A couple of weeks ago, in light of the recent protests that have taken place all across the nation over the death of George Floyd, Major League outfielder Torii Hunter, in a appearance on a WEII radio show recounted his experiences with racism at Fenway Park.
Hunter said he had been “called the N-word in Boston a hundred time”. His experiences led him to list Boston in a no-trade clause in all of his contracts.
A few days later, the Red Sox issued a statement admitting that Hunter’s experience is real and even cited that last year there were a few reported incidents at Fenway park in which fans used racial slurs.
Following the Red Sox’ admission, Michael Wilbon, co-host of Pardon The Interruption on ESPN, made viewers feel what he has always felt about the CITY of Boston.
On Tuesday, Wilbon joined The Team 980/95.9FM’s The Doc and Galdi Show Tuesday to explain why he was so fired up Monday in response to the statement the Red Sox issued regarding racial slurs in Boston.
“As Torii Hunter said, this has nothing to do with the organization or the players. And it doesn’t,” Wilbon told Doc Walker. “My criticism was never of anybody within the Red Sox organization. But this is the reality. This is OUR reality. And we are now having conversations where we’re saying, and obviously there’s a direct line from Mr. George Floyd to the conversation we’re having. And the direct line includes, whether it’s parenthetically or saying out-loud, LISTEN TO ME.”
“You people are not listening. You have not been listening when I say this. When Black people say, ‘here’s our experience in Boston,’ you all say ‘No, no, no, we’re not like that.’ And we’re saying ‘Yea, you are. Own it!’”
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Michael Wilbon Tells Doc Walker That Boston Fans Need To “Own Who They Are” was originally published on theteam980.com
