First off, as far as the quote goes separate the owner from the general manager, who makes the personnel decisions. As for A-Rod, its not dumb not to acquire the guy when you're trading one of baseball's best hitters in exchange. Besides, plenty of people, myself included, said the trade was a bad idea.
There were some black players, notably Moses Fleetwood Walker, in the majors. This was before the color barrier came up in the 1880s. Robinson was the first since that time.