Where is Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Tori Hunter coming from when he says that dark-skinned Latin are impostors of African-American players?
“People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they’re African American,” Hunter said. “They’re not us. They’re impostors.
“Even people I know come up and say, ‘Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a black player?’ I say, ‘Come on, he’s Dominican. He’s not black.”
“As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us,” Hunter says. “It’s like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It’s like, ‘Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?’
“I’m telling you, it’s sad.”
I think MLB does like to go to Latin America to get players but it’s not just because they can get them cheap, it’s also because they have a track record of being good players.
Hunter is disregarding the fact that the vast majority of African-American youngsters could care less about baseball. Most have chosen to play baseball or football and it has nothing to do with Major League Baseball.
Major League Baseball didn’t create that situation to save money.
Black Latin players aren’t impostors. They are just as black as black American players. They might not be English speaking but they can be black and they can be American.
