Mark Cuban Says We're All Bigoted, Calls Donald Sterling Ruling 'A Slippery Slope' In New Interview
While he acknowledged that NBA commissioner Adam Silver "had to do it," he reiterated his statement that forcing Sterling to sell the team for making racist comments is "a slippery slope."
In a supplemental interview on Inc.com, he said that everyone, including himelf, holds prejudices:
"We're all prejudiced in one way or the other. If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, I'm walking to the other side of the street. And on that side of the street there's a guy who has tattoos all over his face - white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere - I'm walking back to the other side of the street... I know that I'm not perfect. I know I live in a glass house and it's not appropriate for me to throw stones."
Instead of kicking people to the curb, Cuban says those with racist or bigoted views should be rehabilitated with things like sensitivity training:
"It's part of my responsibility as an entrepreneur to try to solve it, not just to kick the problem down the road. It does my company no good, it does my customers no good, it does society no good if my response to somebody and their racism or bigotry is to say, 'It's not right for you to be here, go take your attitude somewhere else.'"
Cuban wasn't talking strictly in the context of the Sterling issue here, but his comments certainly apply to what's going on with the disgraced Clippers owner.
The "black kid in a hoodie" comment is the most interesting part of this because it's a crystal clear example of how racism works in 2014. Sterling was so universally derided because the nature and tone of his racist comments was so overt. We simply don't see powerful, public figures be that racist, which made him an easy target.
The assumption behind the "crossing the street when you see a black kid in a hoodie" statement - that young, black men are inherently dangerous - is equally as offensive. But it's also invisible. The impulse to stay clear of young, black men walking down the street comes from the same racist place where Sterling's statements came from, but it's easy to ignore as a society because it only expresses itself within our heads.
Here's the full transcript of Cuban's online Inc. interview:
"In this day and age, this country has really come a long way in putting any type of bigotry behind us regardless of who it's towards, whether it's the LGBT community, xenophobia, the fear of people from other countries. We've come a long way, and with that progress comes a price. We're a lot more vigilant and a lot less tolerant of different views. And it's not necessarily easy for everyone to adopt or adapt or evolve.
"We're all prejudiced in one way or the other. If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, I'm walking to the other side of the street. And on that side of the street there's a guy who has tattoos all over his face - white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere - I'm walking back to the other side of the street. And the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of.
"And so in my businesses, I try not to be hypocritical. I know that I'm not perfect. I know I live in a glass house and it's not appropriate for me to throw stones. So if I run into bigotry in organizations I control, I try to find solutions. I'll work with people. I'll send them to training, I'll send them to sensitivity training. I'll try to give them a chance to improve themselves because I think helping people improve their lives, helping people engage with people they don't understand, and helping people realize that while we all have our prejudices and our bigotries we have to learn that it's an issue that we have to control. It's part of my responsibility as an entrepenuar to try to solve it, not just to kick the problem down the road. It does my company no good, it does my customers no good, it does society no good if my response to somebody and their racism or bigotry is to say, 'It's not right for you to be here, go take your attitude somewhere else.'"