PSYCHOLOGISTS USE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY TO MAKE A PITCH FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN THE WORKPLACE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--How do you pitch the importance of affirmative action to employers who see such policies as glorified quota systems? Psychology professor Anthony Pratkanis found the answer on the baseball field.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team and became the first black player to compete in major league baseball in this century. Pratkanis, a social psychologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, 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 because it offers a textbook example of how employers should plan and implement affirmative action. It also shows how an organization can benefit from opening its doors--the Dodgers prospered financially and were perennial contenders for the next ten years in what came to be known as the Dodgers golden era. Pratkanis, an associate professor of psychology at UCSC, teamed up with Marlene Turner, an 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. We want employers to see that they can do the same thing, so we're showing them how the Dodgers did it. The principles are exactly the same."

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, had an intuitive sense of how to integrate the team. For employers who lack that intuition, Pratkanis and Turner spell out what it takes to make integration work. Both are avid baseball fans, and their passion for the game enlivens the articles, which are rich with anecdotes and humor.

Pratkanis and Turner set the scene in their first article, "The Year Cool Papa Bell Lost the Batting Title: Mr. Branch Rickey and Mr. Jackie Robinson's Plea for Affirmative Action," which appears in the March issue. James "Cool Papa" Bell deliberately lost the Negro Major Leagues batting title in 1946 to call attention to a younger player, Monte Irvin, at a time when the major leagues were for the first time considering signing black players. "It was important (Irvin) be noticed, important he get that chance," Bell explained later.

In the second article, titled "Nine Principles of Successful Affirmative Action: Mr. Branch Rickey, Mr. Jackie Robinson, and the Integration of Baseball," Pratkanis and Turner present numerous anecdotes to show the care with which Rickey pursued his goal. Rickey first signed Robinson to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers' top farm club in Montreal in 1946 and then called him up to play for the Dodgers a year later. The article, which will appear in the September issue, illustrates the nine principles that Pratkanis and Turner identify as essential elements of a successful affirmative action program:

1. Create the psychology that change is inevitable--Rickey provided strong leadership, and his efforts 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 to succeed he would need the support of the "voice of the Dodgers." A native southerner, 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 such as Dan Dodson, a New York University sociologist, who assured Rickey 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 being "instrumental in easing acceptance of Jackie Robinson as baseball's first black performer."

4. Practice nonviolent resistance--When Rickey hired Robinson, he knew he was getting a fine ballplayer, but he wanted a player "with guts enough not to fight back." Robinson met the test, adhering to a strict code of nonviolence despite enormous pressure. Nonviolence prevents violence from escalating and shows an irrevocable commitment to change.

5. Create empathy--Robinson's teammates saw firsthand the insults and discrimination that he experienced. Witnessing the abuse helped bring the team together as white players came to Robinson's defense.

6. Reduce "tokenism"--Being reduced to token status can erode an individual's confidence and intensify scrutiny of his or her behavior. Rickey relied on sportswriters to "introduce" Robinson to the public and to highlight his athletic accomplishments rather than his skin color. By mid-season of 1947, writers often ignored Robinson's race.

7. Offer forgiveness and redemption--Rickey was a keen judge of character who never hesitated to reward individuals whose attitudes changed in a positive way. Dodgers catcher Bobby Bragan, who initially opposed the hiring of Robinson but went on to coach black ballplayers in the Dodgers 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 (see below).

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

The authors describe Rickey's deft handling of Dodgers players who asked to be traded or threatened to strike rather than play with Robinson, and they show the process of team-building that took place as players bonded and the team became more cohesive. "The question I'd ask business managers today is 'Can you manage your affirmative action program like Dodgers manager Branch Rickey did? Can you take your affirmative action program to the World Series?'" says Pratkanis.

Because affirmative action today carries the stigma of being a quota program rather than help for those who are discriminated against, Pratkanis and Turner also offer employers additional advice on how to counter the perception that an employee did not earn his or her position. Again, they use Rickey's strategy to illustrate their guidelines: Establish explicit qualifications criteria (the box score); ensure that selection procedures are perceived as fair (Robinson paid his dues in the minors); prove competence (Robinson's season with the Montreal farm club); emphasize the individual's contributions (Dodgers officials claimed Robinson would get the team in the pennant race); strategize to avoid feelings of helplessness (the minor leagues helped build Robinson's confidence); reinforce that affirmative action is not preferential selection (Rickey told Robinson he would have to make it on his own); and keep attention focused on the social barriers preventing integration (the color bar in baseball).

As a devout Christian, Rickey wanted to correct the social injustice of segregation. But he also saw other benefits of breaking the color bar. "The year before Rickey hired Robinson, there was a secret vote at an owners meeting that went 15-1 against desegregating baseball. Rickey was the sole dissenter," says Pratkanis. "Most people thought black players would ruin the game forever. But Rickey saw the advantages way before anyone else did. He 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. What we're doing is asking people to take leadership positions, just like Mr. Rickey did," says Pratkanis. "Rickey's nine principles are as valid today as they were then."

(Editor's Note: Pratkanis can be reached at 408/459-4935 or 408/429-1283. To request a reprint of the March article or a manuscript copy of the September article, call Jennifer McNulty in the Public Information Office at 408/459-2495.)

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

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