Assemblywoman Calls on Dodgers to Fire Campanis

Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), reacting to what she called “unbelievably racist statements” made by Dodger Vice President Al Campanis in a nationally televised interview Monday night, called on the Dodgers Tuesday to sever their ties with Campanis.

“They can get rid of him any way that they would like, but they should get rid of him,” Waters said. “They can give him the golden handshake, they can fire him, they can sweet-talk him out of ever coming back. It really does not matter as long as he’s not there.”

Waters was joined in a press conference at the Greater Los Angeles Press Club by Willis Edwards, president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, who called Campanis “a disgrace to baseball.”

Waters and Edwards said they will ask for a meeting with Dodger owner Peter O’Malley in which they not only will demand Campanis’ resignation but will ask O’Malley to lead a drive to get more blacks into management positions in baseball. They also said they will contact the office of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth.

“We do not plan to leave any stones unturned,” Waters said.

Campanis made his statements in an interview with Ted Koppel on ABC-TV’s “Nightline” as a part of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the late Jackie Robinson’s first year in major league baseball.

Reading from a prepared statement, Waters said that Campanis “not only implied that blacks were not capable of being managers and owners, he implied that blacks did not want to be managers and owners. He further stated that when he looks at a black, he only has an appreciation for their swiftness of foot and muscular structure.

“Also, he stated not only are blacks not suited for the front office, but everybody knows that you don’t see blacks as quarterbacks and pitchers, implying that blacks cannot think and make decisions. And to add insult to injury, he went on to say that everybody knows that blacks cannot do a lot of things such as swim because blacks do not have buoyancy.”

Campanis issued a written apology Tuesday night in Houston, but Waters and Edwards said earlier in the day that they were not interested in an apology.

“Racism overtly displayed cannot be patched over,” Waters said. “It is totally unacceptable. They can’t say that he did not really mean what he said. . . .

“Ted Koppel gave him the opportunity more than once to get out of the situation, hoping that somehow he had not realized what he had said, hoping somehow that he had thought about what he had said, asked him if he wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on his statements and get himself out of the mess he had appeared to gotten himself in, and he got worse.

“I’m here to say to Mr. Campanis: Not only can we think, not only can we plan, not only can we lead, but I’m a damn good swimmer.”