I hate political correctness. I always have. I have never been a fan of the idea that we all should say and act and do the same things. Because people have real thoughts and feelings and were we to live in a world where everyone said what was really on their minds, the majority of us would wind up offended by someone constantly. I don't necessarily think that would be the worst thing in the world. In order to effect change, we have to start with the truth. We can't eliminate racism without first acknowledging and understanding the feelings of the racist. The same for homophobia, domestic violence, or any other of societies ills. You will never be able to change a person's actions until you can change a person's feelings. And you won't be able to change a person's feelings until you give them the space to say what they feel and why. Only then can you begin a real dialogue and talk about it.
Political correctness is a band aid for real problems. We don't really address how people feel, just so long as they don't say anything publicly that offends the masses sensibilities. Which in the case of Donald Sterling's phone call and the latest scandal with Danny Ferry, offense was handed out in spades. However I feel vastly different about both incidents. Both had race at the core of the issue. Both had negative comments about people of African American and African ancestry. So why do I have empathy for one and not the other? Circumstances.
In the case of Sterling's comments, his incendiary comments that he made to his girlfriend about him not wanting her to associate with black people and bring them to games was a hot topic. In the face of public outrage, he was forced to give up his team and has become the new face of racism in this country. So why do I defend him? Because he was being racist in the privacy of his own home and the conversation, which he thought was between him and his girlfriend, became public knowledge. I think if you wiretap anyone in this country and taped them without their knowledge, everyone would offend somebody at some point. If you were to tape me at the crib, most days, I would offend probably every group of people under the sun every day. Hell even I say messed up things about black people sometimes. But if we are going to live in this climate of fake political correctness, you have to leave people a space to let their actual thoughts out. I understand that in public we all have to hold hands and sing Michael Jackson's Heal the World together. But Donald Sterling was hating black people in the privacy of his own home. As far as I'm concerned, that's his right as an American. And while I don't agree with the message, I agree with his right to feel how he feels.
The other thing I understand was the dynamic of the conversation. Sterling was trying to explain to his girlfriend how he expected her to conduct herself when she was mixing and mingling with his people. He was explaining the way things work, when you get around the elite power brokers of the NBA and what their respective unwritten rules are. Turns out he may have been more accurate than we know. Which brings me to Danny Ferry.
Initially I was on his side too. When he first was outed for the email in which he made statements to the effect of the Atlanta Hawks aren't profitable because the majority of the crowd is black and they don't tend to buy season tickets. Which is true. We don't. He went on to express that white people might tend to stay away from games because they may feel uncomfortable being around such a large group of black people. Hey, I get it. I'm black and sometimes I don't want to be around large groups of black people. I think people confuse being racial with being racist.
But then came the comments on Luol Deng. Ferry was quoted as saying that Luol has a lil African in him as a reference to the stereotypes of Africans who will sell you something only for you to find out later it was cheap knockoff crap. What I found disturbing wasn't the statement itself, but more of the idea that he said it at work during a player evaluation meeting. Ferry claims he merely was reading a scouting report someone else wrote. Which I find disturbing. What else I found to be disturbing was the snickering and chuckling heard in the background of the tape. This indicates to me that these type of comments and attitudes are more common place than we expect. Which is what Sterling was telling his girlfriend.
I don't expect Sterling or Ferry to love all races equally. That's just naive. But to voice those opinions in a work environment and not have those opinions immediately denounced is unprofessional and says a lot about the work environment. You can't come to work hating black people. Leave that attitude at home...where it belongs.
Political correctness is a band aid for real problems. We don't really address how people feel, just so long as they don't say anything publicly that offends the masses sensibilities. Which in the case of Donald Sterling's phone call and the latest scandal with Danny Ferry, offense was handed out in spades. However I feel vastly different about both incidents. Both had race at the core of the issue. Both had negative comments about people of African American and African ancestry. So why do I have empathy for one and not the other? Circumstances.
In the case of Sterling's comments, his incendiary comments that he made to his girlfriend about him not wanting her to associate with black people and bring them to games was a hot topic. In the face of public outrage, he was forced to give up his team and has become the new face of racism in this country. So why do I defend him? Because he was being racist in the privacy of his own home and the conversation, which he thought was between him and his girlfriend, became public knowledge. I think if you wiretap anyone in this country and taped them without their knowledge, everyone would offend somebody at some point. If you were to tape me at the crib, most days, I would offend probably every group of people under the sun every day. Hell even I say messed up things about black people sometimes. But if we are going to live in this climate of fake political correctness, you have to leave people a space to let their actual thoughts out. I understand that in public we all have to hold hands and sing Michael Jackson's Heal the World together. But Donald Sterling was hating black people in the privacy of his own home. As far as I'm concerned, that's his right as an American. And while I don't agree with the message, I agree with his right to feel how he feels.
The other thing I understand was the dynamic of the conversation. Sterling was trying to explain to his girlfriend how he expected her to conduct herself when she was mixing and mingling with his people. He was explaining the way things work, when you get around the elite power brokers of the NBA and what their respective unwritten rules are. Turns out he may have been more accurate than we know. Which brings me to Danny Ferry.
Initially I was on his side too. When he first was outed for the email in which he made statements to the effect of the Atlanta Hawks aren't profitable because the majority of the crowd is black and they don't tend to buy season tickets. Which is true. We don't. He went on to express that white people might tend to stay away from games because they may feel uncomfortable being around such a large group of black people. Hey, I get it. I'm black and sometimes I don't want to be around large groups of black people. I think people confuse being racial with being racist.
But then came the comments on Luol Deng. Ferry was quoted as saying that Luol has a lil African in him as a reference to the stereotypes of Africans who will sell you something only for you to find out later it was cheap knockoff crap. What I found disturbing wasn't the statement itself, but more of the idea that he said it at work during a player evaluation meeting. Ferry claims he merely was reading a scouting report someone else wrote. Which I find disturbing. What else I found to be disturbing was the snickering and chuckling heard in the background of the tape. This indicates to me that these type of comments and attitudes are more common place than we expect. Which is what Sterling was telling his girlfriend.
I don't expect Sterling or Ferry to love all races equally. That's just naive. But to voice those opinions in a work environment and not have those opinions immediately denounced is unprofessional and says a lot about the work environment. You can't come to work hating black people. Leave that attitude at home...where it belongs.
