You’ve probably heard the tape of what is purported to be Donald Sterling being a belligerent bigot and telling his girlfriend (who is half black, half Mexican) not to associate with any black people.
She’s also not allowed to bring any black people to his games, especially Magic Johnson.
It’s like Sterling wakes up everyday and reads the Willie Lynch letter while watching Birth of a Nation. The dude is such a classless caricature that I bet he has a pet blackbird named Jim Crow.
There are at least 15 messed up issues about this whole situation, including his girlfriend, who was talking about how she wished she could change her skin. Ma’am, who taught you to hate yourself, and where can we find them so we can wish perpetual papercuts on their lives? That’s a whole lot of unfortunate that I won’t even go into right now.
Then there’s the glaring fact that Donald the Degenerate sees black folks as valuable only when they bring you pleasure in bed and money for your wallet — but nothing else.
I’m here to side-eye the NAACP’s Los Angeles chapter, which was about to give Donald Sterling a Lifetime Achievement Award. Even though they have made a statement withdrawing it, it feels too little too late. Actually, my judging eyes are for the entire NAACP, who already gave him the award in 2009.
Even if the tape of him sounding like a raging racist never dropped, why would the NAACP want to give this man a Lifetime Achievement Award? TWICE, at that! One wasn’t enough. He needed more props, it seems.
This is complete and utter nonsense.
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Donald Sterling has been dedicated to the cause of being an intergalactic ignoramus with an aura the color of hot dog water for decades. He was investigated by the Justice Department and fined $2.7 million because he refused to rent his properties to people of color. It was the largest housing discrimination lawsuit ever.
Elgin Baylor, a former player, sued him and the Clippers and said the team had a “Southern Plantation type structure.” Clearly, we see Brother Elgin wasn’t telling lies. Donald has a long history of using racist slurs and just being a horrible human being, and none of it is a secret.
Again, I ask why the NAACP would consider him an appropriate honoree. I don’t give half of a gram of damb how much money this man has given to youth programs in LA or how many Clippers tickets he’s given to kids. Do I even need to point out that all that “goodwill” was probably tax-deductible anyway?
Yeah … I don’t.
If you are not working towards the advancement and freedom of black people, why would you be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award? Donald definitely wasn’t with us shooting in the freedom gym. If you’re going to give a white man an NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, he better be out on these front lines preaching equality right next to Al and Jesse. He better be taking down the bricks of the house of white supremacy one by one with his bare hands. He better be doing real concrete things that are dismantling the system of racism that his skinfolk work tirelessly to keep in place.
If he’s not doing any of that, there’s no reason for him to be awarded with some lifetime achievement by what is supposed to be the leading black civil rights organization in the country. The keyword here is “supposed.”
Shade.
If the NAACP didn’t know of Donald Sterling’s past, then they’re proving that they’re incredibly out of the loop. In fact, it’ll mean that they’re so out of the loop that they must have ended up in a square by way of Apple Maps. And if they did know about his discriminatory deeds and they chose to honor him anyway just because he dropped some coins in a bucket, then they put a price on our people’s worth.
And I’m not sure which is worse, because one is negligent and the other is just shameful. Either way, this is a fail.
Donald Sterling’s recorded statements (and life, really) embodies the system of white supremacy that we live in. I’m less surprised that he’s an narrow-minded nincompoop, because he’s old and white. What gives me the most pause is the fact that he was even given an award in 2009 and then considered for one again. It proves that we’re enablers in this web too, giving positive reinforcement to the exploitation of our people.
America doesn’t have to love us, but we need to love ourselves and stop awarding those who make a living out of stepping on our heads to get further. The NAACP is supposed to be a gatekeeper, but they left the gate wide open and took a nap right next to it.
Luvvie can be found ranting about all things pop culture at AwesomelyLuvvie.com. She can also be found on Twitter (@Luvvie), Facebook and Instagram.