A Scapegoat for Social Sickness Sounds Nice, but Racism Has More Than One Hideous Face.
No more than a week ago, Donald Sterling donned the stroke-slanted
smile of a rich, old, white bigot (post-op). Until this morning, Sterling was
the proud owner of the Los Angeles Clippers –a team that’s touted as one of the
best in the NBA. Just days ago, the decrepit Donald had been enjoying the
extramarital company of a young lady who came fully equipped with a lawsuit
filed against her by Sterling’s wife.
That is, until his noble mistress recorded conversations
between herself and Sterling and leaked them to the public. In these private
squabbles, Sterling made several racist comments all while pleading with his
half-Mexican, half-Black girlfriend to avoid public pictures with the likes of
blacks, specifically referring to Magic Johnson.
This morning, Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, issued a
statement whereby he banned Donald Sterling from his current post for life and
charged him with a $2.5 million fine.
It’s the stuff of soap operas. There’s talk of suing on any
number of grounds.
Now, I prefer details on current events to generalized
Buzzfeed lists.
I like honest, informed opinions to rote social media
campaigns and bandwagon mentality.
I prefer Due Process to knee-jerk reactions.
For the same reasons, I’d rather we elect a President, in
this time, with a longer record of International Policy to the White House
instead of an inspired and less-qualified celebrity.
And you may call me old fashioned, but I choose facts over
libel and slander.
Because of my penchant for these things, I am bemused.
I’m unclear as to which clause of his contract with the NBA,
as an owner, renders Donald Sterling subject to the penalties he received this
morning. Honestly, what the fuck does Adam Silver believe he’s done?
I ask this not because I believe bigoted men like Donald
Sterling ought to keep ownership of a money making franchise, particularly one
that is reliant upon involvement from racially indiscriminate spectators. No, I
pose my what-the-fuck-are-you-thinking to Mr. Silver because I believe in REAL
social transformation.
In order to enact this change, I believe an assessment of any
and all root causes is paramount.
Unfortunately, I am a white woman. I was born in the
mid-eighties to parents who were each educated at the university level. My schooling was prestigious and my mother
and father made sure of that. Now the advantages I have put me at a
disadvantage in being able to fully understand all the facets and effects of
racism.
I did not choose multicultural studies, nor gender studies
or minority studies, as a focal point of my education.
I am a mere writer. I am an idealist, too. I advocate for
love and beauty in all things. I can find joy in the painful struggle and have
found myself thanking the universe for those whom and that which might be
considered my opponents.
And, I’ve got to say a big thank fucking God for all that
wholesome marrow in my soul because in countless ways, I am a failure.
As a self-proclaimed anti-feminism feminist and humanist,
I’ve turned the other cheek when I’m fearful. I’ve had sex against my will,
more than once, and not because in all of those instances I was outright
date-raped. I’ve laughed in a group setting when friends and lovers made bigoted
statements. I’ve chastised myself for others’ ignorance. What I aim to make
clear is that in cases where I have had the power to oppose
prejudice, I have cruised on the low road. I ignored it and even played along.
I compromised my beliefs so as not to make waves.
In those cases, I had a choice. I chose to live beneath my
ideals.
I am appalled by Donald Sterling’s remarks and I make claims
to want better for this world. Yet, I have complete confidence that if I had recorded
every second of my last year on film or digital audio, the playback will show
that I’ve said something racist, or acted in a way that demonstrates the
overall intolerance, dismissal, or judgment of a person of a different creed,
race, religion, gender, or sexuality, etc. based upon that characteristic
alone. And I’m sure it happened more than once.
To my friends and family: I am sorry I’ve let you down. I won’t let myself be ashamed because I think
shame lends itself to further self-flagellation. Instead, I write this now and
I vow to do better.
Without making an excuse for my admission, it is important
that the reader please note: in my core, I do not believe that anyone is
inferior to anyone else. Sometimes I struggle with understanding others when
language barriers arise, but I don’t find blame or take issue with those who
communicate differently.
My belief system is that love reigns while fear cripples,
and I feel that everyone has the freedom to believe
and act in anyway he or she sees fit, so long as it harms no other creature.
I certainly do not want to open the floodgates of criticism
and hate mail and anger, though I understand that public statements are exactly
that. My goal for those who believe others are inferior based on the
aforementioned categories (or other defining attributes) is that they do not see this as a rallying memo or
badge. This is an acknowledgment of my hypocrisy.
My question remains: What the fuck has Adam Silver done?
If I, of liberal mind and values, openly admit to turning a
blind-eye and/or enacting bigotry in my life, then what does this say about the
world around me?
I don’t feel that censorship is an option. I revel in our right
to speak and write and advocate for ourselves. Perhaps the answers I seek will
come from those like Donald Sterling. Perhaps understanding and reason is where
I should turn.
Using logic, why have we, as a society, let
ourselves hold onto something that has no scientific backing? Why do we still
let our friends make “fake-hipster-racist*” comments and tell jokes that perpetuate
inequality among our peers, children and students, and our role models? Why do
reputable news stations continue to make sexist comments about a woman who has
more diplomatic experience than our current Commander in Chief? And he is a
black man, isn’t he? Does that fact alone prove that we’re evolving as a nation?
God help us if that’s why we elected him.
Is Adam Silver’s decision to fine and ban a bigot from his seat
as owner of an NBA team because he believes it’s the right thing to do?
If so, where were the stipulations for Sterling’s conduct and
personal beliefs when Silver and other members approved him as an owner of the
Los Angeles Clippers?
God help us if society’s prominent figures continue to take
the path of least-resistance in all they do.
We are all entitled to our own opinions, though. Perhaps
Silver’s decision takes into account variables of which I’m unaware.
From what I understand, there is no morality clause in
Donald Sterling’s contract. What happens when the former Clippers owner sues
the NBA and/or Adam Silver and/or his instigating mixed-race ex-girlfriend?
The system protects our right to speak candidly. No one can
take Donald Sterling to court based upon those recordings because they were not
legally obtained. I could be wrong on all of this (this is based upon the very
little I know about the law and I welcome any/all input on this matter), but it
seems like Sterling has a relatively strong case against those parties.
And what if Donald Sterling wins?
This man believes that if he pays someone for a service,
that person is beneath him and he commands authority over him or her. This
financial inequality is accepted by both Sterling and society. He has made his
opinion clear in his recorded statements to his ex-girlfriend and in a previous
testimony he gave in 2003 about paying a woman for sex, stating
“…you are not together with her.
You are paying her for a few moments to use her body for sex. Is it clear? Is
it clear?”
If Sterling contests this decision in court, he could
possibly be back in his seat above the “black bodies” he has on payroll and
we’ll sit here, feigning dumbfounded and twiddling our thumbs.
What will you Clippers fans do, Los Angeles? You could mosey
on back to The Staples Center in your gold and purple once more… It’s not an
absurd proposal; you’ve been fair-weather fans so the return to Kobe shouldn’t
be too shocking. Ooohh… might The Clippers be an all-white team?
Eight years ago, in 2006, Bomani Jones wrote for ESPN: "It
was fun to laugh at Donald Sterling when he was a joke. Now that we know what
he's up to when he's being serious, he deserves a lot more attention."
Why haven’t we been paying attention? He’s been serious
about demeaning human beings throughout his entire life.
Perhaps we just sit and wait. Maybe enough of the bigoted
old white fuckers will die out. On second thought, maybe we should callous the
living fuck out of ourselves as a wildly irresponsible and self-centered
generation and hire a nice Kevorkian-enthused Euthanasian [sic] to get the ball rolling. Wait,
shit. Is ‘Euthanasian’ racist?
*I do not believe in the term fake-racist; this refers to a specific type of racism that I’ve
seen develop over the last few years. I have friends (yes, I still call them
friends) who will say something bigoted to get a rise out of others. I don’t believe
this is outright xenophobia, however my firm sense is that this propagates a
casual and permissive attitude toward bigotry. Please see this link for an
interesting take on what I call fake-racism and/or hipster racism:
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