Was gonna post this in a Facebook group that talks a lot about politics and race and so on (no, not misc.writing, but a page for Berkeley people), but I decided I don't want the arguments that will inevitable follow from getting some little thing "wrong". I'm not happy with my little intro as it doesn't express my point of view with enough clarity. But I've run out of time to perfect it.
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WRT Sterling et al.
What interests me about these two points of view is that they give very different perspectives on this incident's impact on freedom. Should being a hateful person justify loss of property? Or should we be exposing and levying a cost on racism at every opportunity? That is, if you had to choose.
Often I would place myself in the former camp because fundamental rights must not be violated to make up for flaws in character. Two wrongs do not make a right and ignorance is not a crime. However in this case we have to remember that through the NBA, Sterling is an influential public figure whose prior behavior had already placed him on borrowed time, and besides he doesn't lose property if forced to sell (and at a huge profit). He's just getting kicked out of the club for being an ass.
Allen West
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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3 comments:
He's not ignorant. He knows that the weight of the masses, at least, has no tolerance for racism, not these days. Whatever his personal level of intolerance, he _knows_ this.
He also is a highly placed figure and these kinds of people have to pay a larger price for seemingly lesser sins. They take more risks (theoretically), get paid higher bucks, and get shafted when the smallest thing goes wrong.
One of his jobs is to present a face to the public. He represents his team. He tarnished that, badly, with something about which he knew better. It doesn't matter that he didn't think the "mike was on" (effectively). He got caught.
I see nothing wrong with banning him from the NBA. He failed in his job.
Totes agree with N.
I don't want the gobblement involved in any of this, and it seems not to be, which is good. Sterling free-speeched as is his right. He got outed by his girlfriend, as is her right. His private club said GTFO, as is their right. In order to get out, he has to sell his property. I don't have a problem with this.
Good points. The article by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was also good. Sometimes even when we're right, we could do better.
Oh:
will inevitable follow from getting some little thing "wrong".
Period inside the quotation mark in this instance. Loser.
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