Donald Sterling. Al Sharpton. One famous mostly in the precincts of Los Angeles, real estate, and sports. The other a household name.
Here’s the first man, quoted talking to a potential Clippers coach in 1983, as reported over at Deadspin, which has published what it calls “Your Complete Guide to Decades of Donald Sterling’s Racism”: “I wanna know why you think you can coach these ni--ers.”
And here’s Al Sharpton talking about then-New York Mayor David Dinkins, as was reported in this space: “David Dinkins.… You wanna be the only ni--er on television, the only ni--er in the newspaper, the only ni--er to talk.…Don’t cover them, don’t talk to them, cause you got the only ni--er problem….”
So it is nothing if not fitting to know the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP was set to honor both Donald Sterling and Al Sharpton — together — at a dinner on May 15, as the Los Angeles Times reported here. Sterling was set for a Lifetime Achievement Award and Sharpton for a “Person of the Year” award.
Now comes Sterling’s latest, a taped string of racial insults — and the NAACP is giving him the heave ho. But Sharpton? His lifetime of racialism nobody seems to mind. Only the other day Mr. Obama and his attorney general appeared at a gathering of — yes — Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.
And let’s recall: Just a few weeks back liberals were applauding Mozilla for dumping CEO Brendan Eich for making a $1,000 contribution to California’s Prop 8 that banned same-sex marriage. For this Eich was condemned as an anti-gay bigot. Yet, as we documented in the story in this space linked above, there is Al Sharpton big as life on video tape charging a TV audience member and bellowing: “You ain’t nothing, you a punk faggot. Now come on, do something!”
In spite of this, Sharpton gets his own MSNBC TV show, the president of the United States and the attorney general of the United States show up at his meetings, and the NAACP bestows on him an award. In a world of hypocrisies this one is hard to top.
But the Left will give it the yeoman try, as they always do. So let’s get to it. And the volunteer to step forward here is… Michael Tomasky over at the Daily Beast. As many have pointed out, Sterling contributed to two Democratic campaigns years ago, but Tomasky writes that — gasp! — Sterling is a registered Republican! Ohhhhhhhh the humanity!
In truth, neither Sterling’s contributions nor his registration are important. What’s important here is Mr. Sterling’s apparently long (forgive me, I stick with the Red Sox and until this controversy had never heard of Clippers owner Donald Sterling) record of racist comments. As word leaks that Sterling’s reputation on race was everywhere in Los Angeles — and the NAACP was willing to give him his award anyway until this latest flap — it emphasizes just how far this once stellar organization has gone to throwing away its moral authority.