No. Of course not. I don’t think he should be fined either unless the other party pays the exact same amount to a Salt Lake City charity for children. There is no way in hell you only penalize one party in a situation where the decision making was flawed by both parties.
Do I empathize with Russell Westbrook’s frustration with racist white people? Of course I do. Just read my blog and you know where I stand on all of this. I’m not white—I’m brown.
I totally get it and am on his side in this matter. I’d march with him and Ray Felton if they ever want to march in downtown OKC. Let’s go.
My father shared this story with me as a kid. In 1952, my dad as a college freshman had a summer job in downtown OKC at a Conoco service station. One of his co-workers was a young man the same age as my father. Only thing is–he was black and his name was Joe Carter, Sr.
They went to lunch one day together at a downtown café and were refused service because Joe was black. My father told the owner to go to hell and they walked out. I think they went to a convenience store and bought some sandwiches and ate them sitting on a curb.
This was the catalyst of a lifetime friendship between my father and Joe. My dad went on to become a lawyer. Joe went on to have a wonderful life as a father and grandfather. Best fisherman I’ve encountered in my life. He was literally buried with fishing gear draped all around him in his casket. And oh, by the way, his namesake…Joe Carter, Jr. had 396 career home runs and one especially big one against Mitch ‘Wild Thing’ Williams to win the Toronto Blue Jays a World Series. I was at the Carter home in northeast OKC at a watch party when that happened.
So while I don’t have black skin per se. I understand what Russell Westbrook was feeling…somewhat. I just think that instead of handling it like he did–he should instead be talking openly and honestly about racism in America and what we can do as a country to get beyond this issue.