I should confess, I've tried to respond to your original post and its the complications and the differences that bogged me down, so what I say here remains a bit klutzy.
In both cases - sure they have the right to free speech. People have the right to put their money into other endeavors in response to that speech. Two business operations at distinct scales vastly different accountability structures had and have to figure out how to respond to the consequences of the speech.
This is about two distinct forms of the juncture of money, free speech and consequences; socially structured privilege and the terms by which people make money (as business owners, corporate officers or employees). Eich, the Hobby Lobby and Sterling are all tied together for me and I setting aside the Hobby Lobby (here, and only setting aside me talking about it) because its more closely related to Sterling than it is Eich, and then again maybe its not so far removed from Eich.
For me Sterling is just another all too common instance of a racist white man making money off of the labor of black men while being two-faced in his contempt - until now. A good clip of his players and the coach he lured from Boston are black and and Sterling up until this point was simply being greedy enough to keep his racism a secret. The players and coaches have to try and win games for their professional standing but everything they do lines the pocket of a racist who can't have his girlfriend photographed with any black person and doesn't want their money in the form of ticket sales. People who want to boycott him, have to also in effect boycott his players and Doc Rivers. I can't imagine being a season ticket holder for the Clippers ever, but I empathize with those who feel like they have been party to a smug racist creep. Any other team playing against them is also going to feel complicit in lining Sterling's pockets. Most professional sports stadium deals are with taxpayer money. Sterling owns and runs the business - there isn't a governing structure he is subject to outside of the NBA and their power might be limited.
With regard to Eich, the Board of Mozilla had to decide if they wanted to make the employees of the company and people in business deals contend with someone who contributed to a relentless legal and media campaign that demanded continuing to deny civil rights to a segment of society. Eich continuing on was a reflection of the company - the company had a decision to make.
Sterling in effect is the company - everyone else has a decision to make except those trapped by contracts and the need for work (i.e. a day job in the management office or stadium). ETA: the people stuck in contracts and everyone and anyone really who is dependent on the Clippers for income need the NBA to do them a big solid here - because I can't imagine working for such a person and being legally bound to stay there - and that is the situation within which a lot of these people are trapped. Others can't walk away from compensation, pensions, insurance and benefits - at least not easily.
Marriage Equality can't come fast enough and I hear the term Post-Racial one more time I may set the mind off leash to study how the term has been used in the last 6 years. But we are not post-racial.
no subject
In both cases - sure they have the right to free speech. People have the right to put their money into other endeavors in response to that speech. Two business operations at distinct scales vastly different accountability structures had and have to figure out how to respond to the consequences of the speech.
This is about two distinct forms of the juncture of money, free speech and consequences; socially structured privilege and the terms by which people make money (as business owners, corporate officers or employees). Eich, the Hobby Lobby and Sterling are all tied together for me and I setting aside the Hobby Lobby (here, and only setting aside me talking about it) because its more closely related to Sterling than it is Eich, and then again maybe its not so far removed from Eich.
For me Sterling is just another all too common instance of a racist white man making money off of the labor of black men while being two-faced in his contempt - until now. A good clip of his players and the coach he lured from Boston are black and and Sterling up until this point was simply being greedy enough to keep his racism a secret. The players and coaches have to try and win games for their professional standing but everything they do lines the pocket of a racist who can't have his girlfriend photographed with any black person and doesn't want their money in the form of ticket sales. People who want to boycott him, have to also in effect boycott his players and Doc Rivers. I can't imagine being a season ticket holder for the Clippers ever, but I empathize with those who feel like they have been party to a smug racist creep. Any other team playing against them is also going to feel complicit in lining Sterling's pockets. Most professional sports stadium deals are with taxpayer money. Sterling owns and runs the business - there isn't a governing structure he is subject to outside of the NBA and their power might be limited.
With regard to Eich, the Board of Mozilla had to decide if they wanted to make the employees of the company and people in business deals contend with someone who contributed to a relentless legal and media campaign that demanded continuing to deny civil rights to a segment of society. Eich continuing on was a reflection of the company - the company had a decision to make.
Sterling in effect is the company - everyone else has a decision to make except those trapped by contracts and the need for work (i.e. a day job in the management office or stadium). ETA: the people stuck in contracts and everyone and anyone really who is dependent on the Clippers for income need the NBA to do them a big solid here - because I can't imagine working for such a person and being legally bound to stay there - and that is the situation within which a lot of these people are trapped. Others can't walk away from compensation, pensions, insurance and benefits - at least not easily.
Marriage Equality can't come fast enough and I hear the term Post-Racial one more time I may set the mind off leash to study how the term has been used in the last 6 years. But we are not post-racial.