Posted on 05/03/2014 10:38:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver had no choice but to come down “hard” as some judged the punishment on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his stellar racist performance, captured on audio tape.
I laughed at the punishment. “Banned for life” on an 80-year-old man? Maximum NBA fine of $2.5 million for a racist billionaire’s conduct is equally laughable. Nevertheless, I believe Commissioner Silver would have imposed a greater punishment if allowed under NBA rules.
Commissioner Silver’s press conference deserves no more than a C+ grade due to the lack of his leadership experience in the fight against corporate racism in American sports. However, the leadership from wealthy Blacks deserves an F minus for, being all too ready to pounce on the opportunity to line their pockets off of Donald Sterling’s racist diarrhea.
It is a who’s who list of Black celebrities standing in line to buy the LA Clippers. This embarrassing and sad reminder suggests many wealthy Blacks see no sin in making a buck off a known racist.
Former LA Lakers great Ervin “Magic” Johnson, who was the target of, Sterling’s racist rant against Blacks has a net worth of $700 million. This wealthy Black man was so hurt and offended by Sterling’s remarks did not have time to wipe away his tears before heading to the front of the line, as a potential buyer of the LA Clippers.
The queen of daytime TV, Oprah Winfrey has also expressed interest in making a bid for the team, to the point of being in talks with Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison. The only thing Ellison needs from Oprah might be her fax machine with a working clock.
The billionaire Oracle CEO outbid the now owners, of the NBA Golden State Warriors franchise a few years ago. Ellison lost out due to the fact that his higher bid, was faxed late.
I believe in dreaming big but some limelight hawks can’t possibly think that the NBA is so desperate for minority inclusion that it would consider these famous minority boxers or Black rappers. Their sins make Donald Sterling look like Mother Teresa.
I am not aware of Magic Johnson, Oprah Winfrey, Rev. Jesse Jackson or even Rev. Al Sharpton offering to make a statement on behalf of all Blacks that does not appear to be self-serving.
American professional sports are playing a shell game with the racist behavior that continues to run many of its front offices because no one is willing to take a stand. Some view the May 1, 2014 unanimous (29 votes) decision by the other NBA owners to go forward with forcing Sterling to sale the Clippers as taking a stand against racism. I see this too as self-serving.
Meanwhile the MLB and NFL are quietly sitting on the sidelines hoping no one is paying attention to their self-serving ways.
Major League Baseball’s slick campaign suggests Jackie Robinson “broke” the color barrier. To break something takes force, Robinson was allowed to play.
If the National Football League was so concerned about the plight of Blacks, they would not be in San Francisco today. Planning for the 2016 Super Bowl hosted by The City right in the middle of a “San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce” boycott of the city’s travel and tourism industry speaks for itself.
If God asked any Black person to give a cup of water to Donald Sterling, the only question to Sterling should be, “Mr. Sterling, would you prefer a straw with your water?”
So one can only imagine that these, “Professional Blacks”, as coined by President Obama in his book; are only listening to media hawks offering life preserving devices for the Captain and his crew.
Donald Sterling is captain of his sinking ship. He will motor away in a billion dollar life boat as the ultimate punishment for being a racist forced to sale the NBA franchise he purchased in 1981 for a mere $12 million.
Meanwhile, a life raft provided by TMZ or the evening news team is awaiting Black leaders content with fighting racism, by pointing the finger at an 80-year-old man; oblivious to what is keeping them afloat.
******
Allen Jones is a prison reform activist living in San Francisco and author of Case Game-Activating the Activist. His autobiography of a black, crippled homosexual is in the San Francisco Public Library.
Just waiting for them to call him a Tea Party Leader.
I don’t understand.
Your wait is over:
I’m A-Wondering... Sterling, Bundy, Republicans and the Good Ole’ Days of Slavery
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-brodsky/im-a-wondering—sterling_b_5245756.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
That doesn’t quite do it.
Yeah Sterling’s a real racist. He has a half black, half Mexican girlfriend, buys her 3 very expensive cars and a 1.8 M apartment.
And why should we give a ... what happens to him?
To which my reply is: "There are millions of kids in your community who can't get a decent education because of the policies of your leadership. If the whole system is so corrupt, you can cleanse yourself of it by sending a few thousand of the brightest of them to private schools for their careers with the money you earned from the likes of Sterling."
"Or you can shut up."
So far no reply.
Which are going to be taken away, because his wife owns half of them by law, and she didn't give permission for her assets to be used for his whores.
You should send Sterling that 10 commandments article.
So yeah, I don't care.
However, I do care that "old, rich, racist white guy = Republican," because the correct formula is almost always "old, rich, racist white guy = Far Left Liberal," and that is something I want people to know.
As for the claim that having a half black, half Mexican girlfriend does not make somebody a racist, well, that assumes the very naive position that this waste of skin has sex for the same reasons that ordinary people have it, which may not actually be the case. There are nasty people in this world, and some of them have sex with people in order to humiliate and degrade them.
Here's an interesting case:
Former KKK leader Frazier Glenn Miller [was] charged with the murder of three people outside a Jewish retirement home in Kansas. The neo-fascist wrote his own Declaration of War (PDF) in 1987, expressing his hatred for “Niggers, Jews, Queers, assorted Mongrels [and] White Race traitors,”
... the most fascinating aspect about the hate-filled life of Frazier Glenn Miller is that he had previously been arrested “mid-act” with a black male transvestite prostitute.
So if Frazier Glenn Miller's "love interest" was also a Jew -- and with the pedigree given I would say literally anything is possible -- that would be the Trifecta Plus Ultra of disproof of the position that having paid sex with someone of a particular race makes you "not a racist."
There are millions of sexist men who have no problems at all having sex with women. Racism doesn't mean you dislike people of other races. It simply means that you think your race is superior.
Racial Supremacy is only one of many possible manifestations of racism. There are plenty of others. And it does not change one iota my reply to a poster whose claim that the race of Sterling's former paramour makes him "not a racist." It is dispositive of nothing at all.
The operative word being "manifestations."
What’s going to be interesting is if there’s any legal case for what the NBA has done to him. If he hasn’t violated any of the terms of the contracts he has with the NBA, he’s going to clean their clock, racist or not. He can afford to defend himself no matter how unsavory he is.
Well let’s say he does believe one race is superior to another , particularly in private - what law has he broken? In addition what term of his contract with the NBA did he break? If he’s not broken any of the terms - he’s going to lay waste to the NBA organization for what they’ve done to him.
Nope. That’s not the operative word. Your definition of racism is too narrow.
You're arguing with another poster. Not me. I don't claim a belief in superiority of one race over another is the only kind of racism. Take it up with the poster who has this very odd and very narrow definition of racism.
My claim is that his having a mixed race "companion" doesn't prove he's not a racist.
Now, has he broken a law? Who said he has? Not me, nor anyone I know of who's commented on this ridiculous episode.
In addition what term of his contract with the NBA did he break?
I don't know about that. I assume the NBA commissioner availed himself of counsel and under competent legal advice was told some aspect of a standard "you will not say anything embarrassing or harmful to the NBA" in his contract allowed the commissioner to sanction him. If he decides to challenge the penalties, a jury or arbitrator will no doubt ultimately decide.
You're correct, he hasn't broken any. He's simply an old man tired of his much younger paramour running around on him in public. What he said was hardly a racist "rant" as he's being accused.
But here's the thing...his banishment/punishment means that everybody affiliated with the NBA is now fair game for the race-hustlers and activists who demand everybody in the league be pure as the driven snow. I've been on a few sports forums, and like a number of people noted that there are a number of black people affiliated with the NBA who have said or done things that could be considered racist. But the people throwing rocks at Sterling do not grasp that point, or they think racism only runs in one direction...towards whites.
One self-identifed black poster on one forum actually said blacks could be bigots and haters, but they couldn't be racists because they had no power. Well, they have one black owner in the league, Michael Jordan, and let's see if they do anything to him if he ever makes a racist statement. I'll bet they don't do anything. They're all hypocrites.
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