Listen closely to line #1: this is not a sports post. (Remember that…)
This past weekend, I couldn’t believe the judgment of the infield umpire!
Alex, who plays for our team — the good team, the right team, the wisest and best — was leading off on first. The game was tight — a top team tournament; it was close; only the winner would advance. Let’s just say the intensity seemingly increased with each and every pitch. This was serious. This was 13 year old baseball.
Unbeknownst to all fans in the stands, Alex discretely received the “steal” sign. He takes off. He is fast! The ball soars from the catcher’s hands, streaming across the infield, straight to the shortstop, whose current primary goal is to tag our Alex out.
Man, I had an excellent view from the stands! I was standing directly in line with the base path; and so when the catcher let it loose, I saw the ball sail 2 feet behind the runner. There was no tag. “Way to go, Alex,” I immediately thought. The ball was no where close.
Then came the umpire’s emphatic call… “You’re OUT!”
Excuse me?
In order to throw out an attempted base stealer, the runner must be tagged. Alex had to be tagged. The ball was nowhere close. There was no possible way for our player to be out.
Are you kidding me? What are you thinking?! Are you stupid? How smart are you?
Oh, wait… I see now…
Alex is white. The umpire is black. He’s African-American. That’s it!! He must have called Alex out due to the color of his skin!!
Nothing else explains this. Nothing else explains the ump’s insistent opinion that is completely inconsistent with mine. He must have called Alex out due to the color of his skin.
This is truly unexplainable. Why else would a seemingly intelligent person do this? The ball was nowhere close! There was no tag. ‘Racist’! ‘Racist,’ I say!!
And so begins my search for something that will explain the unexplainable. In other words, I seek an answer that will make sense to me. I, of course, had the clearest, wisest. and least obstructed view.
Hence, when someone else makes a judgment call that is nothing less than unfathomable to me, I seek for a way to comprehend their opinion… typically a way that makes them look a little lesser — and me look a little more…
(… more what, we ask?)
We often conclude the rationale of another is due to the most visible factor — not necessarily the most likely factor — simply the most visible. If we can’t explain something, we often look only at what’s easiest to see. That’s perhaps why so many are so quick to utilize race and/or ethnicity to explain away analysis that would take far more effort, time, and selflessness to truly comprehend.
The reason the infield umpire called Alex out had zero to do with either’s skin color. The ump called him out because his perspective was different than mine.
I can’t argue that. I can’t call him ‘racist’ nor even accuse him of being stupid. I can, however, in the future, encourage him to alter his perspective…
Respectfully,
AR