Clinton Urges More Minorities in Sports’ Upper Levels

President Clinton prodded professional sports franchises Tuesday to recruit more minority managers and coaches, insisting that athletics can lead the way to better race relations in a “sports-crazy country.”

Participating in a nationally televised panel discussion on race and sports, Clinton mixed it up with players, coaches and managers on issues ranging from the dearth ofminority ownership to the tendency of black athletes to hire whites to promote their careers and invest their money.

The forum, broadcast live by cable network ESPN, was the second “town meeting” on race attended by Clinton in the 10 months since he launched his national dialogue on the topic.

But in contrast to the first forum, moderated by Clinton in Akron, Ohio, the president was just one voice among 11 panelists Tuesday night in a lively, 105-minute session.

The president’s fellow panelists included New York Jets wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, retired Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown, Georgetown University basketball coach John Thompson, retired track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Felipe Lopez, a native of the Dominican Republic who is a star guard at St. John’s University in New York.

Clinton, an avid watcher of college and professional athletic events, suggested that more minorities should rise to high management positions in professional athletics. He cited his experience at hiring minorities for top positions while governor of Arkansas and later as president.

“I’d say there’s something wrong with the recruitment system,” Clinton said of the racial imbalance in professional sports. “What I found out was, if that was a goal and you knew it was important, you’ve got to break through the network and change the rules.”

Athletes and sports teams, Clinton said, have an obligation to lead by example. “Anybody with a special gift has a special responsibility. If God gave you something that other people don’t normally have and no matter how hard they work they can’t get there, then you owe more back. That’s what I believe.”

Clinton was not cast as the head coach, but he didn’t sit on the bench either. The president dove directly into one of the touchiest issues in an arena where most players are minorities and most coaches and owners are white.

Although 79% of the players in the National Basketball Assn. during the 1996-97 season were African Americans, only 24% of the NBA’s head coaches and managers were black. Similarly, blacks accounted for 66% of National Football League players but only 10% of head coaches and managers.

One of the session’s most intense debates was sparked by former NFL great Brown, who complained that too many black athletes hire white agents, attorneys and business managers, and invest their money in white-owned corporations.

“I’d like to see someone address that and get away from simplistic stereotypes,” said Brown, who runs a counseling program for former gang members and ex-convicts.

Johnson, the Jets wide receiver, retorted that he has an African American attorney. Although he did not select the lawyer on the basis of his race, Johnson said, he considers it important to “give back to my community.”

Georgetown coach Thompson, an African American, said he has no apology for the fact that he has used a white agent, David Falk. He said he steers his players to Falk.

“I find it very difficult to fire David because he’s white,” Thompson said. “When I started out as a young coach at Georgetown no African American wanted to help me, but David did.”

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Joyner-Kersee asserted that black athletes have the “right” to invest their money wherever and with whomever they want.

“That is my choice,” said Joyner-Kersee, who is now an athletic agent. “That’s why we live in America, because we have choice.”

The challenges facing Latino athletes received little attention. While 24% of major league baseball players are Latinos--a larger percentage than blacks--they account for only 4% of the league’s head coaches and managers.

ESPN’s initial list of panelists included no Latinos. Lopez was added at the last minute, according to White House officials, but the damage was already apparent.

Latino advocacy groups complained that the panel--and Clinton’s race initiative in general--has focused too much on black-white conflicts and not enough on the complicated multiracial issues that reflect America today.

On Sunday, after a Latino advocacy group wrote to Clinton objecting to the composition of the panel, ESPN added Lopez.

“They always talk about how important it is to be inclusive and to get away from the black-white paradigm,” said Raul Yzaguirre, president of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group. “ . . . In this event, as with the others, you see the obsession with the past. The black-white issue is a framework of the past and it is totally ignorant of the new framework of the country.”

J.A. ADANDE: If President Clinton wants to talk about race, the world of sports is the perfect forum. C1