The Conflicted Significance of Racial Controversies in Major League Baseball and American History
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The Conflicted Significance of Racial Controversies in Major League Baseball and American History Shane Aaron Lachtman Abstract This chapter explores public controversies over racist statements made by three people in three different decades - player Jake Powell in 1938, Manager Alvin Dark in 1964, and owner Marge Schott throughout the 1990s. I argue that throughout these episodes, Major League Baseball, the media, and the public often act in unison to chastise individual racist statements while ignoring their own discriminatory practices. My findings suggest that the condemnations of individual speech facilitate the historical persistence of discrimination because they have been substituted for anti-racist practices. Keywords Controversies; discrimination; Major League Baseball; media, consumers; race; Major League Baseball history; political efficiency. 1. Introduction One of the biggest recent racial controversies in America began when Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker was quoted in the December 23, 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated making a plethora of bigoted comments against several cultural and national groups, homosexuals, and women. For several months after the interview was published, Rocker was constantly portrayed both in public conversation and in the media as a pariah-like, stigmatized person. On January 31, 2000, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Allan H. (Bud) Selig, issued a two-month suspension and fine against Rocker. Anti-racist disciplinary action against an individual is not unprecedented in baseball, which is widely considered to be both the national pastime and oldest professional sport in the United States. Even though the suspension and fine were eventually lessened, a stigma continues to dominate Rocker's public persona and seems doubtful to ever end. However, the public and Major League Baseball's condemnation of Rocker is ironic because charges of racism are still levied against the very same fans, media and baseball executives who act to condemn publicized instances of racist speech.! In fact, although Rocker has been vilified in the mainstream culture, he is actually celebrated by some, and has even received standing ovations at some baseball parks. Quite plainly, the 146 Racial Controversies in Major League Baseball condemners (the public, the media, and Major League Baseball) and the condemned appear to resemble each other because both act in a variety of racist ways. The most glaring difference between the two are that the condemned individuals are limited to speech acts while the condemners discriminate more through tangible actions against the members of racialized groups. These circumstances lead to my desire to reassess society's (the condemners) relationship with branded racists to better understand what has been obscured by polarizing rhetoric. I hope to revitalize debate over who is really rational and who is immoral. By historicizing the political efficiency of baseball's racial controversies against individuals, I also hope to facilitate a more complicated understanding of discrimination and race relations. In short, I argue that the polar perception of 'racist' versus 'anti-racist' inherently fails to recognize the complexity and contradictions of both the condemned and the condemners. Major League Baseball does not perfectly fit the role of ideal arbiter and condemner because of its history and accused present relationship with racial segregation both on and off the field. Major League Baseball has a unique role in racialized controversies because they have the authority to formally discipline their associates and employees. Punishment of racist speech is commonly associated with condemnation of racism, but a series of studies depict Major League Baseball, an entity of individually owned organizations, as engaging in consistent patterns of discriminatory behavior itself. In Racial Segregation in Major League Baseball Sociologists Satya Pattnayak and John Leonard published statistical evidence that Major League Baseball was positionally segregated with whites playing primary positions, blacks playing periphery positions, and Latin players existing in a middle tier. Their 1991 findings were most recently affirmed by Richard Lapchick's 2003 Racial and Gender Report Card. 2 Similarly, the baseball media does not fit the role of unbiased observer because they are widely accused by sports observers, academics and their own members of engaging in racially segregated hiring, biased player coverage and slanted voting for awards ranging from Most Valuable Player to Hall of Fame enshrinement.3 The fans of Major League Baseball, who are intrinsically connected to the media, are also accused of racism via game attendance, commercial endorsements, all-star voting and memorabilia collecting.4 Such documented behaviour contrasts notions that the public disdains discrimination and casts their anti-racist actions as hypocritical. Despite the quantity and seriousness of the accusations, my chapter will demonstrate that none of the individuals or group entities can be dismissed as unequivocally or irredeemably racist. For example, Major League Baseball features large quantities of non-white players and a religious minority, Bud Selig, who is Jewish, as commissioner. The .