Boston Red Sox Fan Reports A Racial Slur, And A Lifetime Ban Results
Calvin Hennick (right) attends a Red Sox game with his son, Nile, and his father-in-law, Guy Mont-Louis, at Boston's Fenway Park. Hennick reported a white fan who he said made a racist remark about a Kenyan woman who sang the national anthem.
Courtesy of Calvin Hennick
At the same baseball game that saw Boston Red Sox fans make amends with a player targeted by racial slurs at Fenway Park, one fan reportedly used a slur to comment on a singer — and that fan has now been banned from the stadium.
"Yes, it was a racial comment," Red Sox club President Sam Kennedy said, according to the team. "It was a racial comment used to describe the national anthem that was taking place, the performance of the national anthem. It was sickening to hear."
The fan was ejected and told not to come back to Fenway after he used a slur in speaking to another fan about the Kenyan woman who had just sung the anthem before Tuesday's game.
Both of the men who were speaking are white. But the man to whom the remark was addressed is Calvin Hennick, the father of a 6-year-old, mixed-race son who was sitting with him in the stands.
"Took my son to his first baseball game tonight," Hennick wrote on Twitter, adding that he had "spent the day mentally defending my city" after Monday night's game in which Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was subjected to racial taunts and a bag of peanuts was thrown at him.
Hennick tells The Associated Press, "The more I think about it, the more I think it was a deliberate thumb in the eye."
The ousted fan hasn't been publicly identified; the Red Sox say the Boston police were also involved in the case.
"When we see this sort of thing, we must fight back," Hennick wrote on Twitter. "Our opponent lacks a spine. There is no way for us not to win."
Hennick has spoken out about racism before — most notably in 2014, when the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., prompted him to write an essay for Ebony titled, I Hope My Son Stays White, in which he admitted to fears about how his son is perceived.
The Red Soxes' Kennedy said he couldn't recall another incident in which a fan was permanently banned from Fenway Park. He thanked Hennick for reporting the issue and said he was proud of how the park's staff had reacted.
The interaction came on the same night Red Sox fans had been urged to show they welcome all races, after Monday's ugly incident that targeted Adam Jones. And thousands of Boston fans did that, giving a loud and hearty round of applause for the Baltimore player.
As NPR reported, "At Tuesday's game, many fans applauded and stood up as Jones went to bat in the first inning. Boston pitcher Chris Sale stepped off the mound to let Jones relish the moment and some Red Sox players also applauded."
After Monday's game, the Red Sox issued a statement reading, "The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behavior, and our entire organization and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few."
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...orts-a-racial-slur-and-a-lifetime-ban-results
Calvin Hennick (right) attends a Red Sox game with his son, Nile, and his father-in-law, Guy Mont-Louis, at Boston's Fenway Park. Hennick reported a white fan who he said made a racist remark about a Kenyan woman who sang the national anthem.
Courtesy of Calvin Hennick
At the same baseball game that saw Boston Red Sox fans make amends with a player targeted by racial slurs at Fenway Park, one fan reportedly used a slur to comment on a singer — and that fan has now been banned from the stadium.
"Yes, it was a racial comment," Red Sox club President Sam Kennedy said, according to the team. "It was a racial comment used to describe the national anthem that was taking place, the performance of the national anthem. It was sickening to hear."
The fan was ejected and told not to come back to Fenway after he used a slur in speaking to another fan about the Kenyan woman who had just sung the anthem before Tuesday's game.
Both of the men who were speaking are white. But the man to whom the remark was addressed is Calvin Hennick, the father of a 6-year-old, mixed-race son who was sitting with him in the stands.
"Took my son to his first baseball game tonight," Hennick wrote on Twitter, adding that he had "spent the day mentally defending my city" after Monday night's game in which Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones was subjected to racial taunts and a bag of peanuts was thrown at him.
Hennick tells The Associated Press, "The more I think about it, the more I think it was a deliberate thumb in the eye."
The ousted fan hasn't been publicly identified; the Red Sox say the Boston police were also involved in the case.
"When we see this sort of thing, we must fight back," Hennick wrote on Twitter. "Our opponent lacks a spine. There is no way for us not to win."
Hennick has spoken out about racism before — most notably in 2014, when the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., prompted him to write an essay for Ebony titled, I Hope My Son Stays White, in which he admitted to fears about how his son is perceived.
The Red Soxes' Kennedy said he couldn't recall another incident in which a fan was permanently banned from Fenway Park. He thanked Hennick for reporting the issue and said he was proud of how the park's staff had reacted.
The interaction came on the same night Red Sox fans had been urged to show they welcome all races, after Monday's ugly incident that targeted Adam Jones. And thousands of Boston fans did that, giving a loud and hearty round of applause for the Baltimore player.
As NPR reported, "At Tuesday's game, many fans applauded and stood up as Jones went to bat in the first inning. Boston pitcher Chris Sale stepped off the mound to let Jones relish the moment and some Red Sox players also applauded."
After Monday's game, the Red Sox issued a statement reading, "The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behavior, and our entire organization and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few."
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...orts-a-racial-slur-and-a-lifetime-ban-results
