Do you know anything about the First Amendment? I hope so! It, of course, protects* for American citizens five special freedoms. For this blog post, the important one at play is the freedom of speech. Sometimes this is hard to understand, but it protects your right to do and say just about anything, anywhere, anytime. There are restrictions of course for safety and security reasons, but that is for another time. Here is where it can sometimes be tough to fathom: it protects your right to be a racist. Being a racist is of course repugnant and ignorant...but you have that right. You have that right, and so does Donald Sterling. On Tuesday it was announced that he was banned for life from the NBA, on top of the $2.5 million fine he will be paying for violating the NBA rules for ownership which deal with ethics and morality. But for now anyway, he is still the owner of the team. It remains to be seen whether the league can force him to sell the team. His lifetime ban prevents him from doing things like attending practices or games, being involved in league issues, and being involved in any team issues like player trades or contracts...really it bans him from doing anything with the league. But it doesn’t (so far) prevent him from owning the team.
And then there was the idiot fan that showed his true colors by throwing a banana at Barcelona’s Dani Alves during a soccer match. Teammates, fans and even opposing players showed their solidarity, and the fan got what he deserved from the league.
My question to you then is this: What can/should fans, team and league employees, and of course the current Clippers and/or Barcelona players do in the face of this hideousness? The basketball players wore their warm-up shirts inside out as a protest the night of the first game after this embarrassing rant was publicized. Alves ate the banana and Villarreal issued a statement deploring the fan. Should they have done/do more? What about the fans...should they have boycotted the game? Should they now?
Please be sure to include a link or links as usual, and end your post with a question. Though I am not directing you specifically to work on transitions, or correct comma use, or any other specific “good writing” constructs, it is expected that you should display your best 7th grade blog writing skills. You will earn the grade that your writing reflects. Do your best!
*(It does not GIVE you rights: it merely protects what is already yours)
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