OPINION By Alexa D'Amato

  Making any comment pertaining to someone’s race is inappropriate in every situation, and Yankees’ third baseman Josh Donaldson should know that.

  In the early stages of Saturday’s game, Donaldson and the Chicago White Sox’s shortstop Tim Anderson began exchanging words. The situation got worse when the White Sox’s catcher Yasmani Grandal seemed to confront Donaldson on his way into the batter’s box. Grandal pointed at Anderson and got in Donaldson’s face while the benches cleared.

  After the game, White Sox manager Tony La Russa blatantly told reporters that “[Donaldson] made a racist comment.” Donaldson cleared up what he said, and admitted to calling Anderson “Jackie,” alluding to Jackie Robinson. He immediately tried defending himself, claiming that he jokingly referred to Anderson as “Jackie” for years, but insisted it was because of a Sports Illustrated article where Anderson said “[He] kind of felt like today’s Jackie Robinson,” for his need to change the game.

  The surrounding context of the quote is often omitted from Donaldson’s excuse. Anderson went on to say he feels isolated as a Black man in baseball, a sport that is controlled by white men, where double standards between white and Black players are so prevalent to him. If Donaldson was truly mentioning that specific interview, he should have read it to understand the significance. His reasoning feels as though he tried to find an excuse just as the reporters flocked to his locker.

  Donaldson’s feeble excuse was not taken seriously by the majority of the baseball community. Normally, when people joke with others, it’s with people they’re on good terms with, not someone they have a history of fighting with.

  Whether Donaldson wants to admit it or not, whether he meant it offensively or not, his comment was racist. Despite Robinson’s incredible legacy, he didn’t call Anderson that out of respect, he called him that because of how Anderson, a Black player, looks.

  In a statement Major League Baseball published on their website Monday afternoon, they referred to that moment as “disrespectful and in poor judgment” rather than outright saying the buzzword guaranteed to spark controversy: racism. Donaldson’s punishment was a fine and a one game suspension, which he has chosen to appeal.

  An overwhelming number of baseball players, managers, general managers, and other high ranking officials are white. Major League Baseball needs to come to terms and realize that they’re going to do things that may make their white players and audience uncomfortable, but it’s the right thing to do. Having uncomfortable conversations with players is something that officials will have to do, even if it means they have to explain why their behavior was wrong as though they were a child.

  Major League Baseball needs to call the Donaldson-Anderson incident what it was: a verbal racist encounter, one that Black baseball players are all too familiar with. Racism in sports is becoming more and more common, and when fans realize that players can get away with being racist, they start to think they can too. Current and former Celtics players Marcus Smart and Kyrie Irving have talked about their own experiences regarding racism from fans and players.

  Organizations like Major League Baseball have a huge responsibility when it comes to condemning behavior that is not okay, such as racism and homophobia, and it’s time that they start standing up for minorities.