That's Donald Sterling. Donald Sterling owns the Los Angeles Clippers. Donald Sterling is also paying the biggest housing discrimination fine in history.
...Had the case gone to trial, an expert would have testified that an analysis of the Sterlings' rental practices in Koreatown revealed that they rented to far fewer African Americans and Hispanics than would be expected, based on demographics. As part of the settlement, the Sterlings will be required to pay for an independent contractor to monitor their employees' compliance with the Fair Housing Act over the next three years. The results of the tests would be reported to the Sterlings and to the government.
It's not the first time Sterling has been accused of racism. He has a history of discriminating against tenants. And you don't get repeated fines and accusations if there's not some ring of truth to it.
So here we have the owner of the league's laughingstock franchise paying millions in fines and settlements because of racist practices. Seems like a great time for the NBA to swoop in and find a way to force him out. Or... maybe not.
That link and snippet come from a very good Dan Wetzel piece on Yahoo... where he wonders what we should all be wondering: Where's the outrage? Here, he makes the best point:
It’s two different leagues, two different groups of people, two different circumstances, but the parallels with the firestorm that enveloped Limbaugh’s potential bid to become a minority owner of the St. Louis Rams immediately spring to mind.
Limbaugh was engulfed from all directions. Players, owners, union officials – even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell – all voiced opinions, almost all negative. There was an avalanche of media coverage; in part, because Limbaugh delivers the ratings and page views. (Sterling is merely famous for being one of the worst owners in professional sports.)
Still, Limbaugh was attacked for expressing political views that some people find offensive. You may hate every word he says, but he wasn’t repeatedly settling multimillion dollar racial-discrimination lawsuits.
You’d think Sterling was worth something.
You'd think. I heard people making the point that it's easy for players to say they wouldn't play for the Rams if Rush owned them... because he didn't own them yet. Once he owned the team, who'd turn down the multi-million dollar deals? Maybe the Clippers are proof of that. Everyone knows what Donald Sterling is... but guys still go there for big contracts (on the rare occasion that he hands one out).
So it seems to me that you got a racist (not to mention a cheapskate) in possession of a joke of a franchise... and it seems the NBA is OK with that. And if they let this pass without batting an eye, then they're sending a simple message: It's ok to be racist if you're rich.
