|
Written by Maury Brown
|
|
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 08:10 |
 File this under "ugly".
In August of last year, MLB announced that it was going to conduct credit checks for all umpires in the wake of the Tim Donaghy betting scandal in the NBA, much to their chagrin. The umpires are unionized under the World Umpires Association. In September, the Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU) agreed to allow full background checks.
Now, it appears that a situation in which MLB is looking to conduct investigations, and World Umpires Association have bumped into a messy situation. Today, the following press release was sent out by the WUA:
This month, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who sought to bridge our country's profound racial divisions and bring our country together in meaningful and enduring ways. Dr. King left us this lesson among others -- there are wicked paths that we have followed before that all should fear walking again. We forget the past at our peril, for we are then destined to repeat prior mistakes.
In the aftermath of last year's insider-gambling scandal involving NBA referee Tim Donaghy, Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball commenced background investigations of its veteran umpires. One of the league's security officials arrived in Northern Kentucky recently to interview the neighbors of several umpires. These neighbors were strangers to the MLB official and not necessarily close acquaintances of the umpires. Among the standard questions to the neighbors was this errant bombshell -- do you know if the umpire is a member of the Ku Klux Klan?
Setting aside the First Amendment rights to freedom of association and freedom of speech, liberties so dearly defended by Dr. King, we must wonder why, some 50 years after Rosa Parks and the march on Selma, Alabama, we are still talking about organizations and symbols of hatred and discrimination that potentially divide us.
Lamell McMorris, spokesman for the World Umpires Association said, "One has to ask, what does the KKK have to do with being a major league umpire?"
"From a league that deeply cherishes the importance of history and tradition, the fact that these questions are being asked in Kentucky -- a border state during the American Civil War and a place not regarded as a hotbed of racial discord -- is sadly ironic and deeply troubling," he added.
As Dr. King would surely advise us today, walk the other path, the one where people are judged individually on effort and ability rather than collectively based on surface characteristics.
One notes that there is no denial of said umpire being a member of the Klan, but instead Lamell McMorris states, "One has to ask, what does the KKK have to do with being a major league umpire?"
From the rights of the umpire, it shouldn't. In the sense that racial bias may come into matters when making calls, it's everything.
While the WUA references Dr. King, it is no doubt ironic that McMorris asks what the KKK has to do with matters, and acts as if racial hatred is immune from state borders.
It's difficult to render a judgment on the matter at this stage. The WUA is there to protect the rights of their constituency, the umpires. MLB is looking to make sure that racial bias doesn't come into play at any level of the sport. And remember, that's where MLB would have to make their case for not wishing to use an umpire that was part of the KKK. The Constitution protects us all in terms of freedom of speech and religion, no matter how screwed up it may be. It is only when a person acts unlawfully -- or in this case, with bias in making calls -- based on some backward principle that MLB may be looking to act. I somehow think this ugly matter is far from over.
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
