We've known for decades that Donald Sterling is a racist scumbag and sexual harasser who shouldn't be the owner of an NBA team.
The tape released Friday — which allegedly features Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend he doesn't want her to bring Black people to Clippers games or "broadcast her associations" with Black people on Instagram — is just the most recent example of Sterling's well-documented hostility towards Black people.
Donald Sterling should not be allowed to continue profiting from the achievements of some of the world's most exceptional Black athletes. Major companies that rely on business from Black folks shouldn't be lining the pockets of an NBA owner who doesn't want us at the games. Stripping the Clippers of their corporate sponsorships is an important first step towards removing Donald Sterling as their owner.
Join ColorOfChange in demanding that corporations end their sponsorship of the Clippers until Donald Sterling is no longer associated with the team.
Since he acquired the Clippers in 1981, Donald Sterling has repeatedly demonstrated racial animosity both inside the Clippers organization and out:
- Former General Manager Elgin Baylor charged in a racial discrimination suit that Sterling ran the Clippers with the "vision of a Southern plantation–type structure" asking him to create a team of “poor Black boys from the South and a white head coach.”
- When interviewing one prospective white coach, Sterling reportedly asked "I wanna know why you think you can coach these n**gers."
- Despite complaints from players, Sterling has made a disturbing habit of of bringing women into the locker room and saying things like "look at these beautiful Black bodies."
- Sterling is a ruthless, bigoted slumlord. In 2009, he settled a case with the Department of Justice paying the largest settlement ever obtained in a government housing discrimination suit. He was accused of systematically denying rental opportunities to prospective Black and Hispanic tenants across his Southern California properties. In court documents, he stated that "Black tenants smell and attract vermin."
Donald Sterling and Adam Silver |
Sign the petition. Tell corporations: Drop the Clippers and their racist owner.