Off the Record (OTR)

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter spells his first name with two ‘i’s.’  The extra ‘i’ is for ‘ignorant.’

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale posted an article on Tuesday regarding a round table discussion he had with Torii Hunter that took place about two weeks ago.  They discussed how fans might see a dark-skinned player and assume they are African-American; although, an increasing amount are Dominican, Puerto Rican, or Venezuelan.

The conversation is fair, but it’s how Hunter explained it that has stirred up some controversy.

“People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they’re African American,” Hunter says.  “They’re not us. They’re impostors.

“Even people I know come up and say, ‘Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero?  Is he a black player?’  I say, ‘Come on, he’s Dominican. He’s not black.’ ”

PHOTO CAPTION: Torii Hunter hangs out with a bunch of non-blacks

Impostors?  Come on, Torii.  Obviously, ‘imposters’ is not a racist thing to say, but clearly the wrong word to use for a USA Today round table discussion.

And do people really come up and ask Torii what ‘color’ people are?  What are the actual colors people can be, according to Torii?  Black, white, and Dominican?  Is Dominican really a color?  What about Spanish, is that a color?  The next time someone comes up to me and says ‘What color is Pao Gasol’ is it alright to answer ‘He’s the color Spanish?’  Cause people ask me that all the time.

In response to his own words posted in the USA Today, Hunter commented on his Angels-sponsored blog on Wednesday:

“What troubles me most was the word “impostors” appearing in reference to Latin American players not being black players.  It was the wrong word choice, and it definitely doesn’t accurately reflect how I feel and who I am.

What I meant was they’re not black players; they’re Latin American players.  There is a difference culturally. But on the field, we’re all brothers, no matter where we come from, and that’s something I’ve always taken pride in: treating everybody the same, whether he’s a superstar or a young kid breaking into the game. Where he was born and raised makes no difference.”

I don’t think Torii is racist based on his comments.  That word is thrown around too loosely.  However, it’s quite clear that Hunter is very ignorant and needs to learn the difference between ‘color’ and ‘nationality’, and then sticking to just talking about nationality during these types of discussions.

Tags: Bob Nightengale, Los Angeles Angels, Torii Hunter, USA Today