Bigotry will always be a sensitive subject, but, given the NBA's current atmosphere following Donald Sterling's racist remarks, the topic is even more touchy.
So when Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban climbed the stage at Inc. magazine's GrowCo conference Wedensday and made some candid comments about his prejudices, he received a wide range of responses.
In a video snippet from the interview, Cuban says:
We're all prejudiced in one way or the other. 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. And the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of.
"I know that I’m not perfect," Cuban adds, according to Inc. "While we all have our prejudices and bigotries, we have to learn that it's an issue that we have to control, that it's part of my responsibility as an entrepreneur to try to solve it, not just to kick the problem down the road."
Some applauded Cuban for speaking so openly about his internal prejudices, in order to make a statement about society. But others had a more critical view of the NBA owner and manager's remarks. Drawing from a series of soundbites reported by The Tennessean, Bleacher Report came out with a reaction piece that focused on some of Cuban's more striking statements and ended up drawing the ire of Cuban himself.
Cuban took to Twitter to call out Bleacher Report writer Jim Cavan for taking his comments out of context.
. @JPCavan You owe me an apology for calling me a racist. I have my failings and I mentioned those in the interview. But a racist I am not
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 22, 2014
The Bleacher Report post has since been changed to "better represent the scope of Mark Cuban's remarks."
Cuban's comments came ahead of the June 3 NBA vote that could see Sterling forced to terminate his franchise rights. Though Cuban refused to reveal which way he would vote during the interview, he previously addressed the situation after the recording of Sterling's rant was made public, calling the Los Angeles Clippers owner's remarks "abhorrent." However, Cuban added that forcing Sterling out could be a "very slippery slope."
See a clip from Cuban's interview with Inc above.