The Orem Owlz announced today that they were cancelling their “Caucasian Heritage Night” due to well, it’s best to put it exactly in their words: “We understand, in light of recent tragic events, that our intentions have been misconstrued.”
Setting aside right now that it was a terrorist attack in South Carolina, that people were murdered because of their race and that is beyond a tragic event, there are a lot of problematic statements in the Orem Owlz apology. Here is the statement in full:
You may have read that the Orem Owlz had long ago scheduled Caucasian Heritage Night as one of its 38 promotions.
Minor League Baseball, and the Orem Owlz, is about baseball, togetherness and family fun for all fans of all races, religions, and orientations. Our goal in this promotion, like any of our promotions, is to have fun and make fun of everyday normalcies. Our night was to include wonder bread on burgers with mayonnaise, clips from shows like Friends and Seinfeld and trying to solve the vertical leaping challenge. We understand, in light of recent tragic events, that our intentions have been misconstrued. For that, we sincerely apologize.
The Owlz are committed to all its fans, families and all fans of baseball alike – no matter who you are. The event has been removed from our promotional schedule effectively immediately.
Consciously, the Orem Owlz organization did not intend to cause harm. However the merits of this event shouldn’t even be tied to South Carolina because it is offensive and stupid in its own right. Specifically, “make fun of everyday normalcies”. The event is celebrating that the white perspective is the default perspective, that’s incredibly problematic.
Maybe there is a way to do this event satirically that explicitly points out how hegemonic our society is. As a white person, I benefit from a history of white supremacy even though I don’t want to. It’s white privilege. I don’t get followed around in stores, I get the benefit of the doubt from authority figures, and I’m not subjected to subconscious racism. I’m also too cynical to think that a baseball team would be able to pull off a conversation about race from a satirical point of view.
I would love the Orem Owlz, and really all teams in baseball to instead to encourage real conversations about race relations in this country including our history of racial violence and how the structures from our overtly racist past still persist today.