Baseball and baseball owners must be as sensitive about that as any industry or any captains of industry in the nation. While organized baseball in general likes to pat itself on the back for "allowing" Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier, the fact is that it barred African-Americans — and the name used for them was generally one that Marge Schott was very familiar with — from its august, jock-strewn clubhouses for more than half a century.
Sports, which is often a reflection of the world, or the nation, has opened its doors and knocked down obstacles to create a vastly more level playing field than ever before. But the life — and death — of Marge Schott recalls that when ignorance, or base prejudice and intolerance, is confronted, it cleanses the air. It forces us to remain vigilant, to remember where we've been — and where we don't want to return.
| There's the nut of Ira Berkow's New York Times article "After Schott Spoke, Air Needed Cleaning"
posted in articles on March 6, 2004 7:08 AM | t (0)
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