Brock Beauchamp

The entire point of this article is that skin color, whether we want to admit it or not, *is* a factor. How else could you explain the Twins (and baseball) having so few front office BIPOC executives? And that's something we need to actively work to change.

Probably Sano. We’re three weeks out from opening day.

His contact rate continues to impress.

I had no idea Mike Bell was Buddy Bell’s kid.

Black Americans have stopped playing baseball and going from memory, now occupy MLB rosters at about 1/3rd the numbers from 40 years ago. Surely you realize that is not the front office’s fault and a much larger Major League Baseball problem.

My children are black. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, my child asked who that was and pointed at the Griffith statue. I was conflicted. I deferred the conversation to another day based on her age. Now, I never need to have the conversation with her about that statue. Step outside yourself for a moment; stop accusing people of various things, and just realize that this move literally brought some of us to tears because it's just one less thing I have to explain to my black children. Now imagine *actually* being black. Even raising black children, I can't even do it. Their experience is so outside my own that I can't even begin to imagine their perspective and world view. These things really matter to people and they damned well should, as it's just one more indication American society is tearing down more walls of systemic racism. All of this is good.

It solves me walking into a stadium of a team I love without needing to have an awkward conversation with my children about why there's a statue of a man who thought people with their skin color were lazy and awful. That solves something. Do not let perfect be the enemy of good. This is a small gesture and certainly not one that fixes any large problems we have on a societal level. But if you add together a bunch of small gestures, they become something more.

It's a well known fact around here that I have zero love for the Pohlad family. And until the past 3-4 weeks, I'd never really been given a reason to change that opinion. But I also acknowledge that Carl's kids are not Carl himself and I think we can all agree ol' Carl was pretty rotten to the core. But I've been legitimately impressed by the Pohlads and the Twins organization as a whole for the past month and I hope this new trend of me not despising my favorite team's ownership continues going forward.

All I know is that I can hold my head a little higher walking into TF with my kids. My eldest actually saw the Griffith statue and asked me who it was last year. I think she was confused why a man in a suit was in bronze compared to all the ballplayer statues. I kinda grimaced and said “We’ll talk about him some other time, you’re not quite old enough for that conversation yet.” Now I’ll never have to explain to my black child why a statue of a man who said something so entirely vile is front and center in the ballpark of our favorite team. That’s a good thing. I cannot wait for baseball again and the Twins have done a lot to impress me and confirm that my love for them is not misplaced over the past month. Right now, I am very proud to call myself a Twins fan and I hope to pass that legacy onto my children in the coming years.

You literally said you're not angry about police kneeling on a man's neck for ten minutes as he cried for his mother. That's not okay.

Yes, "complicity by silence". Because I'm not voting for, donating to, and helping end systemic racism as a whole. The mere fact that I haven't gone on tangents on this particular forum in the past month about literally everything wrong with America regarding race is a real "gotcha" moment for you. You're part of the problem. And, again, how ****ing dare you think you know a goddamned thing about how to raise black children. I've literally spent years studying, listening, and trying to be the best, most prepared parent I can to raise my children for their specific needs. And you just waltz in and say what you've said? Shame on you. SHAME ON YOU.

Cool story. I lost my mother and brother to Asian street racers doing 120mph in a raced out Honda. Next time something bad happens to an Asian person, I'll be sure to step in and post exactly what you posted here. That's fair, right? That wouldn't be the least bit condescending or have the taint of gloat on it at all.

You’re the second or third person to say this in this very thread. When I say I’m mad as hell, understand that I’m not mad as hell at people who want to have a conversation. I’m mad as hell at that guy are there are millions of that guy in America.

You can read statistics, but you don’t understand them. And how dare you tell me how to explain systemic racism to my children, especially if you’re going to get it that wrong.

First off, I want to thank you for your brilliant post. It was wonderful. But I want to point out that donations, even as substantial as they might be, cannot replace actual change. I, personally, have radically changed two peoples' lives in the most fundamental way possible. There's a good chance i'll be doing that for a third person soon. All the while, I've been donating considerable sums of money to various causes. But realize that the two lives I've changed are literally worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to society at large. Money and donations are nice. Actual change in personal perspective, voting, and individual interaction is worth hundreds of times more than money can offer. Think different, be better, that's literally the best gift we can give. When a black person dies, hear their cry. When a mother cries that they can't feed their baby, hear them. When a man cries they can't find a job and don't know what to do, hear them. It shouldn't be that hard to ask people to hear other people, yet here I am.

Again, I have absolutely no ill will toward Kepler, this article was written to show how we can all be better, not as some condmenation of Max. Christ, how many times does that have to be repeated? MAX KEPLER IS NOT A BAD PERSON

I teared up while reading this. Thank you for all that you have done. I can't even imagine what it took to do all the work you have done.

Honestly, did you read Nick's article? Did you see how much he stressed that Max Kepler is not a bad person? ****ing hell, I'm so tired and angry about fighting this battle over and over for years. I'm so goddamned livid that white people can't see the fact that the moment a person is even SUGGESTED to do something wrong, even if it's clarified that it was without malice, that all of this dogpile happens on the author instead of the point the author is trying to make. Yet so many of you continue to prove the reason systemic racism exists. And I will continue to be mad as hell at you for making my kids' future less than it should be. I'm done with the semantics, I'm done with the whataboutisms, I'm done with talking about anything except the problem at hand. Go to hell, and good night.

Except in the case of murder, that never happens. Which is why so many people are so angry right now.

I hope your understanding is that I'm not angry at everyone, but at the fact that people not only ignore the issue - which I welcome discussion over - but that there is open resistance to my own children living a life free of fear and agression, which is what we want for all our children. Asking for money is nice but it doesn't fix the actual problem, which Nick addressed. The problem is that we, as white people, simply don't care enough. Caring and fighting against this issue is worth more than either I or you could afford. Fighting against this is what causes change for literally millions of Americans. I can and will give thousands of dollars in the coming months. That is a drop in the bucket in the ocean of pain experienced by black Americans. What needs to change is our attitude; that black people deserve to be able to do the same things white people do every day and that attitude change will take work. Not financial donations, but introspection about who we are as white Americans and how we've failed as a culture. It's a hard, ugly look. It hurts a lot. We can all agree that black people earn less, suffer more, and commit more crime than white Americans. This is a reality. At the end of the day, if you go up the logic chain far enough, it comes down to this: 1. Black people are inferior to white people 2. There are institutions preventing black people from reaching and achieving the same goals as white people There literally is no third option. Think about that long and hard. There is no third option. You either believe one or the other. There is no third option.

How can one verify something that is constantly happening? Have moderators in the past made such comments? Yes. Have they (and me) been chastised and corrected their behavior? I’d like to think yes but I don’t read every interaction on this forum. But one thing I can guarantee is that the TD moderators work their asses off and hold themselves to an incredibly high standard. Nobody gets it right all the time but we at least try and hopefully own up to those times we’re wrong.

I’ll reinforce what Sconnie said more forcefully: If you blame a man who was killed for being suspected of illegally passing TWENTY DOLLARS, either refrain from posting or expect to be escorted off the board because your perspective is so completely askew that Twins Daily does not welcome your opinion.

The owners are white. I have black children, which has led to years of listening, reading, and a change of my overall worldview, as I no longer think of things in my own best interest, but instead the interests of my childeren so I choose to listen to the people who have lived the live experiences most closely related to that what my children can expect as they grow up. For those of you who are parents, that probably helps you understand more than a little bit of my anger over this issue.

There are a few, at least one of which has posted in this thread. I will not name names for obvious reasons.

Damn, people are acting like I’m calling for Max’s head. Did you even read my post? I said he fumbled. I said it wasn’t malicious. Stop blowing my words WAY out of proportion, especially if you’re going to come at me like that.