A former NFL player has weighed in with some strong words for Boston sports radio station WEEI, which ran a racist sketch about NFL player agent Don Yee on Friday.
Former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita, whose father is Japanese-American, took to Twitter to point out that even as WEEI apologized for host Christian Fauria mocking Yee with a stereotypically Asian-American accent, other station personnel seemed to think it was all a funny joke.
“Yet you still posted the audio on social media, & Fauria’s co-hosts supported with laughter. Instead of simply apologizing for ‘Christian’s commentary,’ maybe take a hard look at WEEI’s obvious lack of awareness & continued ignorance in emboldening careless commentary. Do better,” Fujita wrote on Twitter.
Asian-Americans have often been underrepresented in professional sports. Maybe Fauria and his WEEI colleagues thought that meant they could get away with a racist Asian-American caricature. They shouldn’t get away with it, and Fujita is right to condemn it.
