"I Said It My Way"--a different reason to ignore Donald Sterling

(This week only, Paul Scott is resurrecting his "I Said It My Way" comments)

I was talking with some friends recently about my opinion that our society uses money to judge the value of people.  Put simply, the more money you have, the more important our society thinks you are.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is now being criticized (properly) for the racist comments he made.  But it's important to note that Sterling's racist attitudes were well known before his latest outburst.  That didn't stop the Los Angeles NAACP from planning to honor Sterling--at least until the latest controversy.  Sterling, it seems, was a major donor, so even the LA NAACP was willing to overlook his comments.

Contrast that behavior with several Decorah residents who might not be the richest people--unless you judge someone by the impact they have had on others.

Luther College student Chris Norton is an inspiration to me, for instance.  Chris could have given up after he was paralyzed during a Luther football game.  But he didn't.  And along the way he was able to turn this terrible physical challenge into an opportunity to affect the lives of others who had suffered similar problems.

Or take retiring Decorah music teachers Jim and Liz Fritz.  Their bank balances don't look like those of Donald Sterling, but I wouldn't trade 100 Donald Sterlings for one of them.  They and a number of other long-time Decorah teachers will be retiring this spring after years of faithful service.  People might look at these teachers and say "They're not that rich," but that's only because our society often looks at individuals through the lens of money--and overlooks the real value people have.