"You have to be your own best advocate." A charming thought, if applied incorrectly.
It should not be the responsibility of the underrepresented to claw and fight and create their own spaces. Many times it falls to them, through gross negligence or actual malevolence, but it should not be, and those in the underrepresented who point out that fact are not lazy, or underprepared, or unwilling to take up that task. Those who point out these facts are those who can see that it is not their "fault," or indeed, a "fault" at all that they are underrepresented. It is the fault of a society (in a microcosm, in baseball's case) that is weighted so heavily towards one group of people that not even a herd of elephants could begin to balance the scales.
Yes, it is irresponsible to sit on your own work and expect, magically, the world to open up and recognize you, but it is also irresponsible to declare that anyone who is marginalized through no fault of their own preparation simply "didn't want it enough." Both self-promotion and a general aid have to work hand-in-hand, with the elder, established generation helping the younger. Where we run into problems is that the elder generation only wishes to help those in similar status to themselves - in particular, writers of a certain demographic feeling that only writers of that same demographic are prepared and educated in such a way to make them the "best."
It can be difficult to find these underrepresented writers to fulfill your criteria, see, when your criteria are so written that only one human on earth fits them (suggesting, dear readers, that the criteria were created after the person was found, rather than the other way around). You can say that you made good-faith attempts to hire from the underrepresented populations, but without transparency of any kind, and actual change in the many-year history of any publication, that claim of good faith rings false.
I don't apply this only to the singular website that sparked today's discussion. I apply this to all websites, all forums, and all teams. If there were actual attempts this goal of diversity, surely it would have been achieved - or if not achieved, then still had progress made towards it.
To quote myself from earlier: "It's fun to say 'there are no women/minority writers!' but of course there aren't! The system is set up against them."
The answer to this is not to simply bury one's head in the sand and say "Well, this is how it is and it will never change." The answer is to, through candor and open development, open those doors and build ramps for those who want to walk through. You did not appear out of thin air, replete with all the knowledge you possess. You cannot expect anyone else too, as well - especially anyone starting at an already stated disadvantage! Instead of setting up impossible gates, use your position to break down those walls. Train the people you want to hire - you're not paying anyone, anyway, so what is there to lose?
I may have missed many things in this quickly written, fairly unimportant essay on some things I possibly covered better in 140 characters, but I can finish with this.
We on the outside can agitate for change, but the sad truth of reality is that no real change will happen without allies inside the room where it happens. All we want is to be treated with respect, and given the same opportunities.
And if it sounds like I'm writing about something more important than baseball, consider this: Everything is connected. This may be my hill to die on, but even I can see the deep cultural connection to sports.
