In a telephone conversation recorded on April 9, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, engaged in a heated exchange centered on her friendship with a number of current and former professional basketball stars, including Magic Johnson.<\/p>\n
In the recorded conversation, obtained by TMZ Sports,<\/i> Stiviano, who is half black and half Mexican, apologized for the color of her skin, to which Sterling replied, \u201cThat isn\u2019t the issue. You\u2019ve missed this issue\u2026 The issue is we don\u2019t have to broadcast everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Stiviano protested that she\u2019s wasn\u2019t broadcasting anything, Sterling asked, \u201c\u2026 And why are you taking pictures with minorities\u2026why?\u201d\u00a0 He went on to explain that \u201cthere\u2019s a culture. \u00a0People feel certain things. \u00a0Hispanics feel certain things towards blacks. \u00a0Blacks feel certain things toward other groups. \u00a0It\u2019s been that way historically, and it will always be that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
To which Stiviano replied, \u201cI\u2019m a mixed girl, and you\u2019re in love with me. \u00a0And I\u2019m black and Mexican, whether you like it or not, whether the world accepts it or not. \u00a0And you\u2019re asking me to remove something that\u2019s part of me and in my bloodstream because the world thinks different of me and you\u2019re afraid of what they\u2019re going to think (or) see because of your upbringing? \u00a0You want me to have hate towards black people?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sterling replied, \u201cYeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you\u2019re associating with black people. \u00a0Do you have to? \u2026 I don\u2019t want you to have hate. \u00a0That\u2019s what people do, they turn things around. \u00a0I want you to love them\u2026 privately. \u00a0In your whole life, everyday, you can be with them\u2026 every single day of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puzzled, Stiviano asked, \u201cBut not in public?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sterling replied, \u201cHow about your whole life, everyday, you could do whatever you want. \u00a0You can sleep with them, you can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. \u00a0The little I ask you is not to promote it on that\u2026 and not to bring them to my games.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Stiviano suggested that Sterling was being negative, he responded, \u201cThere is no negativity. \u00a0I love everybody. \u00a0I\u2019m just saying, in your lousy f_ _ _ ing Instagrams, you don\u2019t have to have yourself with, walking with black people\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The conversation set off a firestorm of controversy in the major media, including the normally level-headed and common sense journalists of Fox News.\u00a0 What no one seemed to notice in the rush to crucify Sterling was that, although his attitude toward blacks might have been a popular view among Democrats in the mid-19th<\/sup> century, his 1st<\/sup> Amendment free speech rights were being totally trashed for expressing the same views in the early 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n Because the conversation was based on race, the NBA was panicked into taking immediate action.\u00a0 In a New York press conference on Tuesday, April 29, Commissioner Adam Silver yielded to the law of political correctness and dropped the hammer on Sterling.<\/p>\n In a prepared statement, he said, \u201cThe views expressed by Mr. Sterling<\/a> are deeply offensive and harmful. \u00a0That they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage. \u00a0Sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic league.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI am personally distraught that the views expressed by Mr. Sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations and cause former and current players, coaches, fans<\/a>, and partners<\/a> of the NBA to question their very association with the league\u2026<\/p>\n Effective immediately, Silver imposed the following punishments on Sterling:<\/p>\n In addition, Silver announced that he will urge the NBA Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team, and that the $2.5 million fine, the maximum allowed under the NBA constitution, will be donated to organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts that will be jointly selected by the NBA and its Players Association.<\/p>\n Although I share none of Mr. Sterling\u2019s feelings toward any group of people based on the color of their skin, I would defend to the death his right to feel as he does and to express those feelings, either publicly or in private conversation.<\/p>\n Yes, the NBA has a set of rules freely agreed to by all of the team owners.\u00a0 Under those rules, it is within the power of the NBA to ban him for life from any association with the Clippers or any other NBA team; it is within the power of the NBA to ban him from any business or player personnel decisions of the Clippers; it is within the authority of the NBA to bar Sterling from attending and participating in NBA Board of Governors meetings; and it is within the power of the NBA to fine him $2.5 million for bringing discredit upon the NBA.\u00a0 However, the NBA does not have the power to prohibit his attendance at NBA games.\u00a0 Just as the league may not dictate what Sterling thinks or says, neither can they prohibit his freedom to buy a ticket to any sporting event of his choosing.<\/p>\n So far as the $2.5 million is concerned, it remains to be seen which organizations are chosen to receive a portion of those funds.\u00a0 I would suggest that organizations such as the NAACP, Al Sharpton\u2019s National Action Network, and Jesse Jackson\u2019s Rainbow\/Push organization would fail to qualify under the parameter dictated by Commissioner Silver.\u00a0 None of those organizations can claim to be free of racial bias; none can lay claim to racial or political tolerance.<\/p>\n The fact is, I feel just as strongly about liberals and Democrats as Mr. Sterling feels about black people\u2026 perhaps moreso.\u00a0 It is through the profound ignorance of Democrats and other \u201clow information\u201d voters that leftist radicals such as Barack Obama ascend to power, so if I had a teenage daughter and I found that she was dating a Democrat\u2026 whether an intellectually\u00a0 committed socialist or a typical non-thinking, low information zombie\u2026 I would not be happy.<\/p>\n The damage that Sterling does by voicing his dislike of black people is inconsequential.\u00a0 The only real harm it does is to tarnish his personal reputation as a highly successful entrepreneur.\u00a0 But to pull the Democrat lever in election after election, in support of candidates who provide moral and political support for the likes of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, does real harm to the country.<\/p>\n What has been largely overlooked in the Donald Sterling \u201ctempest in a teapot\u201d is the fact that he has every right not<\/i> to like black people.\u00a0 Unfortunately, amidst all of the sound and fury, no one has thought to ask exactly what it is that he doesn\u2019t like about them.<\/p>\n In the decades since the New Frontier and the Great Society, a great many minorities have been cynically lured beneath the smothering blanket of the welfare state\u2026 and not because liberals and Democrats give a damn about the welfare of black people.\u00a0 Democrats are interested in black people only to the extent that they pull the Democrat lever on Election Day.\u00a0 And what better way to keep them pulling the Democrat lever than to offer them an endless variety of \u201cfreebies\u201d out of the federal treasury.\u00a0 Unfortunately, in yielding to the irresistible temptation of the welfare state, most blacks have rejected the limitless opportunities that the capitalist system holds out to those who rely on education, hard work, good behavior, and perseverance.<\/p>\n In the process, liberals and Democrats have created a highly unflattering stereotype of black people in the minds of many whites.\u00a0 Is it that stereotype that motivates Sterling\u2019s attitude toward blacks?\u00a0 Surely he has an answer to the question, but has anyone thought to ask him?\u00a0 Certainly, if someone were to ask me what it is that I have against liberals and Democrats, I could speak for hours on the subject… then I\u2019d have to rest for a few minutes before speaking for several more hours.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a telephone conversation recorded on April 9, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, engaged in a heated exchange centered on her friendship with a number of current and former professional basketball stars, including Magic … Continue reading \n