Another year has passed by—and with it, another year of celebrating our milestones. The staff at Springbrook have shown what can be done in a decade as we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Tom Golisano Center for Autism.
Our donors have also demonstrated what can be done in this time, meeting the needs of the people we support by giving generously time and again, not only on Giving Tuesday or during the holiday season, but every day. Advocating for the needs of others has always been the mission of Springbrook. We have done this by facilitating growth, supporting the whole person, and meeting every one of the persons we support when and where they need us. Over 90 years, we have continued to fulfill our vision of an equitable and inclusive future. Now, as we take time to celebrate the holidays and the upcoming new year, I ask everyone to think about incorporate inclusion into their home and community.
Sorin’s book has been described as an excellent history (“The New Yorker”) and a tour de force (“Bloomberg.”)
I just joined the Oneonta Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People after hearing Professor Gretchen Sorin speak about her book and documentary film by the same name, “Driving While Black.”
I joined because I support equality and I was appalled by what I learned during her presentation at SUNY Oneonta’s Center for Racial Justice and Inclusive Excellence on October 13.
Although I am painfully aware that white supremacy exists and that George Floyd and many other African Americans have been murdered, it hit me on a deeper level that this country used to be even more blatantly discriminatory.
Please, rethink your decision to build “a strategic plan that is centered on social justice”. You provide a wonderful service to our community, there is no need to politicize that work by pursuing “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”. These are simply inoffensive words used to divert attention from what it really is, Critical Race Theory. As the old saying goes, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig”. This focus will divert resources and attention away from the real needs that you have been having an impact on: alleviating poverty and fostering self-sufficiency through comprehensive and holistic client-centered services.
Thank you for all you do and keep up the good work!
Hall of Fame spokesman Jon Shestakovsky discusses adjustments to exhibits at 25 Main. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
The Baseball Hall of Fame is striving to balance the sport’s sometimes troubled racial history with athletic prowess on the diamond.
“The conversation began this summer,” said Jon Shestakofsky, the Hall’s vice president/communications.
“We wanted to shine a light on these conflicted stories. And when the Board of Directors met this summer, its members unanimously decided to make these important changes”
So now, the “Pride and Passion” exhibit has been renamed “Ideals and Injustices: A Chronicle of Black Baseball.”
It focuses not just on the formation of the Negro Leagues and Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier, but addressing the history of racism within the game, even by those honored in
the Hall of Plaques downstairs.
“Cap Anson, for example, was an early superstar of baseball, but his actions helped lead the league towards segregation,” said Shestakofsky.
A first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Anson was reported to have said he “would never step on a field that also had a Black man on it.”
He was inducted into the Hall with the first class, in 1939.
Though Anson and others, including Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, had previously been mentioned in “Pride and Passion,” Shestakofsky said the updated panels “clarifies” their opposition to integrating the league.
“These upgraded panels delve more deeply into the complicated history,” he said. “They’re in the Hall of Fame for a reason, they did a lot to sustain the game, but there’s more to be said about their lasting impacts.”
Nonetheless, the Hall does not plan to alter the plaques in the gallery.
“I don’t feel in any context that one should expunge history, that one should erase history,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Hall of Fame chairman, in an interview with the New York Times that appeared over the weekend.
“Part of our mission is not only to honor excellence and connect generations, but it’s to preserve the history of the game, and that’s what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re reacting to the evolution of society and society wanting a deeper understanding of underlying racism — its causes, its history, and how it continues to affect the game.”
Instead, a sign has been placed at the entrance to the Hall of Plaques, which reads: “Enshrinement into the National Baseball Hall of Fame reflects the perspective of voters at the time of election. The plaques on these walls recognize Members for their accomplishments in the game.”
It also directs visitors to continue their own exploration of the history in the museum exhibits, library archives, and educational resources.
“When people request educational materials, Jackie Robinson and Civil Rights are requested the most often,” said Shestakofsky. “Education is one of the pillars of our work as an institution.”
But the changes have also allowed the Hall to tell more stories to their visitors.
“Someone like Effa Manley, the only woman enshrined in the Hall, deserves a more full look,” he said. “As an owner, she did a lot to enhance the status of black baseball.”
“She was exceptional,” Clark told the Times. “I just find it a wonderful balance, because it’s not just that we’re looking at racists and Anson and Landis, we’re also looking at somebody who did something so positive.”
Manley was among 17 figures — all deceased — from the Negro leagues elected to the Hall in 2006, following a study by the Major League Baseball. However, that same vote excluded Buck O’Neil, former players and the MLB’s first black coach.
In 2006, O’Neil spoke at the induction ceremony, and a lifetime achievement award at the Hall was named in his honor. But he was never voted into the museum.
Shestakofsky said the exhibit and new signage have received “a very positive response,” so far, and that the curators will continue to look at ways to improve exhibits throughout the museum.
“We are a history museum,” he said. “Our job is to preserve the game’s history.”
Kenneth Sider, President of Temple Beth-El in Oneonta, addresses inter-faith gathers at Saturday’s speaker event With Malice Toward None honoring America’s legacy of inclusion. ” We are all here becasue the events of the last twelve months have shaken us and our democratic principles. Religious intolerance against Muslims and Jews have increased.” said Sider. “We are here to focus on what makes us great. This is an opportunity to celebrate principles and democracy that have made America and our community one of inclusion.” Other speakers included Mayor Gary Herzig, Father David Mickiewicz of St. Mary’s, Mayor Rashid Clark of Islamburg, Rev. Craig Schwalenberg of the UU Church and more. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
