Who thought this was okay?!
During a Sunday broadcast of the Boston Red Sox vs. the Baltimore Orioles Little League Classic game in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a Black player from the Davenport, Iowa, Little League team can be seen having his hair stuffed with cotton. Other players on the team can be seen ripping out the stuffing from soft toys that were given out at the game and putting them in the boy’s hair.
As one would imagine, there was uproar on social media when one user posted on Twitter, “Did anyone else just see this on the Little League World Series?! They was stuffing the black boy hair with cotton!!!” along with photos of the incident.
In a video of the broadcast, commentators can be heard saying, “that’s just little leaguers being little leaguers right there.”
No, that’s a bunch of white kids stuffing a black kid’s hair with cotton. From the look on the kid’s face, he does not seem too happy about it.
A spokesperson for the Little League World Series said in a statement, “During the broadcast of the MLB Little League Classic, a midwest player was shown with filling from a stuffed animal given away at the game on his head. After speaking with the team, as well as reviewing photos, multiple players on the Midwest Region team were taking part in this while enjoying the game.”
It continued, “As only one player appeared on the broadcast, Little League International understands that actions shown could be perceived as racially insensitive. We have spoken with the player’s mother and the coaches, who have assured us that there was no ill-intent behind the action shown during the broadcast.”
Whether there was ill-intent or not, why show this on a national broadcast? If they were trying to show kids “having fun,” this clearly was not it.
One user on Twitter wrote, “Hey @MLB — you want more Black kids in the game, but this is what happens when they play America’s Pastime.”
Couldn’t agree more.