JimBoSox9 said:I thought Jnai made a good point. I hadn't considered the potential for litigation from the perspective of how Sterling is viewing this news cycle. Like you, I wasn't really crediting him with any human reactions and didn't consider that he may actually be troubled by his now-magnified racist reputation.
The guy I heard on that recording was unquestionably a racist, but he multiple times vehemently denied it in a way that felt plausible it's sincere in his own twisted head. You'd be surprised how many of these guys really believe they're being fair and logical while at the same time fundamentally conflating economic/class issues with racial ones.
I still can't say a full Sterling seppuku to save his rep feels like the likely path, but it would be fascinating.
The Business Insider piece posted up thread details Sterling's long history of racial discrimination. In it, he is likened to a Plantation Owner, with all that entails. It fits.
Of course, his comments about the tenants are the other side of how much he "loves" black people. The man does not operate on the same plane of existence the rest of us do.