Although the law prohibits discrimination, there are several signs that indicate the crime is still alive in America. On April 29, the National Basketball Association (NBA) banned the Los Angeles Clippers’ owner, Donald Sterling, from having any association with the league or the Clippers. In addition, Sterling was fined $2.5 million, the largest amount allowed by the NBA commission. All of this is due to a recording of Sterling, publicized by TMZ, making ignorantly discriminatory comments towards African-Americans.
Sterling, 80, has owned the Clippers since 1981 and has had multiple discrimination lawsuits from that time to present day. According to The Associated Press, Sterling was charged by 19 different plaintiffs in 2003 for housing discrimination. He was accused of trying to drive Latinos and African-Americans out of buildings he owned in Koreatown. He was punished financially for this first act of racism, but this recent act was not tolerated.
Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, came down hard on Sterling for his actions. According to CNN, Silver’s decision on Sterling’s punishment was immediately supported by other NBA owners, players, and others connected to the league. These racist remarks caused Sterling one of the harshest punishments possible. Silver called this a “black eye for the NBA”. The NBA showed their intolerance of this activity and so did all of the players on the L.A. Clippers.
During the game between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors that following Sunday, the players on the team wore their warm-up jerseys inside out as to not display the logo for the team. The team also wore black wristbands and armbands, as well as black socks as a silent protest towards Sterling. According to the Associated Press, Clippers’ all-star guard, Chris Paul was overheard saying to his teammates, “It’s just us, only us. We’re all we got.”
According to USA Today, the Miami Heat team players replicated the Clippers’ silent protest by also turning their warm-ups inside out. Sterling caused extreme disappointment throughout the entire league and U.S. public. According to Fox News, Rep. Angela Williams, head of the African-American and Hispanic council at the Capitol, said, “Here we are in the 21st century and we’re still having these conversations. I’m not that convinced our country moving that much forward with this conversation — only when there’s a flare-up. I don’t know why this isn’t a constant conversation.”
According to Yahoo News, Sterling has recently apologized for his racist comments and has asked for forgiveness from his team, the NBA, and the public in his first public statement after the incident. Although Sterling seems sincerely apologetic for his mistakes, he is still receiving scrutiny from the public and, above all, an enormous amount respect was lost for this man.
There are now several rumors of different people interested in buying the Clippers. According to CBS News, it is rumored that Oprah Winfrey may try to team with “media mogul David Geffen and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to make a bid to buy the team.” There have also been rumors that boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. was going to try and buy the Clippers after his fight with Marcos Maidana, where he would make another $40 million. There have been no final decisions made yet as to who will be the new owner.
Over a century after our country put the Emancipation Proclamation in place, there is still discrimination flowing in the veins of our people. It has been proven that racism will not be tolerated, but Sterling is not the only example of defiance. Racism is still an ignorance of our society and will hopefully be weeded out as future generations are raised in a society that is clearly intolerant of it.
