Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Tarnished Sterling

You have to be totally cut off from the world to not know about the alleged comments the owner of the Clippers made recently. I'm hardly a sports fan and couldn't even tell you what sport the Clippers play but I've been bombarded with news about it.

There is so much wrong about this whole thing I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll start with a disclaimer: None of my comments made here should be construed in any way to mean I support racism. Nor have I heard anything regarding Sterling's reaction or comments to all this.

The first issue I have with this whole story is how it came about. Some unidentified person allegedly taped a private conversation between two people without their knowledge and then, I'm assuming, sold said audio tape to TMZ....a bastion of responsible reporting. <insert sarcasm here> As far as I know, based on the news I heard this morning, no one has yet to verify whether the tape is authentic or in fact Sterling. Everyone is in such an uproar over what is on the audio tape that no one seems to be asking the questions I'm curious about. Has anyone bothered to confirm the tape is real and not some spliced together piece to generate outrage towards an easy target? Has anyone actually verified it is Sterling on the tape? Why is no one outraged about the method this tape was obtained? I mean seriously, how much skeevier can a person get than skulking around, taping private conversations for profit. Makes me feel a need to take a shower just thinking about it.

Next there is all the talks about sanctions and other ways to punish Sterling for his comments. Oh wait...that's right, these are only alleged comments because no one as of yet has bothered to verify. So we're all ready to tar and feather a man based on unproven allegations.

Then there is the irony and hypocrisy components of this story. Let's face it, Sterling has a well documented history of racism. I don't think that's up for debate by anyone. This leaves me to try and understand the moral outrage of the NAACP; a group that was about to award Sterling a Lifetime Achievement Award. The NAACP is awarding a known racist with an achievement award? Achievement of what; being a lifetime racist?? And now they act all shocked and appalled and are no longer going to give him the award. I have no issue with that but I do have issues with the hypocrisy of the whole thing.  I do have to give the NAACP kudos for one thing. They have said they will also be returning all monies Sterling has donated to the organization. I suppose that does offset a bit of the hypocrisy of the award.

The sports world itself is also being highly hypocritical. Again, its been no secret this man is a racist. A fact the sporting world has apparently been willing to show a blind eye to for all these years. So why suddenly act outraged now?

Bottom line, Sterling has the right to say what he wishes, whether we like it or not. If in fact he did make these alleged comments (which I'm guessing he probably did) then he will have to bear the consequences of those comments. As I've said before, the First Amendment gives you the right to free speech. It does not however protect you from the consequences of those words.

If we really want to stop this kind of behaviour though maybe its time to start holding accountable those who allow such behaviour whether it be because of an 'old boys network' or not wanting to lose a golden goose. In my opinion the hypocrites who have allowed or ignored his racism for the last 30 or so years are just as guilty of promoting racism as Sterling is.

2 comments:

  1. "The sports world itself is also being highly hypocritical."
    And you find this unusual? Modern sports is mostly PR, making the winning of these games actually mean something.
    That there are racists in professional sports ownership is hardly a surprise. That someone abused their position to tape someone in private is again hardly a surprise. That Professional sports owners want to change the subject as quickly as possible is also not much of a surprise.

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  2. That's kind of my point though. None of this is a surprise so spare us the hypocritical outrage. How come the lynch mob of public opinion is focusing only on Sterling? Where is OUR outrage towards the accepted silence and inaction of all those involved?

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