The topic of Donald Sterling and his racist rants to his
ex-girlfriend are a hot topic right now. This is the big news story of the
moment and people can’t get enough. Simply searching “Donald Sterling” brings
up pages upon pages of articles discussing his recent insanely racist views and
the recorded audio of said rants. The blogosphere is ablaze with opinions and
thoughts on Sterling, but I thought I would throw my two cents in as well.
Honestly, I had no idea about this entire scandal until I
saw bell hooks speak last night and she briefly discussed it. It may be because
I hate the NBA or because I have one week until graduation and a mountain of
schoolwork that has yet to be completed, but whatever the reason, this story
was not on my radar. Today, with a little research, I learned that Donald
Sterling is the 80-year-old owner of the Clippers who apparently is super
racist. In recordings, thought to be done by his ex-girlfriend, V. Stiviano,
Sterling goes on rants about disliking people of color, especially Black
individuals.
Sterling makes some insanely racist comments that are
actually horrifying to read or listen to. It’s bizarre that in 2014, there are
still people who believe these things. However, bell hooks brought up a great
point last night about how these comments were all said in private to someone
Sterling believed he could trust. It’s unfortunate that because he is such a
public figure that his private thoughts are now out there for the world to see.
I don’t agree with anything Sterling said or believes, but as bell hooks said,
“Would you want the things you say in private to be broadcast to the world?” I
know I wouldn’t.
In reality, Donald Sterling is not the problem. Sure, it’s
easy to see him as a racist and blame him completely and then move on with
life. But Donald Sterling is not the only person in the U.S who feels this way.
He is a public figure and it’s easy to just see him, but the problem is much
more widespread than just this one man. At one point in his rant Sterling makes
a comment about the players on his team and how he is the one who “gives them
food, clothes and housing.” This idea that his Black players owe him something
because he is the one who signs their checks is this “plantation mentality” in
effect. The fact that people, not just Sterling, still view the races this way
is the real problem. We can blame Sterling and then move on, but at the end of
the day, our entire society needs to change its thinking because as bell hooks
stated, white supremacy is very much still alive today. Donald Sterling’s
thinking and beliefs are a problem, but they are not THE problem because that
extends much further than just one man’s racist views.
I agree with you Kaitlyn and with bell hooks. You can't label an 80 year old man as the cause of racism in society. Although I don't condone what he did and said, he did it in private, and I don't necessarily blame him. When you think about his generation, you can't help but associate it with racists. It is sickening that this kind of hatred still exists, but I do believe progress has been made. It is also nice to see that the players protested. I read that they turned their warm up jerseys inside out so that their logo was not seen. They did not want to display their association with Donald Sterling. I think that within time only more progress will be made. It sounds bad, but the older generations will soon die out, leaving the open minded and unprejudiced. Of course racism will always be a problem, but like Kaitlyn said, it doesn't begin or end with Donald Sterling.
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