Let's be honest. Donald
Sterling, formerly Donald Tokowitz, is a racist. Not because of the alleged
comments (secretly recorded by his minority mistress) pertaining to Blacks or
African Americans that were disparaging and bigoted, but because he literally
holds a position that allows him to successfully subordinate and objectify the
African American via his money, position, power, and ability to employ and/or fire
people. That is, in my opinion, the true
definition of racism. Though the
conversation that was more than likely leaked to the media by his mistress as
either extortion or revenge was disgustingly painful to listen to, that is the
least of the problems the NBA has in regards to Sterling’s ownership of a franchise. His comments were bigoted and reeked of
prejudice and stereotypical vitriol, but we, as the viewing and paying public
(ticket holders, subscribers to NBA TV, and purchasers of paraphernalia),
should be up in arms concerning the numerous allegations of racism and sexism
in the Clippers’ front office and the racial discrimination lawsuits levied at
Don in the past decade. The phone
recording is spilled milk. The lawsuits
and the details thereof, on the other hand, are a socioeconomic oil spill that should
have been cleaned up years ago.
By now, the entire social network
populace and those who have tuned in to any major media outlet in the United
States has heard excerpts, if not all, of the recorded conversation between
Donald Sterling and his mistress, so I won’t regurgitate the salacious rhetoric
in an attempt to bolster my audience or my “shares” or my “likes”. What I will do, though, is try to articulate
why this isn’t just about Sterling but about the NBA and its ownership. In 2006, the U.S. Department of justice sued
Sterling for housing discrimination because of claims that he purportedly
refused to rent to Latinos and Blacks, and those he did rent to, in particular
Kandyce Jones. In sworn testimony, one of Sterling's top property supervisors Sumner
Davenport claimed
he made racist comments about black people living in one of the buildings
he had just acquired: "That's because of all the blacks in this building,
they smell, they're not clean. ... And it's because of all of the Mexicans that
just sit around and smoke and drink all day." Davenport went on to testify, "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.'" That suit was settled for $2.765 million
dollars without Sterling having to admit any liability.
In 2009, NBA legend and Hall-of-Famer
Elgin Baylor, who served as Director of Basketball Operations for the Clippers
for 22 years sued Donald for unlawful termination vis a’ vis age and racial
discrimination. Although Baylor lost the
lawsuit, disturbing commentary from individuals within the Clippers’
organization, if true, became known. Baylor stated, “[Sterling] said, 'Personally,
I would like to have a white Southern coach coaching poor black players.' And I
was shocked. And he looked at me and said, ‘Do you think that’s a racist
statement?' I said, 'Absolutely. That’s plantation mentality.'" In the suit, Baylor also claimed that three top Clippers players — Sam Cassell, Elton
Brand, and Corey Maggette — complained to him that Sterling was bringing women
into the locker room to look at the players, and once said to one of the women,
"Look at those beautiful black bodies." As early as 1983, two years after Donald
Sterling acquired the team and was attempting to move it from San Diego to Los
Angeles, he was courting NCAA championship coach Rollie Massimino in hopes of luring
him to the NBA, and Massimino allegedly recalled a brief glimpse into the racial
ideology of Mr. Sterling: “Here’s this guy, and he
has this blonde bimbo with him, they have a bottle of champagne, they’re
tanked. And Don looks at me and he says, ‘I wanna know why you think you can
coach these niggers.” Now, don’t just
look at the words in these accusations.
Go up a few lines and read the alleged actions connected and directly
connoted with Sterling’s views on Race, and in particular, those
of African American descent.
To understand Sterling’s
racial ideology, we must understand the man’s background. As I mentioned earlier, he was born Donald
Tokowitz. A son of Jewish immigrants who
allegedly came to this country flat broke.
Sounds eerily similar to those of us whose ancestry derived from those
dark-skinned Africans who landed in what is now the United States of America in
1619 (give or take a few years depending on what historian you talk to). He apparently changed his surname either in
an effort to distance or erase his past or to escape his Jewish heritage, which
either way would make a superb case study in Self-Hate and Self-Deprecation. His history authenticates that Sterling is a
Horatio Alger story for the ages. He grew
up in Los Angeles, became an injury and divorce attorney, invested his money,
and bought one of the hometown sports franchises. Bravo.
But what is lost in this story is how he utilized his wealth and
societal positioning to assimilate into the stereotypical culture of
WASPS. His upward mobility freed him
from his immigrant roots and poverty, more than likely associated with his
ethnic plot in the United States. His
money freed him from oral censorship.
His money freed him from moral responsibility of human empathy and
sympathy. The fruits of his labor and
his business acumen unchained him from his marginalized past and allowed him to
be free to literally ‘do’ whatever he wants to others (i.e. subjugate,
denigrate, and deny residency/occupancy).
Being that the NBA is an
exclusive sports league that can allow or disallow ownership at its discretion
it is ironic that they have never called major media attention to this
owner. Unless one lived on the West
Coast, before the Baylor lawsuit, you’d probably never knew who owned the
Clippers, what he looked like, or what sketchy past the man had. But now we do. And the bigger question is why haven’t any of
the other 29 owners of NBA franchises, excluding Michael Jordan, the sole Black
owner in the league, voiced their personal and professional opinions on this
matter. Not the recording, but Sterling’s
massive history of racial inequality.
Better yet, with almost 80% of the players in the NBA being
Black/African American, how often is this type of thing going on within the
league’s team’s front offices. We just
heard what Sterling has said and have seen his discrimination suits played out
in the public sphere via the media, but only God knows what is going on with
the other owners. I would like to know
the percentages of non-player personnel that is Black in the NBA. Yes, D’Jonald has been unchained and off the
chain for years, but what about the other owners who are quiet as church mice
during this public smearing of the Clippers, its owner, and the NBA brand? The new commissioner, Adam Silver was under
David Stern’s tutelage since 1992. I’m
sure a smart, Jewish lawyer like himself knew Sterling’s resume on equality and
discrimination. We have. But I guess the league helped to unchain him.
-Gee Joyner
