jjsimp: Anyone else sick of hearing about the racist LA Clippers owner? I hate to say it but racism will never be a thing of the past, and harping on some comments a LA Clippers owner made to his girlfriend that he was pissed about is not news. People say all kinds of things that they don't mean when they are having arguments.
Get over it already, there is and always will be assholes in the world with lousy views of racism, sexism, etc.

tinyE: I care because there is no excuse for this type of ignorance. Saying there will always be people like this is a cop out and it lets those people off the hook. I'm not suggesting we all take to the streets and march, riot, and or stage sit-ins but so long as there is one person of the billions of us on this planet who harbors feelings like this guy, then there is reason to care.

Emob78: From comments I've been reading here and elsewhere, it seems to me that freedom of speech doesn't mean much to people any more. If they can fine, ban, or fire someone for their beliefs (no matter how extreme or intolerant) how far away are we from putting people in jail for their beliefs or speech? Oh, that's right, they do that already in some European countries, the middle east, and in China.

The best way to handle something like that is let the free market decide. If everyone thinks the guy is a racist jerk, don't buy tickets and go to his team's games, don't buy his team's merchandise, and let his company wither on the vine. Eventually he'll get the message and retire or sell. Banning him from the sport or throwing fines at him does nothing for smoothing over racial tensions, and only increases the threats that we all face from the intolerant majority. How long ago was it that the majority decided that blacks couldn't eat at white restaurants or date white people or even sit with white people in church? Was that right? No. At the same time, it's also hypocrisy to claim to defend racial equality by refusing to allow others have their own viewpoints. And again, political correctness has done nothing to solve racial or ethnic problems, it only brushes them under the rug.

This is also divide and conquer tactics at its finest. That economy that teeters on the edge, that little blow up in the Ukraine that threatens to erupt into world war three? The never ending attack on our liberties and privacy rights by government? Yeah, those aren't important issues, let's just spend all our time arguing over stupid words from some stupid basketball owner.

OldFatGuy: Okay, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.

Like your new avatar. Or, at least, it's the first time I noticed that one.

Emob78: From comments I've been reading here and elsewhere, it seems to me that freedom of speech doesn't mean much to people any more. If they can fine, ban, or fire someone for their beliefs (no matter how extreme or intolerant) how far away are we from putting people in jail for their beliefs or speech? Oh, that's right, they do that already in some European countries, the middle east, and in China.

The best way to handle something like that is let the free market decide. If everyone thinks the guy is a racist jerk, don't buy tickets and go to his team's games, don't buy his team's merchandise, and let his company wither on the vine. Eventually he'll get the message and retire or sell. Banning him from the sport or throwing fines at him does nothing for smoothing over racial tensions, and only increases the threats that we all face from the intolerant majority. How long ago was it that the majority decided that blacks couldn't eat at white restaurants or date white people or even sit with white people in church? Was that right? No. At the same time, it's also hypocrisy to claim to defend racial equality by refusing to allow others have their own viewpoints. And again, political correctness has done nothing to solve racial or ethnic problems, it only brushes them under the rug.

scampywiak: In typical fashion, the press has blown race relations way the fuck out of proportion. Sterling is well over 80 yrs old, he grew up in a different era. My dad and grandpa used to wisecrack about other races all the time. Was it rude and insensitive? Yes. Did they wish death to all minorities? Hell no. Some of these idiots want to see his head on a spike, as if racism is the worst fucking offense a human can commit. I don't condone his views, but the incessant whinging and victim mindset whenever something like this happens in Murica is pathetic.

monkeydelarge: Yeah, it's like a few hateful racist words out of someone's mouth and that someone is seen as someone who is just as bad as a rapist or serial killer.

Like ruining an old man's life is going to make the world a better place. Like ruining this guy's life is going to make him look himself in the mirror and think...am I really such a horrible person? No, ruining this old man's life is just going to make him hate American society until the day he dies. And most likely, this will make him more racist, out of spite.

htown1980: 1. Bloke has a history of racist actions as well as words.
2. Bloke is worth almost $2 billion. Not sure how his life is ruined.

monkeydelarge: So what if he has a history of saying racist things. Not like he was in the KKK and was involved in the murder of a black person or something like that. Many times, during my life, people have said some very hateful things to me for no good reason. Should I track down all these people and ruin their lives? OR would that be overreacting?

And your right, his life is not ruined but only because he is worth so much money. If a normal person got punished like this, then their life would be ruined. I'm sure in this insane society, many people's lives are ruined everyday for saying something that could been seen as racist or sexist or whatever. Not everyone is worth $2 billion after all...

htown1980: My point wasn't that he had a history of saying racist things, my point was that he has a history of racist actions (I only mentioned racist words because you referred to a "few hateful racist words" like that was all he had done. I don't think his actions should be ignored is all I am saying.

scampywiak: A certain bloke was recently 'urged' to resign from Mozilla for backing prop 8. He exercised free speech and got fired. I'm sorry, but the shit Sterling said is to be filed firmly under free speech. Not hate speech or hate crime. And if he had a known history with this, why didn't the all noble Silver take action earlier? The entire sports world is a rotten kettle of fish if you ask me.

htown1980: I totally agree. Sterling and Eich should absolutely have the freedom to say whatever they wish. I absolutely agree with that statement. Nobody should stop them from saying what they want. I am glad when they do so.

I also think that a private company absolutely has the right to decide who they employ. I think individuals have the right to decide whether they want to protest someone who says something they disagree with or boycott or stop doing business with a person who says something they disagree with. I think everyone should have the freedom to do such things.

I don't think anyone has the right to say that a private company or association or individual cannot dismiss someone because that person made a statement that they consider adversely affects their business. I don't think you or I or the government has the right to say to a company they have to employ such people. To me, that is an unnecessary intrusion of the government on the free market.

As to why the NBA didn't do something earlier, that is in my view, an indictment on the NBA and the owners of the other teams, and the LA Clippers fans. That Sterling is a dirt bag should be no surprise to anyone.