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Tom Kunhardt's avatar

Good article Sammy, thanks. Off the topic of climate change, but very much related to racism in baseball, I recommend Howard Bryant's book, Shut Out. He has written other books about steroids in sports, racism in football, the militarization of sports. He was one of the few writers that rose to defend Colin Kaepernick.

Fun fact, I played softball with Howard when we was still on the west coast writing for the San Jose Mercury News.

https://howardbryantbooks.com/shut-out

Tom Kunhardt's avatar

Howard’s newest book is about Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson. It’s on my list to read. https://howardbryantbooks.com

Sammy Roth's avatar

Small world! And, you're not the first person to recommend this book...definitely adding to my list. Thanks as always for reading!

Quinn Emmett's avatar

Thank you so much for publishing this, Sammy.

Sammy Roth's avatar

Thanks for reading, Quinn. So grateful to have support for reporting and commentary like this.

Kandace Korth's avatar

Keep writing Sammy. We love your reporting.

Sammy Roth's avatar

Thank you, Kandace! Very grateful for your support.

Zan Dubin's avatar

Remain grateful for this kind of fearless coverage and for courageous electeds like Sen. Lena Gonzalez, who accepted our request to support our Dodger Fans Against Fossil Fuels campaign by writing a letter of her own protesting the team's sportswashing. We are not letting go. As Gonzalez wrote: “It’s time to end our embrace of polluting fossil fuels."

Laura Owens's avatar

Excellent reporting as always. You provide evidence of the connection between the climate crisis and the ongoing racism in this country with important examples that we might not have otherwise known. Any action items you can offer are always much appreciated!

Sammy Roth's avatar

Thank you! And that's a good point about action items, I should try harder to incorporate those. In the case of sports teams and fossil fuel sponsorships, there's a growing protest movement if that's your thing. Boycotts are also an option, although I personally haven't done it.

KP's avatar
2dEdited

Thank you for your excellent feature on Jackie Robinson. As I read his quote, I couldn't help but think to myself there are now few, rather than many, business corporations that do NOT think of employing ruthless business practices. Of course the oil and gas industry top the list, as their decisions impact the future of our species and so many others, but really, ruthlessness has become the driving force behind the ugly and shameful success of most corporations - especially now with the Grand Oligarchs Party writing laws deregulating their business practices. And yes, the ultimate catastrophically negative impact to come will be stratified in a tremendously tragic and undeserved way, unless we (those of us who do not reside in the wealth and power-heavy top tier of this pyramid) don't wake up and unify to stop them.

Sammy Roth's avatar

I appreciate your reading! And thanks for sharing these thoughts. So much work to be done, by all of us.

Dmitriy Ioselevich's avatar

I'm rarely surprised anymore by the lengths that the fossil fuel industry will go to burnish their own image, especially through sports-washing. But this story on the Texas Rangers owner shows just how few ****s they really give about human well being. A cartoon villain wouldn't be this heartless.

Sammy Roth's avatar

I too have lost the capacity to be surprised by much. But the NYT story still made my jaw drop a bit.