Elgin Baylor on Why He Worked in a Racist Environment for Two Decades

The fact of the matter is if it was so bad for 20 years why not get out sooner and deal with it then. Why wait all these years and after you get fired try and deal with it. To me that says alot about his character. If you repsect yourself I don’t care who your boss is and what bone they throw at you if they disrespect you for 20 years that means you don’t care about yourself and you value money over respect for your own self.

Clearly CHE is white.

If a person were to leave every environment where they were discriminated against on the basis of their race, there would be nowhere left in the world to go. At some point you just man up and do your job. I have no comment on the validity of the lawsuit, but I can certainly comment on my parents generation and how much they endured for the sake of making things better for their families.

@ken: even though that 6 figure job was one of the lowest in his industry? riiiiight, and id like to see you not suck at your job when your boss negates every proposal that you make and is a cheapskate.

Check and mate.

So… according to CHE, everytime a minority faces discrimination he should just quit his job? Well, pretty much all of us would be unemployed then. I’m just saying. Why his money is even part of the discussion? (+ he WAS getting low-balled, don’t act like he’s the only incompetent GM around, chris wallace gets paid handsomely)
If Serling did make racist remarks on the regular, well… he deserves to get sued. If he didn’t, he’ll get his day in court too for defamation.

I am black and I never said anytime a black faces discrimination they should quit their job I said anyone who allows someone to DEGRADE them for 20 plus years, something is wrong with them. After a year or two he should have came out and did what he is doing now…not wait till after he was fired after 22 years of working there. I am tired of minorities making using the race card FOR EVERYTHING. Yes racism exist but it doesn’t mean we use that as a pacifier or excuse as to why we don’t succeed. I’ve had police officers kick me out of a suburban mall because I was Black (no stretch of the imagination) they literally banned me from the mall because I was black and this was maybe 4 years ago. I work for a law firm so I handled it accordingly the same day. I didn’t wait 22 years to do something about it.

Jukai, I do. At least, for his first years on the job. If he would have quit in the 80s or early 90s, he would have set back minorities in executive roles. For the last years? He was just getting a check.

Elgin Baylor stayed because he was getting paid. Not because he cared for his people. That’s the cookie cutter answer he will present to the court. I am not saying this Sterling guy isn’t racist. I am just upset that Baylor wants to all of a sudden pull the race card after he gets let go. Now he isn’t getting that fat check so hey let me talk about how I was mistreated. I have a problem with that. How about this, Any money that Baylor recieves from this settlement (if he wins) have him donate it to the NAACP. If he is all about making the lives of young black men better.

I hope the judge walks up to the plaintiff and the defendant and hits them both on the head. Hard. And then goes on with the next case.

hahahahaha… thanks Russ!

Why did Baylor stay for 22 years, we don’t know, money could be it, but its true, if he would have cried racism after two years, think about how it would have set back minorities in those postions. He’s right. I have worked at jobs with racism, and I have left jobs because of racism to find better ones. I have no problem if it is true of him waiting until he got canned. Its his right and if sterling is racist, I wouldn’t want to play on the clippers.

The Seed: for 20 million a year, you would.

Z: not exactly, while INTENT doesn’t come into play, the connotation’s do take effect. If he can prove he said those words without any racial meanings (IE he was actually stating that he was giving a kid who was poor and black a large contract), then the judge will side with the defendant. This is more than just proving who said what.

I guess growing up I was raised “make no excuses in life.” And I feel the black community uses race as a crutch. When do we actually get off our a$$es and do something about it. Rather than sit and complain about how we are mistreated work harder to get what you want. Don’t make excuses for why you didn’t get what you worked for. Just work harder. Yes life is unfair but who said it was going to be fair? It’s a uphill battle even with Obama president but doesn’t mean we won’t have to work hard for what we want. There is no excuse for the african american community to have the highest drop out rate in the nation. Should we blame that on the white man?

I always say “YOU MUST TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO TREAT YOU OR THEY WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO BE TREATED”. I forget where I got that but it is true. If you do not require people to respect you and treat you right then they can treat you any way they please and feel justified b/c you haven’t set any boundaries.

He was getting lower pay than other GM’s and it seemed as if he sucked at his job but he wasn’t really pulling the final strings on decisions. Think about it, if you sucked that bad, an employer would not keep you for 2 decades UNLESS they needed a scapegoat. He may have taken one for the team but that team was the Clippers not a race…I’m Black and have worked in “bad” places but I didn’t stay there for 15 years for “my people” I stayed for my bills. lol. When it’s all said and done Baylor will be known more for his bad GM’ing than his great playing days and NOT at all for his “ONE FOR THE TEAM” sentiments. This is just one mans opinion.

CHE, somewhat would be the answer. That’s just history, facts. I hate when people try to sweep that under the rug. It doesn’t mean that we have to be angry at white people or be racists. Why does it have to be either/or? Can’t we work harder AND not let racist attitudes and comments fly? Jewish people never let anything fly and I think that’s great. It does not stop them from working hard, does it? Racism is not okay and I don’t feel like we have to take it on the chin and keep moving. No need for anger or victimization, it’s just self-respect.

No posts from Allenp yet?

Z i agree that you don’t tolerate it but you don’t sit and cry about it either. You work harder because the honest truth is there will ALWAYS be racism. So are you going to sit your whole life and fight everyone who says something inappropriate to you or will you brush your shoulders off and keep steppin. We are so quick to pull the race card. I live in the MOST segregated City in the nation MILWAUKEE, WI. Blacks live on the north side, hispanics live on the south side and the whites live in the burbs. I am talking from experience that if I was to fight after every time someone called me a nigger or disrespected me because of my race I wouldn’t have time to focus on my family, my job and school. I mentor young minority kids and I tell them don’t make excuses for why you don’t get what you want in life. You gotta take it. Yes there is a time to stand up for what is right but you have to choose wisely. Baylor stayed for the money because he knew he wouldn’t find a job anywhere else because he sucked at what he did. PERIOD. don’t use the white man kept me down all these years and i stayed for the people. that’s B.S. not to say what Sterling did was right. I just think Baylor should have dealt with it sooner. That’s all i am saying.

@CHE: I was also taught not to use my color as a crutch and as far as Obama is concerned I’m not looking towards him or any politician to help me in any way. As far as your “There is no excuse for the african american community to have the highest drop out rate in the nation.” You are correct to a point. If the schools in the inner cities are not given the proper funding for simple things such as new books and updated classrooms and activities then I blame it on society and parents who don’t get involved. If a child goes to a nice school in the suburbs that has every learning tool imaginable and the funds for teaching and a child that goes to an inner city school with old books dating back 10 or 15 years and the school doesn’t have funding to even fix the basics then which child is more likely to drop out? Again, I agree we should not limp around or the race crutch or try to spend the race card.

Uh, you’d be surprised what is spun in the court of law with a good lawyer, Z.

I agree, Baylor should have done some charities, donated some money or something, since he is using the race card now. If he can prove it, prove it. If Baylor can’t he should be fined for being dumb. We as blacks who are misinformed do play race cards, and I can’t do this because of the man, I am a teacher and mentor, so I see kids make mistakes in teens, that affect them the rest of their life. To me its about programs for kids, and role models. Not these rappers who talk big, live big and have big security. Blacks have to many role models that don’t care about them. The real reason for the drop is single parent homes and some men not being raced by men, but want to be thugs, who when grow up in their forty’s are lost, because they wasted their life trying to live and look big. The more I think about this article, the more this civil suit now sounds dumb. Baylor take your money and live on by the water and fish to relax yourself of all this racism at clipperland.

people must have confused 1989 with 2009 for some reason

Diesel i agree he waited too long to say something and that’s why i don’t buy his i did it for the people garbage. you get fired and all of a sudden you want to pull the race card.