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It's Time to Shift the TideActor Tim Robbins Gets FierceThe Baseball Hall of Fame recently canceled its celebration of the 15th anniversary of the movie classic, Bull Durham. The Hall's president explained that he did not want to give actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon an opportunity to protest the Iraq war. The Hall received 28,000 emails, letters and phone calls in protest. Below is an excerpt of Tim Robbins' response, delivered to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2003.
In the 19 months since 9-11, we have seen our democracy compromised by fear and hatred. Basic inalienable rights, due process, the sanctity of the home, have been quickly compromised in a climate of fear. This past weekend, Susan [actress Susan Sarandon, Robbins' partner-ed.] and I and the three kids went to Florida for a family reunion. The most frightening thing about the weekend was the amount of times we were thanked for speaking out against the war because that individual speaking thought it unsafe to do so in their own community, in their own life. Keep talking, they said; I haven't been able to open my mouth. A relative tells me that a history teacher tells his 11-year-old son, my nephew, that Susan Sarandon is endangering troops by her opposition to the war. Another teacher in a different school asks our niece if we are coming to the school play. They're not welcome here, said the molder of young minds. Two weeks ago, the United Way canceled Susan's appearance at a conference on women's leadership. And both of us last week were told that both we and the First Amendment were not welcome at the Baseball Hall of Fame. A chill wind is blowing in this nation. A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio and Clear Channel and Cooperstown. If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications. In this time when a citizenry applauds the liberation of a country as it lives in fear of its own freedom, when an administration official releases an attack ad questioning the patriotism of a legless Vietnam veteran running for Congress, when people all over the country fear reprisal if they use their right to free speech, it is time to get angry. It is time to get fierce. And it doesn't take much to shift the tide. My 11-year-old nephew, a shy kid who never talks in class, stood up to his history teacher who was questioning Susan's patriotism. "That's my aunt you're talking about. Stop it." The stunned teacher backtracked and began stammering compliments in embarrassment. Sportswriters across the country reacted with such overwhelming fury at the Hall of Fame that the president of the Hall admitted he made a mistake and Major League Baseball disavowed any connection to the actions of the Hall's president. A bully can be stopped, and so can a mob. Our ability to disagree, and our inherent right to question our leaders and criticize their actions define who we are. To allow those rights to be taken away out of fear, to punish people for their beliefs, to limit access in the news media to differing opinions is to acknowledge our democracy's defeat. These are challenging times. There is a wave of hate that seeks to divide
us--right and left, pro-war and antiwar. In the name of my 11-year-old
nephew, and all the other unreported victims of this hostile and unproductive
environment of fear, let us try to find our common ground as a nation. |
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