Racism In Sports is Topic Again

There has been major coverage of Jackie Robinson's 60th anniversary of breaking into the league in 1947, when he became Rookie of the year. He went on to become league MVP two years later and bring success to the Dodgers Now, 60 years later we honor him, but at the same time their are many voices complaining that his legacy is lost. This month's ESPN the magazine ask just that question at the top of the page. In an interesting parallel that question was printed just above JaMarcus Russell, a black quarterback expected to be taken first overall in the NFL draft this month.

The complaint I have been hearing this week is that Major League Baseball is down to 8.5% African American representation; despite 12% national demographics. My favorite paper the San Diego Union Tribune, led today with a story profiling this years Padres, who are playing the Dodgers in the Sunday night game honoring Jackie Robinson, even though the have only two African Americans on the roster. (http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20070415-9999-1s15diversee.html)

I went and googled "race in sports" and found a group of articles and studies on the issue. One such article noted that African Americans represented 25% of the league in 1995 and have fallen to 8.5% in 12 years. The question that came into my head was: "Why is it ok to be overrepresented but not underrepresented?" Clearly, if the level is at 25% they are doubling their representation and pushing out other races that may be playing. That gets me to thinking about Basketball and Football.

Although the studies vary, the NFL hovers around 65% African American, and the NBA around 80%. Turn on a game anytime and you will see when you consider who is starting or has the most minutes (especially in Basketball) the numbers are even more skewed. Where are the outreach programs to make these leagues more representative of national demographics?

Barriers to entry due to race are wrong in any profession. But, we should be careful to jump to conclusions because of one cherry picked statistic. Unfortunately, in this country the discussion regarding race is very narrow and filtered. An "Outside the Lines" episode on this topic highlighted one black high school students experience joining the baseball team and being harassed for it; by other black students.

No one wants to discuss these issues, with good reason; anyone who breaches this subject is oftentimes run out of their profession. This country needs to be able to address these issues with less emotion, more insight and without jumping to conclusions.