LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling's Racist Rant Caught On Tape

[nehalem256]

All of that being said, I find the tapes, and the entire situation, very strange and hard to understand. I do think Sterling harbors racist views, but he is also paying a black head coach the highest salary in the league, and has a longstanding romantic relationship with this black/Mexican woman. Honestly I find the whole thing kind of confusing.

I think what it says is that people's views on race are complicated. Especially for people who are 80 years old and grew up in an entirely different time period.

And that trying to judge a man based on one idiotic thing he says while drunk, and while his vindictive gf is trying to purposefully agitate him is stupid.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I think what it says is that people's views on race are complicated. Especially for people who are 80 years old and grew up in an entirely different time period.

And that trying to judge a man based on one idiotic thing he says while drunk, and while his vindictive gf is trying to purposefully agitate him is stupid.

I don't find either of those explanations (i.e., he's old, and was drunk) totally unpersuasive. My parents are 73 and there is no way on earth either of them would say anything like this even if I gave them a fifth of Patron and a handful of Quaaludes. The idea that these comments were the result of "agitation" by the girlfriend is belied by the fact that this is clearly a topic they have discussed before - he says that himself. Moreover, he has a long history of saying things like this and engaging in discrimination against minorities as a landlord. I can only assume that the reason you're rushing to his defense is that there is a woman involved in this story, and you love any opportunity to blame women for things.

 

[nehalem256]

I don't find either of those explanations (i.e., he's old, and was drunk) totally unpersuasive. My parents are 73 and there is no way on earth either of them would say anything like this even if I gave them a fifth of Patron and a handful of Quaaludes. The idea that these comments were the result of "agitation" by the girlfriend is belied by the fact that this is clearly a topic they have discussed before - he says that himself. Moreover, he has a long history of saying things like this and engaging in discrimination against minorities as a landlord. I can only assume that the reason you're rushing to his defense is that there is a woman involved in this story, and you love any opportunity to blame women for things.

And yet the NAACP was all set to give him an award... :awe:

Apparently the NAACP is fine with discriminating against minorities as a landlord, but they draw the line at drunken comments :hmm:

 

[emperus]

I don't think there is any real question the tape is authentic or that Sterling actually said these things. Sterling's publicists have confirmed that it is him on the tape and that it is possible the tape is authentic - if they believed it was fake or altered they would be shouting that from the rooftops. I am also unconvinced by the arguments of our resident woman-hater that this was somehow entrapment by the girlfriend - it's clear from what Sterling says that this topic (her appearing in public with black people) has been a longstanding concern of Sterling's. Sterling's track record as a douchebag is also well-established - this is not his first rodeo when it comes to making outrageous and racist comments.

All of that being said, I find the tapes, and the entire situation, very strange and hard to understand. I do think Sterling harbors racist views, but he is also paying a black head coach the highest salary in the league, and has a longstanding romantic relationship with a black/Mexican woman. Honestly I find the whole thing very confusing. In any case, unless the tapes really were altered, which I feel is unlikely, I expect Sterling will be squeezed out of the NBA, and I am fine with that.

This episode has many layers to it. I hope it'll force people to reflect on the face of racism in this country and how easily it camouflages into society and how difficult it is to prove even when one knows it is happening (Elgin Baylor).

This situation isn't at all too difficult to understand. The players are akin to slaves (there to make him money) and he bought and sold them literally. He had a black coach akin to a "house ni**er" (I read he wanted to hire a white coach) who policed his "property". If you listen to the tapes, it sheds some light into his thought. He says "I give them food, clothes, cars". Like these players are pets who he cares for. But not equal people.

Even in the slavery days, owners slept with their slaves, had slaves who they cared for and slaves even lived in the house with them. It didn't change the fact that they considered these people lower forms of humans.

I'm curious why you find it hard to understand.

 

[HomerJS]

What is your point exactly?

You apparently have no issue with destroying people who secretly hold believes you dislike.

And let us remember that Don Sterling apparently did such a good job hiding his "secret racism" that the NAACP was set to give him an award.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/27/don-sterling-racist_n_5222268.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

But his ex-gf(who is current being sued for embezzling money) managed to get him drunk and agitate him to saying something stupid so the guy should be completely and utterly destroyed.

What a display of tolerance!

Yes he did a good job in hiding it.

There were housing discrimination suits settled out of court. When he gets in trouble money got him out and bought silence.

 

[nehalem256]

No, I just promote people's freedom to associate and do business with whomever they choose. You apparently want to force people to do business with those they find objectionable. I guess I'm just more interested in freedom than you are.

Unless of course that person doesn't want to bake a same-sex wedding cake or photograph a same-sex wedding or provide floral services to a same-sex wedding.

Unlike me. You literally want to use to the force of government to force people to do business with events they find objectionable.

So, if you still want a user name to replace yours that contains a racial epitaph might I suggest hypocritespy?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

And yet the NAACP was all set to give him an award... :awe:

Apparently the NAACP is fine with discriminating against minorities as a landlord, but they draw the line at drunken comments :hmm:

You act as though that fact (the NAACP being prepared to give him an award) means that he can't also be a racist. I don't see the nexus whatsoever. They were giving him the award (as they did in 2009) for donating tickets to youth groups which largely benefit minorities, not because he is citizen of the year. Frankly I imagine at the time he received the 2009 award those were tickets that would never have been sold anyway - the Clippers being decent is quite a recent phenomenon. In any case, what the NAACP was essentially recognizing was Sterling's PR efforts, not his integrity as a man (indeed, at the time he received the 2009 award, he was being sued by Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination on the basis of race, among other things).

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

This episode has many layers to it. I hope it'll force people to reflect on the face of racism in this country and how easily it camouflages into society and how difficult it is to prove even when one knows it is happening (Elgin Baylor).

This situation isn't at all too difficult to understand. The players are akin to slaves (there to make him money) and he bought and sold them literally. He had a black coach akin to a "house ni**er" (I read he wanted to hire a white coach) who policed his "property". If you listen to the tapes, it sheds some light into his thought. He says "I give them food, clothes, cars". Like these players are pets who he cares for. But not equal people.

Even in the slavery days, owners slept with their slaves, had slaves who they cared for and slaves even lived in the house with them. It didn't change the fact that they considered these people lower forms of humans.

I'm curious why you find it hard to understand.

I see your points, but the tapes themselves are so strange that I am at a loss to understand the total picture. I obviously understand that there were many slave owners who slept with slaves, but that is not what this relationship was - he appeared in public with this girlfriend on many occasions and bought her a Ferrari and two Bentleys. It appears he had real affection for her. I do accept that he is almost certainly a total bigot, and I find his actions indefensible - it's just such a weird situation that it's hard for me to get my arms around it.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Unless of course that person doesn't want to bake a same-sex wedding cake or photograph a same-sex wedding or provide floral services to a same-sex wedding.

Unlike me. You literally want to use to the force of government to force people to do business with events they find objectionable.

So, if you still want a user name to replace yours that contains a racial epitaph might I suggest hypocritespy?

Epitaph /= epithet.

 

[Retro Rob]

They decided not to give him the award after learning that he was terrible. What's hard to understand about this?

So, this is the first time they knew of his racism? Someone needs to investigate the NAACP as to why they were going to keep rewarding a known racist.

They almost had to decide against giving him the award.

 

[nehalem256]

You act as though that fact (the NAACP being prepared to give him an award) means that he can't also be a racist. I don't see the nexus whatsoever. They were giving him the award (as they did in 2009) for donating tickets to youth groups which largely benefit minorities, not because he is citizen of the year. Frankly I imagine at the time he received the 2009 award those were tickets that would never have been sold anyway - the Clippers being decent is quite a recent phenomenon. In any case, what the NAACP was essentially recognizing was Sterling's PR efforts, not his integrity as a man (indeed, at the time he received the 2009 award, he was being sued by Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination on the basis of race, among other things).

So as I said.

The NAACP apparently had no problem giving him an award when he was being sued for actual racial discrimination.

But they draw the line at drunk ravings.

Seems pretty stupid to me.

 

[emperus]

I see your points, but the tapes themselves are so strange that I am at a loss to understand the total picture. I obviously understand that there were many slave owners who slept with slaves, but that is not what this relationship was - he appeared in public with this girlfriend on many occasions and bought her a Ferrari and two Bentleys. It appears he had real affection for her. I do accept that he is almost certainly a total bigot, and I find his actions indefensible - it's just such a weird situation that it's hard for me to get my arms around it.

Not sure it was affection. He's a billionaire, so those were probably just bobbles akin to me paying a prostitute $50.

Sterling’s testimony in another case, this one involving former associate Alexandra Castro, underscores his aggressiveness with women. When Castro, whom Sterling met in Las Vegas at Al Davis’ birthday party over Fourth of July weekend in 1999, visited his Beverly Hills office, Sterling later stated under oath that she brought a lab report proving she was HIV-negative, freeing him to continue having unprotected sex with his wife. “The woman wanted sex everywhere,” Sterling said. “In the alley, in her car, in the elevator, in the upstairs seventh floor, in the bathroom.” And he paid her for it. “Every time she provided sex she got $500,” he testified in 2003. “At the end of every week or at the end of two weeks, we would figure [it] out, and I would, perhaps, pay her then.”
“When you pay a woman for sex, you are not together with her,” he further testified. “You’re paying her for a few moments to use her body for sex. Is it clear? Is it clear?”

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/04...ippers-owner-donald-sterling-hates-women.html

Here's more

“The girl was providing sex for money,” Sterling said. “She was exciting. It was exciting. I have to tell you, and it was good. And it was delicious, and it was the best of the best. And maybe I morally did something wrong … I probably didn’t tell my wife.”
There are also parts of his testimony in which his total disdain for women is horribly apparent:

“The girl always cried, never had any money, always talked about sex, 24 hours a day, when she talked to me, talked about sex and how I was so cheap. She just stripped every time you saw the woman. I have never seen anything like it in my life.
“I wouldn’t have a child and certainly not with that piece of trash. Come on. This girl is the lowest form… She is a freak. A total freak… She would say anything I asked her to say, and I would say anything she asked me to say. It was purely sex for money, money for sex, sex for money, money for sex.”
At one point, Sterling was asked whether he called Castro “honey.”

“I call everybody (that),” he said. “Every secretary is honey. I’m a very flowery man. If you are having sex with a woman you are paying for, you always call her honey because you can’t remember her name.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...terling-evils-article-1.1770667#ixzz30CIBjMMs

 

[emperus]

So, this is the first time they knew of his racism? Someone needs to investigate the NAACP as to why they were going to keep rewarding a known racist.

They almost had to decide against giving him the award.

I agree. I've never been a fan of the NAACP. I think the organization may be corrupt and in need of better leadsership.

 

[fskimospy]

Unless of course that person doesn't want to bake a same-sex wedding cake or photograph a same-sex wedding or provide floral services to a same-sex wedding.

Unlike me. You literally want to use to the force of government to force people to do business with events they find objectionable.

So, if you still want a user name to replace yours that contains a racial epitaph might I suggest hypocritespy?

Yes, I draw a distinction between people's actions and their immutable characteristics. People are responsible for what they do, not how they were born. Your continuing failure to understand this is pretty hilarious.

I have no doubt that it is not due to your inability to understand it, simply that it makes you think uncomfortable thoughts.

 

[Oldgamer]

Was this guy drunk or something? I heard the recording and he could barely put a sentence together.

If you have ever heard him speak before trust me that is how he sounds. He is a really mental old man.. very strange indeed.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

So as I said.

The NAACP apparently had no problem giving him an award when he was being sued for actual racial discrimination.

But they draw the line at drunk ravings.

Seems pretty stupid to me.

I agree - it was stupid on the part of the NAACP. That doesn't make it evidence that Sterling is not a racist, however, and that's the purpose for which you keep mentioning the NAACP award.

 

[Retro Rob]

Yes, I draw a distinction between people's actions and their immutable characteristics. People are responsible for what they do, not how they were born. Your continuing failure to understand this is pretty hilarious.

So in other words, you cannot be held liable for being born gay, but you can be for getting married gay, as marriage and sex are actions.

Thanks for clearing that up...

 

[berzerker60]

And yet the NAACP was all set to give him an award... :awe:

Apparently the NAACP is fine with discriminating against minorities as a landlord, but they draw the line at drunken comments :hmm:

Will you stop saying this? The LA chapter of the NAACP was set to give him an award. That's like the Buck County, Nebraska chapter of the NRA giving an award to a Klansman meaning that the NRA is endorsing him. Just because the klansman is buddies with Kletus, the local chapter president, doesn't mean the NRA as a whole endorses White Power.

 

[sportage]

The reaction Magic Johnson gave CNN was magic. Says it all. I think we all, regardless of whatever, would rather be told the truth up front if someone else has a problem with us instead of smiling in your face and pretending they like you.
Boils down on the family level as well.
Just tell your obnoxious uncle you'd rather he not try to befriend you when you can't really stand to be around him during that family holiday gathering.

If you're a Mr Bundy, admit your a racist, then make your racist statements on Hannity.
If you're Hannity, admit your a racist, and then proceed to give Bundy all the air time he wants, and that you stand with him.

If you're a tea party republican, just admit your a fucking racist, then vote against every single thing Obama has or tries to accomplish.

If you're the AG of Utah, admit your fucking bigoted against Gay people, then fight them in the courts.

Nothing is more sickening and more obvious than with saying something like "well I don't have anything against gay people, I'm just for traditional marriage".

Or, "I have nothing against black people, I just believe they would be better off living in their own neighborhoods".

Or, "Our client has nothing against black people, he just felt threatened by a kid in a hoodie with skittles and a can of ice tea".

You're not really fooling anybody.
Sterling isn't really fooling anybody ither.

 

[fskimospy]

So in other words, you cannot be held liable for being born gay, but you can be for getting married gay, as marriage and sex are actions.

Thanks for clearing that up...

No. I can't even remember how many times this has been gone over on here. As the courts have held as well, discriminating against acts closely associated with membership in a protected class is the same thing as discriminating against that class.

 

[shira]

the czech's have a word for it "litost". it means a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery.

you see, donald represents yourselves and your party, hence many "hoodwinked and bamboozled" followers of leftist ideology are now beginning to see the truth behind the lie.

hope that helps!

Please clarify for us what "leftist ideology" Sterling's behavior has revealed to be a lie?

 

[Retro Rob]

No. I can't even remember how many times this has been gone over on here. As the courts have held as well, discriminating against acts closely associated with membership in a protected class is the same thing as discriminating against that class.

I understand what you mean as far as the legality of it is concerned, but I was pointing to your clear distinction between immutable characteristics, and actions, as if one can be separated from the other (which I do believe).

 

[Knowing]

It's the world! You go to Israel, the blacks are just treated like dogs.

I'd never heard that before. Israel sounds pretty racist.

 

[fskimospy]

I understand what you mean as far as the legality of it is concerned, but I was pointing to your clear distinction between immutable characteristics, and actions, as if one can be separated from the other (which I do believe).

That's fine, but I don't believe they can be. Saying that it is fine to be gay so long as you never do anything gay is to me the same thing as saying it is not fine to be gay.

 

[Retro Rob]

That's fine, but I don't believe they can be. Saying that it is fine to be gay so long as you never do anything gay is to me the same thing as saying it is not fine to be gay.

The question isn't about if it can be, but rather, if it should be, which is a subjective question of morality.

I really see this not too different than those who say alcoholism "runs in the family", and the problem with so-called "immutable characteristics" is that it has and can be used to justify anything.

You don't think that idiots like Sterling used this kind of rationale to show how blacks are naturally born to be subservient to whites?