NEW SLAVE(Owner)

By Shaebaun “Suge” Benjamin

It is fascinating to see the amount of slave movies or even films dealing with racism towards blacks that have been made since the 1970’s.

As recently as last year we saw 12 Years a Slave by Steve McQueen, based on a true story win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The year before Quentin Tarantino had won Best Original Screenplay for his film Django Unchained. Lee Daniels made the underappreciated The Butler in 2013 as well.

Most people believe that making these films have stunted the growth in our nation as far as racism. I other hand believe that these films need to continue to be made so we as a nation can see where we came from and how far we have to go. They remind us of a time where I could take a trip to Atlanta (which I often do) and would not be able to eat or use the restroom wherever I’d like because I am African American. Better yet if I went to Florida I could not talk to an attractive white girl in fear of my life being threatened as Emmitt Till was.

But times are different, in Atlanta I can eat anywhere and if you’re a good looking girl I can talk to you no matter your race. What has not changed is the inherent racism in some people.

By now we have all heard Donald Sterling, the disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner, speaking to his female companion V. Stiviano or at least heard of it. In the conversation we hear him tell her that she should not take photos with black men or even bring them as guests to Clippers game.

 The black men in the pictures in question were Basketball Hall of Famer and entrepreneur Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, who if you’ve seen the video of him giving a handicap fan the jersey off his back and cleats of his feet, seems to be an all around nice guy. These weren’t two hoodlums from the street, but, even if they were this guy did not care because they were black.

Sterling is no stranger to having his racism brought to light. The difference now is that someone finally said enough is enough and got rid of him. No knock on former commissioner of 30 years David Stern, but, current commish Adam Silver finally took out the trash.

Donald Sterling made much of his money on real estate by owning several apartment buildings across Los Angeles and has been taken to court for accusations of racial discrimination by his tenants. These include Koreans, Latinos, and African Americans. No matter his record in the courtroom I am of the belief that where there is smoke there is fire.

There have been accounts taken where during interviews with potential head coaches he asked “So, what makes you think you can coach these niggers?” Former basketball legend Elgin Baylor worked under Sterling for 22 years as the general manager of the Clippers. He claimed that Sterling envisioned hiring a white coach to coach an all black team with a southern plantation mentality.

He has even been accused of reverse-racism as it were also for not wanting to pay Clippers player J.J. Reddick what he requested because he thought it was inconceivable to pay that price for a white player.

Silver recently banned Sterling and ordered him to pay a $2.5 million fine. The idea of Sterling continuing to own the Clippers startles me because it reminds me of the slave owners in those movies, namely Calvin Candie of Django Unchained.

Candie, played brilliantly by Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, owned slaves who worked for him as well as mandingo fighters. Mandingo fighters were slaves who fought other mandingo fighter slaves, most times to the death, for money which of course went to their owner. These fighters hardly if ever work the fields or households in order to save energy and focus on fights. When they won they were awarded with fine food and a female slave of their choice to use for their pleasure. In the taped conversation Sterling is questioned by Stiviano as to why he is so ignorant towards blacks but owns a team that employs several of them as well as a black head coach. He replies that he puts food on their table and clothes on their back. That reply sounds like what a slave owner would say in response to abolitionist during the anti-bellum to the Civil War. To those slave owners and likely Sterling, no matter how free you think you are, you are still my property.

The other disgusting part of all this is that Sterling is Jewish and should be aware of the devastation brought on to the Jews for centuries because of their race and religion. When I was younger I thought the comparison of the Holocaust and slavery was incomparable because one lasted five years and the other lasted nearly 400 years. This was until I went to Europe (Munich, Germany to be exact) as a senior in high school where I visited Dachau, a concentration camp. After seeing gas chambers and ovens where people including children were sent to be killed, I realized that the Holocaust and slavery are not to be compared but recognized as tragic injustices in history that we ought to learn from. For that reason I believe that Jews and blacks of all people should be most tolerant and accepting of all people.

The Clippers as of May 30, 2014 are to be sold to the former CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer for the sum of $2 billion. That is the largest some for an NBA team by $1.5 billion. The money will likely be split amongst Sterling and his estranged wife Shelly. Shelly reminds me of Mistress Epps who was played by Sarah Paulson in 12 Years a Slave in that she seems to be the calming voice compared to Donald Sterling’s vitriol. In reality like Mistress Epps, Shelly Sterling is just as racist as her husband. She has been a defendant in a few of the racial discrimination suits against her husband. She was accused of the same types of racist acts against tenants as Donald had.

The large sum of money going to the Sterling is a small price to pay for the ugliness brought on to the league by them. What puzzles me is why he stuck around so long? Was it his friendship with the late Dr. Jerry Buss? Buss owned the Lakers until his recent death and was well respected around the league. It is said that Buss convinced Sterling to buy the then San Diego Clippers and move them to Los Angeles. They even moved into the same arena together in 1999 when the Staples Center opened, which is an oddity for two teams of the same league sharing the city.

For whatever reason he stuck around, the time of the Sterling’s and owners like them are over. Good riddance.