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Our pals at Not Qualified To Comment have an interesting take on the recent comments by former Cub Kerry Wood alleging racists comments from Cubs fans. After seeing the reaction - including, admittedly, our own - to Milton Bradley's accusations this year, it's certainly something to give some thought to.
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Chicagoist, I can't believe you of all journalistic publications (ha!) had any doubt that former Cub Kerry Wood experainced what he did.
Look, racism is prevalent in Chicago, but it's usually very subtle. At baseball games, mainly the Cub games, it can be down right brutal. It's bad most of the times even as a white person to attend these games. But for a person of color, it's really ugly. That's why you don't see many blacks attending these games, due to the hostile atmosphere. You have intoxicated White men (and sometimes women) acting and behaving worse than animals. Even Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wrote years ago about her racist encounter with a drunken baseball fan after a baseball game here in Chicago. The drunken baseball fan called her an Aunt Jemima.
What seems to fuel racism in general is a lack of diversity. I know there are many groups and organizations in Chicago that are very segregated and lack diversity. Lack of diversity always tends to breed racism. Period. That's why every company, group, and organization should strive for diversity among their members.
Well said J'Rec and of course you should expect white liberals to sweep it under the rug, because that's just how they do in chicago. They don't have to deal with it and the best way for them not to have to face it, is to deny while drinking a budlite at Mothers.
In 25 years of attending 10-20 games a season on both sides of town I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard racial comments directed at the players. Most of that abuse was back at old Sox Park in the 80s.
At Wrigley, you can hardly say mild profanity these days without being warned by the ushers (a far cry from the anything goes bleacher atmosphere when the tickets were affordable and there were still underemployed "bleacher bums" out there.
With that being said, I don't doubt that there are some idiots out there that sent racist letters to those guys. That doesn't actually suggest that there is a widespread ulture of racism associated with the Cubs. I'll admit that the Ronnie Woo Woo love has a little too much whitebread mockery for my tastes--besides the fact that most regular fans can't stand him--but characterizing Cub fans as racist is a pretty broad stroke. And Jerec, the Cubs have a sizeable Latino fan base (dating back to the days when Wrigleyville was still heavily Puerto Rican) that I see at pretty much every game I go to, but since it doesn't fit into the pat Cub fans are drunk white guys stereotype you've accepted perhaps you've never noticed.
Hearing this from Dusty, who now manages in perhaps the most racially tense and divided city in America today, is laughable.
What I think guys like LaTroy and Dusty didn't realize is that the dopey lovable loser bandwagon Cub fans are only part of the scene at Wrigley. There are still plenty of old school Cub fans who will mercilessly boo perceived failure as bad as any Phillies fan.
Dusty and LaTroy together got off easy; go and ask Jim Essian and Todd Hundley, both of whom were booed practically every time they picked their nose in the dugout. And Hundley was the son of a Cubs legend!
I nodded through this entire comment. Well said.
"besides the fact that most regular fans can't stand him"
seems like YOU use a broad brush when it suits you
How typical. If most regular fan's couldn't stand him, he would not be there. This is why I like republicans. At least they are honest about their racism. Salute!
This made me think of an old Royko column, written in 1972 on the day Jackie Robinson died. It's about Royko's experience as a kid being at the first game Robinson played at Wrigley Field in 1947.
I can't speak to the contents of mail received by players, but having been to 20-30 cubs games per season for a decade or so, I can't say that I've seen even one incident where a fan has exhibited racist behavior in the stands at wrigley. Sorry, but booing bad baseball is not racist.