Donald Sterling

[mrswdk]

Should Donald Sterling have been removed from his position, banned from the NBA and fined $2.5m(!) for his privately expressed views about his girlfriend bringing black guests to games?

[macbone]

The fine's harsh, but a guy like that shouldn't be the owner of an NBA team.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a nice article on this:

What bothers me about this whole Donald Sterling affair isn’t just his racism. I’m bothered that everyone acts as if it’s a huge surprise. Now there’s all this dramatic and very public rending of clothing about whether they should keep their expensive Clippers season tickets. Really? All this other stuff I listed above has been going on for years and this ridiculous conversation with his girlfriend is what puts you over the edge? That’s the smoking gun?

He was discriminating against black and Hispanic families for years, preventing them from getting housing. It was public record. We did nothing. Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then?

[mrswdk]

He was found innocent of racial discrimination in the workplace at a previous court case, so it doesn't sound like his racism was affecting his role as an employer/owner. Why does it matter if he holds an unpopular opinion? Can one not become a CEO these days without first expressing all the right politically correct views?

'Before any individual can be admitted to high office, he or she must first demonstrate sound moral thinking in relation to the issues of race, homosexuality, gender equality, socialism and the supremacy of the Party'

[macbone]

Yeah, but the problem here is that he's a white owner of a predominantly black professional basketball team, and his position created an unsettling image of a white plantation owner lording it over his black slaves. He's bad for his team. His own players protested against him. He bought the team with money he earned from real estate, in part because he denied housing to minorities.

"Just evict the bitch."

It was 2002, and Donald Sterling was talking to Sumner Davenport, one of his four top property supervisors, about a tenant at the Ardmore Apartments. Already the largest landowner in Beverly Hills, Sterling had recently acquired the Ardmore as part of his move to extend his real estate empire eastward toward Koreatown and downtown LA. As he did, Sterling "wanted tenants that fit his image," according to testimony Davenport gave in a discrimination lawsuit brought against Sterling in 2003 by 19 tenants and the nonprofit Housing Rights Center. (That case ended in a confidential settlement in 2005; attorneys for the Center declined to comment for this story. In a separate suit, also concluded in 2005, Davenport claimed Sterling sexually harassed her, and lost. She declined comment. The Magazine has obtained depositions in both cases.) Cultivating his image, Davenport said, meant no blacks, no Mexican-Americans, no children (whom Sterling called "brats") and no government-housing-subsidy recipients as tenants. So according to the testimony of tenants, Sterling employees made life difficult for residents in some of his new buildings. They refused rent checks, then accused renters of nonpayment. They refused to do repairs for black tenants and harassed them with surprise inspections, threatening residents with eviction for alleged violations of building rules.

When Sterling first bought the Ardmore, he remarked on its odor to Davenport. "That's because of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean," he said, according to Davenport's testimony. "And it's because of all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day." He added: "So we have to get them out of here." Shortly after, construction work caused a serious leak at the complex. When Davenport surveyed the damage, she found an elderly woman, Kandynce Jones, wading through several inches of water in Apartment 121. Jones was paralyzed on the right side and legally blind. She took medication for high blood pressure and to thin a clot in her leg. Still, she was remarkably cheerful, showing Davenport pictures of her children, even as some of her belongings floated around her.

Jones had repeatedly walked to the apartment manager's office to plead for assistance, according to sworn testimony given by her daughter Ebony Jones in the Housing Rights Center case. Kandynce Jones' refrigerator dripped, her dishwasher was broken, and her apartment was always cold. Now it had flooded. Davenport reported what she saw to Sterling, and according to her testimony, he asked: "Is she one of those black people that stink?" When Davenport told Sterling that Jones wanted to be reimbursed for the water damage and compensated for her ruined property, he replied: "I am not going to do that. Just evict the bitch."

It's not unlike the Paula Deen case. Here's some 2007 comments on her dream Southern wedding:

"Well what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around," the lawsuit claims Deen said. "Now that would be a true southern wedding, wouldn't it? But we can't do that because the media would be on me about that."

They're both relics of a former age that are better off being forgotten. Just like Deen was bad for the Food Network, Sterling is bad for the NBA.

Sterling must have been doing some good things, though, or at least appeared to do so. He received a Humanitarian Award in 2008 and a President's Award in 2009 from the LA chapter of the NAACP.

[betiko]

ok here's the thing: what if sterling is not racist and told his girlfriend that thing just for his business? In other words, what if the US high society was the one racist in that story and this guy got rich providing a racist service to these people?

I mean a black/hispanic blending in the WASP is fine if she became a "black WASP" but if she is actually only with black guys on her instagram, he isn't dating a "black wasp" but a black girl and it might not be good for his business. Well I guess he never thought tat his business could get this bad...

Oh, and those WASPs that are his clients are obviously all "deeply shocked" now about his racism when they are the one searching for white only neighborhoods.

[macbone]

Well, Mark Cuban did say this:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called Donald Sterling’s purported comments about minorities “abhorrent” while saying he didn’t think the NBA could force him out as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Speaking in Dallas’ locker room before Game 4 of a first-round series against San Antonio on Monday night, Cuban said he trusted Commissioner Adam Silver to “operate under the best interest of the NBA.”

The outspoken billionaire said it was a “slippery slope” to suggest that Sterling should be forced out as owner over comments made in the privacy of his home.

“What Donald said was wrong. It was abhorrent,” Cuban said. “There’s no place for racism in the NBA, any business I’m associated with. But at the same time, that’s a decision I make. I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.”

[mrswdk]

his position created an unsettling image of a white plantation owner lording it over his black slaves

lolwut

[Army of GOD]

He was found innocent of racial discrimination in the workplace at a previous court case, so it doesn't sound like his racism was affecting his role as an employer/owner. Why does it matter if he holds an unpopular opinion? Can one not become a CEO these days without first expressing all the right politically correct views?

'Before any individual can be admitted to high office, he or she must first demonstrate sound moral thinking in relation to the issues of race, homosexuality, gender equality, socialism and the supremacy of the Party'

The NBA is a private entity and can/will probably get him out of the league because it affects their image negatively.

[mrswdk]

Guess America should start shipping all its racists to another country before they start negatively affecting America's image.

[Army of GOD]

Guess America should start shipping all its racists to another country before they start negatively affecting America's image.

You're an idiot but you give me sexy time so I'll forgive you.

[mrswdk]

Am I? D:

Guess they should get me out of CC before I affect CC's image negatively.

[macbone]

Apparently Paula Madison, former owner of the WNBA's LA Sparks, and Oprah beat me to it. =)

Well, take another tack. Starbucks here in Hong Kong is licensed by the Maxim restaurant group. If the president of Maxim came out and said that mainland Chinese are dirty and stinky and always clogging up his nice Starbucks cafes, my guess is that Starbucks would pull Maxim's license pretty fast.

Or what if I started ranting about no-good filthy cooks, cooking up games, cook-blocking me, leaving them all 1-star ratings with Sore Loser and Psychopath ratings tags. I probably wouldn't be an SoC teacher for very much longer.

It's no different here. The owner of the Clippers said he didn't want black people and Latinos coming to his games (besides his mistress, apparently - a paradox, but in defense of Sterling, Ms. Stivano's a pretty lady), and he's gone on record saying they're dirty and stinky and didn't want them living in his rental units. Did the NBA really want a guy like this as an owner of one of their teams? I don't think so.



Or maybe he just has an evil twin.

[mrswdk]

Were the 'dirty and stinky' comments made before he bought the club or after? I mean, if they were made before then everyone already knew what kind of guy he was before he came on board.

And either way, why suddenly start foaming at the mouth now?

[mrswdk]

I agree with Mark Cuban. It's not up to the NBA to play the Thought Police and come down on someone for comments he made during a private conversation.

If the bad publicity hammers the Clippers and his directors vote him out to rescue the club then that's one thing, but it should be the club's jurisdiction and not the NBA's.

[macbone]

Before and after. Sterling seems to have been able to buy himself a lot of goodwill over the years.

Doc Rivers, the current Clippers coach, said he wouldn't return to the club if Sterling was still the owner.

Then there's Elgin Baylor, who was GM of the Clippers for 22 years. He filed a wrongful termination suit in 2009.

In his deposition, Baylor spoke about what he called Sterling's "plantation mentality," alleging the owner in the late 1990s rejected a coaching candidate, Jim Brewer, because of race. Baylor quoted Sterling as saying: "Personally, I would like to have a white Southern coach coaching poor black players." Baylor said he was shocked. "And he [Sterling] looked at me and said, 'Do you think that's a racist statement?' I said, 'Absolutely. That's plantation mentality.' "'

I'm not precisely sure how the owners in the NBA work. Here's something from Forbes:

The NBA is a league that votes owners into its ranks. In that way, it’s effectively a club. Like most clubs, its membership clauses include guidance on ethical behavior and ways you can forfeit your rights. The NBA stands for values—inclusion, tolerance, respect. Violate those in public and you should be gone.

I don't know how accurate that is, but if it's true, then the other owners do have a responsibility to make sure that fellow owners aren't assholes.

[mrswdk]

It's worth noting that Sterling was cleared in the Baylor case.

Does anyone have any more info about this 'voting owners in' business?

[AndyDufresne]

It's worth noting that Sterling was cleared in the Baylor case.

Does anyone have any more info about this 'voting owners in' business?

Owners voting on things is part of the NBA Constitution: http://mediacentral.nba.com/media/media ... y-Laws.pdf


--Andy

[Phatscotty]

When I was a young lad, about 6th grade, I used to date a black girl named Tiffany. I met her at the roller rink and we used to skate together and make out in the back. Her father told her not to date white guys and told me not to come around their house and not to call for Tiffany. Man, if I only had that on tape...I could get him fired!

#PClife

[AndyDufresne]

When I was a young lad, about 6th grade, I used to date a black girl named Tiffany. I met her at the roller rink and we used to skate together and make out in the back. Her father told her not to date white guys and told me not to come around their house and not to call for Tiffany. Man, if I only had that on tape...I could get him fired!

#PClife

This is pretty much a lie. I can't imagine PS roller skating, so he is obviously lying. I'll give all of AOG's AOGrubles if someone can produce a picture to authenticate this claim.


--Andy

[Army of GOD]

That was the plot of last week's Family Guy episode, not even kidding.

[macbone]

Scotty, if that situation happened now, and your girlfriend's dad had a position like the principal of a school, he might not be fired, but there would probably be a big stink about it.

Now add to that that he actively blocked black students from attending his school and repeatedly hired white teachers over black when both were equally qualified. Yeah, I think he'd be fired from his position, unless he was a principal in someplace like my home state, Alabama.

So Sterling is banned for life from the NBA, but he's still team owner, and unless 75% of the owners vote him out, he'll remain the owner of the team. And that vote might not succeed.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned for life by the NBA in response to racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation, but what comes next? The other NBA owners need a 75 percent vote to have Donald Sterling removed as owner.

But Detroit News columnist and 97-1 The Ticket co-host Terry Foster wonders if the other owners may be worried about their own skeletons in their closets.

“I think there is a fear … some owners may not … want an investigation, so they want this thing to go away as quickly as possible. The one thing about Donald Sterling, he loves to sue people, so I think the other owners have to be careful, they definitely don’t want things coming out of their closet,” said Foster.

If the fans, coach, players, other owners, and league commissioner all want him gone, then what reason does he have for sticking around? Sheer cussedness? If he sticks around, he could potentially destroy his franchise, one of the league's most profitable. If he sells, he stands to make a large profit on the sale.

The ban imposed Tuesday prevents Sterling from playing any role in the management of the Clippers. He can't go to games, to practices, to team offices or facilities or to any NBA functions. But asked whether his wife, Rochelle, or other members of his family could remain, Silver said no decisions had been made.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/29/sport/sterling-clippers-what-next/

[mrswdk]

I wouldn't go if I was him. f*ck the Thought Police.

[Gillipig]

I don't usually engage myself in american gossip like this but I listened to the audio tape in question and it was a very entertaining tape, it was like hearing the main characters in dumb and dumber argue over economics. Their stupidity was that profound. What a perfect match they were.

[Phatscotty]

Tidbits

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP resigned Thursday, following outrage over a decision he later reversed to give Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling an award for promoting civil rights.

thrice they charged, and THRICE hath shattered myths upon thine own selves! This lefty forgot how to play their own race game. The super-elite billionaire fatcats give money to minority groups to purchase the public image that they are sympathetic and it's their opponents who are really to blame while a certain significant percentage of the voting public eats it up and becomes animated; and then they go back to their real life and let the racism fly.

L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling, whom commentators tried to tie to the Republican party immediately after his alleged racist statements became public, has in fact only given money to Democratic candidates, according to campaign-contribution records.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/37 ... -cavanaugh