Mark Cuban & Donald Sterling: Like Mentos In A Diet Coke
Just as the Donald Sterling media storm seemed to be quieting down, Mark Cuban - the iconoclastic owner of the Dallas Mavericks - has stirred things up with his comments at a tech conference on Wednesday. As reported by Shelley DuBois in the Tennessean, Cuban would not reveal whether he would vote to oust Sterling at the NBA's June 3 hearing and admitted to his own prejudices and bigotry:
I know I'm prejudiced and I know I'm bigoted in a lot of different ways. If I see a black kid in a hoodie on my side of the street, I'll move to the other side of the street. If I see a white guy with a shaved head and tattoos, I'll move back to the other side of the street. None of us have pure thoughts; we all live in glass houses.
Cuban's interview quickly became fodder for a new boomlet of stories, sports radio and talking heads debating the meaning of these comments. In my opinion, Cuban's comments (in context) are defensible, but he purposefully elected to surf the wave of Sterling publicity knowing that they would be reported out of context.
EDIT: Mark Cuban has now apologized to Trayvon Martin's family for his use of "black kid in a hoodie". Apparently, he did not fully appreciate the nerve he was touching.
Cuban's Admission vs. Sterling's Denial
There is a stark contrast between Mark Cuban's comments and Donald Sterling's disastrous follow-up interview with Anderson Cooper. Attempting to climb out from under his recorded racist comments to V. Stiviano, Sterling adamantly denied being a racist. "I'm not a racist," Sterling told Cooper. "I made a terrible, terrible mistake. And I'm here with you today to apologize and to ask for forgiveness for all the people that I've hurt." Of course, in his next comments, Sterling demonstrated the depths of his racism:
"That's one problem I have. Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people, and some of the African-Americans -- maybe I'll get in trouble again -- they don't want to help anybody."
Cuban, on the other hand, recognized that it was folly for any him to claim to be above prejudice. Instead, he depicted his prejudice as a common human failing. And he was careful to immediately follow his statement about having a visceral fear of a white skinheads. Moreover, Cuban concluded his remarks by stating that the key was to provide sensitivity training to people to allow them to rise above their susceptibility to believe in stereotypes. In many ways, Cuban's remarks were reminiscent of Jesse Jackson's 1993 comment, ""There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery -- then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved."
The Inevitable Combustion
But Cuban was not merely interested in shedding light on racism, he wanted to generate the heat for his comments. Cuban had to know that his use of a "black kid in a hoodie" would evoke Trayvon Martin less than one year after George Zimmerman was acquitted for killing Martin, whom he claimed to fear for being a "black kid in a hoodie". Lebron James and the Miami Heat protested that verdict by posting a team photograph of themselves in shrouded in hoodies.
Cuban has immediately been embroiled in a twitter war with Bomani Jones of ESPN (and others) about his choice to use the image of the "black kid in a hoodie."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
being tatted up and down has undeniable ties to prison culture. a black kid in a hoodie is staying warm. false equivalence, no?
— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) May 22, 2014
Cuban's comments and the ensuing controversy are now fodder for every sports talk show in the United States, just as Cuban must have anticipated. In fact, Cuban prefaced his remarks to the conference by stating that he planned to go "full Mark Cuban" and that some might be offended by his language or comments.
Cuban's Fear Of A "Slippery Slope"
Before Adam Silver announced that the lifetime ban on Donald Sterling and that the league would seek to terminate his membership in the NBA, Cuban was quoted as stating that he feared it would be a "very, very slippery slope" if the NBA sought to terminate his franchise. Cuban stated that he found Sterling's comments "abhorrent" but that he felt that it was not clear that Sterling could be ousted merely for having racist thoughts, as opposed to taking racist actions. Cuban stated that if Sterling was ousted for his racist comments, it would set a precedent for ousting other owners for other prejudiced statements or beliefs. "How many people are bigoted in one way or the other in this league?" Cuban asked. "I don't know. But you find one, all of a sudden you say well, you can't play favorites being racist against African-Americans. Where do you draw the line?"
Cuban appeared to fall into line to support Sterling's ouster immediately after Adam Silver held his April 29 press conference. He quickly tweeted, "I agree 100% with Commissioner Silvers findings and the actions taken against Donald Sterling — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) - April 29, 2014". However, at the Inc. Conference, Cuban appeared to retreat when he was asked how he would vote on the motion to remove Sterling, "You will find out. I know how I'm going to vote, but I am not prepared to comment on it."
The ouster of Donald Sterling - which I fully expect on June 3 - really will work an important change in the understanding of NBA ownership. Sterling is being ousted because his evident racism, which he put into action for decades in his real estate business and his management of the Clippers, finally became the focus of public scrutiny. Sterling's stupid statements railing against Magic Johnson did no serious to Johnson's standard of living or reputation, but Sterling's efforts to force African-American and Latino tenants from his buildings caused tremendous suffering. Sterling was not terminated by the NBA at that time because few (outside of Bomani Jones) were shining a light on Sterling's misconduct.
As Mark Cuban was saying, all human beings are inherently flawed and prejudice is frequently one of those flaws. The NBA owners are not only human beings, they are millionaires and billionaires who elected to buy into the league in order to get into the spotlight. The Sterling case demonstrates that if the spotlight focuses on an owner's misconduct, the owner may lose both his team and his reputation. Journalists, bloggers and interested parties may have new incentives to uncover the seamy side of the owners.