Forum
The High Cost Of Racism
Study after study shows that racism costs
the nation billions/m lost productivity and
social disorganization. But all those studies put
together will sometimes have less effect on the '
discriminators than a few well-placed lawsuits
or public scandals.
Just recently, for example, we had the
highly-publicized
incident where the
of
can baseball and football teams.
The net effect of the Schott scandal is
healthy ? it sensitizes people to racism in
high places and forces a closer look at the dis
criminatory hiring patterns that pervade pro
fessional sports.
If momentary public embrace is the price
owner
the
Cincinnati Reds,
Marge Schott, was
subjected to public
humiliation and
suspension from
organized baseball
for a year.
Her peers in
the executive suites
TO BE EQUAL
By JOHN E. JACOB
of organized sports probably breached a sigh of
relief that it was she who wa^caught, not
them.
It's generally known that racial slurs are
common among baseball's top brass, although
it seems that Schott's comments were a lot
more colorful than most, as well as being
directed at just about every available racial and
minority ethnic group arou nd 7
But I'm less exercised about what Ms.
Schott said how she acted ? virtually barring
African Americans and other minorities from
jobs in her organization.
She had to grudging "hire African Ameri
can players since no team could w in without
them. But while those black and minority play
ers drew fans and enriched the team's coffers,
their brothers and sisters were denied employ
ment opportunities in the front office and in
the dugout.
As part of the "price", of settling the scan
dal caused by her slurs, the Reds reportedly
have instituted an affirmative action program,
and they now have a Latino manager.
Ironically, the ultimate result is to
strengthen the Reds organization since it can
now draw business talent, as well as playing
talent, from a more diverse population.
But organized sports can't take refuge in
handing out light punishments to individuals
bought in public scandals, for the real issue is
fair hiring and promotion practices. *
? 1 Professional sports are big business. If
major companies can ftnd, train ami promote
minorities throughout their organizations, so
organized baseball has paid for Ms. Schott's
racism, some companies are finding that
racism has an immediate monetary cost, as
well.
While the Reds' owner was suspended, a
court awarded $105 million to African Ameri
can victims of job discrimination by Shoney's,
inc, the restaurant chain.
Not only does Shoney's have to cough up
that large sum, it also will be under court
supervision for ten years to ensure that it
adheres to fair employment policies and prac
tices.
According to testimony, the former chief
of the company was so prejudiced that when
he visited the company's restaurants managers
told blacks employees to hide until he left.
The company used color-coded employ
ment applications to track the race of appli
cants, and when blacks were hired they were
stuck in kitchen jobs and denied promotions.
The court's decision sends a signal to
other companies that discriminate ? racism
has real bottom line costs that no company can
afford.
It also has costs the nation can't afford ?
huge costs to productivity and to the social
fabric. America won't be able to complete suc
cessfully if it refuses to make full use of the
potential and the abilities of all of its people.
And that reality holds for a ball club, a
restaurant chain, a multinational giant,, and the
total economy. Racism costs, and even in 1993
that lesson still has to be learned by too many
employers and citizens.
Support ESPY's Empowerment
Times arc changing and inside of at least
one federal department there is a "brother"
who is taking care of business in behalf of "the
least of these. ".Secretary Mike Espy of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced
his intention to help lead the way for the
"empowerment" of millions of people who are
trapped in the deepening pit of povcrt> in the
United States.
Erom the Delta of Mississippi, Secretary
Espy has a I realty
distinguished
himself as an
effective adminis
trator who cares
about the poor.
Yet. Epsy's care
about the poor
goes beyond sen
stressed the importance of giving people the
opportunity "to get out of poverty rather than
helping the poor to stay locked in poverty." He
accurately stated. "We spend billions of dol
lars t help poor people subsist. ..but, unless
they accumulate assets, the poor will always
be poor."
Epsy's empowerment .policy puts the
emphasis on asset accumulating?
When Mike Espy was in the Congress he
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
By BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS, JR.
? timcntality. He has correctly Mated in our
opinion, more clearly than most that the ques
tion is not how to help the poor, but how the
help eliminate the institutionalized poverty and
discrimination that keeps the poor in the status
of being ptx>r.
It is refreshing to watch this progressive
African-American leader take the initate to
rescue the term "empowerment" from the
right-wing reactionary forces who, -fJu'rihg the
Reagan-Bush years, attempted to deny that
racism had an undcrgirding relationship to the
impoverishment of the African- American
community. In the past there were many who
had argued that "self-help" programs were the
key to uplift the downtrodden, but the use of
empowerment language prove to be merely a
rhetorical device. And as a result during the
last twelve years there was an official ten
dency to blame the victims of poverty for their
victimization, and to let social responsibility
dissolve in the face of an no-caring attitude in
the previous White House.
Several weeks ago. Secretary Espy
addressed a conference in Washington spon
sored by The Empowerment Network, a non
profit organization that emphasized commu
nity empowerment and social action. Epsy
P
? was one of the few members of Congress who ?
championed the cause of those in poverty. His
Mississippi roots and experience in the strug
gle for justice and empowerment have helped
to steer his vision in the right direction.
As Secretary of Agriculture, Espy has
supervision over the programs involving food
stamps, feeding programs for pregnant women 1
and new mothers, school lunches, and rural
development projects as well as many other
important programs. We believe that Espy will
bring a new and more constructive administra
tion of these program.
Again the issue is how to reduce the num
ber of those in poverty and work over the long
term toward the goal of eliminating poverty.
When leaders of this new administration do or
say something that appears to be on the right
track it is important to let them know.
Espy has shown that he is a leader who is
sensitive to the needs of others and that the
same time he has the courage to challenge our
community to be more involved in the long
term struggle toward full empowerment and
development. Now is the time to move for
ward and regain some of the progress that was
dismantled by Reagan-Bush.
This Week In Black History
Pan-African Congress , organized by W.E.B. Du Bois, met at Grand Hotel, Paris.
There were fifty -seven delegates ? sixteen from the United States and fourteen from
Africa? from sixteen countries and colonies. Blaise Diagne of Senegal was elected
president and Du Bois was named secretary.
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