You know what the real problem is surrounding the racist epithets that were made against Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles this week?
Well there is a lot. The Sociologists will tell you it has to do with the crowd mentality, that people think they can say whatever they want because they paid for a ticket and are in a crowd.
But what it comes down to is a simple failure.
A failure to understand. A failure to walk in a person’s shoes. A failure to cheer for your team at the expense of cheering against the other one.
Red Sox fans gave Adam Jones a standing ovation last night prior to his first at bat. He tipped his hat and we played the game and there were no issues. But just because you do something “nice” doesn’t excuse you from past actions. You cannot undo the bad act.
The Yankee fan in me would say something flip right now, but the issue is far too important to play partisans.
It is the fan that needs to understand that no matter where they are they are representing a sport. And whatever happens on TV in a pro game on a Monday night is going to done in the high school game on a Friday night and the College game on a Sunday afternoon. That’s not a guess, that is a review of history.
Was it an isolated case? Probably not. People have this idea that they can say whatever they want to anyone and in any way.
They can’t. Words not only have a meaning but a responsibility attached.
While we are teaching PC in the schools and the college campuses, maybe we can teach that too.
(Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)