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Altidore shrugs off racist chants, says he'll pray for abusive fans
Like most kids in America, Jozy Altidore grew up hearing and reading about Jackie Robinson, the trail-blazing African-American who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. "Everybody knows his story and what he had to go through," says Altidore, who's aware that Robinson heard all kinds of racist epithets from baseball fans yet never lashed out in response. Robinson just kept playing and succeeding, reaching six World Series and winning the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards.
The overt racism that Robinson experienced in baseball stadiums doesn't happen in U.S. pro sports arenas these days. But we still see it with alarming semi-regularity in the world's soccer stadiums, as Altidore found out Tuesday in the Netherlands. During a Dutch Cup quarterfinal between Altidore's AZ Alkmaar and FC Den Bosch, a group of Den Bosch fans directed racist monkey chants at the strapping U.S. forward.
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Like most kids in America, Jozy Altidore grew up hearing and reading about Jackie Robinson, the trail-blazing African-American who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. "Everybody knows his story and what he had to go through," says Altidore, who's aware that Robinson heard all kinds of racist epithets from baseball fans yet never lashed out in response. Robinson just kept playing and succeeding, reaching six World Series and winning the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards.
The overt racism that Robinson experienced in baseball stadiums doesn't happen in U.S. pro sports arenas these days. But we still see it with alarming semi-regularity in the world's soccer stadiums, as Altidore found out Tuesday in the Netherlands. During a Dutch Cup quarterfinal between Altidore's AZ Alkmaar and FC Den Bosch, a group of Den Bosch fans directed racist monkey chants at the strapping U.S. forward.
(continue)