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President Barack Obama admonishes Donald Sterling for “offensive racist statements”
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President Barack Obama admonishes Donald Sterling for “offensive racist statements”
Adam Silver, Barack Obama, Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers
By Rob Mahoney
President Barack Obama was asked about Clippers owner Donald Sterling during a press conference in Malaysia on Saturday. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama was asked about Clippers owner Donald Sterling during a press conference in Malaysia on Saturday. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Reaction to the racist comments attributed to Clippers owner Donald Sterling extended well beyond the confines of the basketball world on Saturday, as President Barack Obama was asked about the subject during a press conference in Malaysia. Obama, himself an avid fan of the NBA and the sport in general, conveyed both his condemnation of Sterling’s comments and faith in the league to address the issue.
Obama’s full comments on the subject were as follows:
The owner is reported to have said some incredibly offensive racist statements that were published. I don’t think I have to interpret those statements for you; they kind of speak for themselves. When people — when ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk. And that’s what happened here.
I have confidence that NBA commissioner Adam Silver — a good man — will address this. Obviously, the NBA is a league that is beloved by fans all across the country. It’s got an awful lot of African-American players. It’s steeped in African-American culture. And I suspect that the NBA is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this.
I will make just one larger commment about this. The United States continues to wrestle with the legacy of race, slavery and segregation. That’s still there — the vestiges of discrimination. We’ve made enormous strides, but you’re going to continue to see this percolate up every so often. And I think that we just have to be clear and steady in denouncing it, teaching our children differently, but also remaining hopeful that part of why some statements like this stand out so much is because there has been this shift in how we view ourselves.
[link to nba.si.com]
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