The Irony of an All-Black Jackie Robinson Little League Team

On Saturday,  ABC broadcast a Little League World Series US Championship game between Nevada and Illinois.  But the Illinois team also goes by Chicago, Great Lakes Region, and the Jackie Robinson West Little League team. By the second inning, the broadcasters were already ginning up golf claps for the great accomplishments of Jackie Robinson, how his legacy is being carried on, and how special baseball is to this inner city region.  

By the way, the 2014 Jackie Robinson All Stars from Chicago have no white players or coaches.  They consist entirely of ‘African Americans’.  

Am I the only one who sees the irony of a Jackie Robinson Legacy team made up of a single race of players and coaches?   It begs the question, “What exactly is Jackie Robinson’s legacy”?  Is it about favoring one race to the exclusion of others;  e.g. providing a safe-haven for black kids who don’t have to compete with other 12 year old white, Latino, or Asian players for a spot on the team?  Or is it about overcoming racial bias in athletics and other endeavors?  Somebody please say it out loud.

I don’t have the statistics in front of me, but I’m pretty sure there are white/Latino/Asian kids in the Great Lakes region, white/Latino/Asian kids in Illinois, and maybe even white/Latino/Asian kids in Chicago.  But none of them made the Jackie Robinson West little league team.  Why?

I couldn’t find any definitive statements that the Jackie Robinson West team does not allow non-black players.  I’m willing to accept the possibility that the team had open tryouts, picked the best qualified players, and they all happened to be black.   After watching the game, one has to admit that they are a very skilled group of young athletes.  Should one of them have to miss their chance at the Little League World Series so the team could look more racially diverse? 

If broadcasters and sports writers are going to pretend to care about race in sports - “Why are there not more black managers/owners/coaches in the [insert sport here]”-  they should at least be intellectually honest enough to admit  that sometimes the most qualified candidates happen to be of the same ethnicity.  

Or they should admit that racial bias is acceptable as long as as the ends justify the means. 

Either way, please pick a position and defend it. Consistently.