As previously reported by Liberty Unyielding on April 27, 2014, in the wake of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling purportedly being caught on tape making some rather disparaging comments about blacks in general, a chorus of media and sports figures have called for his suspension from the National Basketball Association, if not forfeiture of his ownership of the LA franchise, as reported by NBC News on April 27, 2014.
In a nine-and-a-half-minute-long tape recording posted on April 26,2014 by the Hollywood gossip-centered website TMZ.com, Sterling can allegedly be overheard arguing in a private conversation with his current paramour, curiously known to the public only as V. Stiviano. In the exchange, the billionaire divorce and personal injury lawyer berates the woman for being seen in public with black people.
Yet as the outrage against Sterling mounts from diverse sources ranging from MSNBC commentator Al Sharpton to rapper Snoop Dogg to former NBA-players Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal, The National Review noted that the vast majority of American news services are inexplicably failing to mention that the $1.9 billion man in question also has a history of being active in the Democratic Party. Sterling has donated $6,000 to Democrats seeking election and supported former Democratic Governor of California Gray Davis and former US Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley.
In the audio released by TMZ, Sterling makes clear his personal disdain for blacks, especially when it came to his beloved posing in off-the-cuff snapshots with Magic Johnson, which have since been posted by Stiviano on Instagram. Sterling seemed unphased when told by his girlfriend that she was of mixed Mexican and black bloodlines. Despite his alleged personal bigotry, the individual identified on the audio recording never used any racial epitaphs against blacks or any other race and/or ethnicity. Neither was there any evidence of discrimination based on race, which is illegal.
Sterling was slated to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the NAACP, but the offer has been rescinded.
