Okay, this issue has driven me to the computer and the need to share with those who follow my blogs. We are on a slope that if not dealt with in the right way, (which I feel won’t be) we will just be adding oil to the slide and when the crash at the bottom finally stops this ride, the end result will not be pretty. In fact it should scare us to never want to take a ride on this slope again. If we do continue to ride, then the end result will continue to be worse.
Donald Sterling, according to the recording, has a racial problem. The comments he made are, or can be, taken that he has a problem with African Americans. That’s wrong! But that is not what has driven me to the keyboard. What has driven me to comment is the reaction by the media and the NBA. First let me say, I do not agree with, or feel the same way that Mr. Sterling does about African Americans. I have several friends and co-workers, along with fellow church members that are African American. What has made the hair on the back of my neck stand up is what is happening to our privacy.
Again, and I wish I would not have to preface everything with this statement, but because of political correctness and affirmative action I need to so that I protect my right to say what I want. That’s the problem I have. What has happened to the first amendment? We live in a day where we have to be so politically correct it actually interferes with my first amendment right of free speech. Again I will state this but it will be for the last time because I said enough that people should be aware that I am not racist. I have no problem with African Americans.
What I say in private, in my own home should not be subject to scrutiny. If we have freedom of speech anywhere, it should be in our own home. No matter what the subject may be. Whether it is a race issue, gay rights, political, or religious it should be void of reprisal from outside the walls of my home. But we are so media driven and fed that we jump on all the perceived wrongs because we are spoon fed that they are wrong. On the surface they may be, but when put into their proper context we should be able to decipher the conclusion. But we can’t or we don’t want to, because we are fed all the info from our media instead of looking at the facts or the situation or the setting of what has taken place. We should do our due diligence to get all the facts. Instead we sit back and let the media spoon feed our minds with the dribble that will make the story taste the way they want.
In a conversation that I was having on this subject, I was told that Mr. Sterling should have known better than to say those things. My response to that was, “Not in his own home. He should be able to say how he feels about anything without fear of retribution” I will bet you he is not the only owner of a business that has shared in the privacy of their own home how he or she feels about one or more of their employees, whether it is an issue of race, sexual orientation, political, or religious. I will also wager that Mr. Sterling is not the only owner, or CEO, Operation Manager, Foreman, Lead Person, or whatever title of authority you want to give, that has had a disparaging thing to say about a selected group of people who work for the company that gave them that authority.
I will also go as far as to say that of the thousands of thousands of fans that watch the L.A. Clippers and all other sporting events may be just as guilty of saying a derogatory statement at one point, either at a game or in private. And that’s it, private. While this conversation continued, it was brought up that with today’s technology we can be recorded and not even know about it. That I will agree with and that’s wrong too and where the problem is.
As I stated earlier, because of political correctness and affirmative action and now with the addition of technology we have put the first amendment on the back burner and we now give up our right of free speech out of fear. The first and second amendments of our constitution are in danger of being erased from existence if we continue to down this slope. And like I began I will end. The results will be devastating.
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