On one hand you have a guy who:
as a player voluntarily roomed and mealed with Jackie Robinson
as an executive signed Roberto Clemente, Willie Davis and Tommy Davis
was defended on-air and in-print by Dusty Baker, Donald Newcombe and Manny Mota for his track record with black and latin players
On the other hand you have the Nightline interview with Ted Koppel:
KOPPEL: Mr. Campanis ... you're an old friend of Jackie Robinson's, but it's a tough question for you. You're still in baseball. Why is it that there are no black managers, no black general managers, no black owners?
CAMPANIS: Well, Mr. Koppel, there have been some black managers, but I really can't answer that question directly. The only thing I can say is that you have to pay your dues when you become a manager. Generally, you have to go to the minor leagues. There's not very much pay involved, and some of the better known black players have been able to get into other fields and make a pretty good living in that way.
KOPPEL: Yeah, but you know in your heart of hearts ... you know that that's a lot of baloney. I mean, there are a lot of black players, there are a lot of great black baseball men who would dearly love to be in managerial positions, and I guess what I'm really asking you is to, you know, peel it away a little bit. Just tell me, why you think it is. Is there still that much prejudice in baseball today?
CAMPANIS: No, I don't believe it's prejudice. I truly believe that they may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or perhaps a general manager.
KOPPEL: Do you really believe that?
CAMPANIS: Well, I don't say that all of them, but they certainly are short. How many quarterbacks do you have? How many pitchers do you have that are black?
Campanis stated that he was exhausted during this interview but there's just way too many unfortunate things to string together at one time.
― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)
I think there are several forms of racism, and while Al Campanis was happy to befriend black people and go to war with them in terms of athletics, he didn't consider them to be intellectual equals. He respected black people for their heart and their humanity, but not for their intellect.
And that most certainly is racist, and he was an idiot to say it on TV. I think Dusty's perspective is that most of the other white dudes in power were much worse than Al, but smart enough to not make it obvious on national television.
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)
And again, I don't think Al would have stood in the way of a strong black managerial candidate. I think he was simply saying that he was honestly skeptical that they could fulfill the role. He seems like the kind of guy who would have been willing to admit he was wrong if the right candidate came along, unlike others who would probably continue to default to an inferior white candidate.
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 21:50 (twenty years ago)
I always figured he was a guy who--compared to others of his generation--was a generous and forthright fellow who nonetheless carried some inherent and totally unfortunate prejudices. All in all, I think the guy should probably be judged
overall by what he did earlier and not what he said in the interview. I think what he said should be viewed as an example of what people were probably told was the truth, and I feel sorry for the guy for never learning how wrong he was (until the end, I suppose).
― gear (gear), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 21:51 (twenty years ago)
I think Al Campanis must have been very open minded person in comparison to his peers, but his attitudes I think reflect more upon the common held beliefs of his age group. In just baseball terms, think how much the game changed from when Campanis was a player in the 40s to 1987 when he made that statement, let alone the surrounding world.
― Earl Nash (earlnash), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)