L.A. Clippers Owner's Racist Imperative

@thegerg: Thought you might like this... lol

I am lead to believe that banning does not include being a drag now :P?

The more professional way to say it is

"With respect to what you focused on, it is indeed played predominately by African Americans."

Yeah that was pretty bad..

Check your inbox.

I prefer to use either black or African American, I extremely dislike the term people of "color".

@thegerg:

I wasn't offended. It just the way I 1st read it is way I responded.

Why so?

Overblown and stupid.. We have people playing in major league sports who have been convicted with major felonies.. Though what the guy said is awful, I find this fvcking awful that this of all things has led to banning for life.... Which basically sets the precedent that you can assault a police officer, torture dogs, get caught with large quantities of illicit drugs, sexually assault numerous people, and still be allowed to play or be involved with the league.. Say something racist in a private call that was recorded? Life time ban...

i'm with Cuban on this.

@thegerg:

I didn't say that you were offended.

"It just the way I 1st read it is way I responded."

This makes no sense

When I 1st read it, it jumped out at me. That's why I responded to his/her comment. What's wrong with that?

i dont see what the big deal was. sounds like he was just jealous to me and she set him up obviously with all the race bait talk.

How so?

The way I read 1st came out as if "black people" are a low form. Its just jumped out.

""With respect to what you focused on, it is indeed played predominately by black people. "

I am not Uncle Ruckus.

Vick didn't play in the NBA so I have no idea what basketball player "tortured dogs" so that makes no freaking sense and is irrelevant. I don't think it makes sense to judge the actions of something that happens in one sports league compared to any of the others. The leagues have different rules for one.

As far as the worst I've heard about recently in the NBA would be Raymond Felton on criminal gun possession but that was a gun he had licensed in another state but not in New York (I understand that's still a felony and is obviously wrong, but he didn't kill someone or anything) so yeah stupid people do some stupid shit.

Like someone mentioned previously Shaq made fun of that guy who has some kind of disorder on Instagram but he apologized for it, which is something David Sterling still has not done so what Sterling did is several magnitudes above any of the things you've mentioned. Also he's the owner of a ******* basketball team and is worth tens of millions of dollars, the impact this has had could not be bigger. It's not overblown or overrated though I personally am mad at the timing of this whole charade and that NBA discussion is about this and not the stellar, record-breaking playoffs so far, and not just the Clipper-Warriors games obviously; but I or you can't deny that it deserves all the attention that it gets.

I'll admit some discomfort with the way this audio was obtained, I think we should be a bit more mindful of privacy and I still think TMZ is the scum of the earth despite finally exposing someone for actually doing something despicable of their own volition. That being said, there are some differences between Sterling and the examples you mentioned. The first is that players can actually be punished in a significant way for committing those acts. They can be suspended, not be able to earn a significant part of their paychecks, and possibly even be banned. What the NBA did to Sterling amounts to a slap on the wrist in comparison. He can't attend games, but it's not like he makes his income from being at games anyways. That's little more than what the NBA did to that fan (in LA I think?) that wouldn't stop throwing out racial slurs during games. And the 2.5 million dollars? That's nothing to someone like him.

Furthermore, if sports owners wanted to incur bans on players for committing crimes above league regulations then they would. People like Michael Vick don't see the field out of any sense of fairness, they see the field because they'll win games and earn money for the owners. Believe me, if Michael Vick was going to have lost the Eagles more money than he would bring in then he would never have gotten a second chance. These owners don't see principle, they see money, which is why I have so little respect for what Marc Cuban has been saying. He's all for saying the right thing when it will net him good PR, but when it comes down to actually taking a stance when it involves a prejudiced owner having power over a large group of African-American employees? Nope, then he's only concerned about his ow interests.

And that's what this is really about, it's about a man so prejudiced he doesn't even want his wife to be seen in public with black people having so much power over the lives of black people. It's about a public figure treating African-Americans as sub-human, as occupying a lower tier of American social life based only on their skin color, and perpetuating ugly views that should have been fully purged from American public life long ago. This man has no qualms using African-American players and coaches to make money, he has no problems taking their money when they go to his games or buy his merchandise, yet he views them as less human than himself. It's disgusting that someone like that has so much power over the lives of so many African-Americans.

And really, it shouldn't have gone this far to begin with. I have a problem with a private conversation being the catalyst for all this, but he really should have been run out of the league back when he was first revealed to have engaged in discriminatory practices in the past. Everyone in the league-the commissioner, the players, the other owners-have looked the other way up until this point when they shouldn't have. They should have taken a stance and either forced him out or boycotted him or both long ago. Honestly I hope he fights this, I hope he sues, I hope he wins, and I hope every black basketball player in the country refuses to play for him. If he can't be bothered to treat African-Americans with a basic level of respect and dignity then he doesn't deserve to profit off of their labor, and watching him utterly fail without them would be infinitely satisfying.

Ummm...excuse you? Who is closer to ancestors that came from Africa, Kevin Durant or David Sterling? When Sterling's ancestors emigrated to America where did they come from? Europe. When the ancestors of most black Americans emigrated (read: were forcefully put on ships and sold as human cargo) to America where did they come from? Africa. Honestly, I will never understand the hard-on some people have about the term "African-American."

Why don't I comment on this discussion, since I'm Black?

I prefer the term "Black" because I and other Black people born in the Western world have no cultural ties to Africa. Hence, though we are the same race as Subsaharan Africans (i.e. Black), we are not African. Having said this, I have no shame in my African ancestry and would love to know which parts of Africa I descend from.

What words are you referring too and please correct it as I'm curious?

Part of the point of coining the term in the first place was to re-establish a cultural connection to Africa among black Americans. At the very least it's descriptive, as are the terms Irish American, German American, Asian American, and Native American. If you don't wish to self-apply, however, then by all means don't.

@theone86:

wow the theone86, where you been? You sure giving your thoughts on this subjects. Before you continue, give me your thoughts on recent Chicago sports.

1. What should the Bulls do this offseason?

2. Abreu is off to a great start for the white sox

3. Thoughts on Jared Allen signing with the Bears

4. Blackhawks chances of repeating

5. Cubs

Every African I know does not see Western Blacks as one of them and even looks down on Western Blacks.

1. To hell with Carmelo, we need three point shooting (unless Rose somehow magically learns how). Re-sign our own free agents, then find a less expensive complementary piece to Rose. Dunleavy, Hinrich, and Augustin are worth more than Melo (no offense to his production). Also, it's not worth losing Taj. We finally get rid of Boozer's ridiculous salary and we dump Taj as well? No thank you.

2. Haven't seen a lot of Sox games, it's all Cards where I am. We finally get some hitting, too bad we lost all our aces. That and injuries=a season of rebuilding, though not as painful as last season.

3. Love the JA signing, hoping and praying for Donald in the draft. Ha Ha or Pyror would be nice, but I don't think a safety is going to solve our problems if we can't pick up a three technique somehow.

4. The cup is the hardest playoff in the pros. Minnesota played hard against the Avs, Anaheim's been good all season, and LA outlasted the Sharks. We just have to get through two of them to even get to the finals, and then we get Boston, Montreal, or New York? If only it was this hard for the Heat to repeat. That being said, there weren't a lot of people that thought we could win last year. I think the fact that we keep coming back in the playoffs gets overshadowed by the fact that we're sporting so many good players on our roster. Nothing's guaranteed, but we've got an x-factor on our side.

5. Who?

And does that have any bearing on what I said? People who self-describe as African-American want to establish a cultural connection to Africa, past and future. Modern day Africans are not the same as African culture writ large, and the point of establishing a cultural connection to Africa is not becoming exactly like modern Africans.

@theone86: I'm completely torn on this subject. I firmly believe that someone with those kinds of beliefs and ideas should not be owning a team in a league that is comprised of a large percentage of minorities. I definitely think the league should have asked him to sell or leave voluntarily. However, I don't like how his private conversations and thoughts were exposed to the public.

It's one thing to make a public declaration of intolerance or other unpopular views. If a person is knowingly and willingly making their views public, for the world to respond, then that's one thing. But to be judged on a private conversation made in confidence with another person, is somewhat disturbing. Because in essence, you are punishing someone for a thought or personal belief not an illegal action. That opens a very wide door for other issues. Lots of NBA players have made homophobic slurs or statements in the confidence of their friends. Are we to start lifetime banning them all or depriving them of their careers? And a precedent for punishing people for unpopular thoughts/statements, can be dangerous. Fifty years ago, someone supporting gay rights or gay lifestyles could have easily have gotten the above punishment. The idea that a statement is right or wrong is all in the eye of the beholder. I strongly believe in the rights of people to voice their opinions without fear of reprisal - whether criminal or civil. I may not always agree with what others have to say, but I'd rather have them voice them so I can at least answer them. Without that discussion, change cant happen.

People are very fallible and say and do stupid things in private. Not all of them mean what they say or fully believe in those things. I tend to lean on the forgiving/second chance side and not the "ruin this person for life" side.

LMAO... good reply.

Agreed. Completely.

Look at Kobe. Raped a girl and was not punished. Guy has an opinion and is banned.

Here's how I see it, if you're black you can rape anybody you want in the NBA and nobody cares, if you're (god forbid) a white racist, you're banned.

Racism is worse than raping people I guess.

The term African American is just plain dumb. People of different colors get born in Africa, and if one of them moved to America THEY would be an African American. Considering not everyone from Africa is black, the idea of using African American to describe someone who is black REGARDLESS of them having any real connection to Africa in their life is just dumb in my mind.

I work with a good number of black people and they use the term black, not African American.

I really do not see how someones color is somehow insulting...

@thegerg:

You're off. Especially if you don't know what I meant which in itself is odd. Anyway,

"It just the way I 1st read it is way I responded."

What I was saying after reading his comment for the 1st time, I responded.

Like I said, I find the circumstances under which this audio was obtained to be questionable and I absolutely hate TMZ. That being said, when you have someone who is flagrantly discriminating against his tenants based on race owning a team, having control over hiring and firing, and catering to an African-American audience, then there's a problem. David Sterling should have been long gone a long time ago.

And this is why I don't buy any arguments that try to draw an equivalence with players. Players aren't running teams, players can't discriminate when it comes to hiring, players can't turn a blind eye to potential discrimination within their organization. Players also have pressure on them to avoid those situations and apologize for them if they happen. They can be suspended, fined, etc., whereas what happened to Sterling amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist. If he ends up keeping the team and somehow miraculously gets players to play for him he could conceivably go on running the team indefinitely without ever having to so much as issue an apology.

I also have a problem with this idea of relativity. Everything is not simply in the eye of the beholder. Yes, as far as public opinion went it was taboo to voice support for gay rights fifty years ago, but that doesn't mean support for gay rights was wrong and is right now that we have broader support for it. It was wrong to enslave Africans and forcibly ship them to America, it was wrong to segregate our society according to race, and it was wrong to treat homosexuals differently because of their orientation regardless of public opinion. I don't believe in the slightest that standing up against reprehensible views in any way is going to open some pandora's box where individuals with legitimate views are unduly punished. The fact of the matter is that is always a possibility regardless, and the way to avoid it is not to let fear of it happening paralyze us, but to take a stand for what's right when it's necessary.

As for reprisal, there are always consequences to everything people say. You have a right to say whatever you want, you do not have a right to not be judged for it. If I open a business in a predominantly black neighborhood and run up and down the streets yelling racial slurs I do not have a right to their business or their services as employees. People are going to have to get used to the fact that we live in a diverse society and when we treat certain groups disparagingly there are consequences. We're protected from the government infringing on our right to free speech, we are not protected from the consequences of our actions by other citizens as the result of our speech.

Finally, this isn't going to ruin Sterling. One way or another he's going to lose his team, as well he should. He has been an unrepentant racist and bigot going back decades and he is operating in an environment where he employs African-Americans, markets to African-Americans, and is responsible for both being fair in hiring and firing and in creating a work environment that is welcoming to people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. He simply cannot be trusted to do that anymore, nor can he expect to be a part of a league that is dedicated to multiculturalism. He's a multi-millionaire, he'll land on his feet and it won't wreck his life. He won't be able to own an NBA team anymore, but the fact of the matter is that is an enormous privilege that he willingly forfeited when he acted in a bigoted manner and discriminated against his own tenants based on race for decades on end.

A white immigrant from Africa would not be an African-American, they would be a white American from Africa. It's a labeling system, it's not perfect especially seeing as how race is constantly in flux. Really, all you're doing here is arguing semantics and nit-picking. For one, the use of the term gives African-Americans a cultural identity that isn't dependent on the color of their skin. That's an issue because previously the term "black" had taken on a pejorative connotation and was used pretty much ubiquitously applied to them. Besides, when you really think about it they're the only ethnic group where referring to them by skin color is even remotely accepted. You wouldn't dare call an Asian person yellow or an Indian person brown, so why is it all of the sudden acceptable with African-Americans?

And the reality is that, despite that, it has become socially acceptable to use the term "black" in certain contexts. No one is forcing you to expunge the word from your commonly used vocabulary, despite the double-standard that creates when compared to other ethnicities. On the contrary, you seem to be getting upset that OTHER people use the term African-American because it has a certain connotation for them. Like it or not, it IS descriptive (American citizens descended from African ancestors) and it IS indicative of the relationship many black American have to Africa (at the very least they all have the same sort of cultural connection that every other ethnicity has to the continent their ancestors emigrated from, some of them maintain a deeper connection than that, AND many would like to see a greater awareness of African culture within their own communities).

Uh yeah, white people are just flat out called white man. Point fail....

Let me explain something to you, Gergy boy. The NBA is a league composed of PRIVATELY owned teams. Hence, it makes and enforces its own rules, whether they are in accord with the ethical standards of the law or not (so as long as they aren't illegal). You see, you can't have a team owned by a man who's obviously bigoted toward the race that composes not only most of the NBA, but most of his own team. It looks bad to the public and is bad for business. Period.

I'm not going to even dignify this with an argumentative response. We're done.

@theone86: I have no problem with the NBA taking action on Sterling based on his prior behavior with rentals to minorities. That was were he behaved in a fashion that was unjust and likely illegal. However, I don't agree with them taking action on a private conversation he had. While both of us, strongly disagree with what he said, that was a private conversation between him and another person. It was not meant for the public, and we really have no business being privy to that.

I fully agree that if this guy walked up and down the street voicing his personal views on race, then he's going to be subjected to others voicing their opinions about him and his ownership. But that's not what he did in this case. If anything, they should have acted years ago when he was denying people housing based on their race. That to me, is a bigger problem than his private conversation with that girl. Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with his views whatsoever, but I also strongly believe in privacy rights and that people shouldn't be afraid to voice their thoughts in the privacy of their homes.

I do think relativity plays a role, because what I consider moral and just and what you do, may not always be the same. For instance, lots of people are anti-abortion. Lots of people are pro-choice. They probably both view the others viewpoints as reprehensible or morally wrong. Would you be ok with somebody being punished for voicing their opinion on that subject in private to another?

The ACLU actually defended the KKK's right to march back in the 60's or 70's. Most of those ACLU members, were probably disgusted at the message the Klan was promoting, but they understood their right to do so. Not because they agreed with what they had to say, but probably because they say the bigger picture for what that meant for all of us.

While I agree with you on questioning about felons being allowed back to the sport, the difference is that those crimes that you listed are targeted to the victims, but those racist comments are targeted to all black people.

Tough luck about that private call. I'm not saying that I never say stupid things in private, but he should blame the person who recorded it, not the people who are offended by his comments. I'm sure not many of us would be spared from termination of employment if we're being caught making similar comments.