I was listening to NPR yesterday afternoon when I heard part of the story of Satchel Paige, the black baseball player.  He was not allowed to play in the major leagues because of the color of his skin…or, I should say, he was not allowed to play because of discriminatory policies by major league baseball.  It was well-known that he was as good, or by many accounts, better than the major league pitchers of his era.  He was able to become financially more successful than his contemporaries because of his entrepreneurial skills.  Mr. Paige was forced to pitch every day (in order to earn that living), whereas his counterparts in major league baseball pitched in rotation of maybe every third, fourth or even fifth day.

            Why am I regaling a bunch of women about a baseball player?  Because, it was policies set up by a previous generation of baseball managers that kept the best baseball pitcher of his time out of the major leagues.  We look at those policies now and think, “How short-sighted of them.”

            Isn’t that, boiled down to its essence, what we are debating about with the bylaws of AAUW?

            Don’t we need to look at AAUW with the eyes of the current generations of girls and women whom we purport to serve to see what their wants/needs are rather than those of the “previous” generations?

            Food for thought.

Kathy Banfield Shaw

AAUW of Michigan, President

Marshall, Michigan Branch

Posted under AAUW of Michigan