Ramirez of course is not an “illegal” anything. Like every one of the
30 percent of Major League players born outside the United States who
aren’t citizens, he lives and works here under a P-1 visa, often
referred to as an entertainment visa. But then, no human being is
actually “illegal” at all. It’s just an ugly slur that’s been
mainstreamed. As Gustavo Andrade the organizing director of leading
immigrant rights group Casa de Maryland said to me,
“Mr. Bruno was clearly not making a factual statement about Mr.
Ramirez’s immigration status; rather, he was making a derogatory comment
about him based on his race. That racist slur has been actively
promoted by the most vicious anti-immigrant groups in the country. It is
meant to dehumanize an entire ethnic group within the United States and
desensitize the public to the difficult struggles immigrants face every
day. Five million children face the daily risk of becoming an orphan
through the deportation of one—or both—of their parents. Mr. Bruno’s
tweet was racist, ignorant and dangerous. It propagates the idea that
all Latinos are somehow less than human.”
When Bochy heard about Bruno’s comments, he was incensed, saying,
“Forget the remarks about me. That doesn’t bother me. For a guy to make
a racist comment like that and have the ear of so many people, that
bothers me. I can defend myself as a coward. I don’t know if you can
defend yourself making a racist comment.”
After the initial uproar, Bruno set a land-speed record for issuing a
classic “non-apology-apology” where he slammed “the sheep on facebook,
twitter and blogs.” Later, Bruno wrote,
“I did remove my post and apologize for my comments regarding illegal
aliens. I was angry and on the air and I stand behind my comments that
Bruce Bochy is a coward, as are all managers who order pitchers to throw
at guys just because their pitchers can’t get a guy out. All of you
people resorting to name calling are more classless and vile.” You could
almost weep over the heartfelt remorse.
Assumedly one of those “more classless and vile” people is Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition who said of Bruno,
“This guy is a pig. In this day and age, using this kind of language,
which encourages intolerance and hate crimes, is inexcusable.”
Honestly, I disagree strongly with Nogales. I disagree because his
comments are highly insulting to pigs, who are extremely intelligent
animals. I bet Bruno couldn’t find a quality truffle if his life
depended on it.
The question that really matters is whether he should be fired. I
asked Dr. Carlos Munoz Jr., Ethnic Studies professor at UC Berkeley. Dr.
Munoz said, “Tony Bruno was off the wall. Comments like his are harmful
because they perpetuate the racist anti-immigrant hysteria that exists
throughout the nation. It adds fuel to the fire that started burning in
Arizona and that has expanded to Georgia and other states. He deserves
to be fired!”
In other words, racism, ignorance and abject stupidity, when you host a national radio show, are, in fact, firing offenses.
But the unfortunate words of one doesn’t change the fact that this
whole sorry story comes back to the political climate around the game.
Responsibility for that falls at the feet of baseball commissioner Bud
Selig. Under Selig’s watch, teams have invested billions in the
Dominican Republic and Venezuela to develop talent on the cheap. Yet he
does nothing to actually recognize the humanity of the players who are
the game’s brightest stars.
In Bud Selig’s baseball universe, Roberto Clemente goes unrecognized
and people like Tony Bruno get national platforms to slander “illegal
aliens”. In other words, we can get Tony Bruno off the air, but there is
a bigger fight brewing for the very soul of the National Pastime. Will
baseball be a force for inclusion or exclusion? Throughout its checkered
history, this game has certainly been both. Bud right now stands with
Tony Bruno on the wrong side of that history.
