Letters to the Editor: Hey, Dodgers, care to comment on that racist ad played during the playoffs?
Kurt Eichenwald
Los Angeles Times
Published Dec. 5, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.
trying to make a point about race
With all due respect, Dodger fans will probably not hear your comments. It’s not like you’re gonna be in the stands or anything.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not a racist. I am, however, a big proponent of diversity in sports and am very proud of the fact that I was chosen to be a member of the Hall of Fame in Brooklyn. This was the first year we inducted individuals that were minority, female, Asian-American, African-American, gay, or Latino (in that order). I was disappointed, however, that in my acceptance speech at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, I was disappointed that I was unable to name a single person that I respected and looked up to (that would have been you, Dodgers fans. In the end, I was very proud of the fact that our Hall of Fame had more minority inductees than our Hall of Fame has blacks. That’s progress in my book.)
As one of the first women to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, I find it ironic that our Hall of Fame is full of former women and now is full of men. Is there more racism in the Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame than anywhere else? I don’t think there is. I want the Hall of Fame to be the best source of information about the history of the game—wherever that happens to be. But I also want to make sure that it’s inclusive.
The whole point of the Dodgers is that they are a diverse team. They have many ethnicities and backgrounds, and that’s great for the team, but it doesn’t mean they necessarily care about diversity or that they are doing a good job in terms of representing the ethnicities and backgrounds that are in that part of the country.
As much as I would like for every single race represented on the Dodgers, I believe that they are a great team and they are very proud of who they are and what they have accomplished. To use the Hall of Fame as an opportunity to discuss issues like this would be disrespectful to the people who have been inducted and the people who donated their time, money and energy to this organization.
