There Should Be No Tolerance for Donald Sterling's Racism

Sports are often far ahead of society when it comes to change. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the color barrier which not only ended segregation in baseball but also led the way for integration of African Americans in all sports.

Although the decision to have an African American on the team did not come without some criticism from newspapers and teammates alike, people soon realized that the color of Robinson’s skin didn’t matter. What mattered is that Jackie Robinson could play baseball.

Breaking the color barrier in baseball came much sooner than integration did in society. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education sought to end segregation in public schools. At the same time, numerous African American baseball players were playing for teams throughout the MLB. It took seven years for society to catch up to baseball, which is a testament to sports leading the way for social change. 

The United States has progressed tremendously regarding civil rights since the time of Jackie Robinson. With that being said, there are still many people who hold biases and contempt for different races. One of those people is Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Sterling made headlines when a leaked phone call between him and his girlfriend V. Stiviano, was given TMZ. Sterling was upset that Stiviano posted a picture on Instagram with Magic Johnson saying, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people.” He went on the say, that he does not want her to “bring them [black people] to my games”

It’s astounding that anyone could say such prejudicial words, let alone the owner of an NBA team.

There are only two players on the clippers roster who aren’t African American, and Coach Doc Rivers is also black. How do you think Rivers and the players feel knowing their checks are coming from someone who views them as inferior? 

78 percent of NBA players are African American. They are the reason that owners are making millions of dollars, and they are the reason that the NBA is as profitable as ever. The least Sterling can do is show a bit of respect for his employees.

Donald Sterling is a proven racist, and the phone call is not his first slip up. He was involved in a lawsuit that settled for 2.7 million dollars, in which he allegedly refused to allow Hispanics or Blacks to rent apartments that he owned. After that, Laker legend and former Clippers general manager, Elgin Baylor, went to court with a lawsuit stating that he was wrongfully terminated because of racial discrimination.

Mr. Sterling should be forced to sell his team. There should be no tolerance for people who speak poorly of other races and discriminate. Sports are a platform that is usually years ahead of society regarding social change, but in this case, sports took a giant step backward.