Saturday, May 24, 2014

Donald Sterling Snatched Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

By Victor J. Ward

When the Economic Policy Journal ran its first post about Donald Sterling, Robert Wenzel stated that Sterling's comments were not those of a racist but instead the comments of a jealous man.

Initially, I thought Robert was wrong. I thought that Sterling's comments were racist. Upon further reflection, I realized that they were not. I still, however, did not think that he had made the comments because he was jealous.

A recent conversation helped me to see that Bob was right about Sterling's jealous streak.

Last week, my wife and I had dinner with
two other couples. The topic of Donald Sterling came up, and somebody asked for my opinion. I said that I did not believe that he was a racist. One of the wives who was at the dinner (who happens to be a psychologist) said that she thought his comments with those of someone who is deeply hurt.

My friend's comment brought back a memory: I knew a Persian woman. Let's call her Mahar. We went on a few dates and I definitely liked her.

I knew that she was also seeing this other guy. Let's call him Peter. I knew Peter, although not well. He was a good guy -- about my height, slighter build. He was a white guy with blond hair.

I was determined to win Mahar's heart.

One day, I was talking to a friend of mine, who also knew Mahar. My friend told me that Mahar liked guys with blond hair. This cut me deep, really deep. I went into a mild state of depression and panic, but then I got my second wind. I started thinking and planning. I was not going to be defeated!

A couple of days later, I saw Mahar talking to one of Peter's friends – another white guy with blond hair! Mahar was smiling and laughing and looking like she was having a great time.

I went into what I can only describe as a jealous funk. I was totally thrown off my game. I started trying to go to her job so that I could take her to lunch; I brought her flowers unexpectedly; I left her several messages. I was so out of control, that a couple of my friends had to pull me aside and tell me to get a grip.

Eventually, I had a talk with Mahar.  I told her I liked her, and I told her that I knew she liked someone else. I also told her that I neither had blond hair nor wanted blond hair. I wished her the best. (Mahar eventually married Peter.)

I was lucky and blessed that Mahar was my friend and that she was not actively trying to use me. I was lucky and blessed to have had friends pull me aside and put me back on track. Sometimes, when you are under the spell of a woman, you do some crazy things. I was blessed that Mahar was a friend and not a gold-digger. I didn't have much gold, but she could have gotten what I had if she was not a woman of scruples.

Remember, I had only been on a couple of dates with Mahar. We had never had sex. We weren't exclusive in any way. I knew that she liked Peter when I started liking her. It wasn't her like/love for Peter that sent me over the edge; it was her apparent like of some other guy with blond hair that made me jealous.

In the Donald Sterling situation, he got played by a woman who was a gold-digger. He loved her, but she was using him. When he saw her in the company of Magic Johnson and other Black athletes and Black men, Sterling probably thought that she liked Black guys. Just like I gave Mahar flowers, Sterling gave his girlfriend cars. And, just like I went into a jealous rage when I saw Mahar talking to someone with blond hair and enjoying his company, Sterling went into a jealous rage whenever he saw the woman that he loved hanging out with people who were Black. He saw his girlfriend hanging out with the very people that he thought were his biggest rivals.

In short, Sterling was scared that the woman he had fallen in love with, Ms. V. Stiviano, was going to leave him for a Black man.

Now, think about what Mark Cuban just said. (I agree with what Shane Kostler said in his post.) Cuban was basically saying that when he sees certain people in certain situations, he gets scared. He said that he would react in certain ways to limit his fears.

Isn't that what Donald Sterling did? Wasn't he reacting in a way to ease his fears?

Cuban wanted to cross the street in order to get away from a perceived (physical) threat. Sterling wanted his girlfriend to get away from a perceived (romantic) threat.

Mark Cuban's truthful statement put the NBA in a really bad spot. How were they going to discipline Sterling for acting out of fear and not discipline Cuban for saying that he would act out of fear? Sterling's fear was that a Black man would steal his girlfriend. Cuban's fear was that a Black man would rob him.

Which statement sounds more racist to you?

I am not criticizing what Cuban said about fearing for your safety when you see certain types of people. In fact, I agree with him 100%. But, if you are a Race Nazi, then you have to imprison and socially beat Cuban more than you were beating Sterling. That won't happen, however, because the Race Nazis are actually cowards and they know they would suffer a beatdown from Cuban.

The NBA was going to lose this battle. But then, Donald Sterling acted like the Clippers of old: He quit fighting and just gave up. Maybe he got bad advice. Maybe he just didn't want to fight anymore. Maybe he just didn't care.

Sterling lost the Clippers. Those who wanted to have an honest talk about race and racism are losing an opportunity. The only good thing is that the Race Nazis are all around. There will be plenty of battles to fight.

Victor J. Ward  first came across libertarianism by reading Murray Rothbard's Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy and Walter Block's Defending the Undefendable. He holds a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

3 comments:

  1. Very well written and enjoyable article.

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  2. Leftists don't want to have a serious discussion about anything, particularly race. The left just likes labeling people. Rational, Common sense, logical arguments simply aren't going to sway the Race Mob.

    My tactic is to simply mention and point people in the direction of Walter Williams series "The State Against Blacks" on Youtube. Its seems to work better than trying to have a civilized discussion. Of course "Civilized" has never been the M.O. of the left.

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  3. Victor, your commentary on this issue has been some of the most consistently well thought out and insightful I've seen. Thank you- I wish the NYTimes would publish your work, not the bullshit they keep spewing.

    ReplyDelete