Donald Sterling’s racist rant is the hit of the twitterverse. Newspapers around the globe are vilifying this disgusting old man whose only charm is in his wallet. But there’s a back story to this man’s character that has been mostly ignored in the public vituperate acrimony.
Sterling has consistently treated women with disdain, using them as toys for his excessive gratification. His May-December romance/trysting is on stage publically. In published reports, he buys women, uses women, discards women.
In the Washington Post, Ruth Marcus writes that when Sterling’s current girlfriend offered to remove blacks from her Instagram account, he said,
“I don’t want to change. If my girl can’t do what I want, I don’t want the girl,” Sterling announces. “I’ll find a girl that will do what I want.”
He knows: Market forces operate in his favor. The supply of beautiful young women exceeds the demand from wealthy trolls.
In a letter written by Ann Coulter for Human Events, she says she listened to eight hours of news commentary before anyone mentioned he has a wife.
“Today, a team owner can sit with his mistress at games, give her millions of dollars in gifts, precipitate a lawsuit from the old coot’s wife demanding return of their community property — and none of that even merits a mention in the first 14 paragraphs of the scandal stories about him.”
So why no boycotts of Sterling’s behavior towards women? Where was the public outcry over his demeaning treatment of women he paid for, let alone his wife?
The answer is what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
The NBA is famous for more than dribbling a basketball on a hardwood court. According to Wikipedia, Wilt Chamberlain’s lawyer once said,
"Some people collect stamps, Wilt collected women.”
While the NBA is not alone in its treatment of women as chattel, here’s a link to a host of allegations.
http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/02/crazy-nba-sex-scandals/Reports abound regarding sex trafficking and slavery in this civilized world of ours.
The U.S. Dept of State has a page for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. On it is this quote:
"It ought to concern every person, because it is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name -- modern slavery."
– President Barack Obama
I'm sure the President is as appalled as most of us at the statements made by Donald Sterling regarding blacks. But I wish someone had told him about his treatment off women as well.
Wikipedia defines Human Trafficking as
"the trade in humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others."
A culture of sexual conquest exists that encourages and fuels trafficking. Its not just endemic to the NBA. Its visible in the NBA because the NBA is entertainment. Its also why a blind eye has been turned to Sterling's treatment of his wife and others over the years. Bringing his sexual escapades to light would not only cook Sterling's goose, but the entertainment gander as well.
