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| Clippers' unwelcome 'houseguest'? |
But
I’m not sure I see the point of such punishment for Clippers’ owner Donald
Sterling.
THERE
ARE TIMES I wonder how many of the people who are piling onto Sterling these
days have thought much about how guilty many of us are in feeling the same way
that he does about modern-day race relations.
I
heard a summary first of what was supposedly caught on tape of a conversation between
Sterling and Vanessa Stiviano – one in which he lambasts her for associating
with so many black people and makes it clear he does not want her to bring any
of them around him.
When
I heard the actual recording, I have to admit that it sounded much less
incendiary.
By that, I mean it sounded much like the thoughts that are felt by many people all across
the Chicago area who make sure they live in the “proper” neighborhood or the “right”
kind of suburban community.
WHICH
USUALLY TRANSLATES to them wanting to be surrounded by individuals just like
themselves racially or ethnically. “Diversity” is a sentiment they may give lip service to, but often
don’t really want to experience all that much of.
Unless,
perhaps, it means eating out at an ethnic (albeit, not too funky) restaurant occasionally. Although
some people don’t even want to go that far.
So
the fact that Sterling doesn’t want to be around black people? I suppose that’s
his right. And our benefit, because we really don’t want to be around him,
either.
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| What does Doc think of his boss? |
There
are times that I think people like Sterling suffer the ultimate punishment, and
it’s completely self-inflicted. They surround themselves with like-minded people,
and they all wind up being miserable together.
ALTHOUGH
I PERSONALLY think the real victim in all this are any black people who, by
circumstance, are in situations where they have to be around him. Why be around
a grouchy, miserable ol’ cuss like himself?
Let
the rest of us experience our joy in life by not having to deal with people of
the sentiment of Sterling!
I
really don’t think that anything the NBA could say or do would have any real
effect on the way he thinks – even if they went the route that Major League
Baseball did a couple of decades ago when then-Cincinnati Reds owner Marge
Schott (another ol’ cuss, even if of the opposite gender) let it be known that
maybe there were a few redeemable qualities to Adolf Hitler.
She
wound up being pressured to sell the ball club to less-outspoken interests.
Just as some are saying that perhaps Los Angeles Dodgers owner Earvin “Magic”
Johnson (also the one-time Lakers player) should buy out Sterling’s share of
the Clippers.
IT
MIGHT HAVE some sense of irony, in that it was Stiviano’s admitted admiration
of Johnson that caused Sterling to go into rant-mode.
But
somehow, I suspect it will just make Sterling (and his admirers, who are now
keeping a low profile publicly) think they’re the “victims.” I can already hear
their cries of “political correctness” running amok.
Personally,
I think the worst thing that could happen to Sterling is if Stiviano and his
wife, Rochelle, were to pair up against him. Currently, the wife has a lawsuit
pending against the girlfriend because of all the gifts her husband has given
to Ms. Stiviano.
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| Most attention Clippers ever received? |
That’s
the lawsuit in which Rochelle’s attorneys wrote that Stiviano, “engages in
conduct designed to target, befriend, seduce and then … receives as gifts
transfers of wealth from older men whom she targets for such purposes.”
OUCH!!!!!!!!!
Just
think of the damage they could do to him if they worked together? I don’t think
the NBA could come close to matching that kind of venom!
-30-
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