July 9, 2003
Dusty Baker
So Dusty Baker expressed an opinion and suddenly everybody’s got a torch and pitchfork. Poor guy. I’ve got to be honest. I’ve seen a lot of white people flogged in the public square for innocent statements twisted into something unintended. I’m tempted to say “what goes around comes around.” Or “welcome to the club.” But that wouldn’t be right. Dusty Baker didn’t do anything wrong.
Let us address for the moment, is Mr. Baker’s mocked and discredited theory right or wrong? Do blacks take the heat better than whites? What are the facts? First, we can admit blacks don’t use as much sunscreen as lighter skinned people, can’t we? So he’s at least right about that. Second, in the hottest parts of the world what color does people’s skin tend to be? How about the coldest parts? Could it be that while dark skinned people lived in the hottest parts of the world and light skinned in the coldest, both developed some amount of tolerance to their conditions? And third, his Mama, a history teacher, taught him this belief. Can you blame a man for believing what his educated mother taught him?
So in the end, is what he said factual or not? I don’t know. But it doesn’t sound outrageous. I happen to believe that people are the basically the same wherever they come from or what race they are. I suspect it’s more up to each individual than what race they are as to how well they tolerate the heat. But I can’t say definitively and I don’t know of anyone that can, that Baker is wrong. To criticize without all the facts is premature.
What about his intentions? Does he hate white people? I know of no one previously suggesting he hates anyone. And in fact, no one seems to be suggesting this now. So what exactly is the problem people have with what he said? If his racial hypothesis has not been proven or disproven, and he meant no harm, what is the objection?
We all know what it is. Most would rather pretend otherwise. Look, I don’t want to say this more than anyone else. But somebody needs to. He spoke of race. You can’t do that. To the diversity police, valuing people for their differences is a good thing only as long as one doesn’t point out what those differences are. It’s good to talk about “moving forward together”. Bad to say “he or she is different than me”. Baker sin is that he said somebody’s different.
There are some people who say if a white manager spoke the same words he would be fined. Or even fired on the spot. And it’s true. A white guy in the public eye is completely at the mercy of what kind of foul mood Jesse Jackson or somesuch is in on a given day. One case of indigestion or his wife hollers at him and no Caucasian is safe anywhere. So the backlash goes, if a white guy can’t say it then Dusty Baker shouldn’t be able to say it either. He should be punished.
I don’t buy it. Just because Jesse Sharpton or Al Jackson would make a fuss if a white guy said it is no reason to professionally lynch a black guy in retaliation. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Never have. Never will.
Leave Dusty Baker alone. He did nothing wrong.