Ok, so according to Los Angeles Angel’s player Torii Hunter Latino players of African decent are “imposters of black people”.
Really?! Talk about ignorant statements… Ok Torii so since they come from parts of Latin America that means that they must deny their African roots, given REAL black people only come from the USA right? I’m sorry Torii but MANY of those players that you referred to as “imposters” probably have stronger ties to Africa than YOU do. A part of a different ethnicity, yes, but in terms of race you cannot disregard them. Think before you speak broski…
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Having read the original ESPN piece that previewed Hunter’s comments I found that I knew exactly what he meant. The problem was, he spoke ignorantly, inarticulately, and presented a flawed analogy. He was also speaking to a reporter whose background would suggest that he couldn’t possibly correct Hunter as he blundered down his path of inaccuracies.
He wasn’t speaking of the link to Africa that Latinos share with “African Americans”, he was attempting to highlight the dwindling number of American born “Blacks” which MLB has marginalized by pointing to diversity with foreign born “Blacks.” With common links to Africa, we would all be considered “Blacks” in the US but the influx of Hispanic / Caribbean born players has initiated a real strain on the relationship between those players and those native to the US.
He also mentioned that the teams would rather attract foreign born “Blacks” because they can be signed for a bag of “potato chips.” This speaks to the fear of a American “Blacks” of Jackie Robinson’s legacy seeing “their” position undermined financially. It appears the complexity of the issue appeared to be too much for Hunter to explain in a sound bite and I’m not sure he fully understands the issue. The reporter also did a nice job drawing attention to the story of increasing the strain on relations between the cultures by using it as a pull quote and eliciting a comment from a notorious shit talker like Ozzie Guillien.
In the end, Hunter remains ignorant and Latinos go on resenting American “Blacks” simply because they resent them. The cycle continues when the ignorance could easily be interrupted by an education of our commonalities. Thank you for the post, could you perhaps add links to the original stories so people can get a fuller view of the issue?
I could do nothing but chuckle & shake my head. He said something out of the side of his neck and cannot take it back. but I agree that it’s moreso ignorance that made it come out that way. Lol I like that comment about many afro-latinos having stronger ties lol. definitely true in some cases. and even if they’re not stronger, just the fact that some can actually trace back far enough, whereas a lot of AA’s have not even tried & have no concern to. (not all)
Interesting post. What I wonder is what ffeect this whole thing will have in the general election? There is the possibility that if Sen. Clinton is the standard bearer, blacks, while still voting Democrat, will not turn out in as big numbers as they would if Sen. Obama was the standard bearer. Then, when you factor in the Latino vote, that leaves me trying to figure out which would be the stronger in the general election.Since I think Sen. Clinton will get the nomination in the end, I would think this will hurt her within the black community. The question is how much?