SIDE EYE: NAACP Accepted At Least $45,000 From Donald Sterling Planned To Honor

Leon Jenkins, the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, announced on Monday afternoon that the organization would give back donations it had received from disgraced NBA owner, Donald Sterling.

While the return of the cash was surely the noble and predictable thing to do, the move has not stopped some from wondering why in the hell they accepted the cold hard moola in the first place..

According to leaked tax records, the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP accepted at least $45,000 in grants from the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation and the Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation between 2008 and 2010. It had been long known that Sterling was a suspected racist, including several high profile cases playing out in the media on the subject.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver today announced that Sterling has been banned for life and will be fined $2.5 million. That money, Silver said, will be donated to organizations promoting anti-discrimination causes. Oh the irony.

If you want to learn more about Sterling’s past run-ins with racially motivated lawsuits, do a quick search for “Elgin Baylor VS Donald Sterling,” and yes, the case was brought about by a well-known former NBA Clipper of the same name.