When I look back on the Donald Sterling revelation controversy, I’m happy that this man was busted because it reflects on a situation that many Black people experience with Caucasian racists on a daily basis.
The sad part about this situation for us as a people that many of them are so ingrained with that mentality toward us that most will never see it within
Why is it a sad situation for us?
Well it’s only sad for those Blacks who are under some measure of control in their lives by these types of Whites (And others) as in a job situation where they have no voice and no choice but to have to accept that type of slanted treatment with the threat of losing their jobs and being out on the curb.
That’s the kind of stress that can kill a person.
So is it any wonder that in America that the lifespan of Black men is substantially shorter than that of their White counterparts?
It shouldn’t be a surprise at all because we don’t statistically hold the power of our own destinies in a country where we find ourselves to be approximately 13% of the population but the majority of those incarcerated.
That sure tells you what America has in store as our expected career options for the the vast majority of us as Black men doesn’t it?
So that sad fact really helps to fuel what these racists think about us because they can statistically point to a system that is stacked against us as their proof to speak about us in any lowdown way whether it is face to face or behind closed doors.
But at the end of the day it is about empowering yourself so that you can live independently of any boss hanging over you the threat of losing your job in order to get you to jump through hoops to do their bidding in fear the way they like it.
And this is another trait that racists like Donald Sterling have in abundance, as much as they claim to not want Blacks around them, they will always find themselves in a position to be over Blacks in order to feel that rush of being superior while at the same time doing all that they can to humiliate them and keep them discouraged and down.
I remember back in the summer of 1985 when I worked at the office of the world renown architect Paul Friedberg as a apprentice as I was planning to attend City College to pursue a career in architecture at that time of my life.
I was there working for several months learning the finer points of the craft as Paul had some very talented young masters who really allowed me a unique peek into that world in a way that most have never experienced.
My good graces into this job and rare opportunity came through my Father who – as an independent contractor in interior decorating and custom floor renovation – did work for Mr. Friedberg for many years and had what I witnessed to be a very close and friendly bond that many times appeared to be a brotherhood.
Paul, like Donald Sterling, was Jewish, but at 22 years old and still growing as a young man mentally, I still was oblivious to many of the deceptively hidden levels of racism and was crushed by many of the situations that I had yet to encounter even though my parents more than had me prepared to handle them as they would surely manifest in my life.
But after those few months of fitting in where I could and gaining some precious experience, I received a call to come into Paul’s office and really wasn’t prepared to deal with what was to come.
I was met by a very stern faced gentleman whose features didn’t resemble the kind and laid back man that I’ve come to know growing up.
When he motioned for me to sit across from him, I immediately knew that something was wrong because he seemed to be very upset with me judging by the tension filled silence in the air that was layered so thick before he even mumbled a single word.
His eventual words seemed to be more thunderous than they actually were because of the deafening silence that they broke through.
“Lance” he said, speaking my name as though I were a stranger.
“You have to know that some things are not meant for everyone to do no matter how hard they want to do it”
Wow, at this point I could have accepted that I didn’t have the ability to be a good architect and would have trusted his judgment and the feedback from his wonderful crew of talented architects that maybe it wasn’t for me.
This is how much I trusted him given the fact that my now ailing Father had such a great relationship with him – or so I thought.
But the next few moments let me know for sure that his tension filled words really weren’t about my abilities or lack thereof, but about something else that had been bugging him since I arrived there to work for him.
“First of all…….YOUR BLACK!”
WOW! What did my race have anything to do with my ability I thought!
“And you have to know that in this industry, the cards will be stacked against you and it might be better if you find another career path to pursue and save yourself a lot of headaches, pains and frustrations in the next few years of your life…….”
I sat there in shock.
Not that I would have if it were someone else in front of me, because even at that point in my life I already knew the deal when it came to how people approached me and viewed me even though most of the time they were far off the mark.
Most were taken aback by my extremely muscular body that came from years of competitive bodybuilding as they may have thought that I was a freshly released inmate from prison because of it.
I was a very young guy and at the time fitness and health just wasn’t a very popular thing so I just HAD to be a thug and not the nerd that I really am.
But Paul should have known this, I mean, I grew up going to his house with my father to do work and to also attend social functions so I never knew that something like this would come out of his mouth.
So I held my cool with so much emotion swirling inside of me along with the sense of betrayal that I felt coming from someone who always seemed to treat us right.
I didn’t understand were he was coming from even though I knew as a Black man the cards were stacked against me in America, I had no problem with him saying something along those lines if I felt it was from a supportive standpoint of encouraging me to beat the odds.
But this was something different.
This was something so sinister and I couldn’t believe that this would come from him.
To make matters even worse I really couldn’t hear the following words as he shared them because I was so overwhelmed with a swirl of conflicting emotions that would have caused a weaker man to execute a violent felony in that small office.
All I wanted to confirm was if his apparent disdain for my presence there was about my ability or about my race.
To be honest, it hurt and I fought back tears.
He then told me that my ability was top notch and he has never seen anyone catch on so quickly. This seemed hypocritical to me because if I was so good then why should my race play into my ability to get the job done?
I just didn’t understand.
So when he said that he wanted to have that little “sit down” with me for the longest I was really confused when he then told me that I needed to start doing more maintenance work around the office instead of focusing on learning and he will see how things eventually will turn out for me there.
He stated that several of the empty offices needed painting and that I needed to come up with a garbage disposal schedule and also make runs for the other architects if they needed any lunch or snacks picked up from the local restaurants.
“Okay, I see it now”, I thought to myself. “You have a problem with me being here as a Black man in the capacity of learning and mastering what you feel is YOUR craft, but it’s okay to be here in a perpetually subservient manner where I’m not a threat to manifesting what God has placed inside of me as far as my talents and abilities.”
I’d make a great janitor but I would be violating some divine order in his mind if I were to make it as an architect because I’m Black.
…….and many people today really wonder why Lance Scurvin is the way that he is in having zero tolerance for racism at any level and also being able to spot it when it’s shrewdly masked under a Colgate smile. It’s because I’ve had to deal with it head on all of my life because of the severe insecurities and unfortunate hangups of the bearer of that toxic sickness!
But to rewind back to Donald Sterling, when he said all of the negative things that he did about Magic Johnson – even though Magic Johnson has done so much – rings of a jealousy that many White and Jewish men of power possess when Black men rise to become empowered to do something for their own the way that Jewish and Whites do for their own.
Yet, Donald Sterling mentioned that many Blacks who have made something of themselves financially don’t ever give back, that Blacks don’t support Blacks.
Well I’m sorry to say that WE as Black people say this behind closed doors too and it is the truth. It’s a sad truth that unfortunately most of the Jewish and White elite know oh so well.
They know it so well because they profit from our separation, and although they will feign a friendship with the Black community and speak out of both sides of their mouth professing that they have a desire to help us, it will always be the opposite as they don’t have any desire to help us at all.
The only status that they want for us is of a subservient nature where they are the landlord and we are the tenant.
We are the consumer and they are the provider.
We are the performer getting all of the attention while they are the hidden hand behind the production making the lion’s share of the revenue.
So if you appear to be ultra talented in this world and possess a heart that sincerely wants to help your people and NOT be compromised, then they will do everything to discourage you and break your spirit or even blacklist you from realizing your potential because now no one who is connected to the inner circle will ever deal with you.
This is why these types of men are so threatened when brilliant Black men enter into their presence, it’s more than merely hating them because of the color of their skin, it’s actually about despising them because of the power within that manifests as a dark color to their skin!
They know this but most of us do NOT!
So as you listen to the rantings of Donald Sterling, understand that he truly – although unknowingly – shared the deepest fibers of his soul on display to the world as well as the thoughts of so many like him.
They want total control over us and are threatened greatly at the thought of our independence financially, mentally, spiritually, emotionally as well as physically.
That drives them CRAZY!
When you have a job in service to the public and you appear to have your act together and they can sense this, what is the first thing that these racist strangers want to say and threaten when they have an imagined issue with you?
“I’LL HAVE YOUR JOB!!!!!!!”
So you see, they cannot threaten tochange your life for the worst when you are in total control of your money. So could you imagine the rush of power that Donald Sterling has when he watches his “Niggers” playing on his team like the modern day plantation owner that he is?
See, Magic Johnson is so much of a threat to Donald Sterling because he is a Black man that can very well buy that team if he so desired. Black financial power on this level is NOT acceptable!
So if you fall in line with the hidden orders of this world, you will be given a few trinkets and the perception that you are bigger than you really are, but you will made to know that you are owned.
The thoughts of the Donald Sterling’s of the world have the power to be made manifest because he and others like him have the financial influence to inflict their mentality on the downtrodden people of the world who are living from paycheck to paycheck simply to merely stay alive. So stop calling those who have no power “racist” when they’ve had to live under the foot of these tyrants who care not about our up-rise!
Our strength comes in unity and as long as we remain a fragmented people, we will always have to go to these arrogant haters of Black people in order to make any upward progress that can be snatched away at a moments notice.
So accept the fact that in this lifetime that to be a huge success in this life you will probably be compromised. I’m not saying that to have a great life with lots of resources in abundance that you will have to be compromised, but to go above a certain level of worldly prosperity you WILL have to go through that syndicate.
Those who have lived life a little will completely understand the messages in this article, and those who do not possess the knowledge to decipher the message will believe that I am speaking pure nonsense.
Peace & Righteous Love Always,
LanceScurv
407.590.0755
