Opinion Colour coded

A basketball team owner’s comments show up the myth of a post-racial America.

April 29, 2014 03:27 AM IST First published on: Apr 29, 2014 at 03:27 AM IST

A basketball team owner’s comments show up the myth of a post-racial America.

Donald Sterling, owner of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers team, has allegedly been so careless as to let himself be caught on tape giving instructions to his partner. She should not bring African-Americans to Clippers games, he reportedly said, neither should she pose for pictures with them. On Sunday, US President Barack Obama added his voice to the clamour of protest against Sterling, calling his remarks “incredibly offensive racist statements”. Sterling might have been giving in to atavistic impulses, but incidents such as these are a troubling reminder that racism is not history in American sports or society.

Basketball in the US has long been dominated by black players. From Michael Jordan to LeBron James to Kobe Bryant, the most iconic names in professional basketball are African American. In the hugely popular college basketball, the breakthrough moment came in 1991, when the University of Michigan recruited five black athletes to its team. The “Fab Five” would pave the way for more black players to be included in college basketball teams.

But across sports, the myth of inhabiting a post-racial milieu is consistently broken — there are fans who feel a baskteball team should hire white players in the interests of “diversity” and major professional sports associations seem to hire few black coaches. Forms of racial caricature are also ingrained in the iconography of sports. Professional teams such as the Washington Redskins and the Kansas City Chiefs, for instance, delve freely into Native American stereotypes for their names, mascots, even cheers.

In his tenure as president, Obama has made race a subject of discussion once again, speaking out on incidents of racial discrimination and upsetting certain complacencies. He is right to do so. Continuing instances of racism show that this is a corrosive legacy that cannot be wished away.