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Was Sterling's punishment too much? [W:359]

Was the punishment too harsh?

  • Yes

    Votes: 56 60.2%

  • No

    Votes: 37 39.8%
  • Total voters
    93
MildSteel said:
I'm asking how do you feel. Do you feel that employers should be able to make racist comments to workers simply because they are paying them?
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No, I don't think they should be able to. However, I think benefits of the doubt should be given to employers if the statement is borderline. There's a difference between telling a tasteless joke and "damn I hate coons".
 
MildSteel said:
I'm asking how do you feel. Do you feel that employers should be able to make racist comments to workers simply because they are paying them?
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Why not? Because it would hurt your feelings or inform you that your employer is a racist and it might be a good idea to look for other work?
 
grip said:
First you say 'expressing an opinion is not what he did', then you say 'your opinion can then actively harm others', which one is it?

I think what he said was contemptible and should have 'some' consequences. People can react, condemn and show their disapproval in a legal manner.

But it was an expression of his opinion on a matter, not active discrimination. As distasteful as words of racism and bigotry are, if you make them out of bounds and you start censoring words and opinions, the list will grow and grow. There's a reason they don't limit free speech, because trying to use thought control never works out well. Naturally, you can't scream 'bomb' in an airport, disturb the peace or do other verbal escapades that lead to harmful action but that is enough.
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You are confusing the terms of a voluntary private contractual agreement with the gov't not respecting individual rights. These are entirely unrelated concepts. It is your right to say anything that you wish but not to expect that to be ignored by others, especially when it directly harms their business interests. The NBA is not locking him up, or even shutting him up, they are simply shunning him out the NBA for the benefit of the other owners, players, sponsors and fans.
 
Gipper said:
I don't have a problem with anyone as long as it's not conscription or slavery. If you work for an employer and receive compensation in return, that's all that matters. If you don't like him, you can quit.

{snip rest of post}
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That is not applicable to the NBA since the players are under contractual obligations to that team/owner which greatly limits their options. If a player does like not earning millions playing in the NBA then he can obviously quit and walk away, yet that player may not simply switch teams as would be the case for a burger flipper or a carpenter.
 
opendebate said:
Yeah, it was late I didn't read that through.

The bottom line here, it's my understanding, is he violated the bylaws of the league so there are legal grounds. Those kinds of guidelines for behavior were incorporated into the league bylaws for a reason. It seems you just don't think those reasons are good enough and my guess is reason that you don't think those reasons are good enough is because you've never been a victim of racism. Not in an overt way that actually interferes in your life.
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I've said my piece and made my point, I won't argue it ad nauseam.

It's illegal to tape someone in California without their consent, so they have to legally prove he was aware of the recording. And those bylaws and constitution give the NBA Commissioner all kinds of latitude in interpretation and application. It's a private organization that can act in any way they want, within the law.

Paragraph 35(A)(c), Silver can issue an indefinite suspension and a fine of $1 million to any owner who "makes ... a statement having or designed to have an effect prejudicial or detrimental to the best interests of basketball."

That's pretty damned vague. He could've said 'basketball sucks' and been charged under those rules.

And don't preach too me about racism, because all of society suffers some form of discrimination at one time or another. Women, Latinos, Asians, poor people, even rich white men. You have no idea what I've gone thru in my life.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
You are confusing the terms of a voluntary private contractual agreement with the gov't not respecting individual rights. These are entirely unrelated concepts. It is your right to say anything that you wish but not to expect that to be ignored by others, especially when it directly harms their business interests. The NBA is not locking him up, or even shutting him up, they are simply shunning him out the NBA for the benefit of the other owners, players, sponsors and fans.
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I'm not confusing anything. I know the difference between the government acting and a private institution. My warning is against the two, blurring the lines of reasonable behavior and legalities. What's accepted as an appropriate response by the NBA today, can easily be drafted into a Bill before Congress tomorrow.
 
Gipper said:
No, I don't think they should be able to. However, I think benefits of the doubt should be given to employers if the statement is borderline. There's a difference between telling a tasteless joke and "damn I hate coons".
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I understand. I just wanted to clear that up.
 
Henrin said:
Why not? Because it would hurt your feelings or inform you that your employer is a racist and it might be a good idea to look for other work?
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Why not is that I come from a part of the country were not too long ago, meaning up until the mid to late 60s, white people could indeed and did indeed say things like that to black workers and there was nothing done about it. Black people had to simply tolerate that type of abuse for years. So no, I don't want to see that type of behavior tolerated, because I don't want to have to go through that.
 
Did the guy have a pattern of comments- like say those made by Mahatma Gandhi, or was this an isolated comment made to his girl friend in the course of a bad day?

If it is a one time shot, I think they went way overboard.
 
grip said:
I've said my piece and made my point, I won't argue it ad nauseam.

It's illegal to tape someone in California without their consent, so they have to legally prove he was aware of the recording. And those bylaws and constitution give the NBA Commissioner all kinds of latitude in interpretation and application. It's a private organization that can act in any way they want, within the law.

Paragraph 35(A)(c), Silver can issue an indefinite suspension and a fine of $1 million to any owner who "makes ... a statement having or designed to have an effect prejudicial or detrimental to the best interests of basketball."

That's pretty damned vague. He could've said 'basketball sucks' and been charged under those rules.

And don't preach too me about racism, because all of society suffers some form of discrimination at one time or another. Women, Latinos, Asians, poor people, even rich white men. You have no idea what I've gone thru in my life.
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Don't get pissy. I didn't claim to know, that's why I said "my guess". Leaving room for you inform me if I was incorrect. And I wasn't preaching. You Baby.

Maybe it can be said just about everyone has suffered "some form of discrimination" but that's not really the point. If I get a splinter and you lose your arm is our pain on the same level? No. If you're a white dude these is not way you have endured racism on the same level as just about any black man or woman in this country.
 
All I know is that I want to see this woman sued and jailed until she bleeds. Then jailed some more.
 
This guy has been spouting racial crap since he's owned the team.. in public and out of public. He has no place owning a team that children look up to.


Lets also remember that the NBA is an organization. The organization is private and therefor can say who can own a team and who can not. This isn't some gov't action, its the actions of a private organization.
 
opendebate said:
Don't get pissy. I didn't claim to know, that's why I said "my guess". Leaving room for you inform me if I was incorrect. And I wasn't preaching. You Baby.

Maybe it can be said just about everyone has suffered "some form of discrimination" but that's not really the point. If I get a splinter and you lose your arm is our pain on the same level? No. If you're a white dude these is not way you have endured racism on the same level as just about any black man or woman in this country.
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I'm not a baby, I'm NOT! :baby2
 
grip said:
This is leading down a very slippery slope, where we allow Media outrage to guide our reactions, in a legal sense, towards the expression of someones opinion. Once you start limiting what people can say, you're only one step away from limiting ALL freedoms based on standards not rooted in the law. Mob rule is an appeal to emotions of common denominators, like anger, self righteousness and revenge, not reason, tolerance and justice.
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The NBA is a private organization. Children watch and look up to these teams, and regardless if he said it in private or public the NBA has every right to say who has the right to own a team and who does not.
 
Gipper said:
All I know is that I want to see this woman sued and jailed until she bleeds. Then jailed some more.
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Yes, clearly his mistress is responsible for his racist views. And for Sterling giving her a house, and a stipend, while Sterling was still married. And if we shoot the messenger, the problem goes away. Oh wait....

The legality of the recordings is not clear, neither do we know for sure how the recordings were publicly released. At a minimum, we know that the woman claims she had his consent, and that so far he has not demanded any legal acting taken against her.

And ultimately, it's a red herring. Nothing that she did changes Sterling's attitudes or actions.
 
MildSteel said:
Why not is that I come from a part of the country were not too long ago, meaning up until the mid to late 60s, white people could indeed and did indeed say things like that to black workers and there was nothing done about it. Black people had to simply tolerate that type of abuse for years. So no, I don't want to see that type of behavior tolerated, because I don't want to have to go through that.
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Nobody should be verbally abused or assualted by their employer, regardless of their color, sex, or other unique attribute.

I'm a blonde woman, and have had to tolerate "dumb blonde" jokes most of my life. I've learned to ignore them because in the grand scheme of things, they don't matter to me, but if I really think about it, I could be highly offended.
 
OnWisconsin said:
The NBA is a private organization. Children watch and look up to these teams, and regardless if he said it in private or public the NBA has every right to say who has the right to own a team and who does not.
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So. What's your point?
 
grip said:
So. What's your point?
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My point is that if he were to own his own league and set his own rules then he can spout all the racist crap that he wants. But low and behold he does not. He owns a team in a private organization called the NBA and their rules dictate that he, as a public figure representative of the NBA, can not go and spout racial bullcrap. He's been doing this for years, its not like this was a one time incident that the NBA flipped out about.
 
OnWisconsin said:
My point is that if he were to own his own league and set his own rules then he can spout all the racist crap that he wants. But low and behold he does not. He owns a team in a private organization called the NBA and their rules dictate that he, as a public figure representative of the NBA, can not go and spout racial bullcrap. He's been doing this for years, its not like this was a one time incident that the NBA flipped out about.
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He's made a lot of blacks mighty rich in the last few years too. Seems words are more important than actions to some.
 
Psychoclown said:
I think Sterling is a scumbag and deserves plenty of public ire, but I'm not a fan of this kind of heavy handed punishment for what was a private conversation. He didn't make those statements in a public venues in the capacity of an NBA owner - then NBA punishment would be warranted. He did in private and was recorded doing so. That doesn't make his words any less despicable, but I personally don't see it as an issue the NBA needs to address.

Would I support free agents refusing to sign with the Clippers while Sterling owned them? Yup. Would I back the players currently on the Clippers if they refused to play for this scumbag? You bet ya. Would I love to see a fan boycott of the team? Oh yeah. But I'm not crazy about the NBA or any organization playing the role of thought police.
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I agree with you to a certain point. I don't agree with forcing him to sell his franchise. Let the free market take care of that. But on the flip side, the NBA is a association that has the right to protect its brand. Regardless if the words were spoken in private or not, having this guy as a owner in the association would be a cancer to the league.
 
OnWisconsin said:
My point is that if he were to own his own league and set his own rules then he can spout all the racist crap that he wants. But low and behold he does not. He owns a team in a private organization called the NBA and their rules dictate that he, as a public figure representative of the NBA, can not go and spout racial bullcrap. He's been doing this for years, its not like this was a one time incident that the NBA flipped out about.
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Spout? He didn't "spout".

All this ruling does is show that there is no such thing as "privacy" if you're an NBA owner. Mark Cuban better check his house for bugs.
 
tres borrachos said:
Oh I'm sorry. I should have said instead "Our country is so wonderful! We all are supposed to now hold hands say how much we all love everybody! Shame on Sterling for not falling in line! He didn't read the memo that said he's not supposed to tell his girlfriend who he wants her to hang out with. I mean, isn't that the most important thing we have to worry about in the USA - who people's girlfriends take selfies with?"
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:lol: Yeah, because selfies and his girlfriend are the real issue here, not Sterling's dislike of black people. One can only wonder what could motivate such dedicated apologism.
 
a351 said:
:lol: Yeah, because selfies and his girlfriend are the real issue here, not Sterling's dislike of black people. One can only wonder what could motivate such dedicated apologism.
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So like I said, his sin was not liking everyone.

I don't know about you, but I don't sit up at night worrying about who total strangers like or don't like. But hey, whatever makes you happy. Everyone needs a hobby.
 
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