As anyone who has not been living in a cave for the past
week knows, an audio tape surfaced of the LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling
talking to his girlfriend. In the
conversation, he asks her to stop publishing pictures of herself with black
people. This created a predictable media
feeding frenzy in which everyone you have ever heard of weighs in on the
profound effects on our civilization, sports, politics, and every other
important matter you can think of.
Rather than offer another analysis on an already exhausted topic, I
noted a few observations during the media orgy.
- Does anyone else find it incredibly self-serving that Warriors Coach Mark
Jackson called for fans to boycott the playoff game between his team and the LA
Clippers the day AFTER they played in his arena? Apparently a stand against racism is only
significant during away games.
- All this outrage, and not once did Donald Sterling drop the “N-bomb”.
- Nobody is nearly as 'outraged' that this guy shows up at games with his hooker
girlfriend, gave a deposition detailing his sexual exploits with a different
hooker girlfriend 10 years ago, and has been married for 50 years. There was a time when that would have been distasteful enough to be forced out of an exclusive club.
- A news report claims that LeBron James would have joined the LA Clippers
last year if not for his distaste for owner Donald Sterling. What does that say about the other Clippers
to cash his paychecks every month?
- Despite all the outrage, I didn’t see any LA Clippers players refuse to
accept payment from a bigoted racist.
His money apparently spends as well as anyone’s. In fact, it’s uncanny how all the calls for
protest and boycott consistently come from people who demand that OTHER people
make the statement.
- The NAACP was scheduled to give Donald Sterling a lifetime achievement
award next month. How much due diligence
could they have done on the man? Another
way to ask: What does it take to put one
in the good graces of the NAACP?
Apparently money is far more influential than character.
- The story is not that Donald Sterling is a racist but that he allowed his
damaging rhetoric to be recorded and dangled to a frenzied media. I’m guessing most of us said something in the
past week that we wouldn’t want to be broadcast across the whole country. What does this say about your exposure and
your expectations of privacy?
- Astute observers will recognize what giants can be felled by a few
words, and they will plot to bring down opponents with similar strategies. The one who can lead a mob with pitchforks
and torches is powerful indeed. But not
necessarily just.
- NBA ownership is an exclusive club, and membership is contingent on agreeing to a set of rules, some of them subjective. I can’t fault the commissioner for giving him a lifetime ban, as was his prerogative. The owners needed to distance themselves from Sterling, and they cut him loose. He deserved it. But I’m not convinced that the angry mob makes the distinction between the bylaws of NBA ownership and the rights of a US citizen. They believe they can force anyone in power to give up anything they want, without regard to constitutional rights like free speech, prosperity, or conflicting – even offensive – viewpoints. We will see how power-drunk they will become.
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