White MLB players must take action to fight racism, be more inclusive

Programming note: Watch "Race in America: A Candid Conversation" on Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Bay Area.

Kyle Korver his written poignantly about the ills of racism in America. J.J. Redick often addresses the issue, as do Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich. But, then, they’ve spent their careers among hundreds of Black men in the NBA.

Chris Long writes about it and talks about it. But, then, as an NFL star, he was part of a majority-Black workforce.

Generally, though, white athletes in major American sports are silent on the subject of race. Nowhere is that more apparent than Major League Baseball, which discourages individuality and, therefore, can leave even the most homogenized Black players feeling isolated. To hear them tell it, and to note their scant numbers, subtle and overt forms of racism are ingrained in MLB culture.

Sean Doolittle and Brandon McCarthy, with their progressive sensibilities, are very rare and fairly courageous exceptions.

“We are not an inclusive game,” concedes Brian Johnson, the former Giants catcher who retired in 2001.

Johnson is, along with Oakland attorney John Burris, a panelist on Episode 10 of “Race in America: A Candid Conversation,” airing Friday night at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Bay Area.

Johnson, 52, also happens to be white. And he works as a consultant for the Kaleidoscope Group, a firm that works with corporations large and small to address issues of diversity, inclusion and sensitivity. In short, trying to make the world a friendlier place for all.

“A lot of trainings that corporate America has done over the last 30 years have been done by, usually, a diversity firm,” he says. “Sensitivity training and all those trainings that no one ever likes. That’s part of the challenge of doing the trainings. You get 50 people in the room, 100 people in the room, nobody wants to be there. And everybody hates that they’re being brought here on purpose.”

[RACE IN AMERICA: Listen to the latest episode]

Ahh, yes. Opening the eyes and minds of those all too willing to remain blind and ignorant is a massive job. It’s a bit easier now that millions around the globe are responding to brazen racism by marching and demonstrating, urging humans to be better. Racist logos have been retired. Racist symbols have been toppled and removed. Racism is being confronted more aggressively, in more places, than ever before.

The NBA has good intentions and shows awareness. The NFL, suddenly awake, is trying to climb aboard the train. Will MLB, the most recalcitrant of sports, make substantive efforts to follow?

A group of Black players, current and retired, has come together (theplayersalliance.com) with a goal of nudging baseball toward a greater tolerance and sensitivity. That’s an important step.

But real change comes only if all voices chatter. Loudly.

“I’ve done everything I could since I was 8 or 9 (years old) to fight that, and it’s been very hard to do,” says Johnson, who grew up in Oakland’s multicultural environment. “But I think about this all the time. How can I move? Because racism in America, it’s a white problem.”

Johnson, who expressed disappointment with the lack of support from NFL players and front offices for former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 quiet protest of racial inequality and police brutality – issues that four years ago were widely perceived as a Black problem.

“I get tired of hearing on TV people of color talking about this,” Johnson says. “White people need to be involved and take responsibility for what’s going on, just as I do. I’m taking responsibility for it and – and I’m not burning anybody’s cross. I’ve tried not to discriminate against anybody. But I can take responsibility for what’s happening in that these are my people, and this is happening and benefitting me every single day.

“Whether I’m in sports, whether I’m in business, whether I’m walking down the street, I’ve never had a bad experience with a police officer. Ever. And, so I want that more than anything for my Black brother and sister. I want them to be safe more than I want me to be safe.”

[RELATED: Kerr, Long challenge white star athletes to disavow racism]

Johnson lives in Detroit with his family. His wife, Sarah, is a physician. She is Black. And, yes, he has had to deliver “the talk” to his children about interactions with law enforcement.

His personal life, his sports background -- a three-sport star at Skyline High (Oakland), 27 games at quarterback and many more in baseball in three years at Stanford, eight seasons in the big leagues -- and his childhood provide Johnson with a keen sense of the innate bias in American sports and beyond.

Johnson also served as a part-time scout for the Giants until dismissed last September as part of the purge when Farhan Zaidi was hired to take over the front office. He admits that coded language, based on stereotypes, still finds its way to scouting reports.

Of course, because coded language is a baseball tradition. A sports tradition, really. But a tradition that, like many others, is better off buried.

Korver, Redick, Kerr, Popovich and Long are atypical. Doolittle and McCarthy are outliers. All seven, however, have exhibited a willingness to learn, engage and promote the equality required of a better America.

If ever there were a time and cause for sports to rally behind, it is shedding the bindings of racism that apply to all sports but most distinctly to baseball.