This weekend, it was reported that Donald Sterling, owner of the NBA Los Angeles Clippers, made racist remarks in a heated conversation with his girlfriend. The audio (obtained by an online gossip magazine) strongly suggests that Sterling has very unhealthy views regarding culture and ethnicity. It has also been reported that this isn’t the first time Sterling has been accused of being racist. As I stated on Twitter, Sterling’s remarks are unfortunate and disturbing considering his position in a league where minorities are the majority. Despite his views, Christians have a responsibility to God and therefore to Donald and men like him.
After observing the hoopla surrounding Sterling and the response of some Christians via social media, I have 3 quick exhortations for Christians on dealing with men like Donald Sterling.
1. We must love men like Sterling by understanding what he was actually trying to communicate.
It was reported by a gossip column that Sterling didn’t want Black people at the Clippers games, including Magic Johnson. After listening to the audio in full myself, I didn’t come to the same conclusion. It seems Sterling specifically didn’t want his girlfriend bringing blacks or other minorities to the games with her. It doesn’t appear he intended to band minorities from all Clippers games.
When engaging situations such as this and people like Sterling, in order to win them, the Christian must seek to understand. We should be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt instead of coming to the conclusion of the worst possible scenario. Sterling’s view is troubling enough without exaggeration. Unfortunately, it seems this is what the media did, and many Christians jumped on the bandwagon.
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SOURCE: RAA Network
Phillip Holmes
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