Baseball Player Sparks OUTRAGE For Racist Gesture

So… usually when people get flustered about “RACISM! RACISM EVERYWHERE!” I think they need to CHIIIIILL OUTTTTT.

However… this was a pretty stupid move….

According to TMZ:

Astros 1st baseman Yuli Gurriel decided to rub it in after hitting the first home run of game 3 with a gesture that has enraged Asians and others who are calling him out as racist.

 

Gurriel was in the dugout in the second inning after hitting it out of the park, when he set his sights on Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish, who is from Japan.

Yuli Gurriel under fire after gesture made in dugout after homering off Yu Darvish: https://t.co/CoY4gEYRDG pic.twitter.com/TmF1HJNUTo

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) October 28, 2017

Gurriel apologized and the way he did it makes it all the worse. He said, “I didn’t mean to offend anybody in Japan. I have a lot of respect. I played in Japan. I was commenting to my [teammates] that I hadn’t had any good luck against Japanese pitchers here in the U.S.”

 

Darvish called the gesture “disrespectful”, but called it a teachable moment.

Uhhhhhh…. so Yuli isn’t the brightest crayon in the box.

I do feel the need to mention the fact that Yuli is Cuban.

I grew up in Mexico. I can speak from experience when I say that race and race relations are approached VERY differently in Hispanic culture. When it comes to Political Correctness… that’s not really a thing in our countries. We kind of just say whatever we want. People laugh. We move on.

I’m not speaking to whether or not that’s problematic, or whether or not it’s a valid “excuse.”  I’m presenting it as a simple fact.

People are mentioning that on Twitter:

Wow man ppl need to relax im cuban and this is not racist at all he said “el chinito” referring to Yu happens all the time in cuban culture

— čhef* Melż (@HialeahsOWN) October 28, 2017

Of course, Yuli DOES live in the United States… so he should probably know to be careful of the PC police.

To clarify: I think this was a STUPID move… but not a hateful one.

His response demonstrates a certain naivety as to why anyone would take issue with the gesture. Basically “I like Japanese people just fine… but I was frustrated at losing.”

Again… not the brightest, but also not the words of a truly hateful or bigoted man.

As I said, I’m half Mexican. I grew up in Mexico… and I can take a joke. BELIEVE ME, it’s VERY obvious when a racial comment is made in jest, and when it’s made in hatred. Common sense should make this an obvious distinction… but common sense is significantly lacking in our society.

And… to be perfectly honest… in Yuli Gurriel.

It’s best not to do those sorts of things, Yuli. For your own sake…… regardless of how you meant them.