This isn't from the 1960s. It is from this week.
"Hank Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur)'' a man named Edward said in an e-mail to the Braves front office and obtained by USA TODAY Sports. "My old man instilled in my mind from a young age, the only good (racial slur) is a dead (racial slur)."
Because baseball great Hank Aaron had the audacity to say that racism still exists and things haven't really changed that much over the last few decades. So the racists responded by
entirely proving his point and sending a deluge of racist hatemail to the Atlanta Braves.
Now, over at Fox or on Right Wing AM radio you can listen to any number of white people who will totally agree that racism is over and the New Black Panther Party is scary, scary, scary. In reality all it takes to prove that racism is alive and well is for a black man to say that racism still exists.
When Aaron broke the record in 1974 set by Babe Ruth at 715 home runs, he received death threats and was on the receiving end of a torrent of hateful messages. During a recent interview with USA Today on the 40th anniversary of the event, he said he not only said he keeps the messages as a reminder that America still has a ways to go in race relation, but he lambasted Republicans for the way they treat this country's first black president.
Those comments have apparently set off a new torrent of hate mail for Aaron, USA Today reports, full of racial epithets and accusations of Aaron himself being a racist.
"Hank Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur)'' a man named Edward said in an e-mail to the Braves front office and obtained by USA TODAY Sports. "My old man instilled in my mind from a young age, the only good (racial slur) is a dead (racial slur)."
cbsnews.com
Bold text added by the diarist, sadly
According to some people racism is over, and those people will send you racist hatemail to prove it if you are black and you say otherwise.
Slightly more below the fold . . .
Here's some more from USA Today . . .
. . . The Braves have been besieged by hundreds of letters, e-mails and phone calls deriding Aaron for his comments made to USA TODAY Sports.
Marion calls Aaron a "racist scumbag.'' Ronald won't attend another Braves' game until Aaron is fired. Mark calls Aaron a "classless,racist.'' David says that he will burn Aaron's I Had A Hammer autobiography.
Forty years ago, Aaron had the audacity to break Babe Ruth's home run record.
This time, he simply spoke his mind.
An added note/update: to clarify: Here is what the offending quote by Mr. Aaron was, directly from USA Today . . .
"The bigger difference is back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts."
Never in our 50-minute conversation did Aaron suggest anyone critical of President Obama is racist. Never did he compare the Republican Party to the Klu Klux Klan.
That quote above is straight from USA Today.
Hank Aaron's crime was recognizing that the Republican party has treated President Obama with a level of disrespect that no other President has ever been asked to endure. He didn't call the GOP explicitly racist, though you couldn't tell that by the way most conservative sources responded. And yet what Mr Aaron said has merit. From the "Birthers" to shouts of "You Lie" and on and on, Barack Obama has very much been the Jackie Robinson of Presidents. Hank Aaron had the temerity to state that racism still exists today and by flooding the Braves office with racist emails the racists have totally proven Hank Aaron's point.
Because to some Americans, almost all of whom are white, racism isn't a problem as much as mentioning racism is.
On April 15th, 1947 Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. We still have, sadly, a long way to go.
((hat tip to talkingpointsmemo.com where I first saw this reported))
I leave the floor to you
Paypal link for Jesse LaGreca
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1:08 PM PT: Bob Love had an outstanding idea of sending a few notes of support and appreciation to Hank Aaron to counter the vile letters they have been receiving. Without further ado, here is the link . . .
Atlanta Braves Contact Us
If you want to send some much needed support to Mr. Aaron, now seems like a good time to do so.
Cheers
