How Come No One Believes Racism Exists Until a White Guy Says It Does? [Cubs Fan Edition]
Cubs fans have a reputation for being racist. We have heard it time and again from many different sources, although all of them have been African-American until now. In recent years Dusty Baker, Latroy Hawkins, Jacque Jones, and now Milton Bradley claimed to have received racist hate mail and racist taunts in the field. Although here at NQTC I’ve made clear my belief that racism was going on, most Cubs fans scoffed at this and chose, perhaps out of ignorance or some sort of dormant racism, to not believe the words spoken by these black men. Even though the evidence was corroborated a few times over and really wasn’t all that hard to believe. When Dusty said it, he was just crazy. When LaTroy Hawkins said it, he was delusional. When Jacque said it, he was a crybaby. When Bradley said it, he was just angry. Now Kerry Wood, a Caucasian, is saying it:
“I know just from the experience of playing with those guys, and I’ve seen some of the mail that they get, obviously not a lot of us get that kind of mail,” Wood said on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “I didn’t, but there are people out there that got their beliefs.”
Wood said he saw some of the mail that was sent to former teammates LaTroy Hawkins, Jacque Jones and former manager Dusty Baker.
“It’s tough to sit there and read that,” Wood said, “and it’s tough to even understand what those players go through.”
Bradley accused fans of making racial taunts at Wrigley Field during the 2009 season, but he declined to give examples of specific incidents.
Now that Wood is saying it, all of a sudden people are starting to believe it just a little bit. That in and of itself is a subtle (or not so subtle, depending on your point of view) form of racism. What’s so unfortunate about this is that these players are not really hearing true, useful criticism. Who sends ballplayers letters anyways? If I were the one sending the letters, even if I was a racist, the fact that they were black would be the least of my concerns. Dusty was a terrible manager, Hawkins blew way too many saves, Jones power went out after that first season and Bradley said all the wrong things at all the wrong times. You know now that I think about it, I have some letters to send. Does anyone have Kevin Gregg and Geovany Soto’s addresses?
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Comments
Comment from Zoner
Time October 28, 2009 at 12:48 pm
This is really just a microcosm of the country. The country has a lot of racism, so of course some Cubs fans are racist. Same with any other team. I guarantee you that black players from every team receive hate mail. So to just put this on Cubs fans is kind of shortsighted.
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Time October 28, 2009 at 12:53 pm
[...] Qualified To Comment says there is a racism problem in the Chicago Cubs organization that has existed for [...]
Comment from Rod Beck’s Mullet
Time October 28, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Zoner is dead on. How can you possibly say “Cubs fans are racist.” and just leave it at that? I don’t think anyone doubted that slurs were thrown around in the bleachers, because every cubs fan knows that bad things are said by drunk idiots in the bleachers. Like Stormin’ said, people called Dusty a terrible manager, LaTroy a terrible pitcher, Jacque a crybaby and Milton, well, a lot of things. But no one ever called these guys liars. I don’t think Woody chiming in on this story changed anything.
Comment from Stormin’ Norman Disciple
Time October 28, 2009 at 2:19 pm
@Zoner and Rod Beck’s Mullet
You both make excellent points. Not all Cubs fans are racist and a lot of America is racist. Cubs fans reputation for this, however, goes beyond many other teams’ fans. We have heard about hate mail from Cubs fans here for years, though not necessarily from other teams.
Comment from ben
Time October 28, 2009 at 3:39 pm
stormin norman, I am so proud.
Comment from J-Chi
Time October 28, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Sure there may be some racist fans but they are in the minority. There are racists everywhere but again they are the minority. Regardless these guys are getting paid a fortune and should have tough skin. You can call me names and throw beer on me any day for what these guys get paid.
Comment from Guy Smiley
Time October 28, 2009 at 4:24 pm
“But no one ever called these guys liars.”
Yes, they did. That’s exactly the point. No one said Milton Bradley was lying? There weren’t accusation that Dusty was using the so-called racist letters as an excuse to deflect from a poor job? There were radio hosts who openly questioned whether those letters Dusty supposedly waved around in his office were really racist letter since he didn’t let anyone see them. Yeah, most of these guys were called liars or, at the very least, had their accusations of racism called suspect. If YOU didn’t doubt them, good for you. But there were a LOT of people who did. And true, some of that doubt is based on the personality of the player himself. I mean, if Derek Lee said he received racist mail, most people would probably believe him. And who’s to say he hasn’t?
So perhaps it’s just a matter of grammar. No, not all Cubs fans are racist. But SOME are. Just as SOME Sox fans are racist, some Bears fans, etc. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, including a guy on the team who gets mail like this.
Comment from John
Time October 28, 2009 at 4:49 pm
What am I missing? Wood says that he saw hate mail, not that he witnessed people at that the ballpark hurling insults. People sending in hate mail are not necessarily Cub fans, right? Wrigley Field’s address is available to anybody, right? I cannot think of a real baseball fan who would want to discriminate against any player based on race, color creed etc. I can imagine nutballs who get off on sending hate mail to celebrities though.
I cannot say that it doesn’t happen, because I am not privvy to every conversation that takes place at Wrigley Field, but I can say that if somebody at a game started yelling out such slurs in the vicnity of where I was sitting, I would mention it to security, immediately. I would wager that most other fans would do the same.
Some years ago, the Sun-Times columnist, Mary Mitchell, wrote about an ugly encounter that she had with a “fan” outside the park after a game. But then again, “security” is different outside the park. There is little more of a tolerance for drunken slobs.
Comment from John
Time October 28, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Sorry, I have dyslexic fingers.
Comment from Kevin Tapani Fan Club
Time October 28, 2009 at 5:21 pm
On the issue of racism in Chicago, I thought this current news article would be interesting to some. It is getting national attention. Like most of the Cubs being subject to the racist threats, Mother’s sucks anyways:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/25/illinois.bar.racism.allegations/index.html
Comment from Rule 5 Draftee
Time October 29, 2009 at 11:14 am
I don’t think it’s the drunk down-state bleacher bums yelling the slurs. My theory is it’s the ghost of Cap Anson, who instituted a policy of racism in baseball in the late 19th Century.
Comment from The OS
Time January 19, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I don’t think a white guy has to say racism exists for people to acknowledge it. I mean, look at your sources. Would you believe anything that Milton Bradley says about the city of Chicago after his tirades and past personal/emotional issues? Would you believe Ron Artest too? No, regardless of race, you tend to believe people with strong character.
Ask Andre Dawson how he was treated at the same position in Right Field. If you work your tail off, show your work ethic and have success on the field, you’re going to be liked no matter what color or background you have. The Hawk was the epitome of class, and never once complained about the fans (that I know of).
Bradley doesn’t have the personality to make it in a big town market. He would have flopped on either NY team too. Heck, I wanted Kevin Gregg’s head 20 times more than anyone else on the team. Even the Florida Marlins fans said they were glad they got rid of him when I caught the Cubs series in Miami last August.
There actually is a segment of Cubs fans that I cannot stand. Let’s call them…Notre Dame fans. Something about that sense of entitlement doesn’t sit well with me.
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Time October 28, 2009 at 11:34 am
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