“The people that read it take it in and judge straightaway who the person is. That is where I was coming from. I was not saying they are racist. But they are fueling it for the people reading it. It is constant, and I don’t think it is fair, but who am I?”

It is an apposite question, the answer to which changed, fundamentally, that day in December. Footballer and father are the first two that come to Sterling’s mind, but it is the broader scope of who he is, and who he can be, that most engages him.

He takes inspiration from Jay-Z, someone who “made money, and then looked for the next generation, put everything in place to find someone to follow him.” He continued: “If I don’t do it, if the one after me doesn’t do it, it will just keep going. When football is finished, will I live off what I did on the field? No. I want to be able to help people be the best they can be.”

What he has realized, though, is that for him — for anyone — to have any effect, the playing field has to be level. Black success should not come with a caveat or an asterisk. That is what made him write that post. It is what made him speak up.

“I just wanted people to pause and think,” he said.

He wanted to challenge the news media to “do better.” Just as he did, he wanted those who create these images, who perpetuate the stereotypes, to look up, and to tune in.