Last week Michael Jordan's new book came out. Written by Roland Lazenby the book shares some surprising revelations including a 1992 interview in which Jordan remembered growing up hating white people. Michael Jordan: The Life explores Jordan's upbringing in North Carolina and dealing with a culture that was still largely and openly hostile toward people of color (via ESPN):
"The tipping point, Lazenby wrote, came in 1977, when a girl at his school called him the N-word.
"'So I threw a soda at her,' Jordan said in a 1992 interview with Playboy magazine, the details of which were written about in Lazenby's book. 'I was really rebelling. I considered myself a racist at the time. Basically, I was against all white people.'"
Of course, the comments refer to a specific time and place as well as a violent power dynamic in the segregated South. Jordan made a different sort of comment altogether when news of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was exposed unleashing a bigoted rant two weeks ago to his former assistant (via ESPN):
"'As an owner, I'm obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views,'" Jordan said in a statement. '... As a former player, I'm completely outraged.
"'There is no room in the NBA -- or anywhere else -- for the kind of racism and hatred that Mr. Sterling allegedly expressed. I am appalled that this type of ignorance still exists within our country and at the highest levels of our sport. In a league where the majority of players are African-American, we cannot and must not tolerate discrimination at any level.'"
What do you think? Were Michael Jordan's comments understandable in the context of the conversation? Is Donald Sterling to blame for the desolation of Pompeii, as well as Chernobyl?
Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
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