The Shrinking Private Sphere
"All human beings," the late Gabriel García Márquez once wrote, "have three lives: public, private, and secret." Alas, the lines of demarcation are fading, the abundance of cheap recording technology and the relentless voyeurism of the Internet conspiring to abolish our penetralia. The latest victim of the tiny microphone is Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, who has been revealed beyond reasonable doubt to be a racist.
It is difficult to work up much sympathy for the man - a billionaire with a history of rank intolerance and questionable business ethics. And that his remarks came from a conversation with a woman who is not his wife does little to help his cause. Nevertheless, one should be a little reluctant to applaud the recording and dissemination of a private telephone conversation simply because it has skewered someone unpleasant. At yesterday's press conference, one especially earnest member of the audience asked whether the powers-that-be at the NBA intended to conduct an investigation to find out if anyone else involved with basketball had ugly views - an instinct that, when coupled with the performance-art outrage and glancing-at-the-cameras indignation that are the hallmarks of our age, carried with it a whiff of inquisition.
This feeling, that everyone involved with the sport had been put on notice not to deviate from the zeitgeist, was not assuaged by a statement from Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All-Star who was given the task of representing the NBA players' union. "I hope," Johnson announced, "that every bigot in this country sees what happened to Mr. Sterling, and recognizes that if he can fall, so can you." This rather set my teeth on edge. "Bigot" is a broad term nowadays, and its meaning changes by the day. Is anyone safe?Also read: NAACP: We Ignored Sterling's Racism Because of 'Large Donations'
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