Open Letter To Mark Cuban
Dear Mr. Cuban,
In the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, there were a
handful of people that I really looked forward to hearing from, due to their
ability to always view things from an angle I may not have considered. You are
one of those people. Yet, when I heard your opinion, I felt more disheartened,
than enlightened.
“But regardless of your background, regardless of the
history they have…Being forced to divest property in any way, shape or form,
that’s not the United States of America. I don’t want to be a part of that.”
-Mark Cuban
This particular segment of your statement is the part that I
find most disheartening. It is something I would imagine Donald Sterling saying
in his own defense. Invoking good old American capitalism as the reason he
should retain his privilege of being an owner of a NBA franchise. This
statement values profit before people, and brings light to the fact that this
country, continually, rewards the person with the most money, no matter how
vile or abhorrent the transgression or crime.
That is the United States of America that I do not want to
be a part of.
The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation,
and the Constitution are the documents which define the ideal of “America”. The
words business, corporation, profit, and capitalism do not appear in any of
them. Those of you in the to 1%, including the people who, like yourself,
hustled their way to a 3 comma net worth, would lead us to believe that those
four words are the absolute embodiment of the “American Dream”.
The words that should be defining this country, and happen
to be contained within those hallowed documents are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. I ask you Mr. Cuban, how are NBA athletes supposed to
feel a sense of liberty when they are contractually obligated to work for a man
who holds the views of Mr. Sterling? Now that he has exposed himself to
everyone, what kind of happiness could they pursue when everything they toil
and sweat to achieve, benefits that man (Mr. Sterling) exponentially more than
it benefits themselves? What kind of life would they be leading if they endure
the aforementioned hardships in the name of capitalism and contracts?
I know you to be an intelligent, hardworking, fair and open minded
individual. I implore you to rethink your stance. I would hate to lose faith in
one of the few visionary business people left in this country, because he fears
the slippery slope of removing an undeserved privilege from a billionaire who
would hardly notice it is missing more than the precipitous cliff of allowing a
hateful, self-important man like Donald Sterling to continue to profit from
supremely gifted young men, blessed enough to play basketball for a living, and
subject them to a hostile and venomous work environment, in the name of profit
and capitalism.
Regards,
Leon Davis
