President Barack Obama on Sunday described comments
reportedly made by the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers "incredibly
offensive racist statements," before casting them as part of a continuing
legacy of slavery and segregation that Americans must vigilantly fight.
"When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance,
you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk," Obama said
when asked to respond to Sterling's reported comments.
Obama's description of the controversy as part of a larger historical
context is the latest example of his continuing willingness to expound on
matters of race in his second term.
After avoiding much mention of race relations during his
campaign to become the first black president and in his first term, the president
last summer offered a personal reflection in response to the shooting of black
teenager Trayvon Martin. And now Obama has spoken out against an audio
recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his
girlfriend not to bring black people to games.
The firestorm over Sterling's comments has quickly engulfed
the NBA. Obama cast the comments through a broader prism of racism in America,
adding that "we constantly have to be on guard on racial attitudes that
divide us rather than embracing our diversity as a strength."
"The United States continues to wrestle with the legacy
of race and slavery and segregation, that's still there, the vestiges of
discrimination," Obama said during a news conference in Malaysia, where he
was traveling.
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"We've made enormous strides, but you're going to
continue to see this percolate up every so often," he added. "And I
think that we just have to be clear and steady in denouncing it, teaching our
children differently, but also remaining hopeful that part of why statements
like this stand out some much is because there has been this shift in how we
view ourselves."
In the recording attributed to Sterling recording and posted
on the website TMZ, a male voice questions his girlfriend's association with
minorities. TMZ reported the woman, V. Stiviano, is of black and Mexican
descent.
The man asks Stiviano not to broadcast her association with
black people or bring black people to games. The man specifically mentions
LakersHall of Famer Magic Johnson on the recording, saying, "Don't bring
him to my games, OK?"
Obama said he's confident NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will
address the matter. He said the NBA has "an awful lot of African American
players, it's steeped in African American culture. And I suspect that the NBA
is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this."
Silver had said the NBA needs to confirm
authenticity of the audio tape and interview both Sterling and the woman in the
recording. He called the tape "disturbing and offensive" and promised
to investigate Obama: Reported comments by team owner 'racist'
APR 27, 2014 2:51a ET
