I don't get it.

By now everyone must be aware of Los Angelos Clippers owner Dondald Sterling being banned for life from the NBA, if not, then you must be living under a rock-a pretty big rock too. Anyway, I've been reading blogs where folks have voiced their discontent and seeming, utter shock at the the fact that an old rich white guy has, in fact, turned out to be a racist. And, although I find his comments to be abhorrent, I can't honestly say that I'm shocked by them either.

The last time that I checked, I live in a very racist world, and in a particularly racist country. That being said, I can't begin to fathom how any person of color( specifically, people of the African diaspora), would be taken aback by the vitriolic apsersion of a very wealthy but clearly ignorant product of his own system.

A couple of weeks ago the recording artist, Pharrell was interviewed by Oprah, wherein he stated: 

                      The “new black” doesn’t blame other races for our issues. The “new black” dreams and realizes that it’s not a pigmentation; it’s a mentality. And it’s either going to work for you, or it’s going to work against you. And you’ve got to pick the side you’re gonna be on". 

Well then, I suppose that with regard to my feelings about Mr. Sterling's comments, I'm picking the side of "Old black". Meaning, I am completely aware of how I am viewed by the larger society, and frankly my dear(in the infamously immortal words of the charming carpetbagger, Rhett Butler, from Gone with the Wind) I don't give a damn! I'll also add, that I am more concerned with how we(black people) view ourselves, while looking through our collective lense, rather than how the,quite sick, and highly privileged participants in racial hegemony, choose to view us.

As if Sterling being banned from the NBA will have the slightest effect on the my daily reallity as a black man in America. "Hey guys, Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA today, let's call a truce in the hood and work on rebuilding our community". That man will go to sleep tonight with well over a billion dollars in assets, while many of us(poor people of all backgrounds) will go to bed hungry.

So rich racists can get banned from elite business organizations now because of what they say? Horray for us, we's free now! Of course I'm being flippant, that couldn't remain farther from the truth. There are likely many other owners of professional sports organizations, who think along similar lines as Sterling, and they'll still remain owners( they'll just probably be more mindful of what they say  over the phone to their biracial mistresses lol). Proabably not.