Delgado's dissent

[Guest guest]

The Silencing of Carlos Delgado

 

By Dave Zirin, TheNation.com.

 

Posted December 12, 2005.

 

The New York Mets' squelching of their first baseman's outspoken war

dissent shows just how the rules of the game have changed on political

dissent.

 

Sometimes sports mirrors politics with such morbid accuracy you don't

know whether to laugh, cry or hide in the basement. Just as the Bush

Administration shows its commitment to democracy by operating secret

offshore gulags and buying favorable news coverage in Iraq, the New York

Mets have made it clear to new player Carlos Delgado that freedom of

speech stops once the blue and orange uniform -- their brand -- is

affixed to his body.

 

For the last two years, Delgado chose to follow the steps of his

personal hero, Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirates great and the

first Latino elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and use his athletic

platform to speak out for social justice.

Clemente blazed a trail for generations of Latino ball players by

standing up for the poor of Latin America and never accepting being

treated as anything less than human. Delgado's contribution to this

tradition of pride in the face of conformity was to refuse to stand for

the singing of " God Bless America " during the seventh-inning stretch.

This was his act of resistance to the war in Iraq. " I think it's the

stupidest war ever. Who are you fighting against? You're just getting

ambushed now, " Delgado told the Toronto Star in 2004. " We have more

people dead now, after the war, than during the war.

You've been looking for weapons of mass destruction. Where are they at?

You've been looking for over a year. Can't find them. I don't support

that. I don't support what they do. I think it's just stupid. "

 

Delgado's anti-militarist convictions grew from spending time and money

to help clean up the small island of Vieques in his native Puerto Rico.

The US Navy had used Vieques for decades as a bombing-practice target,

with disastrous results for the people and environment.

 

When asked by the Star if he was concerned about taking such a public

stance, Delgado, then a player for the Toronto Bluejays, responded,

" Sometimes, you've just got to break the mold. You've got to push it a

little bit or else you can't get anything done. "

 

But now, Mets' management is pushing Delgado back into the mold. The

shame of this is that despite a guaranteed contract and support in the

streets, Delgado isn't pushing back

.. He said at the November 28 press conference announcing his trade to

the Mets from the Florida Marlins, " The Mets have a policy that

everybody should stand for 'God Bless America' and I will be there. I

will not cause any distractions to the ballclub.... Just call me

Employee Number 21. "

And we saw him grin and bear it when Jeff Wilpon, son of Mets CEO and

owner Fred Wilpon, said, " He's going to have his own personal views,

which he's going to keep to himself. "

 

If opposition to the war were a stock, Delgado bought high and is

selling low. There couldn't be a better time than now, a better place

than New York City, or a better team than the Mets for Delgado to make

his stand. Instead, he has to hear baby-boy Wilpon say to reporters,

" Fred has asked and I've asked him to respect what the country wants to

do. "

One has to wonder what country the Wilpons are talking about. The latest

polls show Bush and his war meeting with subterranean levels of support.

Delgado could be an important voice in the effort to end it once and for

all.

 

He also might have received significant organizational support from Mets

General Manager Omar Minaya, the first Latino GM in Major League

history, and from Willie Randolph, the first African-American manager of

the Mets

.. Randolph even told reporters, " I'd rather have a man who's going to

stand up and say what he believes. We have a right as Americans to voice

that opinion. " But Minaya merely commented curtly, with an artic chill,

" This is from ownership. " But Delgado still caved.

 

The frustrating fallout of all this is evident in media attacks on

Delgado for refusing to continue his act of protest.

At first glance, it would be welcome to see, for example, Newsday's

Wallace Matthews's writing, " Even if you disagree with his politics,

Delgado's willingness to break out of the mold corporate America loves

to jam us in set him apart from the thousands of interchangeable young

men who thrive athletically and financially in our sports-crazed

culture...But no.

One of the few pro athletes who had the guts to say no is now a yes man.

And the silencing of his voice, whether you agree with it or not, is not

a victory for democracy but a defeat. "

 

But where were the critics when the then-protesting Delgado was being

booed as a visiting player in New York? And where were they when radio

commentators suggested he " just shut up and play " ? For those of us who

amplified his views, and used his stance to speak not only about the war

but also the plight of Vieques, his silence is bursting our eardrums.

 

Ironically, one of the parts of the press conference that was genuinely

touching was Delgado's thrill at finally being able to wear a jersey

with the number 21 of his hero, the great Roberto Clemente. When it came

to political principle, Clemente was a giant who never backed down in

the face of bigotry:

He lost his life in a 1972 plane crash as he was delivering aid to

earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. To Clemente, the Wilpons of the world were

little more than mosquitos buzzing in his ears. Delgado could have been

our Clemente. Instead, to use his own words, he is just Employee Number 21.

 

Comments

It ain't easy

Posted by: I_Love_NY on Dec 12, 2005 4:03 AM [Report this comment]

 

I know what it means to take a political stand, and then hear about it

at work. I work full time for the New York State National Guard and have

been pulled aside on more than one occasion to hear, " you'd better be

carefull. " After I returned from the protest in Washington D.C. in

september I was told that it was technically punishable under UCMJ

because I attended (not in uniform, although some there were) a protest

that disrespect our Commander in Chief. Unlike a professional baseball

player like Mr Delgado, I live from paycheck to paycheck. There is no

other Army for me to go serve in. We have to be willing to sacrfice for

what we believe in. Otherwise it's just lipservice.

 

Making conservatives cringe since 1977

 

 

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

» RE: It ain't easy Posted by: Erin

 

» RE: It ain't easy Posted by: Yankee

 

Speak Truth to Power!

Posted by: RebelIntellect on Dec 12, 2005 7:16 AM [Report this comment]

 

It is always a delight to see people of prominence take a public stand

on controversial public issues. Especially when the person is Black or

Hispanic. It takes great courage to say what you think knowing you will

confront opposition. Paul Robeson immediately comes to mind. He was

" black " -balled from Hollywood and Broadway for speaking out on

inequality and injustice. Kanye West spoke for a lot of people when he

departed from the script to express his dissatisfaction with the

government's indiferent response to Hurricane katrina victims; many

feared he would be " black " -balled for his stand, but his ratings only

continued to rise. But, most recently, I was glad to see the numerous

prominent persons speak out on behalf of death row prisoner Stanley

" Tookie " Williams, who is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 13 if

California Governor Arnold Swarzenegger doesn't grant clemency. So, it

is sad indeed, that Delgado has chosen to tow the line and keep quiet

when he know deep inside he has problems with the ongoing war in Iraq.

 

 

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

Give him a little time.

Posted by: rubymydear on Dec 12, 2005 8:21 AM [Report this comment]

 

Delgado has a proven record of activism for progressive causes. Don't

cast him aside because of one news conference. Just as Clemente

demonstrated before, as well as Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Bill

Russell, success allows one to be more outspoken. If Delgado hits .320

with 30+ homers and 100+ rbis, as he is very capable of doing, and puts

the Mets in a position to win, he can say whatever he wants.

 

 

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

» RE: Give him a little time. Posted by: glindsay

 

brown man's burden

Posted by: squattyroo on Dec 12, 2005 12:29 PM [Report this comment]

 

Why is Carlos Delgado asked to carry the burden of US antiwar athletes?

He has made his point, hasnt he? Where are the legions of millionaires

who are not apparently required by law or conscience to serve in the

armed forces swarming to his side? When the war enjoyed as wide support

as it is ever likely yo have, Mr. Delgado refused his support, an

honorbale position. He said, with Bartleby, " I would prefer not to " . Now

in New York, he can pursue other unpopular, socially progressive causes,

free of the responsibility of this one.

Besides, we Mets fans can root for our team & its progressive core, now

that the RushLimbaugh loving Piazza is gone!!

Fair trade, I say.

 

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