The issue of race is problematic, and that's been especially true in the last two weeks as the country reacts to the death of George Floyd.
It's easy to be cynical when it comes to the public response of major companies and civic institutions to the tragedy. Some come off as facile ("We condemn any and all displays of intolerance....") and others as pandering ("We will never allow...'').
It's difficult, if not impossible, to strike the right tone.
So it was no surprise when a tweet from the Red Sox on Wednesday, addressing recent comments by former major leaguer Torii Hunter, was met with a mixture of ridicule and scorn. For some, it was an exercise in political correctness; for others, it didn't go far enough. Some managed to infer that the team was calling all of its fans bigots, which, if nothing else, reveals a certain consciousness of guilt on their behalf.
This is real. pic.twitter.com/gMp8MEPb46
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 10, 2020