White people are more likely to believe in ghosts than in racism, said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a strident contribution to the debate over the scandal surrounding Donald Sterling.
The NBA legend said the bigoted remarks by the owner of the LA Clippers are evidence that prejudice against black people is still deeply ingrained in American culture.
The former Lakers ace, who briefly coached the Clippers in 2000, said he believes the NBA has good grounds for removing Sterling from the sport.
Abdul-Jabbar spoke as the NBA announced it was looking for an interim chief executive to guide the Clippers through its transition to a new owner after Sterling was banned for life by its most senior official.
The new CEO will run the team while NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and his legal team try to force Sterling to sell.
Sterling, a property tycoon who has owned the Clippers since 1981, has been roundly condemned after a recording of him ranting at his girlfriend for associating with black people.
But Abdul-Jabbar told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News that he believes that Sterling’s remarks are merely the tip of the iceberg, suggesting that there is a deeper problem with race in the U.S. that few dare to confront.
‘This is a problem,’ he told Stephanopous on This Week. ‘I did a little bit of research, more whites believe in ghosts than believe in racism…
‘That’s why we have shows like Ghostbusters and don’t have shows like Racistbusters.
‘It’s something that’s still part of our culture and people hold on to some of these ideas and practices just out of habit and saying that, “Well, that’s the way it always was.” But things have to change.’
Abdul-Jabbar admitted he never experienced any racism from Sterling during his brief time coaching the Clippers in 2000 but, referring to charges of racial discrimination filed against him, he said the remarks heard in the recording published by TMZ ‘certainly should not have been a surprise to anybody.’
A long-time anti-racism campaigner, Abdul-Jabbar adopted his Muslim name in 1971 after converting to the religion while at university in the late-1960s.
Now 67, he successfully combined one of the greatest ever careers in basketball – spanning 20 seasons – with work as an author and actor, and recently accepted a position as a cultural ambassador for the U.S.
n a comment piece published by Time last night he expanded on his comments on the Sterling scandal, slamming the mostly white and Right-wing commentators and politicians who have in recent years asserted that ‘racism is dead’.
He wrote: ‘Maybe the worst racism of all is denying that racism exists, because that keeps us from repairing the damage. This country needs a social colonoscopy to look for the hidden racist polyps. And we aren’t doing ourselves any good by saying, “I feel fine. Everything’s fine. Nothing to see here.”‘
Citing polls which have shown that black people in the U.S. are far more likely to flag up racism as a ‘very serious’ problem, Abdul-Jabbar argues that the reason so many white people seem to think that it is ‘dead’ is because it doesn’t target them.
‘That’s why the best way to combat racism in the face of selective attention and situational racism is to seek it out every minute of every day and expose every instance we find,’ he goes on.
‘And not just racism, but also sexism, homophobia and every other kind of injustice that lessens the principles of inclusion that define this country.’
Any attempt to force Sterling to sell the Clippers would require a vote of approval from at least three-fourths of team owners.
Those rumored to be interested in buying the team include Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, music industry executive David Geffen and more.
The Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 126-121 in Game 7 of their playoff series on Saturday, to close out an emotional playoff series and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
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