Over the weekend, TMZ released a tape of Los Angeles Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, saying he didn’t want his girlfriend, identified as V. Stiviano, to bring black people to his games. Stiviano is black and Mexican herself, although the recording reveals Sterling believes she can (and should) pass herself off as purely white or Latina.
Clippers Owner Donald Sterling to GF - Don't Bring Black People to My Games, Including Magic Johnson
Here’s a snippet of the conversation:
DS: “There’s a culture”
GF: “What culture?”
DS: “People feel certain things. Hispanics feel certain things towards Blacks. Blacks feel certain things towards other groups. It’s been that way historically and it will always be that way.”
The discussion apparently stemmed from photos posted on Stiviano’s Instagram account, showing her with black people, notably basketball player Magic Johnson and baseball player Matt Kemp.
At Jezebel, Erin Gloria Ryan writes Your Biracial Girlfriend Won’t Cure Your Horrible Racism:
"…it brings into sharp relief the fallacy of claiming that dating, loving, or befriending a member of another race somehow inoculates a person against racism. "But My Husband/Wife/Best Friend/Top Performing Employee/Hookup Buddy Is Black!" is not an insurance policy against racism. In fact, in cases like Sterling's, surrounding himself with black people has only served to embolden his chainsaw-fucked world view."
Carolyn Edgar writes on Salon, that Sterling’s remarks — like those of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy — are not just an old man’s harmless babbling but what modern racism looks like:
"For his part, Donald Sterling is not only the owner of the Clippers, he is also a real estate mogul who has faced numerous lawsuits alleging that he discriminated against blacks and Hispanics who sought to rent his apartment units. He is not simply a harmless old bigot speaking nonsense in the heat of a lovers’ quarrel with his much-younger mistress. Sterling’s well-documented racism was largely ignored by the NBA and the mainstream media for years."
Blogger Christelyn Karazin writes at Beyond Black & White:
"With all that man’s money, why wouldn’t he just have an Aryan girlfriend? Why try to make a mixed one into his ideal? Geezus, it’s like listening to a slave owner telling his mistress to pass for white so she can show herself acceptable to polite society. This man seriously needs to be dumped in wax and displayed at a museum."
Should the NBA take action against Donald Sterling? What about the players or fans? Let's talk about it in the comments...
News and Politics Editor Grace Hwang Lynch blogs about raising an Asian mixed-race family at HapaMama.