Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
BOTTOM-LINE…Commentary By WallaceJ.Allen
A billionaire, White man’s response to seeing his Black girlfriend with a Black man has caused more references to the “horror of racism” than the disproportionate number of Blacks kicked out of school, the disproportionate number of Blacks that are poorly educated when in school, the disproportionate number of Blacks that are unemployed, the disproportionate number of Blacks that are jailed, that live in poverty, that are without health insurance, the disproportionate number of Blacks that are homeless veterans, and the list goes on.
We cannot transfer America’s race relations problem and remedy to the Donald Sterling saga. Can everyone that is condemning Sterling pass the Michael Jackson test? The test that requires one to “look at the man in the mirror”? America’s racism is documented in our institutions. The reality of the race-problem is trivialized by the concept that an illegal tape recording is needed in order for the problem to be seen. Do we need to destroy our privacy rights to justify punishing acts of racism?
An illegal taping was used, again, to give us information that no matter how incriminating, is not new. How exclusive are the feelings expressed by Sterling? Are we satisfied that he is the only “rich White man in charge” that has made racist remarks or even performed racist acts? As we place cell phone cameras and recording devices throughout society, do we want to simply trust that our privacy is respected? So, as we joyously embrace the illegally taped “redundant evidence” of Donald Sterling’s racist views, do we also tighten the noose that is chocking the life out of our privacy rights?
The “last straw” concept is valid but how many straws do we ignore before one qualifies as the last? There were enough straws polluted in public by Sterling to have done something about him long ago. I am among the elated regarding Donald Sterling’s come-up pence, however, I think we all should be concerned about the tendency to sneak up and record a person in their private moment. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Respond to walleniv@yahoo.com.
