On Feb. 16, 2021, the Yankees revealed the creation of a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee to identify, engage and address issues pertaining to equality, racial justice and inclusivity.
The Committee, as well as an accompanying Council, formed as a direct response to “recent, senseless tragedies in communities throughout our nation,” the team announced less than a year after the police murder of George Floyd. Now, roughly four years later, the Yankees have confirmed their continued commitment to their D&I Committee at a time when other entities across the country are abandoning, scaling back or running from similar initiatives following a slew of executive orders and comments from President Donald Trump, as well as right-wing pressure, aimed at wiping out diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and anything deemed related to the broadly-defined acronym. That includes Major League Baseball, which recently removed references to “diversity” from its careers home page.
“We are continually working with the members of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee and are actively engaged with our neighbors and community partners,” Brian Smith, the Yankees’ senior vice president of corporate and community relations, told the Daily News ahead of Jackie Robinson Day. “Our dedication towards these efforts remains unchanged, and our Diversity and Inclusion Committee continues to do its work.”
The News asked the Yankees — historically behind the curve when it comes to embracing diversity and inclusion — if their D&I Committee remained active in part due to the current political climate, but also because parts of their webpage for the Committee appeared outdated at the time of publication. Furthermore, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram did not hear back from the team — and just about every other MLB club — when it recently asked if diversity programs remained in place.
The Yankees’ D&I Committee is focused on five pillars: diversity and inclusion within their own organization, education, socioeconomic development, social responsibility, and health and wellness. The Committee has organized numerous community initiatives since its inception, including, but not limited to, a partnership with The City University of New York dedicated to career development for students and alumni; a pandemic-era vaccination effort; monthly work to address food insecurity with the Food Bank For New York City; health and wellness seminars for underserved Bronx youth; and various small business initiatives.
The Yankees also have HOPE (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) Week and the Stonewall Scholarship. Those are not mentioned on the D&I site but could certainly be considered D&I initiatives.
On Tuesday, prior to MLB’s celebration of Robinson, the Yankees will host an equity summit at Yankee Stadium. The goal of the summit — which comes a month after the Defense Department removed and then restored a webpage recognizing the trailblazer’s military career amid a purge of diversity, equity, and inclusion content — is to continue exploring avenues that will help neighboring communities.
The D&I Committee is run by Smith, but he has the help of a Council split between community leaders and members of the Yankees organization. Spike Lee, the filmmaker, is the only household name on the list of community members. However, the Yankees’ in-house Council members include team owner Hal Steinbrenner; team president Randy Levine; general manager Brian Cashman, vice president of communications and media relations Jason Zillo, former Yankee and current special advisor CC Sabathia, and bullpen coach Mike Harkey. Other former players/coaches who have previously served on the Council include Marcus Thames and Reggie Jackson.
The Yankees’ entire D&I Council meets roughly two times per year, but subsets of the group meet and talk regularly. Not every member of the council can attend every meeting. Harkey, for example, has to adhere to a busy baseball schedule.
Multiple sources within the organization said that the Yankees’ D&I Committee has not undergone any changes since Trump took office for the second time. One source added that they have not made any changes to their hiring practices, the primary focus of Trump’s crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion.
Levine, a friend and backer of Trump’s, declined multiple opportunities to discuss his simultaneous support for the Yankees’ D&I Committee and a president with a well-documented history of racism who has repeatedly attacked diversity initiatives.
One source, stating their personal worries, rather than an organization-wide belief, did say they had concerns about the Yankees’ D&I Committee getting on the Trump Administration’s radar.
Asked if there were any organizational concerns over what the Trump Administration might think of the Yankees’ D&I initiatives, Smith said, “Our commitment remains consistent. We have been committed to driving access in our neighboring communities, and we remain committed to driving access in our neighboring communities.
“We think President Trump would be pleased with our work because it creates the exact kind of opportunities that he focused on when he created an Opportunities Zone in the South Bronx in his first term.”
In 2020, local leaders questioned the effectiveness of the Opportunity Zone, per City Limits.
According to one of the aforementioned sources, the Yankees have always gone about their D&I Committee work quietly. That’s not to say they haven’t done any promotion for it, but their preference has been to just do the work.
With anything diversity-related under scrutiny in the age of Trump, they feel its best to continue that approach. The source likened the political climate to the stock market, noting that “the type of stuff that’s happening around us is going to go up and down.”
However, the source said, the Yankees are “just going to keep investing.”
“There’s so much volatility right now,” they added. “And it’s not just us. Why would some of these entities and organizations that we’re working side-by-side with want to lead with their nose? They’re probably more exposed than we are.”
One partner of the Yankees’ D&I Committee took a different approach.
“The New York Urban League’s core mission is to support opportunity and access. Diversity, equity and inclusion provides opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, sex, physical ability or sexual orientation,” said New York Urban League president and CEO Arva Rice, one of the community council members on the Yankees’ D&I Committee. “We are proud to have partnered with the Yankees for over three decades to provide opportunity for all New Yorkers. No matter the president, our mission remains the same.”
Rice’s comment, particularly the last sentence, drew contrast to the Yankees’ preference to work behind the scenes, especially with the team and MLB prepared to honor the often-outspoken, highly-visible Robinson. Some would argue the quiet approach clashes with the bold spirit and actions of No. 42, especially at this moment.
Meanwhile, the league and some other teams have had their commitments questioned.
Back in February, shortly after Trump’s second inauguration, commissioner Rob Manfred said that the league’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.”
About a month later, Craig Calcaterra first reported that MLB removed references to diversity, including mentions of its lauded Diversity Pipeline Program, from its online careers page. An MLB spokesman then told The Athletic that the league was “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.”
Elsewhere in the league, it is unclear if diversity initiatives remain in place and just how serious some ever were.
Most teams have webpages dedicated to community or hiring initiatives that could fall under the umbrella of diversity, equity and inclusion. But the Rangers were the only franchise that bothered to respond when the Star-Telegram asked if teams remained committed to their programs, and they didn’t provide a direct answer.
Meanwhile, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. wondered just how sincere his former team, the Marlins, could be about their stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, as he had never seen the team’s website on the matter or heard about any related programs during his five seasons in Miami.
Never mind that Chisholm’s face remains plastered on the Marlins’ diversity page nine months after he was traded. Chisholm also didn’t know about MLB’s diversity program.
“I didn’t even know Major League Baseball had a DEI program,” he said. “I’ve been through a lot of diversity in baseball, and to not know that we even have that program is kind of crazy to me.
“[The Marlins] want a site with my face all over it that I don’t even know about, and it’s supposed to be a part of a major league team that I was on. So for me, I don’t believe in that program, because I didn’t see it. You feel me? So that’s all I could really say about that.”
The Yankees believe that their D&I Committee, as well as various other community outreach efforts, are having a more noticeable impact.
Even if they’d rather not call attention to it, Smith is proud of the work he’s done leading the team’s community relations department. He also feels the club has fostered “sustainable change,” opposed to merely “checking a box,” as companies with diversity programs are often — and reasonably — accused of.
“This is a community hub,” Smith said, referring to Yankee Stadium. “This is a place we can gather. We can activate. We can make a difference working together using this as the home, as the focal point to promote change.”
