Often, when people see protests on the news or online against systemic injustices, like the Black Lives Matter movement, some of the more cynical observers among us wonder aloud, “What does this accomplish? What change will these protests actually produce?” They’re fair questions, but it’s important to remember that protests aren’t necessarily failures if the laws don’t change the next day.
Martin Luther King knew that sometimes, protests are simply about revealing just how ugly the side opposing social progress is underneath. Think the dogs and fire hoses on TV in the 1960s, the true shame that pulled at the conscience of mainstream white America.
Well, Mariners backup catcher Steve Clevenger isn’t behind a fire hose, but his tweets in reaction to the protests in Charlotte revealed a whole heap of ugliness.
look at this asshole pic.twitter.com/bzOstVrLHl
— republican=cry baby sore loser (@cablebox666) September 22, 2016
You shouldn’t need the reasons why the above statements are heinous, racist and nonsensical explained to you — they’re pretty obvious. Coming from a pro athlete in a major sport, it’s a shocking thing to see. Clevenger, of course, deleted the tweets and issued a mealymouthed apology that mentioned his tweets were “worded beyond poorly at best and I can see how and why someone could read into my tweets far more deeply than how I actually feel.”
Yes, worded poorly. Should have used a more P.C. term for calling black people “animals,” I guess. But the thing is, as Yahoo baseball writer Jeff Passan points out, it’s only shocking that we saw these thoughts unfiltered, not that Clevenger had them:
Here's a sad truth about baseball: If teams released players who thought like Steve Clevenger, hundreds of players would be released today.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 23, 2016
Baseball's player base hews exceedingly conservative. Clevenger's general views, while worded with a deft amount of idiocy, aren't uncommon.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 23, 2016
Most don't combine Clevenger's vacuousness with his willingness to publicly profess it. The thought is awful. Broadcasting it was the crime.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 23, 2016
And so we come back to the point of protests. The Mariners released a statement implying that they’re considering releasing or disciplining Clevenger for his tweets:
Statement from Jerry Dipoto, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations on Tweets from catcher Steve Clevenger. pic.twitter.com/1xWk6dy5ap
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 23, 2016
And if Seattle does in fact fire Clevenger for airing his racism online, it will be well deserved and a sign of progress. When protests draw the ugliness of racists into the open, it forces more reasonable people, who would still prefer not to think of these issues, to confront them and think about what they mean. Every racist who goes public because Black Lives Matter protests anger them so much is simply proving the protesters right. Keep protesting, and keep holding that mirror up.
(H/t Deadspin)
