Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last two weeks, the name “Donald Sterling” has been in the news very predominantly. Donald Sterling is a very, very rich man, easily falling into the category of a billionaire. Donald Sterling is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, a basketball team in the NBA.
However, the reason Donald Sterling has been in the news over the last two weeks is that Donald Sterling has pretty much been publicly outed as a racist and a bigot, based on a recording between Sterling and his mistress about how Sterling did not like the fact that she had a photograph with her and Magic Johnson, because Magic Johnson is black. And then basically saying he doesn’t want people to bring black people to Clippers games.
This isn’t the first time that Donald Sterling has been accusing of being a racist, as he’s been previously accused of showing discriminatory behavior when he showed great reluctance to renting to minorities in some of his investment properties, but it’s very much the first time that audible audio proof has been provided over his discriminatory beliefs.
Needless to say, Donald Sterling’s racist beliefs have not gone over well with, anyone, and pretty much all of America is letting him know this. A lot of people have done a lot of things to express their disdain and disagreement for Donald Sterling so far; his own team’s players wearing their team’s gear inside out, as to obscure the logo, his logo, numerous notable African-American figures condemning his bigotry, and numerous entities withdrawing all association with the Clippers, such as sponsors pulling out, and even musical artists refusing to let Sterling’s Clippers play their music at games.
The biggest action however, has been that as of April 29, 2014, the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, declared that Donald Sterling has been banned from the NBA for life. He is no longer allowed to attend, associate, or conduct any business with the NBA for the rest of his life. Which is going to be a troublesome situation, considering Donald Sterling currently owns an NBA team; naturally Silver is attempting to force Sterling to sell the team, but the last time I checked, Sterling has zero intention to do so and will probably resist and fight any actions taken to try and wrest the team from his possession.
Oh, and he was also fined $2.5 million dollars, which to a billionaire like Donald Sterling, is basically chump change.
Many are satisfied with this result, and I understand why they are. The world, much less the NBA doesn’t really need misguided and prejudiced bigots running around in positions of power and authority. The NBA, and probably the rest of the world, would be a better place without Donald Sterling, and anyone like him, being a part of it.
However, and I know that this could probably upset anyone who will probably read this (all of like three people), but I don’t believe that it was right.
It really boils down to one fact here: Donald Sterling is being punished for his opinion (and the subsequent dollars to all involved parties said opinion is causing to be lost). It’s an awful, ugly opinion, and one that I most certainly do not agree with in any way shape or form, but it is still the opinion of a single person.
And to me, it makes me ask the question, doesn’t that seem a little… unconstitutional?
I entitled this post with a reference to Twelve Angry Men for a reason. Basically, the story of Twelve Angry Men is the trial a homicide case that at first blush seems like a slam dunk guilty verdict that the jurors need to make unanimous. But after the first eleven jurors rush to a guilty verdict, the twelfth juror votes opposite to them, if for anything at all, to get everyone to stop and think about the scenario, because a person’s life was at stake.
This is not me saying that I think Donald Sterling is innocent for being a racist and an awful human being by any stretch of the imagination, but I can’t help but feel that a lot of the opinions and actions happening in light of this whole situation are awful reactionary and without much thought behind them.
And I most certainly don’t think it’s right that Donald Sterling is being punished for his opinion, as misguided and horrible of an opinion it is. Ultimately, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is the freedom of speech, and Donald Sterling saying he basically hates black people is technically not something that is illegal for him to say. Sure, it’s something that is universally frowned upon and something most people probably wouldn’t say out in public, but it’s still not illegal.
Illegal would be outright prohibiting black people from attending Clippers games. That would be discrimination, which is illegal. Saying he would prefer if black people didn’t come to his games, and that he would rather people not bring black people to his games, are still, opinions, and are not illegal.
Punishing Donald Sterling for something that isn’t illegal, doesn’t seem right to me. I just think it’s unconstitutional.
To play a little devil’s advocate here too, the story of how the recording came into fruition does stink a little bit of a set-up. Donald Sterling is a racist, but most idiots don’t become billionaires without some intelligence. Needless to say, I’m pretty sure Donald Sterling wouldn’t hold a microphone up to his mouth and state his displeasure for the entire African-American race. I also haven’t yet read anywhere that his mistress’s recording device probably wasn’t sitting in plain sight, either. It also doesn’t help that there’s a reasonable motive to why the mistress would want to set up Donald Sterling too, what with having been sued by Sterling’s wife for fraud in the past.
I’m not excusing Donald Sterling for being a racist, but I can’t help but think that the reveal came from underhanded methods in its own right. (Possibly) discreet recordings of people isn’t illegal either, but there’s also a generally negatively perceived stigma associated with the act.
The story of Twelve Angry Men ends with SPOILER ALERT, after a long deliberation, dissection and discussion of all the facts, the jurors ultimately decide that the man convicted of homicide was actually innocent.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t think Donald Sterling is not guilty for being a bigot, but if I can get a little storybook-ish, I do believe that everything would have worked itself out in the end if he weren’t punished. Maybe not nearly as swiftly as an unconstitutional punishment, but there’s no way that Donald Sterling would have been able to remain associated with the NBA that much longer after being outed as a racist.
Clippers players and coaches could have revolted, even though it’s debatable if players would have dared risk exposure and subsequent dollars to prove a righteous point. Fans would stop coming to games, if the players set the tone. Sponsors would pull and withdraw, reducing the flow of revenue into the team. Day after day, the Clippers would be condemned and loathed as long as Donald Sterling owned the team. The Clippers might be forced to forfeit game after game, when nobody shows up.
With the franchise immolating from the inside and the out, the value of the team would rapidly diminish and plunge, and racist as he may be, the businessman in Donald Sterling would unload the team on his own volition, before it became worth pennies on the dollar.
And then the Clippers would have had the perfect groundwork for a storybook revival, where they could have been the NBA’s darling sweetheart team that everyone would want to root for, get mainstream attention like they were the Michael Jordan Bulls, and make a billion dollars.
Not saying that that’s not impossible now, with the unconstitutional punishment, but a guy like Donald Sterling certainly has the money and resources to prolong this from happening beyond a point where the meaning and symbolism of it all can be reduced greatly.
The bottom line is that all involved parties from Donald Sterling, Adam Silver, the Clippers, its players, as well as the rest of the NBA has treated this whole scenario the wrong way. They’ve put money at the forefront of what is a way bigger issue, and a golden opportunity to really send powerful messages to the world was completely missed by taking the route of least financial detriment.
