The Japanese American Citizens League is demanding that Major League Baseball address anti-Asian sentiment and weed out bias and discrimination from the playing field to the executive offices, reports Rafu Shimpo.
The statement comes just days after an August 22 appearance by San Francisco Giants pitcher Derek Holland and team massage therapist Haro Ogawa on the MLB Network’s Intentional Talk.
Holland mocked an Asian accent during the interview while Ogawa silently stood by his side smiling, in what JACL called ” a pathetic reinvention of the worn-out trope of the stupid minority sidekick.”
JACL pointed out that Ogawa is an immigrant who “may have perceived this differently from an Asian American who has experienced discrimination on the basis of the caricatures portrayed in the skit.” The skit ended with the two bowing.
JACL has spoken with representative of Major League Baseball about its concerns and called on Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to make good on his promise to address these issues. Manfred’s pledge came after last season’s World Series incident when Houston Astros Yuli Gurriel made a racist mocking gesture directed at Dodger pitcher Yu Darvish.
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The incident also comes less than a year after the Giants minor league team, the San Jose Giants, tweeted out a racist gif to promote a Japanese Night promotion.
Just this past week on Bruce Lee night, the SF Giants used the chopstick font on the scoreboard to introduce each of its players. The font is considered offensive and even racist to many Asian Americans. It is used as a shortcut to represent Asianess.
“In initial conversations with Major League Baseball representatives over the weekend, we are hopeful that Major League Baseball will address this more proactively and as the broader problem that it represents in the organization,” JACL said in a statement.
“We look forward to working with the commissioner’s office to increase awareness of anti-Asian discrimination in Major League Baseball and work towards eliminating all forms of bias and discrimination in the offices, clubhouses, playing fields, and the stadiums of baseball.”
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