Letter: Donald Sterling went off like a slave owner

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Editor,

I’ve certainly seen some off-the-wall commentary in your publication. I recall that one of your commentators anointed Sarah Palin a “pitch perfect” momma grizzly. And I seem to also recall another commentator wanting to ban all left turns in Carmel.

But Jason Peek’s May 3 offering “Opinions of a Redneck” really takes the cake.

How exactly do the racist rantings of Clippers owner Donald Sterling become an occasion to rant about political correctness? Peek attempts to make the point that cracking a joke or wanting to live in a certain neighborhood may not make you a racist. But let’s just say both of those things might be good leading indicators.

And anyway, Donald Sterling is no redneck. In his rant, Sterling was going off like a slave owner on the pulpit of his church (perhaps a poor simile since Sterling is Jewish) describing how he so lovingly feeds and clothes his players, most of whom are African-American.

“I wish for this nation and especially someone like Don Sterling that is surrounded by other cultures, that we judge a person by his or her actions, and not by color or culture,” said Peek wistfully, invoking some Thomas Kincaid fantasyland that never did exist, and never will.

But back to my point: Sterling is a multimillionaire NBA team owner with the power to deny people housing (as a rental property owner in addition to NBA guru) and jobs, so his leaked comments carry a certain weight. His words are, in fact, actionable because they have the potential to drive a large segment of the NBA audience away (i.e. all African-Americans).

So the strong response of the NBA against Sterling is not a result of the media, or pointy-headed intellectuals somewhere in the ivy tower colleges being politically correct finger wagers – it’s pure economics.

And as for the last convoluted, grammatically-challenged paragraph of Peek’s rant, there are almost no words … But at just who exactly is Peek aiming his bile? Is this kind of writing the result of listening to too much right-wing hate-mongering on the radio? Or does Peek just need to get out of his Main Street bubble more?

Dan Grossman, 46032


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