Showing himself a “strong leader”, and setting himself apart from his predecessor, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acted: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w_AB_YJA08[/youtube]
The move is praised by pundits, [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niaeYK8ilRg[/youtube]
former players, [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H91ou_RAOC0[/youtube]
coaches, [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWSyRhrmTQM[/youtube]
and politicians, as well as other interested parties.[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaFC75vlE0s[/youtube]
Judging by the social media reaction, one might decide this the most positive occurrence in the United States in many years. However, the action against Sterling is more problematic than satisfying, particularly for those who value individual liberty.
First, there is the problem of acting against Donald Sterling at all. The NBA has known of Sterling’s racism for many years:
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• Heckling his teams during games,
• Berating players in the locker room after games, and inviting guests there to admire their “beautiful black bodies”,
• Paying players on Fridays, by check, after the banks had closed, and
• Suspending players, without pay, for negative public comments.
Then there are the lawsuits:
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• 2003 – Federal Housing Discrimination: Claims included disparaging comments against black and hispanic tenants, refusing to accept rent (then using that as a basis for eviction), and having residents sign in as guests. Dismissed after a settlement was reached in 2005. Sterling was ordered to pay $5 Million in plaintiff’s attorney fees,
• 2006 – Federal Housing Discrimination: Filed by the Justice Department during the Bush administration, claims included refusing to rent to non-Koreans in LA’s Koreatown, and turning away families with children. Settled in 2009, with Sterling paying a $3 million fine, with no admission of liability, and
• 2009 – Wrongful Termination: Filed by Hall of Famer and longtime Clippers’ General Manager Elgin Baylor, claiming race and age discrimination. Baylor dropped the racism allegation before trial…and lost in court in 2011.
Commissioner Silver, while announcing the lifetime ban, acknowledged that he has known the Clippers’ owner for more than two decades. It is difficult to believe that the audiotape, which revealed sentiments agreeing with public rumor and public legal record, surprised Silver.
It is surprising, however, that the NBA ignored decades of Sterling’s inappropriate public actions, only to ban him now for private statements.
Silver was questioned about that during the news conference:
- Jovian Wei of Fox News asked, “Should someone lose their team for remarks shared in private — is this a slippery slope?”
Silver responded, “Whether or not these remarks were initially shared in private, they are now public, and they represent his views.”
Which is, of course, chilling. First of all, privately-held racist, or any other, views are neither illegal, immoral, nor unethical; those characterizations are reserved for public behavior… which, again, in Sterling’s case, the NBA ignored.
Next, there is the matter of punishing people for what they think that is no one else’s business. Much is made about the statements coming to light, and that therefore it is appropriate to act upon them. However, that is an odd notion.
Private communication generally cannot be used to convict a person of a crime. If it cannot be used to take away a person’s liberty, then how should it be the basis to take someone’s property, especially when criminality is not even alleged? Should Sterling indeed go down, will the Orlando Magic owner, who donated private money to support traditional marriage, also lose his team, especially after the NBA gushed so publicly over Jason Collins?
The question is this: not whether private statements or actions might become public but, even if made public, whether a person’s noncriminal private deeds should be used to deprive them of benefits from properties and investments?
While the answer is, and should remain, “No”, the NBA now works to legitimize the authority of “thought police”, or political correctness, to punish people, materially, for “inappropriate” private beliefs, not inappropriate public actions, individual liberty consideration be damned.
Of course, Sterling’s history includes many appropriate actions, including: making millionaires of scores, if not hundreds, of young black men over the course of 33 years; hiring and keeping a black vice president of basketball operations for 22 years, despite a losing record and only one playoff series win during that span; donations to many charities, who are deciding what to do with the money.
And it includes longtime support of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP. Shortly before Sterling paid a multimillion dollar settlement in the Justice Department’s housing discrimination suit against him in 2009, the Los Angeles NAACP presented Sterling with a lifetime award. They were scheduled to fete Sterling again, this month, before the Sterling audiotape surfaced. None of that matters now.
In another unsurprising move, the head of the Los Angeles NAACP, a man with a past as scurrilous as Sterling’s, has resigned…but the NAACP’s integrity, or lack thereof, is another matter entirely.
Sacramento Mayor and former NBA Player Kevin Johnson made a telling statement in his remarks:
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“I believe that today stands as one of those great moments: where sports, once again, transcends, where sports provides a place for fundamental change on how our country should think and act.”
Of course, the NBA did not identify any inappropriate action, on Sterling’s part, against either the NBA or its players. So is Mr. Johnson looking to control thought? Through sports?
Magic Johnson said, of Sterling’s remarks, “…there is no place in our society for it…” and, of Sterling, “…he should stand up and say, I don’t want to own a team anymore…”
Hmmm…
So, a sports league should dictate to the nation: how it should think and act; what things do, or do not have a place in society; and who should be allowed to invest in what…based on how they feel about what others may think, which is none of their business?
If that does not subject individual liberty to collectivist thought, then it is difficult to say what does.
Not surprisingly, the race pimps have appeared. Jesse Jackson is already looking to coax cash from Hewlett-Packard, so he’s busy. However, Al Sharpton and the NAACP (you cannot make this stuff up) want to shake down the NBA regarding diversity…perhaps they will demand more white players?
One thing is certain: the push for “what we think” over “what is right” will continue, so long as you have thinking like this in the black community: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgKiMRpufoM[/youtube]
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