An exemplary punishment

The decision by National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver to ban Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for his racist statements is an exemplary punishment. It sends a strong message that such prejudice will not be tolerated. The question now is for the NBA owners to ratify the punishment.

Several team owners condemned the offensive views of African-Americans expressed by Sterling during a private conversation that was released to the public. They will surely back the $2.5-million fine, but it is not clear whether they will support the ban and all the efforts to force Sterling to sell the team. It seems that some owners, beyond the tone of the controversial statements, fear that some sort of precedent could be set that could one day harm them. They should not worry about that.

Throughout American history, sports have been a battlefield for civil rights against discrimination and segregation. It is ironic that well into the twenty-first century, basketball, a sport in which the majority of professionals are African-American, is the backdrop for this case and that Sterling made indirect reference to his players in his comments. This is further proof of the blind ignorance of racism.

This case should also remind us all that racism is alive and well, despite conservative wishes for a post-racial society. The Supreme Court may believe that discrimination does not exist to warrant affirmative action, but the feeling of inferiority and contempt for another racial group is hard to uproot from some hardened hearts.

Now it is up to the NBA, through its owners, to do the right thing by showing that, at least in the world of basketball, people who think like Sterling do not deserve to be part of it.