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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2019)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, OcTObER 12, 2019 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher DERRICK DePLEDGE Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager WRITER’S NOTEBOOK Breaking barriers, in baseball and opera I The Jackie Robinson Foundation Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Metropolitan Opera Marian Anderson as Ulrica in ‘Ballo en Maschera’ at the Met. trian-born general manager, Rudolf t is a reader’s joy to discover a Bing. favorite author writing about a The Met has put this history on dis- favorite person. That was my play as a companion to its star-stud- delight at finding Jimmy Breslin’s short ded production of the Gershwin opera, biography of Branch Rickey. It is part “Porgy and Bess.” It is the most per- of the Penguin Lives series. formed American opera, and the Gersh- Breslin brings the streetwise sensi- bility of a New York newspaper colum- win estate requires that it be performed nist to the life of the man who changed by a black cast. In Founders Hall, on Major League Baseball in 1945. That’s the Met’s ground floor, the story behind when Rickey’s team, the Brook- Marian Anderson’s Met debut is lyn Dodgers, signed Jackie detailed. Robinson. Rudolf Bing is seldom men- tioned in the same context as While not an extensive biog- raphy, Breslin gives us a full Branch Rickey. But like Rickey, sense of what drove Rickey to Bing had plotted a strategy for make history. Breslin describes Anderson to become the first a January morning in 1943. “… black artist to sing on the Met’s STEVE here on this street corner stands stage. One of Bing’s tactics FORRESTER Branch Rickey, a lone white man was to keep the Met Board of with a fierce belief that it is the Directors in the dark. Only after deepest sin against God to hold color Anderson had signed her Met contract against a person. On this day, he means was the board informed that the role of to change baseball and America, too.” Ulrica in Verdi’s “Ballo en Maschera” At the same time, Breslin writes would be sung by a person of color. that, “Branch Rickey was neither a sav- As we walked through the Met’s ior nor a Samaritan. He was a baseball exhibit, I remembered seeing an exhibit man, and nowhere in his religious train- outside Richard Wagner’s opera house ing did he take a vow of poverty.” in Bayreuth, Germany. Titled “Silenced Rickey developed an extensive strat- Voices,” this exhibit depicted the many egy to surmount the conservative, rac- singers, conductors and directors who ist politics of baseball. He knew that were not allowed to perform in that sto- ried opera house because they were signing Robinson would be resisted by Jewish or gay. other major league team owners. He When I told one of my opera-loving also had to deal with peripheral char- acters, such as the Dodgers’ South- friends about “Silenced Voices,” she ern-raised radio announcer Red Bar- diminished its significance, implying ber. How Rickey jumped those hurdles that the German management had to do is a fascinating story. His sophisticated it. In disagreement, I noted that there maneuvers were similar to what Robert was no marker at the Metropolitan Caro tells us about how President Lyn- Opera saying that until 1955 it did not don Johnson cleared the way for con- contract with African American singers. gressional consideration of the Civil Anderson’s appearance opened Rights Act of 1964. the door for Leontyne Price, Martina I finished Breslin’s book prior to a Arroyo and many more magnificent trip my wife and I took to New York black singers. Following Jackie Robin- son’s Brooklyn debut, Branch Rickey City and Washington, D.C., where we signed Don Newcombe, Roy Campan- would encounter more racial history ella and other black players. — at the Metropolitan Opera and at the • To read more about how Rudolf National Museum of African American Bing made history in 1955, “The Com- History and Culture. plicated History of Marian Anderson’s There was a time when the Met- ropolitan Opera did not contract with Met Debut” is at bit.ly/andersonmetdebut black singers. That ended 10 years after Steve Forrester, the former editor Rickey put a black player on a Major and publisher of The daily Astorian, League Baseball field. The man who is the president and cEO of EO Media forced the Met to integrate was its Aus- Group. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Wealth gap I was happy to see the penetrating and thoughtful letter (“Don’t give up,” The Astorian, Oct. 5). More than half of all U.S. income growth has gone to the top 1% since 1976. Because of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the richest 1% of households (making $1.8 million per year) receive on average about $47,000 in annual tax cuts, while those with the lowest income (making $13,000 annually) receive on average, $90 (taxallianceforeconomicmobility.org). Substantial research shows that income from the time-tested Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) benefit struggling working families and their children throughout their lives: improved infant and maternal health, bet- ter math and reading scores, increased school attendance, less alcohol and drug use, higher earnings in the next genera- tion, etc. The Working Families Tax Relief Act would help level the growing wealth gap by expanding the already successful EITC and CTC. Our legislators need to support this bill in any upcoming tax legislation. DONNA SCHINDLER MUNRO Bremerton, Washington Hats off H ats off to the Port of Astoria commis- sioners for taking significant steps toward climbing out of the deep, dark hole they inherited. This includes seriously delayed maintenance needs, compounded by funding challenges — all of which have been building over the last decade. Congrats on completing and unani- mously passing the updated strategic plan (“Port approves strategic business plan,” The Astorian, Oct. 3). This plan reflects the serious commitment of the current commissioners to restore the Port’s eco- nomic health, as well as the trust of local communities and those who control the purse strings in Salem. The entire Port has undergone dra- matic and positive changes in the last year since I began regularly attending the meet- ings. In June, the Port swore in one newly elected commissioner and one previously appointed commissioner. Consequently, the discussions at the Port meetings are respectful, while presenting and exploring different points of view. Under the leadership of Dirk Rohne, the new president of the Port Commission, the agendas are robust and the meetings include spirited discussion of how to move the Port forward. Will Isom was thrust into the posi- tion of Port director following the much- needed departure of Jim Knight. Isom is providing professional management, and effectively communicating with the commissioners as they work together to tackle the challenges and make difficult decisions. It feels as if the children have left the room, and the grown-ups are now able to get down to the serious work of rebuild- ing this important port at the mouth of the great Columbia River. CHERYL JOHNSON Astoria Encouragement E ncouragement is important in these troubled times (“Encouraged,” The Astorian, Oct. 1). Taking action also brings one out of worry and a feeling of powerlessness. Fortunately, in our democracy, using our voices does make a difference. This is how citizens are convincing their members of Congress to increase funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, so it can continue saving mil- lions of lives, preventing millions of infec- tions and keeping us on the path to finally controlling these pandemics. Recently, Oregon U.S. Reps. Earl Blu- menauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Peter DeFazio joined 125 other members of the House from both parties co-sponsoring House Resolution 517 in support of the Global Fund. These representatives realize that these diseases must be treated globally to protect us locally. So be encouraged by those who repre- sent us taking action for the welfare of all. Citizens speaking up to those who repre- sent them can help good things happen. WILLIE DICKERSON Snohomish, Washington Mass devastation f you believe the methanol refinery to be built in Kalama, Washington, is envi- I ronmentally friendly or safe, remember the mass devastation of the Loma Prieta fault in California in 1989. County and state agencies were well ahead of safety standards at that time, and yet millions of dollars later (over a bil- lion in today’s dollars), liquefaction caused mass destruction to surrounding buildings, collapsing freeways, with many lives lost. Can we, as knowledgeable individu- als, truly create pillars that will withstand the forces of the earth? It’s been shown recently how fragile man-made structures are. The developer of the methanol refinery seeks roughly $2 billion in loan guarantees from U.S. taxpayers. So, we guarantee a bailout of this risky business, and have the mess to clean up when there is a catastro- phe in our beautiful little town. Stop the madness. Washingtonians are counting on the Department of Ecology to reject the com- pany’s false claims, and protect our shore- lines and climate from the massive fracked gas project in Kalama. NANCY LYNCH Kalama, Washington Enjoying the view E veryone who lives in Astoria and the surrounding area lives here for a rea- son. Not because of high-paying jobs, but because we love the small town feel and our water views. We love to go to dinner, lunch or coffee and see the river views. But the governing bodies of Astoria care more about money than the people who live here, and call Astoria home. In an article in The Astorian, there is unde- veloped land beyond Bay Street that the Port of Astoria leases to developer Mark Hollander, who wants to build a Marriott hotel there, which could block river views (“Proposal to preserve Uniontown views could limit Port,” Oct. 3). According to the article, Mayor Bruce Jones and City Counselor Tom Brownson supported allowing developers to get City Council approval for exceptions to the view protection rules. So if you come to town with big pockets full of money, you can buy your way around the view protec- tion corridor rules. Port Commissioner Dirk Rohne’s ratio- nale is if we don’t allow these big hotels on our waterfront it could be “a threat to the future prosperity of the Port.” If we allow them it could be a threat to Asto- ria’s identity, which is the views. We could become another place like Honolulu — gigantic hotels shoulder to shoulder, lining the waterfront. Big developers only care about taking view property in Astoria, slap a big hotel on it and line their pockets with money. Who then enjoys the view? Not the citi- zens of Astoria. SHARON DAVIS-ROBINSON Gearhart
