B. General Managers and Ownership
This reluctance is grounded in negative stereotypes of
African Americans in positions of leadership, as opposed to history.[i] In the 1930s, when Major League Baseball was
teetering on collapse, Negro Leagues were thriving.[ii] Owners and executives of the Negro League
teams crafted innovative promotions and fostered an exciting brand of baseball
in order to keep fans coming to games.[iii] Despite such examples, very few African
Americans have been given the opportunity to be general managers in Major League
Baseball. With such a small sample size,
success stories seem rare and thus advance the faulty stereotypes associated
with African American general managers and owners .[iv] However, in a recent, rare instance of
opportunity, Kenny Williams, a young African American general manager, bucked
the negative racial stereotype when his Chicago White Sox won the World Series
in 2005.[v] The World Series win was the first for the
White Sox in decades and Ken Williams was the only African American general
manager in Major League Baseball at the time.[vi] Despite this, the story of Ken Williams was
not featured prominently in the media.[vii]
Normally, young general managers in baseball who have any
amount of success are branded as gutsy, innovative geniuses. In fact, when Sports Illustrated released
their top 10 general manager/executives of 2000-2010, both Theo Epstein and
Billy Beane made the list.[viii] Absent from the list (and the "honorable
mentions") is Kenny Williams.[ix] Despite not winning a World Series or even a pennant,
Billy Beane came in 10th on the list.[x] In fact, Billy Beane's successes with a
limited payroll were deemed special enough to have a book and Oscar-nominated
movie made about his executive managerial style and philosophy.[xi]
Even in the 21st century, Kenny Williams and other
African Americans are viewed differently in baseball circles due to the color
of their skin. The foundational idea of
Critical Race Theory is that racism is normal in everyday society.[xii] This racism is embedded in our culture and
seems natural.[xiii] "Colorblind" laws and policies that
treat whites and blacks equally do not cure societal racism that lies beneath
the surface.[xiv] It is presumed that racism no longer exists
in America because instances of overt racism are rare and therefore societal
racism proceeds as usual.[xv]
Similar institutional racism has existed in baseball for
many decades. Shaun Powell explains
institutional racism creating a "cement ceiling" for African
Americans in leadership positions in sports.[xvi] First, Powell notes that blatant racism is
not the reason for blacks holding so few positions of power in sports.[xvii] Like Critical Race Theory explains, society
no longer tolerates blatant racism, but is blind to institutional racism.[xviii] There are not company-wide memos advising
against hiring African Americans. Stated
differently, "There's no Oz wearing a white hood, hiding behind a curtain,
preventing black folks from all the good jobs."[xix]
Powell describes a "buddy-buddy system" wherein
whites in power hire other whites whom they know and trust.[xx] Because of racial divides growing up and concurrent
advancing through the ranks of a baseball organization, white executives are
more likely to hire other whites they know as coaches and executives.[xxi] In this vein, the white executive is not
overtly discriminating based on race.[xxii] However, due to a history of whites hiring
other whites because of familiarity or a supposed "limited pool" of
qualified minorities, African American candidates are passed over and a cycle
develops.[xxiii]
[i] Shropshire, supra, at 24.
[ii] Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns (Hereinafter
"Baseball"): 6th Inning (PBS television broadcast 1994).
[iii] Id.
[iv] Powell, supra 221-222.
[v] Id.
[vi] Id.
[vii] Id.
[viii]
2000s: Top 10 GMS/Executives, SI.COM,
(Dec. 22, 2009 12:15 PM), http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/19/top.executives/index.html.
[ix] Id.
[x] Id.
[xi] Moneyball, IMDB.com, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/?ref_=nv_sr_1
(last visited March 1, 2014).
[xii]
Critical, 3.
[xiii]
Id.
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Id.
[xvi] Powell, at 207.
[xvii]
Id. at 211.
[xviii]
Critical, 3.
[xix]
Powell, at 212.
[xx] Id. at 214
[xxi] Id. at 212
[xxii]
Id.
[xxiii]
Id.
See Infra, Note II D.
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