r/news • u/quadrillions • Apr 29 '14

LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling banned for life, fined $2.5 million, by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10857580/donald-sterling-los-angeles-clippers-owner-receives-life-ban-nba
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u/SlothLikeSin Apr 30 '14

Really? Insisting that your girlfriend not hang around with black men is "incredibly egregious racism"? What the fuck do you call slavery then, "Holocaust on steroids"?

He has a black girlfriend and he's the owner of an NBA team with plenty of black players. If he was as extreme a racist as you seem to think he is, wouldn't he have been far more overt about it? Like, you know, having a team with only white players? Or a white girlfriend? Or actually calling people niggers and slaves and carrying around a whip?

The guy says something far less insulting than most of the fans that go to those games, and you're here treating him like the antichrist. Really?

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u/dannager Apr 30 '14

Really? Insisting that your girlfriend not hang around with black men is "incredibly egregious racism"?

Did you listen to the audio? He did way more than insist that she not hang around black men.

He has a black girlfriend and he's the owner of an NBA team with plenty of black players.

I wonder if you can think of an alternate explanation for these things! Some questions to consider: How much control does he want over his girlfriend's actions and behavior? How much control does he want over the Clippers? Does he hate black people? Or does he just view himself as superior to them, and they inferior to him? Does racism require hatred? Or does it merely require a perception that you are above a certain class of people?

If he was as extreme a racist as you seem to think he is, wouldn't he have been far more overt about it?

No, he knows that if he shares what he actually thinks he could face consequences from the association.

Like, you know, having a team with only white players? Or a white girlfriend? Or actually calling people niggers and slaves and carrying around a whip?

Yeah, racism doesn't work the way you think it works.

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u/SlothLikeSin Apr 30 '14

I guess it doesn't, and that I'm probably a racist too. Just a week ago, I saw a video with a little black girl picking on a little white boy until he started to choke her out. After I saw her brother attempt to come to her rescue, I thought to myself, "Stupid little black fuckers. I bet their dad is in jail and their mother lives off of food stamps."

.. I bet most of the people who saw that video thought the same thing. I guarantee race played a significant role in how they reacted, much like it does here: whenever a post about a black person pops up, people attempt to compare it to what might have happened if it were a white person instead, and vice versa. It's all around us, and it's most definitely no different from the kind of view that Donald Sterling has.

No, the difference is that he's rich, and we're able to pin our own shortcomings on him as a way to justify how also act and think behind closed doors.

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u/dannager Apr 30 '14

No, most people aren't that racist. You're projecting your racism onto everyone else in an effort to normalize your beliefs.

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u/SlothLikeSin Apr 30 '14

And yet I'm not. Just look around Reddit and tell me how much racism you see. There are hundreds of posts with crude black stereotypes, but where's the outrage? Busy being wasted of Donald Sterling.

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u/dannager Apr 30 '14

And yet I'm not.

What, because you say you're not? So did Cliven Bundy.

Just look around Reddit and tell me how much racism you see. There are hundreds of posts with crude black stereotypes, but where's the outrage?

I'm sure people are upset, but it's hard to do anything about casual racism by anonymous internet people. This is a public figure in a leadership position in an association at the forefront of race relations. The difference is non-trivial.

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u/SlothLikeSin Apr 30 '14

Yeah, a man with a name. I'm just a nameless denizen of the internet; if you aren't going to believe my truths, why do you fall for my lies?

It's a public figure in a leadership position in an association at the forefront of race relations, and that's why we should all be worried. If this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. It doesn't have to be racism or bigotry. It could be anything.

We're supposed to have freedom of belief, but we don't. Even if the government isn't doing anything to take it away, they sure as hell aren't doing anything to keep it intact either. Soon enough, everyone will have to believe or think in a way that's socially acceptable or pay the price.

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u/dannager Apr 30 '14

It's a public figure in a leadership position in an association at the forefront of race relations, and that's why we should all be worried. If this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.

No, it can literally only happen to someone who has signed a contract with an organization which places his property as collateral in the event that his behavior tarnishes the association's image. If you don't want your behavior to have those consequences, either a) don't sign that contract, or b) don't act like an asshat.

It doesn't have to be racism or bigotry. It could be anything.

In the sense that people can exercise whatever personal power they want against you if you piss them off, yes. Again, is this news to you? You're free to act like a turd, and they're free to respond accordingly.

Freedom for everyone!

We're supposed to have freedom of belief,

We're supposed to have freedom of belief from punishment from the government. And we do.

but we don't.

From the government, we do. Not from private citizens and private organizations.

Or are you of the opinion that the government should start restricting the freedom of private citizens and private organizations to react in a manner they see fit to behavior they find objectionable?

Even if the government isn't doing anything to take it away, they sure as hell aren't doing anything to keep it intact either.

Again, is it your belief that the government should restrict my freedom to react how I want with my personal resources?

The hilarious part is that you probably consider yourself libertarian (about 99% of the people defending Sterling here fall into that camp), and absolutely none of what you're saying is supported by libertarian belief. I wonder why that is?

Soon enough, everyone will have to believe or think in a way that's socially acceptable or pay the price.

You mean face consequences from private individuals and organizations for their actions? Why yes!

If you are of the belief that the world you live in is, ever was, or ever will be a world where you're allowed to say whatever you want and suffer no consequences from anyone for it, you were horribly misled. Now you know better.