SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
A4
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EDITORIAL
Your views
Why waiting
is warranted
Something awful might have happened on the
football fi eld at La Grande’s Community Stadium
on Nov. 5.
But based on the scarcity of irrefutable evidence
available so far, it seems premature to blithely sub-
stitute “did happen” for “might have happened.”
The allegation is simply enough explained.
Football players, coaches and parents from
Gladstone High School, in a suburb southeast of
Portland, say white players from La Grande High
School repeatedly uttered racist slurs at Black play-
ers from Gladstone during a playoff game.
La Grande offi cials have not conceded that this
happened.
The La Grande and Gladstone school districts,
along with the Oregon School Activities Association,
which governs high school sports in the state, issued
a joint statement on Tuesday, Nov. 16 noting, among
other things, that the investigation into the allega-
tions continues and that they are “in close coordina-
tion.”
The investigation includes reviewing video of the
game, and interviewing players and coaches from
both teams, along with the referees.
According to The Oregonian, which fi rst reported
on the allegations, a La Grande player sent an
email to the newspaper, after the original story was
published, denying the incidents.
Gladstone players and parents are not alleging a
few isolated comments. Ricky White, a senior player
who is biracial, told The Oregonian that “it was a
problem since the very fi rst play of the game.”
Nor are the claims confi ned to La Grande play-
ers.
White’s mother, Heather White, told the newspa-
per that a referee referred to a Gladstone assistant
coach as “that Black guy.”
Despite the presence of hundreds of players and
spectators, most of whom probably had a cellphone
or other device capable of recording sound, defi ni-
tive audio proof of the allegations might be elusive.
Words exchanged on the fi eld aren’t always audible
to fans in the bleachers or to cameras or recorders.
Still and all, if the obnoxious behavior was as
widespread as alleged, it seems improbable that no
one affi liated with La Grande, or from the offi ciating
crew, would acknowledge, during the investigation,
hearing the verbal fi lth that Gladstone players and
parents cited.
A group of leading Democrats from the Oregon
House of Representatives, however, apparently re-
quire no additional evidence that La Grande players
are guilty of what would of course be heinous acts.
In a statement, the legislators wrote: “Incidents
like this only reinforce the need for students and
adults alike to learn and understand our history
and recognize the roles racism and white violence
have played since the founding of our nation.”
This statement leaves not a smidgen of space for
the possibility that the “incident” could be anything
but what the Gladstone players and parents de-
scribed. These leaders apparently fi nd it inconceiv-
able that the La Grande players did not say what
they are accused of saying.
There is, of course, no more fertile atmosphere
for the fl owering of speculation than one in which
defi nitive evidence is absent.
People naturally will wonder, during this purga-
tory of fact-fi nding, why the Gladstone parents and
players would invent such allegations. And the
obvious corollary — why would La Grande players,
coaches and the offi cials refuse to admit saying, or
hearing, such things when they would have to know
they would be heard by so many others?
Interesting questions, to be sure.
But also essentially useless questions.
They in no way help answer the fundamental
question, which is what, if anything, happened?
We will have to wait for that answer.
And we ought to admit that this answer might
not be as absolute as we’d like it to be.
There is nothing wrong, to be sure, with lawmak-
ers, or anyone else, talking about what sanctions
might be appropriate if the allegations are proved
beyond dispute.
If they are, the punishments should be severe.
The actions that Gladstone players and parents
allege are noxious, and if they happened, it would
be reasonable for the OSAA to impose signifi cant
punishment, both as a reaction to the incident and,
ideally, to use it as a reminder of what can’t be toler-
ated.
But such righteous indignation will not be dimin-
ished by the patience required to learn all that we
reasonably can about what happened between the
sidelines that day.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
My Christian faith compels me to confront the moral
implications of climate change
I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m a Christian.
I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But I don’t believe in
climate change. Come to think of it, I don’t believe in gravity either.
Why? Because gravity and climate change are just facts of phys-
ics — observable, measurable, and predictable — not to be believed so
much as understood and respected.
Gravity and climate change are also very consequential. For in-
stance, if I choose not to get out of bed for several weeks, my muscles
will eventually shrink until I can no longer stand on my own two feet.
So, gravity, if I fail to resist it long enough, will take away my indepen-
dence. Climate change, if we fail to resist it long enough, will take away
our civilization.
Will we resist, or will we retreat?
While my faith doesn’t have much to say about physics, it has a
lot to say about right and wrong. Unlike gravity, climate change has
serious moral implications. We caused it (not natural cycles) — we
have known that for over 30 years and yet we are still making climate
change worse. Every year the risk increases for you, me, the place we
call home, and the people we love.
That is why I went to Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this month to attend
the UN Climate Change Conference. I was there to watch and pray as
a member of the international Christian Climate Observers Program. I
was also there to help launch a movement called #ClimateVigil.
While world leaders gave speeches and delegates attended to te-
dious negotiations, Christians gathered at a historic church in Glasgow
to pray, sing, and light candles. Many more joined us around the world
in their churches and homes. It was a global candlelight vigil to show
our solidarity in the face of the climate crisis — and our commitment to
respond with faith, hope, and love.
You can still experience the global vigil at ClimateVigil.org. You will
hear new music from The Porter’s Gate Worship Project. You will also
hear inspiring messages from Christian leaders, including Katharine
Hayhoe, Ruth Valerio and Thomas Schirrmacher.
Still not sure about climate change? You can check the facts for your-
self at climatevigil.org/learn. But don’t stop there. Consider the facts
in light of your most deeply held values. You might even pray about it.
That’s what I did, and it changed my life. I realized I could no longer
look away or sit on the sidelines. I had to make a decision — for the
love of God, my neighbor, and my kids.
Love is what moves us. Do we have enough love to get out of bed,
stand up, and resist climate change? Or will we pull up the covers
and watch the darkness overtake our family and friends? Either way,
climate change will be one of the hardest things we ever face. So I say
we face it together.
Will you light a candle with us?
Peter Fargo
Baker City
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Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald,
P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814
Email: news@bakercityherald.com
Book brings me back to the summer of 1984
I owned a pair of the original
Air Jordan basketball shoes, but at
the distance of more than 30 years
I can’t recall how I managed to
acquire them.
Possibly it involved the proceeds
from picking zucchini, the most
distasteful task for which I’ve ever
received a paycheck.
(Actually it might be the most
distasteful task I’ve been involved
with, wages or no wages.)
I do know that the fl ashy foot-
wear didn’t boost my vertical jump.
Which then, as now, is as easily
measured with a credit card as
with a yardstick.
Not that I expected to acquire
even a smidgen of Michael Jordan’s
prodigious abilities simply by don-
ning his signature red, black and
white high-tops.
Hand me a Fender Stratocaster
— please, I’d love to own one —
and I wouldn’t come any closer to
replicating Jimi Hendrix’s or Eric
Clapton’s licks than I do now with
a much cheaper electric guitar.
(I struggle mightily just to bash
out the comparatively rudimentary
chords of The Ramones, although
even badly played they make a
pleasant racket.)
I had all but forgotten those
shoes, which I must have scrapped
before I went off to college, until
my memory was reawakened in
the way that it so often is — I read
a book.
“Glory Days,” to be specifi c.
Although it’s the subtitle that
really explains what author L.
Jon Wertheim, a senior writer at
Sports Illustrated magazine, was
up to with the book published
earlier this year.
“The summer of 1984 and the
90 days that changed sports and
culture forever.”
A bold claim, to be sure.
But over 24 chapters and 294
pages, Wertheim assembles a com-
pelling case for his assertion that
this distant summer was littered
with milestones whose signifi cance
lingers yet, with the 21st century
better than a fi fth of the way gone.
As I mentioned, I don’t remem-
ber the particulars of my obtaining
my Air Jordans.
It defi nitely didn’t happen in the
summer of 1984 — or any other
season in that year, come to that.
Air Jordans didn’t go on sale
to the general public until April 1,
1985, and I was hardly the sort to
merit the honor of getting a pair
before almost everyone else.
Wertheim’s book is the sort of
popular culture history that I par-
ticularly enjoy, with its relatively
narrow focus.
Sometimes an author delves
deeply into a single event, or a
band or an athlete or a place, and
endeavors to explain why that
one thing, or one person, was so
infl uential.
Wertheim chooses as his ful-
crum point one season, a roughly
90-day period.
Jordan is a key fi gure — per-
JAYSON
JACOBY
haps the key fi gure — in Wert-
heim’s narrative.
It was an inspired choice.
And not as obvious a choice as
it might seem today, when Jordan
has long since attained a legendary
status rivaled by few athletes from
his or any other generation.
In the summer of 1984, by
contrast, Jordan, having decided
to forego his senior season at the
University of North Carolina, was
trying out for the U.S. Olympic
men’s basketball team for the Los
Angeles games, and preparing for
the NBA draft.
Possibly the most piquant anec-
dote to illustrate Jordan’s relative
anonymity then — and certainly
the one that resonates most with
Portland Trail Blazers fans — is
that the Blazers, with the No. 2
pick in the draft, passed on Jordan
in favor of Sam Bowie, the injury-
plagued Kentucky center.
(The next generation of Blazer
fans would gain their own sorrow-
ful story after the 2007 draft, when
Portland picked another 7-footer
with lower limb problems, Greg
Oden, over Hall of Fame shoo-in
Kevin Durant.)
Wertheim returns to Jordan
several times in the book, between
chapters examining such land-
marks from that summer as the
rivalry between the Celtics’ Larry
Bird and the Lakers’ Magic John-
son, the dominating performances
on the tennis court of Martina
Navratilova and John McEnroe,
the Summer Olympics in L.A., and
the brief resurgence of the Chicago
Cubs.
As the book’s subtitle indicates,
Wertheim doesn’t limit his nostal-
gia to sports.
He also devotes one chapter to
“The Karate Kid,” a movie I must
have seen in the theater that
summer although my memory in
that regard is as murky as with
the acquisition of the Air Jordans.
Another chapter focuses on the
Jackson brothers’ (Michael, of
course, being the most famous of
the sextet by a country mile) “Vic-
tory Tour.”
Wertheim deftly sets his main
topics against the backdrop of
American society, weaving among
them brief references to the politi-
cal and economic situation. Ronald
Reagan, naturally, comes up occa-
sionally, as he was that summer in
the fi nal year of his fi rst term and
campaigning for what would be an
electoral rout of Walter Mondale in
November 1984.
I was both entertained and ed-
ucated as I read “Glory Days.” For
instance, if I ever knew this I had
long since forgotten that Dutch,
my favorite member of the Cobra
Kai dojo in “The Karate Kid” due
mainly to his inimitable neck roll
warm up, is Steve McQueen’s son,
Chad. This fact pleased me far
more than it ought to have done.
But mostly I was surprised by
how few distinct memories I had
not only from that summer, but
from the epochal events that Wert-
heim writes about with precision
and eloquence.
I was, to be fair to myself, 13
that summer.
And 13-year-old boys, whatever
their attributes might be, aren’t
as a rule dedicated diarists or
especially deep thinkers.
Still and all, I was a bit cha-
grined to realize how few details I
had retained.
And I don’t ascribe this scarcity
to my failing memory.
I’m certain that I simply wasn’t
paying much attention to what
was going on. This strikes me
as passing strange because, as a
budding teenager, I had at least an
average affi nity for sports, music
and movies.
I can’t fi gure out what I was
so engrossed in during that long
ago summer that kept me from
forming more specifi c memories of
such events as the Olympics and
the NBA draft, the omnipotence of
Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Bruce
Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”
But I’m pretty sure girls were
involved.
Jayson Jacoby is editor of the
Baker City Herald.