I chose to read the article “Red Sox Acknowledge Racism at Fenway Park ‘Is Real,’ Promise Action.” written by Matt Bonesteel. This article talks about racism in the Red Sox fandom with the conversation sparked by retired out fielder Torii Hunter. Though not exclusive to Hunter’s comments he is the reason behind this article and conversation. As an African American player he claims some fans at Fenway have displayed racist tendencies utilizing the n-word so much that he had a no trade clause in his contract that prevented him from ever being a member of the Red Sox. Historically the Red Sox have had trouble with race as the article says with them being the last team to desegregate. I started this article knowing my bias as a long standing Yankees fan expecting for more of a reason to dislike the Red Sox but found some sympathy for them instead. The official Red Sox twitter as well as the owner and even a player all point out this flaw and denounce the behavior of these fans. They even went as far as to change the name of the street outside of Fenway that once held the name of a famous but bigoted coach. This surprised me as I expected either no reply or only a mild reaction as is normally the case but the support from these major members of the Red Sox has given me some faith in them. The Red Sox are certainly not the only team with this issue as racist sports fans are sadly easy enough to find. Even in the article there is mention of children using the n-word as their parents watch propagating racism to a younger generation which is truly shameful. Overall while the problem has been acknowledged in this article there is only so much the team can do as they already have strict policies against such behavior. I want to believe that this vocal minority of fans will eventually be weeded out thanks to actions taken by both the team and the league as we strive to be a better people. They may still be my least favorite team (aside from a certain set of cheaters) but they have at least earned some respect in this.
