If you thought that LA Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling couldn’t possibly look worse than he did last week after racist statements he made in his private residence became all too public, you were unaware of just how out of touch and ridiculous this man’s views really are. In a more recent interview with Anderson Cooper during which Sterling wished to apologize for the racist remarks he had spewed towards Magic Johnson specifically and black people in general, Sterling actually somehow managed to come off as a bigger asshole than we had been giving him credit for.
Here are a few gems from that interview:
“I am not a racist, my mind just thinks racist things and my mouth says racist things. Blame them, not me.” – um if you think racist thoughts and say racist things I’m pretty sure you qualify as a racist.
“What does [Magic] do for Black people. He does nothing. Here’s a guy that went around and had sex with every girl in every city and got aids. What has he done?” – I’m pretty sure Magic Johnson has done tons of things for poor blacks in LA and all over the country. He’s opened up shops and amenities in neighborhoods that have historically lacked economic opportunity. He’s brought money into those areas by jump-starting the local economy and by providing jobs to minorities to work at these businesses. He’s the founder of the Magic Johnson Foundation which develops and supports local community based efforts to improve education, health and social needs in ethnically diverse areas. The man has sent over 10,000 minorities to college. And he is one of the nation’s leading spokesman promoting HIV awareness. But seriously other that what has he done?
“I’m a good member who made a mistake and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness. Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years?” – You might be entitled to one mistake if this was actually your only mistake. But lets not forget the housing discrimination suit you were involved in when you went to extraordinary lengths to keep minorities from being tenants in your properties. Or the multitude of sexual harassment suits you settled out of the courts. Or that time when NBA legend Elgin Baylor sued you for racial and age discrimination, alleging that you ran the franchise with a “plantation owner” mentality; that you wanted a team of poor southern black boys overseen by a white head coach.
“The fans and players don’t hate me. The media hates me” – I’m pretty sure the players hate you so much that they were willing to forfeit playoff games had the NBA not dropped the hammer and banished you for life. Not just your own team but players on other teams were willing to sacrifice what they had worked so hard for their entire careers just to make it clear how abhorrent they found you and that they would not continue to play in a league that still allowed you to be an owner. As far as the fans are concerned, they hated you even before it became obvious that you were a horrible human being because of your egregious track record as an owner. While you have been the owner of the Clippers, they have had the worst winning percentage of any team in this country’s four major professional sports leagues. You have been almost as inept as an owner as you have been bigoted.
This guy really just doesn’t get it. His head is so far up his ass I bet he discovered that he has prostrate cancer with his own eyes… I’m not going to go on a huge rant about it here but his estranged wife Shelly is almost equally as despicable. She wants to remain owner of the Clippers because she believes that she shouldn’t be punished for what her husband said. Maybe that’s true, except that she has been complicit and involved in almost all of Donald’s transgressions against minorities in the past. Both of you need to just go away as quickly as possible.