Yunel Escobar
Another case in which ignorance, misinterpretation, and culture shock has affected Latino individuals is in the case of Yunel Escobar. Often characterized as a highly controversial player with a distinct reputation to cause trouble, some reporters say about Escobar that “it wasn’t just that Yunel was slow to learn a second language. He was slow to learn to be a professional. How many times do you have to be told to hustle—a concept that should be universal—before it’s clear you just don’t care to do it?” In 2012, Escobar was suspended for three games without pay for "his decision to display an unacceptable message while participating in a Major League game." The message on his eye black can translate to "you are a faggot," but a Spanish professor noted in an article on the Toronto Star that the term used by the player can be interpreted a few negative ways though not all of them come with a homophobic slant. Presented with that way out, Escobar told reporters that the message was "just a joke" and that "maricon" is a meaningless word that's often used among Latin players. He attributed the situation to a cultural difference and a lack of understanding that what he did would be considered offensive. Sounds similar, no?
At another time when a reporter referenced the eye black issue, similar to Gurriel, Escobar said flatly, “It’s just been said around amongst the Latinos. It’s not something that’s meant to be offensive. For us, it didn’t have the significance in the way that’s being interpreted. It’s a word used often within teams (and here he shrugged). It’s a word without meaning.” Escobar excused himself based on this cultural context on several occasions, and while it might be true that the use of this type of derogatory slang is common practice among Latino athletes, he’s still wrong in arguing that there is no meaning to the word. One consensus amongst analysts is that “Maricon is an effeminizing epithet derived from the diminutive for the proper name Maria del Carmen. It is always an insult, but in different parts of the Spanish diaspora it can have a teasing, even warm, meaning depending on how it’s delivered.” It is too late for Escobar’s case to argue the appropriateness of this culture of indifference that the analyst describes when it comes to words such as these, nevertheless, the widespread use of homophobic, racist, and derogatory remarks and practices in general, is a telling symptom of existent practices marked by machismo and conflicts of cultural diversity. One analyst highlights that “part of the problem contributing to the unconscious insensitivity to the phrase is the cultural construction of masculinity. Hypermasculinity in professional male sports cultures not only exploits women but unabashedly denigrates and goes after lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people.” This hypermasculinity is especially prevalent in countries plagued with a culture of machismo, and it makes for an even harder, yet completely necessary cultural transition.
The result of his actions, the response from the league, was ultimately mandatory participation in classes on sensitivity training and the donation of his lost salary to You Can Play and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Bud Selig, league commissioner at the time, stated "I constantly say that Baseball is a social institution with important social responsibilities and that I expect those who represent Major League Baseball to act with the kind of respect and sensitivity that the game's diverse fan base deserves.” The impact that was hoped to be gained from this training was a gradual shift towards more culture sensitivity that Escobar, like many Latino players, constantly struggled with since he first left Cuba and began playing in the MLB.
