Stepping Up to Bat for Affirmative Action UCSC Review Summer-Fall 1994

How do you pitch the importance of affirmative action to employers who see such policies as glorified quota systems? Psychologist Anthony Pratkanis found the answer on the baseball field.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became this century's first black player to compete in major league baseball. Pratkanis, an associate professor of psychology at UCSC, says baseball's "great experiment" also marked the beginning of the first affirmative action program in human history.

The Jackie Robinson story has value today as an example of how employers should implement affirmative action, and it shows how an organization can benefit from opening its doors--the Dodgers prospered financially and were perennial contenders for the next ten years during what came to be known as the Dodgers' golden era. Pratkanis teamed up with Marlene Turner, associate professor of management and organizations at San Jose State University, to study affirmative action; their findings appear in two articles in Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Social Policy Perspectives.

"What we've done is describe affirmative action in terms that a lot of business managers can relate to--sports," says Pratkanis. "Baseball fans know the Jackie Robinson story, and although most wouldn't think of it as affirmative action, that's exactly what it was."

Pratkanis and Turner define affirmative action as taking proactive steps to remove discriminatory barriers and to promote positive relations. Social psychologists have spent 40 years studying how to make integration work, but Pratkanis and Turner conclude that Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who hired Robinson, was a keen judge of character with an extraordinary intuitive sense of how to integrate the team. Pratkanis and Turner spell out Rickey's winning strategy in articles that are rich with anecdotes and humor.

By studying Rickey's careful actions, Pratkanis and Turner present the nine principles they believe are essential to a successful affirmative action program. They show how Rickey pursued his goal by first signing Robinson to play for the Dodgers' top farm club in Montreal in 1945 and then calling him up to play for the Dodgers in 1947. They offer employers advice on how to counter the perception that an employee did not earn his or her position by showing how Rickey did it. Finally, they describe Rickey's deft handling of players who asked to be traded or threatened to strike rather than play with Robinson.

"The question I'd ask business managers today is 'Can you manage your affirmative action program like Branch Rickey did? Can you take your affirmative action program to the World Series?'" says Pratkanis.

Rickey was a devout Christian who wanted to correct the social injustice of segregation, but he also saw the financial benefits of breaking the color bar. "Most people thought black players would ruin the game forever," says Pratkanis. "But Rickey knew it would open up an untapped reservoir of talent that would make the Dodgers winners, and he knew it would mean big money at the gates. A lot of times we don't see the advantages of integration."

Pratkanis sees similar advantages of affirmative action for employers. "There's lots of talent out there that just needs a break. We're asking people to take leadership positions, just like Mr. Rickey did," says Pratkanis.

Rickey's Nine Winning Strategies

1. Create the psychology that change is inevitable.

Rickey's leadership won over key individuals such as Dodgers announcer Red Barber. Rickey confided in Barber about his plans two years before he hired Robinson because he knew that he would need the support of the "voice of the Dodgers." Barber's initial reaction was that he would rather quit than work for a team with a black player, but he came to subscribe to the "psychology of the inevitable."

2. Establish equal status and common goals.

Rickey was privy to the work of social scientists, who assured him that the common goal of winning the pennant would overwhelm racist attitudes and unify team members.

3. Puncture the "norm of prejudice."

The presence of even one dissenter can shatter the power of group pressure. Dodgers shortstop Harold "Pee Wee" Reese is credited on his Hall of Fame plaque with easing acceptance of Robinson.

4. Practice nonviolent resistance. Rickey chose Robinson because he wanted an excellent player "with guts enough not to fight back." Nonviolence shows an irrevocable commitment to change.

5. Create empathy.

Robinson's white teammates came to his defense when they witnessed the insults and discrimination he suffered, and the experience helped bring the team together.

6. Reduce "tokenism."

Rickey relied on sportswriters to highlight Robinson's athleticaccomplishments rather than his skin color; by the middle of the 1947 season, writers often ignored Robinson's race.

7. Offer forgiveness and redemption.

Rickey made certain to reward individuals whose attitudes changed in a positive way. Catcher Bobby Bragan, who initially opposed Robinson's hiring but went on to coach black players in the team's farm system, was grateful that Rickey saw his potential to change.

8. Undo the perception of preferential selection.

Rickey and his assistants were careful to counter the charge that Robinson was hired for his color rather than his talent.

9. Identify and remove institutional barriers.

After Rickey hired Robinson, he held spring training in Havana, Cuba--a racially desegregated country--because many small American towns had segregated housing and dining facilities.

--Jennifer McNulty