Major League Baseball removed references to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as well as its DEI-centric hiring pipeline program.
MLB no longer refers to diversity on its careers homepage and has removed links to its Diversity Pipeline Program, which was aimed at increasing the hiring pool of non-white (male) baseball operations employees.
“The Diversity Pipeline Program will serve as our game’s key initiative towards attracting top talent, hiring qualified candidates, and developing careers,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in 2016.
In February, Manfred even told reporters at the annual owners’ meetings that MLB’s “values on diversity remain unchanged,” but “another value that is pretty important to us is we always try to comply with what the law is.”
“There seems to be an evolution going on here. We’re following that very carefully,” Manfred continued, per OutKick. “When things get a little more settled, we’ll examine each of our programs and make sure that, while the values remain the same, that we’re also consistent with what the law requires.”
In 2023, America First Legal filed a federal civil rights complaint against MLB, directly citing the Diversity Pipeline Program with a specific job listing that asked only for “qualified minority and female candidates.”
The complaint also noted a Diversity Fellowship Program for “people of color and female candidates” and a diversity in ticket sales training program to “grow the visibility of people of color and women within the industry.”
Blaze News reached out to America First Legal to inquire whether or not the complaint directly affected MLB’s decision, to the best of the organization’s knowledge. This article will updated with any applicable responses.
‘As the commissioner stated, our values on diversity remain unchanged.’
Multiple writers from the Athletic were in defense of the program, citing 400 hirings made by MLB through its practice of preferring immutable characteristics.
The outlet spoke to an MLB spokesman on the matter, who claimed the league stance on diversity has not changed.
“As the commissioner stated, our values on diversity remain unchanged. We are in the process of evaluating our programs for any modifications to eligibility criteria that are needed to ensure our programs are compliant with federal law as they continue forward.”
The outlet also spoke to a game preparation specialist for the Milwaukee Brewers who was hired through one of the race-based programs and called it “literally the greatest experience ever for my career.”
The same man then unironically recalled the joy of “sharing things that I have gone through as a black male in this industry that maybe only another black male is able to relate to.”
The MLB employee called race-based conversations a “huge bonus” of the diversity program.
The Athletic credited baseball writer Craig Calcaterra as the first to notice the changes on the MLB website; he subsequently called MLB “cowards” who threw away their “much-lauded and respected” diversity in order to please President Trump.
The writer hoped MLB could still achieve a “truly diverse workforce” and further accused the league, saying it “takes credit” for Jackie Robinson’s achievements while not sharing the late baseball legend’s values.
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Fearless, Baseball, Dei, Diversity equity inclusion, Mlb, Racism, Sports
