefs.
Here's the other thing: why has this come as a surprise to people? Now, all of the sudden, it's a big deal. There are times where I have felt Kareem Abdul Jabbar should keep his opinions to himself, but he expressed a very intelligent point of view on this. Why weren't people outraged sooner? The guy was a known racist; he got in trouble and was fined millions for denying housing to black Americans. He said racist remarks back then. Bomani Jones contributed to ESPN on this matter back in 2006 on this matter, linked here. The NAACP had given this guy an award for all of his contributions to the black community and were about to give him another one. It's an appalling display of doing whatever possible to get money and attention in the moment, to not stand for rights or morals unless it is profitable. That's exactly what this is all about. The NAACP did nothing to further the treatment of colored people then; why would they if it jeopardized the money being doled out? Hell, let's throw a parade for the racist as long as he keeps sending millions our way. Same with the NBA: we've got no problem with the racist, oh wait, now people are upset and it might cost us money, let's get him out of here! The whole thing is so disingenuous, and I feel that people should be appalled by it all, much the way I am and much the way Jabbar is.
To top it all off, the whole Magic Johnson piece of this just makes me sick. The guy is exalted in the media and loved by the community. Need we forget that this guy got HIV by cheating on his wife with who knows how many other women outside of his marriage? No, he's not unique in that, and certainly it doesn't put him in the league of many of the other sleazeballs, racists, and criminals associated with the major sporting leagues. But he's still not the citizen people make him out to be, yet now he's the moral compass, and the stage is set for him and his group to come in and buy the Clippers and become a savior in the process. Spare me, please. I don't want to diminish a lot of the good work Magic has done, and he's done a lot, but can we stop putting him on this grand pedestal, please?
To circle back around, I understand the punishment handed down to Sterling. What I don't like is the hypocrisy and the actions resulting from greed and convenience, not out of strength of conviction or of fairness. If you want to sanction the guy on moral grounds, fine, but hold others to the same standards. I don't want to hear other NBA players making racist remarks and getting a pass for it. I don't want future occurrences of racism to be ignored or swept under the rug until it is profitable to act on them. And I don't want this event to be a rallying point for people trying to stir the pot that further divides people based on the color of their skin. Maybe instead of using this occurrence as a finger pointing session, we should take the opportunity to take a look back within. Was it right to take this guy's money and give him awards? Was it right to look the other way all these years? Instead of using Sterling as a scapegoat, let's take an honest look in the mirror and see where priorities are. Maybe we'll learn something, and maybe we'll find that the priorities of so many people out there need some re-evaluating.
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