Learning from Sterling debacle

Donald Sterling may be the most-hated man in America right now.

For anyone who hasn’t heard, on Saturday TMZ came out with a recording of an argument between the billionaire Los Angeles Clippers owner and his girlfriend, in which he essentially said he didn’t want her publicly associating with African-Americans and didn’t want her bringing them to games. He ridiculed her for posing with NBA legend Magic Johnson for an Instagram picture and said he only associates with black people to keep up appearances.

Between the tsunami of negative media coverage, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s banning him from all things NBA Tuesday and every major party in sports denouncing him on a personal level, he’s basically reached Lex Luthor supervillain status in the public eye.

And for good reason.

His statements were shocking and deplorable, more fitting for a deleted “American History X” scene than an owner of a professional basketball team. And in another outstanding PR move, he’s now publicly refused to sell the team, despite nobody wanting anything to do with him. That includes the 15 sponsors who dropped the Clippers immediately after the incident.

At first glance, it’s a pretty sad state of affairs that in 2014 we’re still dealing with wealthy and influential people who hold beliefs that are more “Archie Bunker” than “prominent American businessman.” And if the old cliché about cockroaches applies, for every one we find there are a hundred others like him we can’t see.

It’s a grim state of affairs. It’s caused people like former New York Knick Larry Johnson to suggest the equally racist proposition of forming an all-black NBA. Talking heads have argued it’s causing yet another racial rift just after last summer’s George Zimmerman debacle seemed to be falling further into our rear-view mirrors.
But there’s a bright side to this whole catastrophe.

As disheartening as it has been to hear Sterling’s bigoted comments, it’s been just as encouraging to see all the negative reaction both in the media and in the community of players, coaches and owners from all sports condemning his actions. Twenty years ago this wouldn’t have been nearly the story it is today.

The simple fact that this has been the biggest issue to emerge from the sports world in months shows a major shift in the social landscape of the sports world and, by extension, society in general.

It shows that even in professional sports, one of the most sterilized and socially cautious aspects of American culture, there are major changes coming that will only serve to better society in the long run.

Just look at the situation with NFL Draft prospect Michael Sam. He will be the first active NFL player to have publicly come out as a homosexual person, only a year after San Francisco 49ers safety Chris Culliver publicly stated he wouldn’t accept a gay teammate in his locker room.

Culliver was torn apart by the sports community like Sterling, and apologized for his comments a day later. Now Sam’s future is bright. Multiple players have said they’d be more than happy to have him as a teammate.

In short, it’s clear the sports world is finally becoming more accepting despite these few aberrations. It’s proving that acceptance and tolerance will always triumph over hate and bigotry, and as a population we’ve decided we aren’t going to tolerate this any more.

There’s still work to be done, but the Sterling fiasco has helped us finally realize something: No matter the skin color, sexual orientation or religion, people are just that — people.

aknorth@indiana.edu