(WWJ) -- A local Asian-American organization is reacting to the comments made by Detroit Tigers broadcaster Jack Morris Tuesday night.
During the sixth inning of the Tigers’ 8-2 loss against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Tuesday night, the Hall-of-Famer and color analyst for Bally Sports Detroit used an accent mocking English-speaking Asians as two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani came to the plate.
Play-by-play announcer Matt Shepard asked, “Now what do you do with Shohei Ohtani?” to which Morris replied, with an accent: “Be very, very careful.”
Bally Sports Detroit announced Wednesday afternoon Morris had been suspended indefinitely from Tigers broadcasts. He will undergo bias training “to educate him on the impact of his comments and how he can be a positive influence in a diverse community.”
Roland Huang, secretary for the Detroit Chapter of the Association of Chinese Americans, says it was a belittling incident that’s nothing new to the Asian community and one Morris deserves to be called out for.
“It happens so often, and so I think people in the Asian-American community can just say, ‘we’re tired of it happening from time to time,’ just the continuous march of belittling people of a certain category of American,” Huang told WWJ on Wednesday.
Morris went on to apologize during the ninth inning of Tuesday’s game as Ohtani again stepped to the plate.
“Well folks, Shohei Ohtani is coming to the plate and it’s been brought to my attention and I sincerely apologize if I offended anybody, especially anybody in the Asian community for what I said about pitching and being careful,” Morris said. “Shohei Ohtani - I did not intend for any offensive thing and I apologize if I did.”
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The Asian American Journalists Association's Sports Task Force issued a statement on the incident, calling Morris' apology "insensitive and ignorant,” saying it referenced only the words he chose but not the stereotypical, racist accent he used.
Huang, though, told WWJ he accepts Morris’s apology and hopes the Hall-of-Famer has learned a lesson.
While many people have called for Morris to be fired following his insensitive remarks, Huang says he thinks that may be “a little harsh.”
“I think that it should be a teaching moment, and perhaps if Mr. Morris is able to be enlightened about the effect it has on the community, I think that would be a good step,” Huang said.
Ohtani was the subject of another broadcaster’s insensitive remarks earlier this summer when ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith received backlash for comments about the hitting and pitching sensation who has become one of the biggest names in all of baseball since coming to the MLB from Japan.
“But when you talk about an audience gravitating to the tube or to the ballpark to actually watch you, I don’t think it helps that the No. 1 face is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he’s saying, in this country,” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take.”
He also received backlash on social media after issuing an apology similar to that of Morris’s on-air Tuesday night.
Huang says while many Americans who make such comments may do so as a joke or some sort of a side comment, people “have to realize there’s pain.”
“It’s sort of the microaggressions, a situation where every time it occurs, we just get tired of being belittled and somehow marginalized,” he said.
After going 1-for-3 with three walks on Tuesday, Ohtani will take the mound at Comerica Park Wednesday night.