Oakland A’s broadcaster Glen Kuiper is now the definition of putting your foot in your mouth as he said a racial slur during Oakland’s Friday night game against the Kansas City Royals. During the pregame monologue, Kuiper described a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, with former professional baseball player turned television sports commentator Dallas Braden.
While describing his trip, Kuiper exchanged “Negro” with the N-word when referring to the Baseball Museum. Although he probably meant to pronounce the word “negro,” the slip now enters the realm of public scrutiny as either an authentic faux pas or Freudian slip, an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings.
Kuiper remained in the booth but apologized later in the game.
The Other N-Word
“Welcome back to Kauffman Stadium. I just wanted to … a little bit earlier in the show, I said something, didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to,” Kuiper said. “And I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. And like I said, I just wanted to apologize for that.”
Kuiper is in his 20th season calling games for the A’s and has covered baseball in the Bay Area since 1992. The A’s issued a statement condemning Kuiper’s language.
“The language used by Glen Kuiper during today’s pregame broadcast is unacceptable,” the A’s posted to Twitter. “The Oakland Athletics do not condone such language. We are working to address the situation.”
Kuiper has been suspended and will be off the air until the incident is reviewed.
On Saturday, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick made a statement on social media about the incident declaring his intention to find forgiveness for the Oakland A’s announcer. President of the NLBM since 2011, Kendrick wants others to try to forgive Kuiper too.
Forgiveness…
“I’m aware of the unfortunate slur made by Glen Kuiper. I welcomed Glen to the NLBM yesterday and know he was genuinely excited to be here,” Kendrick wrote on Twitter. “The word is painful and has no place in our society. And while I don’t pretend to know Glen’s heart I do know that my heart is one of forgiveness. I hope all of you will find it in yourselves to do the same!”
Baseball has historically been racially polarized as one of the oldest sports in American history. As the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, the sport traces its history back to the 19th century. It was in the 20th century that it became America’s national pastime. As it grew, it became big business, and Major League Baseball excluded some of the best athletes due to a color barrier.
By the 1940s, organized baseball had been racially segregated for many years. It wasn’t until Branch Rickey, GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Jackie Robinson of the Negro leagues’ Kansas City Monarchs agreed to a contract to bring Robinson into MLB in 1947 that the barrier was breached. Many Negro leagues players like Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, and Hank Aaron eventually made it to the majors, but the echoes of longstanding prejudice are still present in the game.
