For years, the NAACP loved racist LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
It gave him honors — a Humanitarian Award in 2009 and a Lifetime Achievement award the group was set to bestow next month — and helped Sterling burnish his image as a noble supporter of racial harmony.
All the while, the NAACP ignored the numerous hints that the 80-year-old NBA owner was actually a virulent racist.
In 2003, tenants sued him for housing discrimination at apartments he owned. In 2006, the Justice Department also accused him of housing discrimination.
In 2009, former Clippers executive Elgin Baylor sued him for wrongful termination over race issues.
The NAACP revoked the “Lifetime” award from Sterling — who has showered the group with cash — only after tapes of his racist tirade surfaced last weekend.
On Tuesday, the NAACP tried to make up for its blunders with rules the group hopes will keep it from honoring any other unrepentant racists.
“We will be developing guidelines . . . and prevent unfortunate decisions like this,” the group said in a statement.
LA chapter President Leon Jenkins had earlier tried to explain away his group’s cushy relationship with Sterling by saying Sterling “has given out a tremendous amount of scholarships, he has invited numerous African-American kids to summer camps, and his donations are bigger than other sports franchises.”
The NAACP said it planned to return donations from Sterling.
The group would not say exactly how much money it had gotten from the owner over the years. But according to at least one public record, the Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation gave $5,000 to the NAACP’s LA chapter in 2010.
Despite all the outrage now aimed at Sterling, Jenkins said he would not demand he return his 2009 Humanitarian Award.
“This is not a Heisman Trophy, dude,” Jenkins said.
With Post Wire Services