The National Basketball Association (NBA) has made a strong statement against racism.
Yesterday, they banned the owner of the LA Clippers basketball team, Donald Sterling, from basketball for the rest of his life. They also said he has to pay a fine of $2.5 million.
The move was in response to some racist comments against African-Americans that he made during a conversation with his girlfriend. His words were recorded and released last weekend by popular entertainment website TMZ.
The commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, said he will try to force Sterling to sell the Clippers.
Silver said the league “condemns” (is very much against) racism and the comments made by Sterling.
Sterling will not be allowed to attend any NBA games or practices or participate in any business dealings in professional basketball, including the team he owns.
The $2.5-million fine will be donated to groups that are helping to fight racism.
Many basketball players, former players and celebrities including U.S. President Barack Obama have spoken out against Sterling.
“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 about Sterling’s comments.
The Clippers’s players staged a silent protest against the team’s owner. During their warm-up they wore their red Clippers’s jerseys inside out to hide the team’s logo. They also wore black wristbands, armbands and socks during the game.
The team’s coach said the team will not be stopped by the ignorant comments made by Sterling. He said they will continue to play basketball and focus on trying to win games.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
What is your opinion of this situation? Do you think the NBA’s response was adequate and fair? What next steps should be taken?
Reading Prompt: Responding to and Evaluating Texts
When President Obama responded to Sterling’s comments, he said the following: “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk.”
What do you think this statement means? Do you agree with President Obama?
Junior
Make judgements and draw conclusions about the ideas and information in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Intermediate
Evaluate the effectiveness of both simple and complex texts based on evidence from the texts(OME, Reading: 1.8).
Language Feature: Suffix
A suffix is a group of letters at the end of a root word that create a new word. For example, the suffix ‘ism’ is added to the root word ‘race’ to create the word ‘racism’.
Can you think of at least 10 other words that include a suffix?
