At this point, we’ve all seen Yuli Gurriel’s racist gestures last night during the Astro’s 5-3 win over the Dodgers. After hitting a home run off of Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, Gurriel was spotted on camera using his fingers to stretch his eyes out while mouthing the word “chinito” in the dugout.
Obviously, the news spread like wildfire and Gurriel was hit with a five game ban starting next season. Some people have taken to social media to protest the “light” punishment and demand a harsher response from the league. As horrible as that gesture was, I don’t think that it should be taken this harshly.
Before I explain my reasoning, understand that I don’t condone racism and I believe it’s a huge problem in our country. It shouldn’t be allowed in society let alone in the world of sports. I strongly believe that Guerriel should be punished for his actions. But the reception of the media following this incident has been a bit exaggerated.
For starters, not many people seem to understand that in different parts of the World, people are raised differently. Being from Latin America myself, I can tell you firsthand that some of the ways that we’re raised or some of the things that are said, are said without malicious intent. The type of humor in Latin American countries is much different than the humor in the United States. There’s certain things that are socially acceptable to joke about there but not in the United States.
In Latin America, most people refer to people of darker color as “negrito” and people of asian roots as “chinito”. The belief is that if you add an “ito” to the end of a word, it automatically doesn’t have malicious intent. In fact, it’s used sometimes as an affectonate way. Sometimes, people are called “negrito” or “chinito” if they have similar physical characteristics to African Americans or Asians. In some parts of Latin America, they even call people “chino” based on the style of hair that they have.
Personally, I have a friend who is Mexican but has darker skin than most of his family. Ever since I can remember, my family and I have called him “negrito”. Again, because it ends with “ito”, we don’t see it as a form of insult but simply a nickname for him. He shares the same point of view as my family and I and understands that in the latino community, nicknames like that are formed from affection and not hate.
Gurriel’s incident also reminded me of the episode Luis Suarez had with Patrice Evra back in 2011. Evra accused Suarez of using racist remarks during their 0-0 match in October 2011. Despite claiming his innocence, Suarez recieved an eight match suspension. The striker would go on to explain that he had used the word “negro” when speaking to Evra. The frenchmen took that personally and was offended by the word. I truly believe Suarez did not have bad intentions when calling Evra a “negrito”, I mean, after all, all he did was make an observation. The problem with that incident was the culture in which they grew up. To Suarez, it wasn’t a way to insult but to Evra , it was.
When it comes to Gurriel, the situation is a bit different simply because, in my opinion, he did it in a mocking type of way. Also, the eyes gesture was really unacceptable. It’s something that isn’t tolerated here in the United States. Gurriel has to understand that this isn’t Latin America where you can say things like “chinito” and not have any consequences. The culture in this country is different and especially in a time where racism is everywhere, he has to learn to do better.
With that being said, I think people should go a bit easier on him. Understand that the problem in this incident was not necesarilly racism but culture shock. In his point of view, his “joke” wasn’t as malicious as people make it out to be. Hopefully, he now understands that jokes of that nature aren’t tolerated in this country and they will bring negative reactions. I don’t believe Gurriel is a racist simply because of that incident and I do believe he’s misunderstood. Not many people understand what it’s like to come to another country and adapt to a whole new culture. Things that to you may not seem like a big deal are taken worse by others and that’s just how it goes. Most of us were lucky to learn our lesson privately and with limited consequences. Gurriel on the contrary, was caught during a World Series game.
Hopefully he has learned his lesson and will continue to recieve help instead of being labeled things that I don’t believe he is.