NO BLACKS, NO DETROITERS INCLUDED AS RACE CAR DRIVERS
BELL HAS FOUGHT APBA RACISM FOR YEARS
By Diane Bukowski
July 10, 2013
Jerry Bell winning 4th place in 2004 Gold Cup races.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Jerry Bell, 2004 Gold Cup races.
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
“A Dream Deferred,” by Langston Hughes
DETROIT – The dream that Jerry T. Bell, a champion hydroplane racer, has been pursuing all his life formed when his mother would take him to watch the Gold Cup hydroplane races on the Detroit River as a child. His family lived close to the river in the city. Bell was entranced by the sight of the powerful, brilliantly-colored winged boats cutting the waves at super high speeds.
Jerry Bell confronts APBA officials during Gold Cup press conference July 9, 2013.
He began racing hydroplanes in 1995 under the tutelage of the first Black hydroplane racer, Teddy Dudley. He was the American Power Boat Association (APBA) High Point Champion for Region 6 in 2000, and won two fourth-place finishes in the Gold Cup in 2003 and 2004, among other awards.
But in recent years, his dream has been repeatedly deferred, since the Spirit of Detroit Thunderfest was ousted as sponsor of the event.
The dream exploded July 9. Bell interrupted a press conference announcing the 104th running of the Gold Cup, held in downtown Detroit at Campus Martius. Mark Weber, president of the APBA, based in Eastpointe, was announcing the names of the race’s participants.
APBA President Mark Weber (center) backed by other race officials and sponsors.
“Hey, Mark, you know what would have been good, is if you would have put me into the race,” Bell, a powerfully-built man, 38, with a resonating voice, called out. Weber claimed Bell’s class of boat was not included. He has given Bell the same story in previous years, first scheduling the class and then claiming not enough racers signed up.
“Why can you run boats in that class in Quebec and Pontiac and Walled Lake, but not here?” Bell responded angrily. “No, at this time you need to explain to the media and to these people and to my fans here in Detroit, Michigan why this keeps happening.”
Jerry Bell explains his case to Detroit police officer called to remove him. Officer did not do so, after lengthy discussion with Bell and his supporters.
He said he had gone to great lengths to successfully qualify for the race at pre-tests around the state this year. Bell, who works as a taxi driver to support his dream, lost his mother, and was shot numerous times by a passenger trying to rob him in recent years, but has since recuperated from his serious injuries.
He told VOD later that he was actually planning to run a 7 liter light hydroplane his sponsors were buying, not the 5 liter boat Weber referred to.
At Weber’s signal, Detroit police officers and security guards ran up to Bell, who temporarily retreated, calling the issue “racism.”
Tom Bertolini, President of the Detroit River Race Regatta, which sponsors the race locally, but is not registered with the the state as a business, approached Bell and put his hand on him, nearly occasioning a fist fight. Bell furiously told Bertolini to get his hands off.
- Mark Weber and Tom Bertolini before press conference.
Scott Allen, Commodore of the Detroit Yacht Club (DYC), a sponsor of the race, then took the podium. VOD confronted him with the fact that the DYC did not admit Blacks as members until 1968, and demanded to know how many Detroiters and/or Blacks are participating as drivers in this year’s Gold Cup. The DYC pays only $1 a year to the city for use of its prime location on Belle Isle. Allen earlier supported a state take-over of the island.
Weber responded that he did not know, and would have to look up the figures at his Eastpointe office.
In their article on the confrontation, MLive’s Gus Burns reported, “Weber admits ‘all motorsports’ are traditionally lopsided in terms of the race of their participants. ‘I don’t know why,’ he said.”
Bell said he has contacted the National Action Network through Rev. Charles Williams of the Michigan chapter, and expects them to weigh in on the matter before the races.
Detroit River Race Regatta map shows areas that will be open only to ticket-holders, including public Erma Henderson and Waterworks Parks.
“I’m more qualified than a lot of these drivers, and I have the right to run in my own city,” he said. The race requires city permits and expenses for police and recreation department services on city-owned property, although it brings in little real revenue to the city itself. City-owned parks including Erma Henderson and Waterworks Parks will be cordoned off to non-ticket holders.
Driver Mark Evans, whose crew is competing in the races, hugged Bell, congratulating him on his courage. He offered to sell Bell his boat. Bell said he and Evans are long-time friends, and that Evans is one of the Gold Cup’s best drivers.
Mark Evans, a second place finisher in the Gold Cup in 1998, greets Jerry Bell warmly.
Mayoral candidate and long-time educator and athlete John Telford, who accompanied Bell, said, “This is nothing but institutional racism. They just are bound and determined they are not going to let this man race, because they’re afraid he will win, even in a higher class. He’s a champion racer.” Don Holland, a Telford supporter, said, “Here is a Detroiter, he’s not from Livonia. He’s qualified. Instead of snubbing him they should be embracing him.”
The APBA was named the national governing body for powerboat racing, the only one in the U.S. authorized to sanction races, by the Union Internatonale Motonautique (UIM), currently headquartered in the kingdom of Monaco, early in the last century. The UIM was founded by wealthy British and European individuals. No government has authorized either the UIM or the APBA to rule over power boat racing, although the APBA was first incorporated in 1918 in the state of New York through a routine act of the legislature.
The APBA’s self-anointed powers have been a matter of dispute by rival organizations in previous years. It is now officially headquartered in Michigan at the Eastpointe office. The state website shows it claims non-profit status, meaning it is exempt from taxation on the money it rakes in on ticket sales, vendor sponsorships and other matters. However, it is not registered with the IRS as a non-profit according to Guidestar.org. The IRS sends all non-profit tax filings to Guidestar.
Despite a request from Bell’s attorney in 2011, the APBA has not implemented “a rule in the APBA Rule book that admonishes and prohibits discriminatory practices based on race, sex or religion against properly qualifying racers.” See Jerry Bell lawyer letter 5 10 11.
Jerry Bell and 2008 crew, made up of Detroit high school students from Golightly Technical Center.
Bell has been fighting for re-admission to the races since the historic 100th-running of the Gold Cup in 2008. The first Gold Cup race was held on the Detroit River in 1904.. Detroit was made the permanent home of the national Gold Cup Race, the boating equivalent of the Indianapolis 500, in 2000.
Jerry Bell’s supporters Ron Holland (2nd from l) and John Telford (r), speak out in his support to police.
In 2008, excited high school students from the Detroit Public Schools Cornelius Golightly Career and Technical Center, along with their teacher, made up Bell’s crew. Bell looked forward to becoming the first Black driver to win the Gold Cup. But the team’s hopes were dashed when Weber eliminated “The President’s Cup,” the automotive-powered boat class they were registered for.
Bell said his boat was big enough and strong enough to compete in higher-level classes, but was still denied entry. Weber admitted then that there were no other Detroit residents or Blacks in the race.
At the time, political consultant Sam Riddle, who is again working with Bell as press representative for NAN, said, “The City of Detroit should reconsider sponsoring and committing resources to that boat race if citizens who are qualified to race and run their boats are not allowed to do so. I have recommended that Jerry also begin approaching the sponsors of the race asking them to withdraw their sponsorship until everyone has equal opportunity in the race.”
Quicken Loans was also a sponsor of this year’s Grand Prix. It’s CEO Dan Gilbert is competing with Mike Illitch to buy up downtown and midtown.
This year, race sponsors include the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans, Jarvis Property Management, Made in Detroit, DTE Energy, MGM Grand Casino, Ally Financial, Opportunity Detroit, Badass Beer, and Chevy Drives the Motor City, among others.
In 2009, Bell ran an exhibition race during the Detroit River Days. In 2010, Bell met with all the necessary entities to plan out his exhibition race course for River Days, including the Coast Guard, the Detroit Fire and Police Departments, state agencies and others.
But the APBA again intervened, along with numerous APBA members who posted racist threats using the “n” word and other derogatory terms on the APBA website. They denied him entrance to the Gold Cup, then sabotaged his planned Detroit River Days exhibition races. In an email to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), they claimed Bell could not secure insurance through their preferred agencies. The DEGC then sent Bell an email telling him to work it out with the APBA/DRRA and washing their hands of the matter.
Jerry Bell and John Telford ask City Council to deny permit for races in 2010. Council caved in anyway.
Bell went before the Detroit City Council, who at first held up the city permit for the races, but later caved in and granted it.
Weber announced at the beginning of the press conference July 9 that musician Kid Rock resurrected the races, and is sponsoring a free day on Friday, July 12. Rick Springfield and other musicians will also be playing. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday run from $15 to $25o, with tickets for recreational vehicle parking from $300 to $500.
Bell said he is not going, and he is not giving up until he wins his rightful place.
“The struggle continues,” he said.
Related articles and documents:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/07/video_heckler_interrupts_detro.html.
Jerry Bell Hydroplane racer–Gold Cup denies Blacks participation Detroit News
Jerry Bell Champion hydroplane racer asks City Council to deny Gold Cup permit
EDC letter denying Jerry Bell access to River Days –EDC is run by DEGC staff
Death threat accompanies racism on the Detroit river (revised with comment from threat-maker)
It should not madder old,crippled, or crazy you should be able to race Jerry Bell should be able to race im am mad that they said in the article that he was a Detroiter so he could not race that’s messed keep your head up jerry bell and fight for that race
I am not a fan of this sport some of my family love it, until now we they had know ideas about the RACISM that exit in this SPORT A Detroiters i am angry that this kind of racism is allowed to used our parks to keep us out. Why would Detroit Council knowing this sport don’t allow African American in it give them a permit ? This is an OUTRAGES