Say It Ain't So, Hank

From the New York Daily News: It is 2014, we have twice elected a black president, and Jackie Robinson is an American icon, celebrated annually on April 15. And yet: Hank Aaron is receiving hate mail, which reminds us that black people are still held to a different standard, when it comes to expressing strong opinions on race.
“Hank Aaron is a black man,” Frank Robinson told me on Tuesday, after helping to light the Empire State Building in Dodger blue to honor the 67th anniversary of another Robinson’s debut. “He only spoke his mind. I have seen and heard other people in this country say worse things, and they don’t get hate mail. It shows you we still have a ways to go.”
Robinson — a Hall of Fame player, the first African-American manager and MLB’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Development — did not list those “worse things,” but here are a few: Tea Party rallies where people hoist signs showing a Hitler mustache on President Obama, activists sending around emails portraying the president as a monkey, Braves fans calling Aaron the N-word, repeating what the home run king endured 40 years ago.
When Aaron offers an opinion, he becomes the target of threats. “Sure, this country has a black president,” the newspaper quoted him last week as saying. “But when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated.
“We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country.
“The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/report-hank-aaron-comments-lead-new-hate-mail-article-1.1756836#ixzz2z1AceRSO
Oh, Hank, you just bit the hand that fed you.
When you played for the Braves and chasing Babe Ruth, I was rooting for you.
When you came back to play for the Milwaukee Brewers, I cheered you at every opportuntiy I could.
I even got to see your last home run at Milwaukee County Stadium in person.
Now, you are calling me a member of the KKK (even though I don't wear starch shirts or a neck tie)
You complain about how Obama has been treated but you never raised your voice about how George W. Bush was treated by your buddies, the liberals.
Hopefully, Mr. Aaron, you were misquoted or maybe had a bit much to drink.
But if they were said, I will always respect your baseball skills, just not your political skills.