Cuban's Comments: More Truthful than Racist

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban either put his foot in his mouth again or said something profound, according to whom you're listening.

Speaking to an audience in Nashville, Cuban basically talked about his own prejudices.

"If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it’s late at night, I’m walking to the other side of the street. And if on that side of the street, there’s a guy that has tattoos all over his face--white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere--I’m walking back to the other side of the street," he says.

Speaking from an African-American point of view, I wasn't offended. I've felt the same way at times but to me this had less to do with race as it is perception.

If I'm walking by myself at night, and if I see any dude coming behind me, I'd be scared. Cuban is expressing the thoughts of many people.

If I see a guy on a motorcyle with a headband, I think scary biker dude. If I see a dude with a bunch of tatts and nose rings, it's only natural that I'd be frightened. Ironically, though, most the people whom we perceive as "normal" wind up being more frightening. Just harken back to images of serial killers and mass shooters. Who'd have thought?

The difference between Cuban and Donald Sterling is that there are documented cases of discrimination by Sterling in his past.

I've never heard derogatory things about Mark Cuban as an owner, at least by his employees. His players love him and many others want to play for him. 

I'll give Cuban credit for admitting he still has issues with race rather than saying he's never had those thoughts. 

What upsets me about Sterling is he makes excuses for his racism when, clearly, he has no use for miniorites other than to exploit them.

He thinks throwing money at the situation makes him look gracious, instead of the hypocrite that he is.

It's usually the comedians who lead the way in issues like this because they can put hard truths in a light, distorted perspective.

And in the real world, Mark Cuban may have done us all of a favor by getting the ball rolling on having an open dialogue about race and race relations and I applaud him for it.