A few years ago, I wrote an article questioning if diversity and inclusiveness were really possible. Today, I’m still asking myself the same question. When it comes to diversity and inclusiveness, it seems as if many organizations have noble intentions but often fall short in actually achieving their goals.
In this regard, I think the public sector can learn valuable lessons from the life of Jackie Robinson.
As the first black baseball player in the major league, Robinson faced an environment ripe with hostility and negativity. On and off the field, he endured countless taunts, threats and invectives. Not because of his performance, but because of the color of his skin. Although Robinson’s life presents many opportunities for personal and collective growth, the following are two important lessons to support social equity and diversity efforts in the public sector.
Continue Reading at PA Times
What Can the Public Sector Learn from Jackie Robinson?
Photo credit: Library of Congress
Stirring Up Trouble by DrVLoLil 
Doctor: I am currently enjoying the documentary about Jackie Robinson’s life of activism that’s been shown on PBS. Have you seen it?
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I haven’t seen it but I plan to watch it very soon. I was inspired by the promo so I watched The Jackie Robinson Story. Great man; great legacy!
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What a great article Dr, Littleton. I truly enjoyed reading it and I also liked the fact that you did not forget to mention about Mr. Branch Rickey, and his role in shaping and changing the life of Mr. Jackie Robinson. Sadly, Mr. Robinson experienced a lot of prejudice, yet that did not stop him. He fought through it all and made a CHANGE! We all know that in order to make a change, someone, somehow, somewhere is going to pay the price for that change. In this story, it was the LEGENDARY Mr. Robinson and for that we will be forever GRATEFUL.
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I think it’s important to understand that we can’t have progress without help from all sides. This struggle is not simply a struggle isolated to black folk but has broad implications for lots of others.
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This is such a great blog Vanessa! I am truly aware of Jackie Robinson being the first African American to play major league baseball and the racial abuse he faced. Although, I am glad he was able to succeed by putting the prejudice and racial issues aside, and show everyone what a talented player he was. However I did not think of questioning if diversity and inclusiveness practices from organizations had been involved in this situation. Up to present day, it appears that the public sector still has a lot to learn from Jackie Robinson’s life in regards to making sure they are successfully creating diversity and an inclusive environment for minorities.
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Yes, it goes to why history is so important. It strikes a nerve when I hear people say they hate history, WHAATT? Without knowing and understanding history, we have nothing. It’s critical to shaping our future.
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This was such an interesting post for me to read. Thanks for sharing! Growing up I was familiar with Jackie Robinson being the very first African American to play major league baseball. I can’t even imagine how hard it was to ignore the racial slurs and the constant down grading that this talented young man had to go through. It’s really nice to see people still acknowledging his accomplishments!
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I agree. I was always told, “words can never hurt you,” but that is so untrue. They can hurt you and can put you a tremendous disadvantage in a racialized society.
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I never heard of Jackie Robinson until your post. I am glad you have given me insight on this matter. This just really upsets me a lot, but at the same time I am glad he was able to see the brighter side of being a baseball player. I just hope a lot of people learn from this payer. I am going to have my kids read about him tonight! Thank you for this post!
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Kym, Thanks for your response. I think your response strikes at the heart of what we need to do as a society and that is invest more heavily in our youth.
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This caught my attention because what I have learned about Jackie Robinson has only been gathered through media. I have not read an article in which he is given recognition for the social equity work that he partook in. Robinson is known to be the first black baseball player, but he was much more than a player. He was strong enough to “bore the brunt of personally mediated racism that included social exclusion, stigmatization, unfair treatment, harassment, and structural barriers…” (Lopez-Littleton, 2016). The emotional and physical hardships that Robinson faced was an important aspect in generating public response to exclusion and discrimination. Through Robinson there were the dehumanizing aspects of American culture that were placed on the forefront on thought. There was publicity that gave way and the unfair and mistreatment that Robinson faced, which benefitted the work of social equity.
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