NAACP joins boycott of Giants in donation flap

SAN FRANCISCO - Charles Johnson, one of the principal owners of the San Francisco Giants, doesn’t keep up with the news.

That’s the explanation Johnson’s attorney Joe Cotchett offered Monday when asked why Johnson and his wife Ann each donated the maximum $2,700 to the campaign of Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican U.S. Senator from Mississippi who has come under fire recently for expressing racist remarks.

“I’m not so sure that Charlie reads the paper every day the way you and I read the paper,” Cotchett said at his Burlingame office. “He reads the sports section.”

Johnson’s donation to Hyde-Smith, who won re-election Tuesday, was received Nov. 20, several days after she said she would “be on the front row” if invited to a public hanging. Additionally, a photo discovered on Hyde-Smith’s Facebook page showed her with confederate items and a caption, “Mississippi History at its best!”

Election filings revealed Johnson’s donation was made about a month after Johnson requested a $1,000 contribution to the super PAC Black Americans for the President’s Agenda be returned after the group created racist ads in support of Arkansas congressman French Hill.

Johnson, 85, resides in Palm Beach, Florida, and does not grant interviews. Cotchett has represented the former chairman of Franklin Templeton for 40 years and said Johnson has a long history of donating to conservative political candidates and political action committees.

However, Cotchett also said his client often writes checks without researching the backgrounds and positions of candidates who receive his financial support.

“He had never met (Hyde-Smith) and he didn’t know her,” Cotchett said.

After Johnson’s donation to Black Americans for the President’s Agenda was returned, he issued a rare public statement condemning racism.

“I had absolutely no knowledge that this donation would be used in this manner and I, like the Giants organization, strongly condemn any form of racism and in no way condone the advertisement that was created by this entity,” Johnson wrote on October 19.

Though Cotchett said he would recommend Johnson request his contribution to Hyde-Smith’s campaign be returned, Johnson has yet to take action. His donations have sparked criticism from many Giants fans and a call for a “total boycott” of the team from civil rights attorney John Burris and the president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, Dr. Amos Brown.

“Mr. Charles Johnson has shown that his heart is on the side of oppression, terror, lynching and racist practices,” Brown said at a press conference in San Francisco Monday. “I feel that the counsel is right when he said we should not cooperate with supporting the Giants with this kind of a person being a major investor.”

Brown, a Mississippi native, cited the “horror and hell” he experienced growing up in a state with a troubling history of racial relations and said he will not end his boycott unless Johnson requests Hyde-Smith return his contribution.

“We are always open for reconciliation and if Mr. Johnson sends that money back, the National NAACP will back off. But until then, we stand by our position that we have a moral obligation to not support the Giants so that people may go to the Giants game and enjoy themselves at our expense.”

Burris explained he would end his long-standing support of the Giants and encourage friends to discontinue purchasing tickets to games as a result of Johnson’s recent contributions. He said he has yet to decide whether his personal boycott of the franchise will cease if Johnson remains part of the ownership group.

“To support a person like that (Hyde-Smith) is contrary to my basic values system of fairness, righteousness about issues, equal opportunities, etc,” Burris said. “And for that person, Mr. Johnson, to support someone like that, it really struck me in a way that went to the very core of my sense of fairness.”

Giants CEO Larry Baer released a statement Monday calling racist and hateful language and behavior “abhorrent and in direct conflict with the core values of the San Francisco Giants.”

Baer’s statement noted the Giants have attempted to use their platform as advocates for social justice, equality and inclusion, but also said the team does not and will not seek to control who the franchise’s owners support politically.

The Giants have more than ?30 principal owners, but Johnson is believed to hold the largest stake in the team as Cotchett said his client controls about ?26 percent of the franchise. Despite calls from fans who plan to join the boycott of the Giants until Johnson sells his stake, Cotchett said Johnson has no intention to do so.

“Absolutely not, I can’t imagine that he would,” Cotchett said. “He’s sick about this to be frank with you.”

Cotchett acknowledged Johnson has an obligation to do due diligence when he donates, but said sometimes people “screw up.”

Several large corporations including Major League Baseball have asked Hyde-Smith to return campaign contributions following her comments about attending a public hanging.