Tarnished Sterling

It is just a matter of time before someone starts defending Donald Sterling and claiming his rights are being infringed upon.

For those who may be unaware, Donald Sterling owns a professional basketball team, the L.A. Clippers. Mr. Sterling is married to Rochelle Sterling. V. Stiviano is Mr. Sterling’s former mistress. Because Stiviano was pictured with Magic Johnson, Mr. Sterling was upset. There is a recording of Mr. Sterling “allegedly” telling Stiviano, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?”

What Mr. Sterling is caught on a recording saying is both racist and ignorant.

This is not Mr. Sterling’s first trip to the racism rodeo. So, when someone goes to defend him, they may want to be aware of abusive and racist comments he made that contributed to a housing dispute, which Mr. Sterling settled out of court. Just one example of his racists comments, he said his building smelled because “all the blacks in this building, they smell, they’re not clean” and “all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day.”

There has been a lot of backlash from Mr. Sterling’s once again exposed racism. His own team wore their uniforms inside out so the name and logo of the Clippers were not visible. Other teams reportedly wore black socks. Sports figures have spoken out against Mr. Sterling’s racist remarks. Even President Obama weighed in.

So, before anyone starts defending Mr. Sterling and begins claiming his rights are being infringed: Mr. Sterling’s right to feel or think about a person or a group of people or some characteristic he thinks they may share is not being infringed upon. In fact, his right to express those thoughts, no matter how ignorant, is not being infringed upon. However, he does not have a right to a microphone or air time or column space nor is the NBA or any other sports organization or any media outlet obligated to provide him with a soap box.

What is wonderful about Mr. Sterling’s rights is they do not provide him immunity from our rights to disagree with him. We have the right to exercise our speech and denounce his ignorance. We have the right to turn our Clippers logos inside out or place them in the trash. We have the right to vote with our money and not purchase tickets or merchandise he benefits financially from. We have the right to vote with our remote controls and change the channels. And, believe it or not, our exercising our rights in no way infringes upon Mr. Sterling exercising his.

Mr. Sterling is free to be as ignorant as humanly possible and he is free to express his ignorance to his heart’s content. Mr. Sterling has all of the same rights Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty continues to enjoy. As President Obama said, “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk.”

Articles that discuss Mr. Sterling’s history of racism and ignorant remarks and include the recording that is causing this week’s controversy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/26/donald-sterling-racist_n_5218572.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2042877-a-brief-history-of-donald-sterlings-alleged-racism

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04/29/2014
Today, Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner, announced how the NBA will deal with Donald Sterling’s racist comments, Mr. Sterling is basically banned from NBA functions and properties. Their decision includes:

• Mr. Sterling is prohibited from attending NBA games or practices
• Mr. Sterling is not permitted being present at any Clippers office or facility
• Mr. Sterling is not permitted to attend NBA Board of Governors meetings
• Mr. Sterling is not permitted to participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team
• Mr. Sterling will be fined $2.5 million, which is to be donated to various “organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts”

Mr. Silver also said he would work to ensure Mr. Sterling sells his ownership of the L.A. Clippers.
So, Mr. Sterling’s freedom of speech is not infringed upon. He is still allowed to say whatever he wants, no matter how ignorant it is. The NBA is exercising its right to not have to be in a position to have to listen to any of the nonsense that may come out of Mr. Sterling’s mouth.

As far as the NBA’s decisions regarding Mr. Sterling is concerned, I do not have an opinion. Without knowing what contracts and agreements Mr. Sterling has with the NBA it is difficult to say whether the decision is fair or not.

And know what else? His freedom of speech is still not being infringed upon.