“These, Tom, are the Causeheads. They find a world-threatening issue and stick with it for about a week.” – Droz, PCU
April 15th is Jackie Robinson Day and this time of year always prompts a lot of discussion on the message and legacy that Robinson left behind. I believe that 99% of the conversation is positive and important and I’m proud that Robinson’s achievement is still celebrated and thought of 60 years after the fact.
What I’m not proud of (and why I was moved to quote from the movie PCU) is the fact that our culture – and specifically our dominant, high-minded and guilt-ridden Caucasian culture – insists on pointing out trivialities in the name of Jackie’s message. The article goes through the trouble of listing every single player on an active major league roster that is African-American. Why? What is the point? Why is it important to note that less than 10% of active players are African-American? Do baseball fans, or even non-baseball fans need to make distinctions based on race and the game’s diversity score on the playing field?
The game being played on the field is totally integrated and I find no merit to any argument made to the contrary. At this point, given the economics of the game, as well as the progress that has come from pioneers such as Robinson, Larry Doby, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal and countless others, I think we can all agree that talent determines which players advance to the big leagues and which never make it to the show.
That there’s a long way to go in the struggle to fully integrate MLB’s (and NFL’s) front office and coaching ranks is not up for debate and, on that point alone, I can live with the article’s final paragraphs. I think people should spend more time talking about how Jackie’s lessons can be applied there. But to waste time pointing out the ethnic and racial makeup of the players on the field? That’s not what Jackie would’ve wanted. After all, he taught us that talent is color-blind.
April 15th is Jackie Robinson Day and this time of year always prompts a lot of discussion on the message and legacy that Robinson left behind. I believe that 99% of the conversation is positive and important and I’m proud that Robinson’s achievement is still celebrated and thought of 60 years after the fact.
What I’m not proud of (and why I was moved to quote from the movie PCU) is the fact that our culture – and specifically our dominant, high-minded and guilt-ridden Caucasian culture – insists on pointing out trivialities in the name of Jackie’s message. The article goes through the trouble of listing every single player on an active major league roster that is African-American. Why? What is the point? Why is it important to note that less than 10% of active players are African-American? Do baseball fans, or even non-baseball fans need to make distinctions based on race and the game’s diversity score on the playing field?
The game being played on the field is totally integrated and I find no merit to any argument made to the contrary. At this point, given the economics of the game, as well as the progress that has come from pioneers such as Robinson, Larry Doby, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal and countless others, I think we can all agree that talent determines which players advance to the big leagues and which never make it to the show.
That there’s a long way to go in the struggle to fully integrate MLB’s (and NFL’s) front office and coaching ranks is not up for debate and, on that point alone, I can live with the article’s final paragraphs. I think people should spend more time talking about how Jackie’s lessons can be applied there. But to waste time pointing out the ethnic and racial makeup of the players on the field? That’s not what Jackie would’ve wanted. After all, he taught us that talent is color-blind.
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