Racism has always been a problem in our world, and sadly, it will probably always be one; specifically in sports it has been an issue, starting with Jackie Robinson. The topic of ‘Racism in Sports’ has recently blown up after comments made by owner of the Los Angeles Clippers: Donald Sterling. Not only is it odd to say, “don’t bring black people to my games,” when three of your fourteen players and coach are African-American, but it is also odd to think why someone would make those comments when 80% of people involved with the NBA (players, coaches, announcers, owners, referees, etc.) are African-American.

     Unfortunately, Donald Sterling is not the only owner in sports that has presented these problems – from Don Imus calling some WNBA players “nappy-headed h**s”, to a fan throwing a banana at NHL player Wayne Simmonds, we witness these inequalities much too often. It is exciting to say that all these issues were handled correctly. Donald was banned from the NBA for life and fined 2.5 million dollars, Don Imus was fired from his radio job, and Wayne Simmonds got his revenge by scoring the game winning goal. But why is it that these issues keep occurring?

     The issue here is not the players; these problems always occur because of an owner, fan, or even sports broadcasters – none of whom play the sport. A player being African-American is not the cause of the win or loss of a game. Certain people need to learn not to judge a player on their ethnicity but strictly on their level of skill: the thing that truly matters in sports.