FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 6, 2017
Contact:
APAPA National Headquarters
(916) 928-9988 x 102
SACRAMENTO, CA - APAPA strongly condemns the actions of the Houston Astros, first baseman, Yuli Gurriel. Following his home run at the World Series Game 3 on Friday, October 27, 2017, Gurriel made a reprehensible racist gesture directed at Yu Darvish, the pitcher for the Dodgers. National cameras caught Gurriel, making a slant-eye gesture by pulling at the corners of his eyes, moments after hitting a home run off Darvish. Gurriel further mocked Darvish's Japanese heritage by calling him "Chinito", a Spanish racial slur meaning "little Chinese boy". This racist gesture was directed towards Darvish and Japanese Americans, but the impact was felt by the entire API population.
This reprehensible racist slur and gesture were witnessed by millions of viewers, reinforced through social media, and replays to impact the many API groups that will be affected by this unacceptable behavior. Millions of families with young children who witnessed these disrespectful and reprehensible actions were further shocked and appalled by Gurriel's incredibly weak and ignorant apology and the secondary punishment issued to Gurriel.
In response to community outrage, Gurriel assumed no accountability for his actions and stated, "I didn't try to offend anybody". The announcement of a five-game suspension next year by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and the Major League Baseball organization only represents $322,581 of Gurriel's $12 million annual salary or less than 3% of his entire annual earnings. Clearly, the racist gesture made by Gurriel took a backseat to the national past-time, the World Series. The reprimand falls short of any reasonable consequence or punishment for such an intentional and blatant act of racism. We call on MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and the Major League Baseball organization to condemn these indefensible racist actions and apply a harsher suspension than five games to Yuli Gurriel for the upcoming 2018 season.
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APAPA is a non-profit, non-partisan and grassroots organization. Its mission is to inspire, engage and empower Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Americans through education, leadership and active participation in civic and public affairs.
