Page 2. Portland Observer. May 6 1987
CÏVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
A
M W S
S IK \ K I
OF THI UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
CO M M ISSIO N FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
B lacks and Baseball
Poor A l C arnpanis1 S in ce the fo rm e r vice p re sid e n t
for player person nel o f th e Los A n g e le s D odgers m ade
th o se u n fo rg iv e a b le a n d u n fo rg e tta b le rem a rks a b o u t
race relatio ns in baseball on th e A B C new s p ro g ra m
N ig h tlin e ” , C arnpanis has b e co m e so m e th in g o f a
scapegoat fo r ba seb all's raicsm and a sym b o l o f re
verse d is c rim in a tio n ” fo r th e w h ite sta tu s quo
In his co n tro ve rsia l in te rv ie w w ith Ted K oppel. Cam
pares m ade essentially tw o general p o in ts to |u s tify the
failure o f baseball clu b o w n e rs to hire blacks in up pe r
black m en have been deem ed q u a lifie d for th e h o n o r
Frank R o bin son , M a u ry W ills and Larry D oby
The in c id e n t received gre ater th a n n o rm a l p u b lic ity
because it ha pp e n e d to o ccu r o n a telecast m a rkin g the
40th a n niversary o f Jackie R o b in so n 's m afor league
de bu t w ith th e D o dg ers
C a m p a m s s em b arra ssing
s ta te m e n ts c o u ld n o t have co m e at a w o rse tim e for
D odger o w ne r Peter 0 M alley w h o had no c h o ic e but
to fire his lo n g tim e lie u te n a n t. Baseball C o m m issio ne r
Peter U e b e rro th w a s also fo rc e d to scram b le It is n o t
secret tha t U e b e rro th plans to run for the U S S enate in
the fu tu re , and c tia rg e s o f racism m ig h t u n d e rm in e his
p o litic a l carerrr W h e n cha lle ng ed by black sp o rts socio
lo g ist Dr H arry E dw ards. U e b e rro th pled ged to "re
sign his o ffic e if baseb all's w h ite o w n e rs failed to in
s titu te a ffirm a tiv e a c tio n m easures
T here 's n o th in g m o re disho nest tha n to do th e rig h t
th in g for the w ro n g reason
U e b e rro th . O 'M a lle y and
Co had the a u th o rity and p o w e r to redress racism in
baseball fo r years T heir in a c tio n to date in d ica te s th a t
tfie y share p o or C am pam s s racist p o litic s , if n o t fits
som e w h a t d a te d a n th ro p o lo g ic a l th e o rie s a b o u t black
sw im m e rs and q u a rte rb a c k s
They " c u t him loose '
because tie failed to rem em ber th e "rai lal e ttiq u e tte ” of
libera l p la ttitu d e s w h ic h is re q u ire d on n a tio n a l tele
vision U n w ittin g ly , C arnpanis s m istake w .is to reveal
be fore the e n tire w o rld the hid e o u s visage o f ia< e li.it
rert. b ig o lry and cru d e ig no rance . wtn< h e x is ts barely
beneath the libera l, in te rg ra tio n is t faca de of the c o rp o
rate esta b lish m e n t
level m anagerial p o sts First, blacks la cked th e n o te s
s itie s ” to be com e general m anagers because th e y lack
the m en ta l ca p a c ity to serve as a d m in is tra to rs " I have
never said th a t bla cks are n o t in te llig e n t, b u t th e y m ay
n o t have th e desire to be in the fro n t o ffic e " Physi
cally, b lacks "a re g ifte d w ith great m u scu la tu re
T h e y're fle e t o f f o o t , " Carnpanis sta te d
A n d th is is
w h y th e re are a lo t o f black m a|or ballplayers N o w as
far as h a vin g th e b a c k g ro u n d to be com e clu b presi
de nts, or p re sid e n ts o f a bank, I d o n 't k n o w
S econd, blacks w ere fud ged u n su ita b le for certain
sensitive jo bs by then physical or perhaps even genete
s h o rtco m in g s
Carnpanis insisted to a m ild ly shocked
Koppel th a t black m en sim p ly c o u ld n 't fu n c tio n as
qu a rte rb a cks, baseball p itch e rs and or tele visio n an
ch o rm e n due to p h ysica l lim ita tio n s
W h y are blar k
m en, or black people, n o t g o o d sw im m e rs? Because
they d o n 't have th e b u o ya n cy "
As one m ig h t e xp e ct, ttie politic al repercussions to
C a m pa nis’s faux pas w ere im m e d ia te and lasted th e
better p a ri o f one week in the m edia A q u ick analysis
o , th e m afor league baseball's m a n ag em en t ,obs s h o w
ed th a t blacks held o n ly 1 9 percent
17 p o sitio n s o u t
o f 879 fobs On sixteen baseball team s, the m an abso
lu te ly no black em ployees
B lacks co m p rise over one
fo u rth o f all th e players and a m u c h larger p e rcen ta ge o f
the g a m e 's greatest stars, yet one team o u t o f 26 has a
black e xe cu tive in a p o licy m a kin g p o s itio n the A tla n
ta B raves' Hank A aro n, w h o serves as vice p re sid ent
A fte r C arnpanis w a s p u nished tor revealing the fa m ily
sei re ts , his d e fe n d e rs rushed to g iv e him a d e . e n t put)
In burial, of so rts D odger m anager T om Lasorda sob
her) and sig he d ” The m an never had a pre|udi( ed twine
in his bo dy
He never fudged a person by the co lo r o f
his skin ’ D odger p itc h e r Orel Hershiser W arned K op pe l
and ttie p o w e r o f th e m e d ia ” fo r C am pam s s sacking
M aytie next w e ll have an "E a rly B utz Al Carnpanis
D efense C o m m itte e ,” raising m o n e y fo r all the u n fo r
lu n a te w h ite p o w e rb ro k e rs w h o lost their public post
lio n s because o f verb al blun ders on the race q u e stio n
A l C arnpanis s re a l m istake w as th a t fie revealed to o
rnur ti o f ttie tru th ab ou t racism in baseball
and d ire c to r o f player d e ve lo p m e n t O nly one tea m has
a black th ird base coa ch. Ozzie V irgil o f the S eattle
M ariners
There are. o f c o u '' ’, no black o w n e rs or
general m anagers
And
. to e hu n d re d s o f m en
a p p o in te d as big league m anagers over years o n ly three
The Elderly:
Their Future is O ur Future
Her nam e is M rs Susie B run son She is the daug hter
o f ex slaves She lives on Long Island. N e w York A nd .
at 116 years o f age, she is the oldest person m the
U n ite d S tates, and possibly the w o rld
M rs B runson, ho w e ve r, has m ore g o in g for he' than
pure age As one reads her rece nt in te rv ie w in N E W S
D A Y . a p ro m in e n t N ew York da ily, one is im m e d ia te ly
stru c k by her s tre n g th o f cha racter as w ell as b y her
in d o m ita b le w ill to survive
M rs B runson w as b o rn in H am burg. S ou th Carolina
on C hirstm as Day ,870 S ince her b irth she has lived
under 21 p re sid e n ts and th ro u g h 2 w o rld wars, seen
legal se g reg ation ende d and w a tc h e d as A frica n A m e n
can citize n s gam ed the rig h t to vo te
In fa ct, she her
self v o te d , for the first tim e, at th e age o f 62 w h e n she
m o ve d fro m S o u th Carolina to Lo ng Island in 1932
W h e n you hear her speak yo u w ish you kn e w this
lady, w ish you had a i ham e to share in her w isd o m and
her m em o ries
She talks o f the 300 p o u n d s o f c o tto n
stie (in ked every day on her fa m ily ’s farm
B ut. at the
sam e tim e she says, I've never really suffere d, because
I c o u ld a lw ays w o rk, and I alw ays had m y fam ily to fall
hack on
Y e s s tie says, T had m y share o f hardness,
b u t m y people, w e w as C h ristian m in d e d and raised to
lo vin g kindness
M rs B run son like any stro n g tree, has stro n g roo ts
to n o u rish tier Ttiose ro o ts w ere based n o t o n ly in the
A fric a n A m e n t an fa m ily tra d itio n , b u t in ttie C h urch as
w e ll
As stie said
" I just p u t m y fa ith in H im
God
spared m y life to s e e th is flay ” In a d d itio n to having
fa ith , M rs B run son also had ttie stre n g th o f w ill w h ic h
a llo w e d G od to u s e tier As tier in te rvie w e r notes,
Her
pa re n ts
raised her to a sta n d a rd o f pride tha t cam e
fro m k n o w in g you i o u ld do ttie hard w o rk and n o t be
b ro ke n by it
I She I says she w o rk e d at the back
b re a k in g labor ber ause it s tre n g th e n e d her love o f the
land and o f tier people
M rs B run son s sto ry is sy m b o lic o f tio w A frica n
A m e ric a n p e o p le have g e n e ra lly s tru g g le d , and h o w
ttie y su rvive d in spite o t all ttie p h ysica l vio len ce and
on isrn
H ow ever w e sho uld u n d e rsta n d tha t, in her
The G overnor w a n ts m ore prison bed space C o rrei
lio n s w a n , m ore beds The le g is la tu re a p pro ved ,6 6 2
n e w beds It seem s strange that the V o te is said no to
new p rison s on th e las, three (31 b o n d m easures and
the y still b u ild ne w beds, to Reduce trie Oven ro w d in g
the y say W h a , th e y d o n 't say is there is about tw e n ty
five h u n d re d (26001 prison ers w a itin g to enter the Cm
ru ctio n s D ivision
H o w is 1662 beds go in g to h e lp 1 It
w ill jus, be th .it m an y m ore prisoners to feed am , h o u se '
If th e G overnor and C o rre ctio n s h a v e to do s o m e th in g
to re d u c e th e c o n s ta n t o v e rc ro w d in g w h y d o n 't the y
do s o m e th in g P o s itiv e instead o f fe e d in g the fa ilin g
system ? W tiy d o n ', the y reduce re cid ivism and there
n a tio n
Let s keep o u r stan dard s in ta c t' V ote Yes on
HB 2536 and save m o n e y am , fam ilies
THE F A M IL Y
YOU H E l P SAVE M A Y BE YO UR O W N " "
by cu , the need fo r e xp en ditu re s
W h ile at the same
tim e keeping the U n ity and E m otional ties to ttie Fam ily
Jam e s A tw o o d No 42074
Salem . O regon
Q ua lity tim e w ith on es fam ily m eans kee ping ttie fa m ily
to g e ttie r
fa m ily u n ity reduces re c id iv is m and m akes
for p ro d u c tiv e citiz e n s re tu rn in g to the c o m m u n ity
Q ua lity tim e w ith th e fam ily w o u ld redui e the prison
p o p u la tio n by 2 0 "c
This o c cu rs w h e n th e in m a te has
.i fa m ily to re tu rn to , instead o f the streets and m ore
crim in a l at tiv itie s M o s t pe op le k n o w h o w a lo vin g re
la tio n s tiij) w ill d isa p a te anger and re se n tm e n t
I, w ill
also h e lp ttie in m a te ba ck in to th e c o m m u n ity O re g o n
is one o f th e m ost pro gre ssive and liberal states in the
B lacks N eed Each O th e r
The economic survival of Black owned
businesses is solely contingent on support
from the Black community.
I support the ad run by the Observer en
couraging this.
Jesse Rogers, St
Portland Observer!
Portland Observer
T>„»vl«v
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P m i O ffw e Roa 1137
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BIR
in a tta «
Xsioe.ahon
founded 'M S
son hu m s alon g w ith her fa vo rite gospel reco rdin gs, her
s tro n g hands b u sily w o rk in g the cro ch e t needles She
also to o k up b o w lin g at the age o f 100 and n o w has a
b o w lin g team nam ed in her ho no r.
M rs. Susie B run son is a living te sta m e n t to the
s tre n g th and resilience o f the A frica n A m erican fa m ily
Y et. in c e le b ra tin g her lo n g e vity, let us n o , fo rg e , th a t
the re are m illio n s o f A fric a n A m erican m en and w o m e n
w h o , because o f the c o n tin u e d racial in e q u itie s o f this
so cie ty w ill never live half as long as M rs B run son
W e, th e re fo re , issue a c la rio n call fo r th e d e c la ra tio n
of a n a tio n a l p rio rity in behalf o f th e elderly and, in par
ticu la r, th o se w h o are stru g g lin g to survive in A fric a n
A m e rica n and o th e r racial and e th n ic co m m u n itie s. Le,
us never fo rg e , th a t the elderly are ou r roo ts, their
fu tu re is o u r fu tu re
W e ve sim p ly g o t to do s o m e th in g ab o u t child ab use '
H o w m an y tim es have you he ard th a t p la in tiv e call to
at , ion? W h ile w e all w a n , to d o so m e th in g ' ab ou t
c h ild abuse th e s o m e th in g b e in g p ro p o se d in the
state le g isla tu re < an o n ly serve to e xa cerb ate a very di,
fic u l, p ro b le m
Ttie 12 bill j).u ka ije pro p o se d by A tto rn e y G eneral
Dave F to h n m e ye t th re a te n s s tiff fines and loss o f licen
se for p s y ch o lo g ists law yers, cle rg y, and o th e r p to fe s
sionals w h o fail to re p o rt < ases o f susp ected ch ild
abuse
S uch a system is ce rta in to p ro d u ce an ava
lam tie o f o ve rre p o rtin g . w h ic h w ill leave C S D (C hild
te n 's S ervices D iv is io n ) ca s e w o rk e rs b u rie d un d e r a
m o u n ta in o f trivia l cases C S D o ffic ia ls ate req uite d by
la w to in ve stig a te every co m p la in t they receive
In ttie jiro i ess m no i ent fam ilies w ill tie unnecessarily
harrassed and i ases o t ge n u in e abuse ate m o te likely to
slip th ro u g h the cra cks
It is h a p p e n in g already
Be
i ause th e m ed ia aw areness o f th e sicke nin g rea lity o f
child abuse m ost states in c lu d in g O regon have m ove d
p re c ip ito u s ly to set u p a n o n y m o u s h o tlin e s
W e have had an e xp lo sio n o f h o tlin e calls na tion ally,
and in O regon over th e past five years
It is th is very
increase o f rep orts, ttie bulk o f w h ic h are u n fo u n d e d ,
a c c o rd in g to readily available sta tis tic s (A m e rica n Hu
m ane A sso cia tio n ) th a , lets tru e abusers go u n n o tice d
am id th e m ass o f false rep orts
leads the y m u st track d o w n Given the realities o f the
state b u d g e , and lim ita tio n s on th e m on ey available for
these services, such a request is un rea listic, if n o t irre
sponsible
B esherov o ffe rs a m ore e ffe c tiv e s o lu tio n
M ore
m on ey, by its e lf, he says, " w ill n o t address the basic
cause o f th e p ro b le m " He notes th a , the m ajor cause
of th e s yste m 's de cisio n m aking p ro blem s is the vague
ness and o v e rb re a d th o f the legal stan dard s g o ve rn in g
state in te rv e n tio n
A s G iova nn om and Bacerra observe in their book
D e fin in g C hild A b u s e ,” M any assum e tha , since child
abuse and n e g le ct are against the law , som e w h ere there
are s ta tu te s th a , m ake clear d is tin c tio n s b e tw e e n w h a ,
is and w tia , is n o , ch ild abuse and neglect Bu, th is is
n o , th e case
N o w tie re are there clear cu t d e fin itio n s
o f w h a , is en co m p a sse d by the te rm s .”
SB 782. a bill c u rre n tly lo g ja m m e d in the S enate J u d i
ciary c o m m itte e addresses w h a , B esherov and a w h o le
host o f o th e rs say sho uld be ou r firs , p rio rity a g o o d
w o rk in g d e fin itio n o f c h ild abuse in sta tu te la w
This
bill w o u ld lim it c h ild abuse to clear sexual and p h ysica l
assault
I, a vo id s the a m b ig u itie s o f the e xistin g law
w h ic h speaks in te rm s o f failure to p ro vid e "a d e q u a te ”
or
necessary,
fo o d , clo th in g , shelter, m edical care,
sup ervision or
'n u rtu rin g ''
I, elim in a te s ca tch a ll
phrases like ncludes. b u , is n o , lim ite d to, any bru isin g
or d is c o lo ra tio n o f the skin as th e result o f ph ysica l dis
cip lin e "
T fie p ro b le m w ith th is kin d o f p h rase olo gy is th a , i,
is a blank check for a m a n d a to ry rep orter, w h o faces
the p o s s ib ility o f c iv il and crim in a l lia b ility fo r n o t repor
tin g
It is B esh ero v's c o n te n tio n th a , "im p re c is e defim
lio n s in e xo ra b ly lead to o fte n u n p re d icta b le and un ju sti
tied in te rv e n tio n in to fa m ily life " He believes th a t "d e
fin itio n a l im p ro v e m e n t is a social and p o litic a l issue o f
the h ig h e st m a g n itu d e . "
The p ro po sed O regon la w w o u ld clearly, b u , sim p ly
d e fin e abuse as any ph ysica l in ju ry or sexual abuse
in flic te d on a c h ild o th e r tha n by a ccid e n ta l m eans,
except th a , d iscip lin e by those responsible fo r his care "
The la w w o u ld th e n go on to sp e cify tho se a cts or con •
d itio n s w h ic h c o n s titu te ph ysica l and sexual abuse
These in clu d e such th in g s as dam age to bo ne s or te e th ,
p e rm an ent skin d is fig u re m e n t, rape, and s o d o m y
A ll
very spe cific.
Yes le t's do s o m e th in g ab ou t c h ild abuse, b u , le t's
do s o m e th in g th a , w ill start us d o w n the roa d to w a rd
real s o lu tio n s
197»»
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47 M
Yet. in spite o f all the cards stacked against her, Mrs
Susie B run son has not o n ly survived, b u t c o n tin u e s to
e n jo y life She lives w ith her da ug hter. M rs M ary Me
Daniel, w h o is 76 S ittin g w ith her da u g h te r. M rs Brun
Pn/tiarwi
»•oat
P ()
288 0033
O n . 3117 P .^ ta rw l O ag cM rS TTm
\H fv d I
A lso w o rk in g against the Black elderly is the poor
he a lth care system to w h ic h the y are sub je cte d
The
A fric a n A m e rica n elderly are generally discharged
q u icke r, sicker, and w ith o u t the o u t p a tie n t services
req uire d fo r their recovery
at P'xtiarwl O«x^>r>
I
U S (M) ( « *
W h e n it com e s to life exp ectan cy w h ite w o m e n live
m o re th a n 5 years longer tha n A frica n A m erican
w o m e n , w h ile w h ite m en live 6 6 years long er tha n A fn
can A m erican m en
This m ay n o t seem like a sigm fi
can t d iffe re n c e u n til one u n de rsta nd s the age at w h ic h
A fric a n A m e rica n m en are e xp ected to die at 64 9
years o f age. ju s t a m a tte r o f m o n th s b e fore they are
eligible to c o lle c t their fu ll S ocial S e cu rity be n e fits
W h a t this really m eans is th a t w o rk in g A fric a n A m en
can m en are s u p p o rtin g the S ocial S e cu rity system by
n o t reaping its b e n e fits
a d d itio n a l fu n d in g to deal w ith th e g ro w in g nu m be r o f
•*
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97711
Sar o rxl r la^a pnsiaqa
T»ia.
# rW f V A r,.A .w f ( «
O m k /»«
E xecu tive Vu e P resident
P arents Edu< a,ion A sso cia tio n
The response o f C S D to th is p ro b le m is to request
969 NBPi
fas» Plifcfcltong r «»»npanv kx
P ortland
by D e n n is W o o d s .
This tre n d is d o c u m e n te d in "D o in g S o m e th in g
A b o u t C hild A b u s e .” p u b lish e d in the H arvard Jo u rn a l
o f Law and Putilir P olicy. S um m er ,985, by D ouglas
J B e sh e ro v
B esh ero v is fo rm e r p ro s e c u to r and the
first d ire c to r o f the H e alth and H u m an Services N ational
Center on C hild A b u se and N eglect
A c c o rd in g to B esherov. "O v e rre p o rtin g , thu s, is
m ore th a n sim p ly un fair to p a re n ts I, places a fu rth e r
b u rd e n on c h ro n ica lly u n d e rs ta ffe d ch ild p ro te c tio n
agencies
Forced to alloca te a su b sta n tia l p o rtio n of
the ir lim ite d resources to the u n fo u n d e d ’ rep orts, pro
te c tiv e agencies o fte n are un ab le to respond p ro m p tly
and e ffe c tiv e ly w h e n ch ild re n are in serious danger
A ga in , he says. O ve rw h e lm e d by cases o f lim ite d dan
ger to ch ild re n , de cisio n m akers o fte n are insensitized
to th e o b v io u s w a rn in g signals o f im m e d ia te and serious
d a n g e r.”
S u p p o rt O ur A d vertisers!
Say you s aw it in th e
H '/ i u n d
B run son is th e e xce p tio n , n o t the rule
Doing S o m e th in g A b o u t
Child A buse
Keep Your Beds, G o vern o r
The
M rs
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Letters to the Editor
The economic system of the United States
was set up on the racism of the white man
owned and the Black man bought
People
forget when Blacks could only shop at white
owned businesses in Portland
not work
there.
lo n g e v ity
The sta tistics on elderly A frica n A m erican s p ro ve th a t
For exam ple, in 1983 m ore tha n 40% o f elderly fem ale
A fric a n A m e ric a n s live d in p o v e rty
M o re th a n half
w e re eith er p o o r o r m arg ina lly poor
7 V d f/t’F*»»*; 7 ililn r 'I'u b h 'h t r
( i r n i f u l M a n a tr r
N a tio n a l A<1va«tiam q R e fw a a a n ta t« * «
A m a t q a n ta t a d P o hliA b a««
N«w Voik
It«.
The O bserver w elc o m e s letters to the ed ito r. Letters
should be typed or n eatly printed and signed w ith
the au thor's nam e and address (addresses are not p u b
lished). W e reserve the right to edit fo r len g th . M a il to:
Portland O bserver. P O. Box 3137, P ortlan d. OR 97208