Embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling sat down with CNN’s Anderson Cooper this weekend for his first formal interview since being banned from the NBA for racially-charged comments to his mistress. Watch an excerpt of the interview here.
Sterling apologized for telling his mistress, V. Stiviano, that he didn’t want blacks attending Clippers games–even though 10 of the 12 players on the Clippers’ roster are black. “Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years?” he asked. Speaking to his fellow owners, who are slated to decide whether he should be formally stripped of the team he has owned since 1981, he said, “I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.” He said he had waited almost three weeks to apologize because he was “emotionally distraught” over what happened. “I’m wrong,” he said. “I caused the problem. I don’t know how to correct it.”
Sterling said that he had spoken with Magic Johnson once since being caught on tape dressing down Stiviano for taking pictures with Johnson and other blacks, and specifically apologized to him. “If I said anything wrong,” he said, “I’m sorry.” However, he took a dig at Johnson, saying he hadn’t done enough to help his fellow minorities. Because of that, Sterling said, “I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.” Sterling also blamed Stiviano for baiting him into making those remarks, saying “it’s not the way I talk.”
There’s only one problem–it wasn’t at all sincere. For those who missed it, Sterling’s history of racist comments dates back long before the now-infamous recording made on April 9 and released on April 25. A 2009 piece in ESPN The Magazine–one that in hindsight appears to be remarkably prescient–details some of the discrimination that the tenants at his numerous Southern California apartment complexes have experienced. In 2003, 19 of his tenants sued him for discrimination. In that case, of his former property managers testified that Sterling blamed the odor at her complex on black and Latino tenants. When the supervisor mentioned that a black tenant wanted to be reimbursed for water damage caused by construction, Sterling reportedly replied, “I am not going to do that. Just evict the b**h.” Sterling settled that case for an undisclosed sum. In 2006, the Justice Department sued him for refusing to rent to minorities and families with children. Sterling paid a then-record $2.73 million to settle that case in 2009. Seen in that light, Sterling accusing Johnson of not helping his fellow minorities is like the pot calling the kettle black.
Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
Edited/Published by: WG
