Bay Area civil rights leaders announced Wednesday they’re ending a boycott of the San Francisco Giants, which began this weekend after it was discovered that the team’s principal owner made donations to political campaigns alleged to be racist.
According to attorney John Burris, he and the Rev. Amos Brown, head of the San Francisco National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and activist Dr. Harry Edwards have decided to end the boycott in light of new revelations that the owner has retracted his donation.
Team owner Charles Johnson reportedly donated to the campaign of Mississippi Republican U.S. Senator-elect Cindy Hyde-Smith, who has made statements some consider racist, as well as to a political action committee behind an advertisement in Arkansas that falsely claimed Democrats could bring lynchings back if black voters didn’t support Republicans.
On Wednesday, Burris said that Johnson has since condemned racism and requested his donation back from Hyde-Smith.
Burris said in a statement that the actions “are sufficient positive steps” and that “the boycott is not further warranted at this time.” Instead of boycotting, he said, “this is time for engagement, dialogue and understanding.
I worked for this great man once upon a time. He has given my community employment, philanthropic donations, restoring history and is one of the greatest men ever to be in our community. I know he feels the pressure to disavow the contribution but it shames me to see such a great man have to grovel at the feet of people who have done nothing compared to what he has done. I appreciate you Mr. Johnson, and thankyou for the job out of college.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(1) comment
I worked for this great man once upon a time. He has given my community employment, philanthropic donations, restoring history and is one of the greatest men ever to be in our community. I know he feels the pressure to disavow the contribution but it shames me to see such a great man have to grovel at the feet of people who have done nothing compared to what he has done. I appreciate you Mr. Johnson, and thankyou for the job out of college.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.