Torii Hunter, of the Anaheim Angels, was criticized for saying that Latino MLB players are "imposters", and not to be confused with Black American players. For example, because Dominican and Black players are similar in complexion, fans often mistake a Dominican player for a Black player. MLB lets this confusion ride because they've been criticized for the lack of Black Americans in the league. Torii also went on to say that Latino players will accept less money than Black players. Actually, he said they'll accept a bag of chips, which was completely inappropriate, offensive, and in poor taste. Horrible choice of words. Let the media frenzy ensue!
But first, let me ask this. Is it just me or have we discussed this in the past? Remember Gary Sheffield's GQ article from 2007? Does the comment, "the MLB is filled with more Latino players because they're easier to control", sound familiar? Yes, they're two different comments, but both raise the issue of race in MLB...more specifically, the reason the league is only filled with 10% of Black American players compared to almost 3 times that of "foreign" players.
It's no secret that unlike the NFL and NBA, MLB has issues with recruiting African American players. There are so many contributing factors, but one of the main reasons is because baseball is a more popular sport in the Caribbean. When scouts are searching for new talent, they go to the Caribbean due to a deeper pool to choose from. No big deal. If you want the best business minds, go to Harvard Business School. Fish where the fish are. Same principle.
I don't necessarily have an issue with that. Although, in reading a lot of the comments in response to Torii's statement, I suddenly realized that many people don't think like me, which isn't totally surprising, lol. I've always kind of done my own thing. Regardless, I was still shocked by the amount of people that reacted negatively and suggested Torii was ignorant because he made a distinction between Latino and Black American players.
In a few weeks, you are all going to receive a 2010 census form that does the same thing. In fact, when you fill out any type of application or form, you're requested to provide your race. There's one box for Black Americans, another box for Latinos, and additional boxes for other races. It's called labeling. That's how we do things in America...single/married + gay/straight + male/female + employed/unemployed and so on and so forth. So, I find it pretty hilarious (read: ridiculous) that all of a sudden people are so self-righteous and react in a way that suggests differentiating a Black person from a Latino person is somehow racist. Give me a break. They even went so far as providing a history lesson and sharing that Blacks and Latinos both came from Africa so there's no need to differentiate between the two. Really? Thanks for clearing that up for Torii and anyone else who was uninformed. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Torii is very aware that both Latinos and Black Americans share roots that originated in Africa.
Let's give him a little more credit. In fact, Torii agreed to participate in this roundtable discussion conducted by USA Today, a national newspaper. Something that I'm sure a lot of other players declined to do. He had to know that his comments would be shared with the public. I commend Torii for agreeing to participate. Too often, players are consumed with thoughts of how their peers will react. They shy away from being vocal and expressing their thoughts on controversial subjects. The only way we're going to move beyond these race issues is to have an open dialogue about it. Fact.
I admit, Torii's comments will probably add fuel to the fire and heighten existing tensions (if there are any) among players, but at least he's speaking HIS truth. If that's his reality, who's to judge? And, exposing the truth is the only way to get to the root of an issue before a resolution can be found. Now that step one is taken care of, I expect Bud Selig and MLB execs to get busy. Become more focused on solutions, rather than talk in circles about issues that have plagued the league for years. Oh right, this is MLB we're talking about. Nevermind.
