From the Paula Deen faux pas to the controversy with Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, lately the media seems to be littered with scandals involving celebrity-voiced discrimination. Most recently, the Donald Sterling NBA scandal has outraged the sports world and overwhelmed media broadcasts.
On April 25th, TMZ released a ten minute arguement between L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his female companion V Stiviano that exposed Sterling making blatantly racist remarks about Stiviano’s public association with African Americans, including Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
“It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people,” he is heard saying. “Do you have to?”
As the argument continues, Sterling becomes frustrated at Stiviano, and profanely attacks her admiration and association with famous NBA player, Magic Johnson.
Since the audio tape aired, the NBA banned Sterling for life and fined him 2.5 million dollars for his “deeply offensive and hurtful” views. The NBA also plans to use the charged fine to fund anti-discrimination and tolerance organizations.
The NBA is currently working to find a way to force Donald Sterling to sell the Clippers, but Donald Sterling is prepared to do everything in his power to keep the profitable team
The team’s response to Sterling’s remarks?
On April 27th, they protested his racism during while warming-up for the NBA playoffs by wearing their logo-emblazoned warm-up shirts inside out, and then disgarding them for their regular uniforms. Some even say that the scandal with Sterling overshadowed the playoff games themselves opinion and doomed the Clippers.
How does this scandal with Donald Sterling measure out with other infamous racism scandals, where celebrities have been publicly punished for hateful comments? The controversial topic of freedom of speech involving expressing inappropriate views remains under the surface of these publicized scandals.
Should a person be punished for stating their views, however hateful?
One Bob Jones student, who will remain anonymous, comments that the fact that Sterling’s conversation was a private phone call, not a public statement “changes the context [of the scandal] a little bit,” but said the punishment was called for.
Moreover, is the Donald Sterling scandal an isolated incident, or is discrimination, including all prejudices, a continuing issue in sports?
“I think there is an element of racism within the entire United States. I don’t think you can completely erase hundreds of years of history and separation in one second,” said Jason Edwards, the Government and Economics teacher at Bob Jones.
This discrimination may even be closer to home than we thought. Edwards, who is also the wrestling coach at Bob Jones, provided his views on the topic based on his coaching experience.
“[Bob Jones] coexists more than other high schools… Are there jokes and things that are said? Yeah, like anywhere else for sure, but I haven’t seen any overt racism,” he said.
“We had some kids kind of joking around, saying things like ‘Well, it’s because you’re black,’ and kid get offended over it. So, we called together a team meeting for wrestling, and we said ‘You know, listen, even though you think it’s funny, singling someone out and calling out their differences can make them feel a little bit insecure. We’re going to make sure that we don’t do that anymore.” said Coach Edwards.
Clearly, prejudice is not a dying issue, whether it involves sports or not.
With that said, what makes the media pounce upon such scandals as Donald Sterling’s when it is so commonplace amongst celebrities and common folk? Is this kind of exposure helping or harming forces striving for tolerance?
Only the public can truly answer; what would the media be without the people fueling its popularity?
