There are some books we read because they were important for their times. Others we read because they are important for our time. And there are still others we read because they are enjoyable. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, in my opinion, is all three.

The Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, penned an article earlier this week in which he analogized the post–Civil War Reconstruction era and the end of government-mandated racial segregation in schools with McDonald’s employees protesting against wages they say are too low.

Embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has denied he is a racist, publicly asking “for forgiveness” for his “mistake” on CNN. But Sterling, 81, has admitted to a recording of him telling mistress V. Stiviano, 31, that he didn’t want her to bring black people to games. In a tone of despair, Sterling told her, “I’ll get a girl who will do what I want.”

On Tuesday, one of the most significant moments in recent NBA history took place. League Commissioner Adam Silver levied a lifetime ban on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Silver also fined Sterling $2.5 million (the maximum allowed by NBA rules) and lobbied the other team owners to vote on forcing Sterling to sell the team. It was the most forceful punishment Silver could have used, the worst in league history, and it was well deserved.

Basketball players are seething, sponsors are fleeing, and the NAACP is reeling after Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling allegedly made racist comments that were caught on tape.

Gossip website TMZ posted an audio recording last week of a man identified as Sterling telling his girlfriend not to broadcast her association with African-Americans or bring them to games. The man specifically mentioned Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson on the recording, saying “don't bring him to my games, OK?”

More than 100 people rallied on the Alabama State House steps Wednesday to demand a state representative “pay up” on a $100,000 bet that no one could show him a “whole bunch of whites” in the state who had adopted black children. The families displayed giant posters with the phrase “Faces of Families in Alabama” and dozens of photos of smiling families built through transracial adoption, including pictures of white parents with black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial children.