Race And Racism In America

What do we see in the LA Clippers' Donald Sterling and ragin' rancher Cliven Bundy?

First it was ragin’ rancher Cliven Bundy, with his assertion that African-Americans were better off as cotton-picking slaves.  Then it got stranger.  The billionaire owner of the L.A. Clippers, Donald Sterling – whose NBA franchise depends on the talents of a whole lot of black men – apparently taped telling his girlfriend, courtside, that he did not want her seen with black men.  That it bothered him.  That that’s the culture we live in and so it goes.  Is that the culture we live in?  This hour On Point:  race and racism in America now.  Where do we stand?
-- Tom Ashbrook

Jeffrey Goldberg, columnist at Bloomberg View. (@JeffreyGoldberg)

Kevin Blackistone, sports writer, professor of journalism at the University of Maryland and panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn." (@ProfBlackistone)

David Rice, professor and chair of the psychology department at Morehouse College.

Los Angeles Times: Clippers owner Donald Sterling in firestorm over alleged racist remarks — "In an audio recording, released by celebrity gossip site TMZ, a person identified as Sterling argues with his girlfriend, criticizing her for posting a picture of herself on Instagram posing with Lakers legend Magic Johnson."

The Guardian: The real tragedy of Donald Sterling's racism: it took this long for us to notice -- "While a handful of us in the media excoriated Sterling and the NBA in 2009 when Sterling settled the lawsuit by agreeing to pay $2.73m following allegations he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics, blacks and families with children, the story didn't resonate – despite it being the largest housing discrimination settlement in Justice Department history. "

The Atlantic: Cliven Bundy Wants to Tell You All About 'the Negro' -- "This is unsurprising. White supremacy is one of the most dominant forces in the history of American politics. In a democracy, it would be silly to expect it to go unexpressed. Thus anyone with a sense of American history should be equally unsurprised to discover that rugged individualist Cliven Bundy is the bearer of some very interesting theories:"