D. The Role of Minorities at the Top
When a baseball club
hires an African American to a significant front office role, an increased
amount of scrutiny is placed on the team and individual. A lack of success re-enforces the stereotype
that African Americans are not effective leaders.[i] On the other hand, it is assumed that success
naturally leads other teams to hire more African Americans. However, Critical Race Theorists posit that
the latter is not the case.
Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati, Critical Race Theorists
who focus on the area of employment law, have outlined the problems that face
minorities[ii]
when other minorities reach the top of a corporate hierarchy.[iii] First, Carbado and Gulati identify many of
the "advancement traits" that are inherent in climbers of the
corporate ladder: overconfidence, substantial risk taking, and ethical
plasticity.[iv] Further, minorities who are hired into these
positions are viewed as racially palatable and able to be molded by corporate
culture.[v]
Next, Clabrado and Gulati identify some of the presumed
group benefits that flow from first generation minority corporate success:
reduction of negative stereotyping, creation of better mentorship
opportunities, and enhancement of internal accountability on racial issues.[vi] However, the aforementioned characteristics
requisite for corporate ladder climbing disincentivises individuals from
working to further these goals.[vii]
First, negative
stereotypes are not reduced because individuals are more likely to negate
stereotypes associated with themselves as opposed to their minority group.[viii] This leads to "racial
exceptionalism", the notion that a successful minority is viewed as an
exception from various racial stereotypes that continue to permeate.[ix] Second, overconfidence and the need to
continue to be a "team player" diminishes the likelihood that senior
minorities mentor junior minorities within the corporation.[x] Overconfidence causes the senior minority,
who succeeded despite a lack of mentoring, to believe that other minorities do
not, or should not, need mentoring.[xi] Further, mentoring other minorities may
present the senior minority as not being a "team player" due to a
perceived special interest stemming from their association with fellow
minorities.[xii] Lastly, internal accountability is not
enhanced because the requisite characteristics previously discussed have become
an expectation for promotion and hiring of minorities and thus provides an
answer for why minorities are not hired or promoted.[xiii]
These dynamics play out frequently in baseball front
offices. For example, the aforementioned
Kenny Williams had to overcome claims that he was a "yes man" by
taking significant risks.[xiv] Further, his Stanford education could be
perceived as racial exceptionalism, with other teams assuming his personal
success as an African American general manager is an exception to the prevalent
stereotypes. Finally, this quote from
Williams supports the notion that minorities at the top frequently feel
compelled to dispel stereotypes associated with them personally, as opposed to
their minority group: "All I could
do, was give it my best and let accomplishments speak for themselves. The only way I could make it better for
people who follow me was to win and do it with dignity".[xv]
[i] See Supra Note II A.
[ii]
This general discussion of minorities in corporate structure includes African
Americans.
[iii]
Devon W. Carbado & Mitu Gulati, Race
to the Top of the Corporate Ladder: What Minorities Do When They Get There,
61 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1645 (2004).
[iv] Id at 1645-1655 (Carbado and Gulati
follow Don Langevoort in noting that the individual most likely to be promoted
is the one who appears to be the most loyal, as opposed to actually being
loyal).
[v] Id at 1658.
[vi] Id.
[vii] Id.
[viii]
Id at 1682.
[ix] Id.
[x] Id at 1690.
[xi] Id.
[xii] Id at 1691.
[xiii]
Id at 1685.
[xiv] Powell, 223-224.
[xv] Powell, at 225.
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