To Schabarum, ‘Sledgehammer’; to Brookins, ‘Life and Death’ Choice : 2 Clash Over Pension Fund Divestiture

An influential black religious leader clashed with Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum for nearly an hour Tuesday over the wisdom of divesting $660 million in county pension funds tied up in companies doing business in South Africa.

The Rev. H. H. Brookins of Los Angeles, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, at one point suggested that Schabarum’s opposition to divestiture was based on racism. Schabarum replied that Brookins’ ideas would lead to further violence in South Africa.

The unscheduled debate occurred shortly after the Board of Supervisors deferred action for one week on a divestiture proposal by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, which asks the county’s independent Board of Investments to divest its holdings in U.S. companies doing business in South Africa.

The words of Schabarum, who visited South Africa last summer as a guest of the government, pointed up the difficulties Hahn faces in pushing through his proposal. Supervisor Michael Antonovich did not take part in the discussion but has said he opposes divestiture. Antonovich also visited South Africa last year.

Supervisor Deane Dana, the third member of the board’s conservative majority, was not at Tuesday’s meeting but has said he will vote against Hahn’s motion.

Members of the Board of Investments said last week that full divestiture is unlikely, but that a partial purging of stocks in companies that have not adhered to equal employment practices in South Africa is a strong possibility.

The county debate follows action by the City of Los Angeles, whose mayor and council have urged the boards of the city’s three pension funds to divest. Last week, one of those boards, overseeing the city’s fire and police pension system, voted to rid its portfolio of $350 million in stocks and bonds from firms linked to South Africa.

Brookins, a longtime black activist who in the mid-1970s presided over a diocese covering several African nations, strongly urged the board to approve Hahn’s proposal.

“Every vote that upholds apartheid is a vote against life in that country,” Brookins said.

Although he voiced opposition to apartheid policies, Schabarum said divestiture, “as far as I’m concerned, is in effect using a sledgehammer and precipitating even further this unrest and violence that is going on right now.”

“They’re already out on the streets; they’re already without jobs,” Brookins said. “The choice is between life and death. . . . You’re denying them human rights by voting to leave investments in South Africa.”

Schabarum said, “For anybody who has spent a brief period in South Africa, the expectation that we, that all U.S. companies, are going to leave that country (and that that) is going to precipitate the removal of apartheid and its policies, that is not even close to a realistic expectation.”

“Every time that position has been taken, it’s been proven that that person was speaking for a personal vested interest and not speaking for humanity,” Brookins said. “The question of just saying that is an excuse to resort to the support of racism, Mr. Schabarum, (it) is just an act of outright, blatant racism.”

“Bishop, you and I have been talking nicely on fundamentals and now you’re getting a little personal, don’t you think?” Schabarum asked.