A Personal Anecdote in Defense of Ronald Reagan by Mark Shields on Creators.com - A Syndicate Of Talent
I heard Michael Reagan relate this story years ago on his syndicated radio show, and have been hunting for written confirmation ever since. Thanks to a debate on another thread, I ran across the above link.
This comes from longtime liberal pundit Mark Shields, and it starts like this:
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Originally Posted by Mark Shields
After citing in a recent column the example of then-candidate Ronald Reagan's using a regional term of racial disrespect — referring to "a strapping young buck"... I added this line: "Reagan, who I can attest was free of racial prejudice in his personal life ..."
What followed was a cascade of e-mails and anonymous voice mails ... I was informed repeatedly by liberal readers that categorically Mr. Reagan was a confirmed racist.
That was and is untrue. Let me tell you why.
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Shields goes on to tell the story of Reagan and William Burghardt, who played together on the Eureka college football team. Burghardt, known as 'Burgie' was the teams center, and was black. The team was in Illinois to play a game not far from Reagan's hometown of Dixon. When they went to check into their hotel, they were told that the two black players, including Burghardt, could not stay there. The upset coach decided that they would all sleep on the bus instead. Reagan pulled the coach aside and pointed out that this might create a problem for Burghardt and the other black player, a guy named Jim Rattan, because they might feel responsible for having inconvenienced the entire team.
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Reagan, as Burghardt would later learn, had his own plan. The coach would tell the team that the hotel did not have enough rooms for everybody. So Reagan, with cash borrowed from the coach for the 15-mile cab ride to Dixon, brought his two teammates to sleep and to eat at the home of his parents, Jack and Nelle Reagan, who, Burghardt would still recall a half-century later, warmly welcomed him.
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Shields talks about having had lunch with Burghart, who related the story to him. Burghardt wound up as a college prof and was Dr. Burghardt by the time Shields met him. This all would have taken place circa 1930.