Bear-Arms
Mentor
Guillen's words miss mark
August 10, 2005
NEW YORK -- It has been well documented that Ozzie Guillen is incapable of letting a thought go unspoken. He probably filibusters in his sleep.
This is what the White Sox manager said Monday:
"Hey, everybody, this guy's a homosexual! He's a child molester!"
OK, deep breath. Where to begin?
Well, I was there in the Sox dugout before Monday night's game against the Yankees, along with about 30 other media members, when Guillen loudly greeted a longtime friend with those words. So I guess that makes me a silent co-conspirator to some pretty ugly language.
We're going to have a discussion of words now, of what they mean and of what happens when people from different cultures bring their own ways and attitudes to another country. There is no doubt Guillen, a Venezuelan, needs to watch what he says, but there's also no doubt he believes there were some mitigating circumstances.
When he delivered those words, he said he was being playful with a friend of 20 years, a friend who took no offense.
The pregame press gathering with Guillen had just ended, and he thought he was done being quoted.
And yet, those are not words we use lightly in this country, no matter what the circumstances are. It will be up to you to decide whether words always reflect a man's heart.
There have been at least two columns written about Guillen's tendency to make insensitive remarks, including a Newsday column recounting Monday's incident. Neither of them carried any explanation or context from Guillen, which matters. A man has a right to explain himself.
"I come from a country where we don't believe in treating people differently," he said Wednesday morning, before the Sox-Yankees series finale. "When you're a person, you're a person. It doesn't matter what color or religion or race or sexuality you are. We're just human beings.
"Obviously in this country it's a little bit different than our culture. I grew up in a country that was completely opposite from here. Now you have to learn the process."
It's obvious Guillen hasn't fully learned it yet. He has been in the United States for 25 years.
In a vacuum, the insinuation in his words is that being gay is bad and, worse, that it logically follows that homosexuals are child molesters. I know people who are gay and I can't imagine their seeing anything playful in that. But Guillen says he meant nothing hateful by what he said and that was my immediate impression. But I did roll my eyes. What if someone in the group were gay?
"I have no problem with [homosexuals]," Guillen said Wednesday. "I don't deal with that. To me, everybody's the same. We're human beings created by God. Everybody has their own opinion and their own right to do what they want to do. You have the right to feel the way you want to feel. Nobody can take that away from you."
Sox officials have talked with Guillen about being smarter about his choice of words. They believe there's no malicious intent in what he says, but they also believe the manager of the White Sox is the face and voice of the organization.
"When you're a manager and you're in another city, obviously you have to be careful," Guillen agreed.
He needs to be careful in his own city too.
He sometimes makes you squirm. Other times you shrug at Ozzie being Ozzie. During spring training, I heard him tell a Japanese man that he was a such-and-such "sumo wrestler." The man laughed. Does someone have to be offended for words to be offensive?
If an Italian came to this country and used ugly words about blacks, would it be explained away so easily? But Guillen says he comes at it from a Venezuelan perspective.
"My wife's nickname in Venezuela is Negra (Spanish for "black") because she's the darkest in the family," he said. "But here in the United States, the past is real strong [with slavery]. We don't have the past in Venezuela that you have in the States. I understand. But in my country, we treat people like human beings. It's something you have to learn in this country."
Guillen acknowledged he "said the wrong thing at the wrong time," but it's more than that. There's no right time for what he said. The clubhouse and the locker room might be the last place where men can be men, but Guillen has to live in the bigger world. He's the manager. He's not Don Rickles.
"I don't worry about losing my job," he said. "I just worry about respecting people. I worry about respecting the integrity of people. I represent a city and a team. I have to be careful what I say and when I say it. But I don't say anything to offend anybody."
In Ozzie's world, life is to be lived fully, people are to be embraced and jokes are to be made. Problem is, not everyone gets them.
rmorrissey@tribune.com
[url]http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whit esox/cs-050810morrissey,1,2619501.column?coll=cs-whitesox-ut ility&ctrack=1&cset=true[/url]
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Wow, I know if he was a white guy Ozzie would be hung, but this writer is horrible. What happened to saying what you want in this country without someone being offended?
It's kinda cool that they went after a non-white guy for a change. However, Ozzie thought that the Caribbean remark was just so horrible, and look he does the same exact thing.
August 10, 2005
NEW YORK -- It has been well documented that Ozzie Guillen is incapable of letting a thought go unspoken. He probably filibusters in his sleep.
This is what the White Sox manager said Monday:
"Hey, everybody, this guy's a homosexual! He's a child molester!"
OK, deep breath. Where to begin?
Well, I was there in the Sox dugout before Monday night's game against the Yankees, along with about 30 other media members, when Guillen loudly greeted a longtime friend with those words. So I guess that makes me a silent co-conspirator to some pretty ugly language.
We're going to have a discussion of words now, of what they mean and of what happens when people from different cultures bring their own ways and attitudes to another country. There is no doubt Guillen, a Venezuelan, needs to watch what he says, but there's also no doubt he believes there were some mitigating circumstances.
When he delivered those words, he said he was being playful with a friend of 20 years, a friend who took no offense.
The pregame press gathering with Guillen had just ended, and he thought he was done being quoted.
And yet, those are not words we use lightly in this country, no matter what the circumstances are. It will be up to you to decide whether words always reflect a man's heart.
There have been at least two columns written about Guillen's tendency to make insensitive remarks, including a Newsday column recounting Monday's incident. Neither of them carried any explanation or context from Guillen, which matters. A man has a right to explain himself.
"I come from a country where we don't believe in treating people differently," he said Wednesday morning, before the Sox-Yankees series finale. "When you're a person, you're a person. It doesn't matter what color or religion or race or sexuality you are. We're just human beings.
"Obviously in this country it's a little bit different than our culture. I grew up in a country that was completely opposite from here. Now you have to learn the process."
It's obvious Guillen hasn't fully learned it yet. He has been in the United States for 25 years.
In a vacuum, the insinuation in his words is that being gay is bad and, worse, that it logically follows that homosexuals are child molesters. I know people who are gay and I can't imagine their seeing anything playful in that. But Guillen says he meant nothing hateful by what he said and that was my immediate impression. But I did roll my eyes. What if someone in the group were gay?
"I have no problem with [homosexuals]," Guillen said Wednesday. "I don't deal with that. To me, everybody's the same. We're human beings created by God. Everybody has their own opinion and their own right to do what they want to do. You have the right to feel the way you want to feel. Nobody can take that away from you."
Sox officials have talked with Guillen about being smarter about his choice of words. They believe there's no malicious intent in what he says, but they also believe the manager of the White Sox is the face and voice of the organization.
"When you're a manager and you're in another city, obviously you have to be careful," Guillen agreed.
He needs to be careful in his own city too.
He sometimes makes you squirm. Other times you shrug at Ozzie being Ozzie. During spring training, I heard him tell a Japanese man that he was a such-and-such "sumo wrestler." The man laughed. Does someone have to be offended for words to be offensive?
If an Italian came to this country and used ugly words about blacks, would it be explained away so easily? But Guillen says he comes at it from a Venezuelan perspective.
"My wife's nickname in Venezuela is Negra (Spanish for "black") because she's the darkest in the family," he said. "But here in the United States, the past is real strong [with slavery]. We don't have the past in Venezuela that you have in the States. I understand. But in my country, we treat people like human beings. It's something you have to learn in this country."
Guillen acknowledged he "said the wrong thing at the wrong time," but it's more than that. There's no right time for what he said. The clubhouse and the locker room might be the last place where men can be men, but Guillen has to live in the bigger world. He's the manager. He's not Don Rickles.
"I don't worry about losing my job," he said. "I just worry about respecting people. I worry about respecting the integrity of people. I represent a city and a team. I have to be careful what I say and when I say it. But I don't say anything to offend anybody."
In Ozzie's world, life is to be lived fully, people are to be embraced and jokes are to be made. Problem is, not everyone gets them.
rmorrissey@tribune.com
[url]http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whit esox/cs-050810morrissey,1,2619501.column?coll=cs-whitesox-ut ility&ctrack=1&cset=true[/url]
----------
Wow, I know if he was a white guy Ozzie would be hung, but this writer is horrible. What happened to saying what you want in this country without someone being offended?
It's kinda cool that they went after a non-white guy for a change. However, Ozzie thought that the Caribbean remark was just so horrible, and look he does the same exact thing.
