Re: So Clippers owner Donald Sterling is extremely racist
Did Shaq ever have business dealings that made him profit from being prejuideced against disabled people? Did Shaq ever employ disabled people and then take them to court over their remaining contracts? Does Shaq have a repeated history of being prejudicial against disabled people? Did Shaq ever have a tape released where he states that disabled people are subhuman, meanwhile he profits heavily from their labor?
Shaq posted a picture in distaste. It was short sighted and stupid. He made fun of another person for their unattractive appearance. He should be fined and publically ridiculed. But to even begin to compare a picture mocking someone to repeated and blatant racism and platationsit mentality spanning the course of decades...
Well that's just fucking stupid.
Appreciate the nice little compliment at the end.
So a lifetime achievement award for Sterling. I get that.
But Shaq is an owner too and did this literally within the same week as Sterling...publicly. He deserves worse than you're saying if only because of Silver's penalties against Sterling. It just looks beyond fishy.
But I think you, like the NBA, are relying on some pretty faulty grounds to prove Sterling's worldview had any clear impact on his decision-making as an owner. Do it...prove to me on paper that his racism directly caused him to discriminate against minorities as a position as the owner. I think the closest you're going to come is Elgin Baylor's horrible salary.
The whole "plantation mentality," "blacks are sub-human" stuff seems to be hyperbole. I didn't get either one of those two things from his private, not intended to be shared publicly comments, were mentalities that impaired him as an owner. Look at the information that's available...He didn't pay the players any less than the white players. He employed a black GM. He employed a black coach. You think he did that to come off as a racially sensitive guy?
With that said, I'm sure there's more information to he had that may paint Sterling in a worse light. There'd almost have to be because there's a clear indication he thinks that way. But...
But I'm looking at this based on what information was available to the public and how Silver acted in response to that information. And I'm still not convinced it wasn't an over-reaction made to appease a group that has a great deal of control over the NBA. And if you're going to punish one owner harshly for private comments against black people, then you've put yourself in a position where you should be calling a make-up foul when a black person bullies a disabled person in a public forum.
And he hasn't. And it's been overshadowed entirely by the Sterling story rather than being used as an example that the NBA doesn't accept it's owners bullying the disabled. Because as it stands, here's what the NBA's position appears to be...
NBA owner Shaquille O' Neal is permitted to make fun of a disabled person online with no consequences.
And that's a shame.
