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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
So like I said, his sin was not liking everyone.

Your attempt to downplay and soften his comments is duly noted. Racism != Not liking everyone. Learn the difference, or cut the dishonesty and at least recognize such.

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.

As if one can't openly oppose and seek to censor such backwardness without obsessing over it. I'm starting to wonder if you're capable of carrying on a discussion in normal terms.
 
Your attempt to downplay and soften his comments is duly noted. Racism != Not liking everyone. Learn the difference, or cut the dishonesty and at least recognize such.



As if one can't openly oppose and seek to censor such backwardness without obsessing over it. I'm starting to wonder if you're capable of carrying on a discussion in normal terms.

Nice try, but I don't attempt to downplay or soften anything. I don't care about his comments. You do. I don't obsess over who someone wants his girlfriend to hang out with.

He was the NBA's problem - not mine. They dealt with him. Me, I don't really care about him.
 
Nice try, but I don't attempt to downplay or soften anything. I don't care about his comments. You do. I don't obsess over who someone wants his girlfriend to hang out with.

He was the NBA's problem - not mine. They dealt with him. Me, I don't really care about him.
No one's obsessing here :shrug: Your continued insistence that the discussion merely revolved around who he wanted his girlfriend to hang out with is downplaying his comments and attempting to cast them in a far more positive light. Anyone with a lick of sense can see that quite clearly.
 
No one's obsessing here :shrug: Your continued insistence that the discussion merely revolved around who he wanted his girlfriend to hang out with is downplaying his comments and attempting to cast them in a far more positive light. Anyone with a lick of sense can see that quite clearly.

Oh. Oh well. Carry on then. There's probably someone making a racist comment to his girlfriend in private right now. Maybe you can find that person? I don't have the time, sorry. The Rangers are on soon.
 
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.

Dumb blond jokes are one thing. But that's nothing compared to how blacks, like my parents and grandparents, were treated in the south up until the mid to late sixties. It's unbelievable when you think about it. How could such behavior be tolerated for so long.
 
The issue here with this Sterling guy has nothing to do with if its ok to be racist (its not cool) It has everything to do with the NBA being a private organization. Are you all a bunch of socialists and think the government should interfere with the will of a private organization to remove an owner for doing something that is not only horrible for image but has been happening since this guy has owned the team. The NBA has determined that they've had enough of Mr. Sterling's B.S. and they want him gone. There is no 1st amendment issue here, if he wants I'm sure he can sue his girlfriend, but he's still going to lose the team.
 
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.

The NBA as a private voluntary association certainly has the right to enforce certain standards on its members as long as the penalties were applied in compliance with their establish by-laws that Sterling agreed to when he joined the league (or were passed after he joined the league) then I have no LEGAL issue with what the NBA did.

I don't know what to call my concern really. I'm just always leery of thought police, no matter what form they take. A grass roots, market based response to Sterling's comments (and history) is fine by me and as I said, I would support such efforts. But a top down punishment being imposed upon him for something he did privately outside the scope of his association with the NBA, that's the sort of thing I'm less comfortable with. I won't loose any sleep over it really, because Sterling is a scumbag, but the precedent of "If you don't think like us, we'll do everything we can to ruin you" isn't one that I'd personally like to see set.
 
For his racist comments caught on tape, Clippers owner Donald Sterling recently had this ruling put on him by NBA commissioner Adam Silver:

$2.5M fine (maximum allowed in by-laws)
Lifetime ban from NBA games
Lifetime ban from NBA function
Zero access to facilities during Clippers games and practices
Urging by the BoD to owners for forced divestiture of ownership



Was the hammer too great, or spot on?

Also to take into consideration:

He spoke these words on his private property
He broke no actual laws
His girlfriend broke the law by recording him without his knowledge

Should Gotham look the other way if Batman's mask slips and a cop sees he's Bruce Wayne? It's done: Sterling got sloppy and his true feelings came out, endangering the NBA. You don't put those kinds of comments back in their box.
 
But a top down punishment being imposed upon him for something he did privately outside the scope of his association with the NBA, that's the sort of thing I'm less comfortable with. I won't loose any sleep over it really, because Sterling is a scumbag, but the precedent of "If you don't think like us, we'll do everything we can to ruin you" isn't one that I'd personally like to see set.

I understand what you are saying here. But when I consider Sterling's position, and the fact that it wasn't too long ago that blacks were treated like dirt, as a matter of government policy in the south, I feel they did the right thing. If it weren't for the rather nasty historical context, I could say it wasn't so bad. But unfortunately that has to be taken into consideration.
 
For his racist comments caught on tape, Clippers owner Donald Sterling recently had this ruling put on him by NBA commissioner Adam Silver:

$2.5M fine (maximum allowed in by-laws)
Lifetime ban from NBA games
Lifetime ban from NBA function
Zero access to facilities during Clippers games and practices
Urging by the BoD to owners for forced divestiture of ownership



Was the hammer too great, or spot on?

Also to take into consideration:

He spoke these words on his private property
He broke no actual laws
His girlfriend broke the law by recording him without his knowledge

He's not punished for what he said.
He's punished for the media frenzy and the embarassment caused. Sure - they might not say it - but, as what we've seen with other people - how far spread the story goes amplifies the response directly.
 
The NBA as a private voluntary association certainly has the right to enforce certain standards on its members as long as the penalties were applied in compliance with their establish by-laws that Sterling agreed to when he joined the league (or were passed after he joined the league) then I have no LEGAL issue with what the NBA did.

I don't know what to call my concern really. I'm just always leery of thought police, no matter what form they take. A grass roots, market based response to Sterling's comments (and history) is fine by me and as I said, I would support such efforts. But a top down punishment being imposed upon him for something he did privately outside the scope of his association with the NBA, that's the sort of thing I'm less comfortable with. I won't loose any sleep over it really, because Sterling is a scumbag, but the precedent of "If you don't think like us, we'll do everything we can to ruin you" isn't one that I'd personally like to see set.

I agree with most of what you said. He did say those things in private, which if they stayed private might have saved him his team. They did not, and the NBA has to save face or risk angering their fan base. I mean children watch these teams and look up to them, and now that one of the owners is looked at as a racist the NBA can hardly allow him to stay. Its also an issue of him not just saying this in private but he's acted like an asshat multiple times in the past. This is most likely the culmination of a good many things the NBA has been pissed about.
 
He's not punished for what he said.
He's punished for the media frenzy and the embarassment caused. Sure - they might not say it - but, as what we've seen with other people - how far spread the story goes amplifies the response directly.
Not that I mind his punishment, but seriously? He is punished for the "media sensation" he caused in only under a week? In the NBA? Huh?
nba.jpg
 
All those players calling each other nigger need to be banned as well... this is reverse racism that is more disgusting than affirmative action. What he did is deplorable but to single him out like this is disgusting and hypocritical.
 
All those players calling each other nigger need to be banned as well... this is reverse racism that is more disgusting than affirmative action.

You don't understand that the word is not being used as pejorative in such cases? How could anyone not understand that?

What he did is deplorable but to single him out like this is disgusting and hypocritical.

Because him being a racist is the same as using the word 'nigga' as 'friend'?
 
Not that I mind his punishment, but seriously? He is punished for the "media sensation" he caused in only under a week? In the NBA? Huh?

Don't you understand? He's a victim of the evil Joo media that covers up crimes by blacks and sensationalizes crimes by whites in order to facilitate the secret race war.

Wake up white people!!
 
You don't understand that the word is not being used as pejorative in such cases? How could anyone not understand that?

Of course I understand that... how could anybody think that somebody didn't actually understand that.

Because him being a racist is the same as using the word 'nigga' as 'friend'?

The point is that it is hypocritical but I do love the fact that you think that you are clever. :lol:
 
Don't you understand? He's a victim of the evil Joo media that covers up crimes by blacks and sensationalizes crimes by whites in order to facilitate the secret race war.

Wake up white people!!

I used to think that you had some smarts... now all I see is a whiney drama queen.
 
The point is that it is hypocritical but I do love the fact that you think that you are clever. :lol:

What's hypocritical? Being against racism?
 
What's hypocritical? Being against racism?

Claiming to be against racism while using racist jargon is hypocritical. I am sorry you can't grasp this. Truly.
 
Claiming to be against racism while using racist jargon is hypocritical. I am sorry you can't grasp this. Truly.

The word 'nigga', used to mean 'friend' is not racist. Further, minorities cannot be racist in any socially meaningful way. As racism is a social construct, and not an individual creation, minorities thereby cannot even be racist.

I'm sorry if blacks using the word in ways not intended makes you unhappy. Good luck overcoming that terrible trauma.
 
The word 'nigga', used to mean 'friend' is not racist.

So white people can call other white people nigger or nigga in front of black people without any negative connotation?

Yeah... I thought so. Your idea is utter bull****.

Further, minorities cannot be racist in any socially meaningful way. As racism is a social construct, and not an individual creation, minorities thereby cannot even be racist.

That is one of the most idiotic conclusions that I have ever heard. :lol:

I won't even begin to tear that stupid crap apart because it is literally beyond rational thinking... :lol:
 
So white people can call other white people nigger or nigga in front of black people without any negative connotation?

Yeah... I thought so. Your idea is utter bull****.

So what? That doesn't make 'nigga', used in a non-pejorative way, racist.

That is one of the most idiotic conclusions that I have ever heard. :lol:

I won't even begin to tear that stupid crap apart because it is literally beyond rational thinking... :lol:

Racism is a social construct. It cannot be created by an individual. As a social construct, only socially meaningful manifestations are significant. As blacks have no institutional power with which to back their bigotry, they are not capable of racism. They can be racial bigots, but their beliefs will never carry any connotations for me, a white person. They're just pissing in the wind.

When a black says they hate whites, does that threaten you? No, of course not, because it will never affect your ability to get a job, house or fair shake in court.

When a white says they hate blacks, it carries very real implications for blacks.


Racists like to ignore this distinction. They also like to ignore the historical implications. They like to reduce the word to the simplest possible meaning, using only the first dictionary definition, in order to draw false equivalence and ignore the very real impacts yesterday and today of actual -socially meaningful- racism.
 
So what? That doesn't make 'nigga', used in a non-pejorative way, racist.



Racism is a social construct. It cannot be created by an individual. As a social construct, only socially meaningful manifestations are significant. As blacks have no institutional power with which to back their bigotry, they are not capable of racism. They can be racial bigots, but their beliefs will never carry any connotations for me, a white person. They're just pissing in the wind.

When a black says they hate whites, does that threaten you? No, of course not, because it will never affect your ability to get a job, house or fair shake in court.

When a white says they hate blacks, it carries very real implications for blacks.


Racists like to ignore this distinction. They also like to ignore the historical implications. They like to reduce the word to the simplest possible meaning, using only the first dictionary definition, in order to draw false equivalence and ignore the very real impacts yesterday and today of actual -socially meaningful- racism.

If a black person hates you because you are white it makes it racist. Being able to get a job is irrelevant. There is no distinction to ignore.

...and nigger or nigga used by anybody is racist because if a white guy can't call a black guy that he just met on the courts a nigger without being labelled a racist, or being attacked as a racist, as every rational person knows would happen... then it is reverse racism and hypocritical. I worked in the inner city with gang youths... what is your experience? None, I would bet my life. You are more than likely your prototypical guilt ridden white person that is attempting to justify a social wrong doing... and that is fine. The way that you are doing it though, is wrong.
 
Not that I mind his punishment, but seriously? He is punished for the "media sensation" he caused in only under a week? In the NBA? Huh?
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If his comments stayed relatively private - where only a few in the NBA knew about it - do you think the NBA would have done what they have done?

No. I don't believe they would have. They would have hoped and prayed it stayed private.

Do you think this is the first time that he had said anything racially charged at all? That, up until that moment, no one knew?

When was the last time you heard of any organization (corporate / sports / otherwise) punishing someone initially? "We have fired Bill Bransk - CEO of Holdings Incorporated - for racial slurs shared over a series of emails between his wife and his intern" . . . seriously? I can't recall that ever happening except for in, perhaps, law enforcement.
 
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