Race/Related: Behind a Racist Taunt at the World Series

A word used in Latin America doesn't translate in the U.S. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, November 1, 2017 [Join Race/Related »]( Origins of an Insult [Yuli Gurriel, the Houston Astros first baseman who made a racist gesture in the dugout during Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night.] Yuli Gurriel, the Houston Astros first baseman who made a racist gesture in the dugout during Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night. Christian Petersen/Getty Images By [Randy Archibold]( In his elation over hitting a home run in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night, the Houston Astros slugger Yuli Gurriel, who is from Cuba and has played professionally in Japan, returned to the dugout and pulled the skin back from the corner of his eyes [in a mocking gesture]( toward the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who gave up the hit, Yu Darvish, who is from Japan. Mr. Gurriel also mouthed the word “chinito,” which is widely used in Latin America toward people of Asian descent, as both a racist insult and, however misguided, a neutral term of endearment. Mr. Gurriel said he meant no offense, and he was just expressing his joy after overcoming a lack of luck against Japanese pitchers in the United States. But the damage was done, and he received a five-game suspension to be served at the start of next season. My parents grew up in Panama, where that same term is often heard, and I have visited often. My grandmother’s nickname was “Miss Chini,” because she was thought to have Asian features. That’s all I ever heard adults call her -- her real name was Alice -- and it was not until I was a teenager that I finally learned how she got the nickname. By then, I had learned the common name for the corner grocery store in Panama was “el chino,” because so many of them were run by Chinese immigrants, who were not always welcome. I point out these examples not to excuse Mr. Gurriel; his gesture and comment struck me as clearly offensive, regardless of his intent. But I also understood how his upbringing in Cuba could be used by him to justify [insisting that he had not meant any offense](. In the end, Mr. Darvish chalked the episode up as a teachable moment. “No one is perfect,” he wrote on Twitter. “That includes both you and I. What he had done today isn’t right, but I believe we should put our effort into learning rather than accuse him. If we can take something from this, that is a giant step for mankind.” Mr. Archibold is deputy sports editor of The Times. Lost in Translation [Marcelo Rios attempting to return a lob during a match at the U.S. Open in 1997. He has long had the nickname “Chino,” because of his facial features.] Marcelo Rios attempting to return a lob during a match at the U.S. Open in 1997. He has long had the nickname “Chino,” because of his facial features. Marilyn K. Yee/The New York Times By [Claudio E. Cabrera]( When Yuri Gurriel was criticized for his offensive gesture and taunt toward Yu Darvish, it forced me to look back to my childhood in Upper Manhattan and my usage of the word “chinito.” In Latino culture, we have a lot of words that end with “-ito” to describe a specific ethnic group. Words like blanquito (white or light skin), morenito (dark skin), negrito (dark skin), and chinito (Chinese), just to name a few. Growing up, many of my friends and family members who are Dominican, like myself, would call me “morenito” or “negrito.” My grandmother always calls me her “negro bello,” meaning “my handsome black guy” in English. When she says it, it makes it sound like I’m an exception. Naturally, you would ask yourself why can’t I just be handsome instead of a handsome black guy. But it speaks to the hardened beliefs many people her age and some my age have about black beauty in Latin American society and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. An aunt may be called “la negra” or a cousin may be called “mi negrito,” and it’s never really said with any malicious intent. It’s just a nickname. One of my dad’s friends is Dominican and is called “el chino” by everyone because his eyes resemble those of an Asian person. No one in their group seems to find it offensive. Whenever my friends or family ordered Chinese food, they would usually say: “Tu quiere chinitos?” Translation: “Do you want Chinese?” As I got older and realized I felt uncomfortable using the term “chinitos,” I also noticed that the way my family members referred to it changed. It became: “Tu quiere comida China?” Translation: Do you want Chinese food? Without a conversation ever happening about the re-wording, I realized that my thinking of the word was right. I shouldn’t be referring to Chinese food as “Chinitos” or Chinese people as such. In many people’s beliefs, if you stereotypically look Asian, you are Chinese, without taking into consideration that there are the Koreas, Japan, and the rest of South and Southeastern Asia. I believe that Mr. Gurriel’s taunt is inappropriate anywhere, but things that are acceptable in Cuba and other countries are not always acceptable here, and vice versa. I hope that what happened helps Latinos across the globe understand how the words they use don’t translate the way they used to when they were growing up. Mr. Cabrera is a senior digital strategist at The Times. The Punishment [Commissioner Rob Manfred at a news conference on Saturday before Game 4 of the World Series, where he announced Gurriel’s suspension for five games in 2018.] Commissioner Rob Manfred at a news conference on Saturday before Game 4 of the World Series, where he announced Gurriel’s suspension for five games in 2018. David J. Phillip/Associated Press By [David Waldstein]( When Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, handed out a five-game suspension to Mr. Gurriel on Saturday, he said he wanted to send a clear message about baseball’s position against any kind of intolerant gesture or comments. He did so by levying the heaviest suspension and fine for an offense of its kind. But he also raised some eyebrows by postponing the suspension until next year’s regular season. Later that night Mr. Gurriel said he was making a joke to a teammate that perhaps Mr. Darvish mistook him for a Japanese pitcher and that was why he gave him a good pitch to hit. (That explanation contains an ugly bias in itself, that a player from one nation would somehow help another player from the same country, even if they were on different teams.) The next day Mr. Gurriel was suspended for five games, beginning at the start of the 2018 season, and he will lose the accompanying salary, roughly $322,000. He will also have to undergo sensitivity training in the offseason. Earlier this season Oakland’s Matt Joyce and Toronto’s Kevin Pillar were suspended two games apiece for using an anti-gay slur on the field. In 2012, Yunel Escobar, then of the Toronto Blue Jays, was suspended three games for a premeditated slur: wearing eye black inscribed with an anti-gay slur. Mr. Escobar’s was the largest penalty until the Gurriel suspension. The severity of Mr. Gurriel’s punishment was not about a distinction between the anti-gay slurs and one against a nationality or ethnic group. It was more about the timing. Mr. Manfred made a tactical decision to allow Mr. Gurriel to continue to play in the World Series, but then walloped him with a record-setting penalty, even higher than the one for Mr. Escobar, whose infraction was premeditated. Mr. Manfred said he did not impose the suspension during the World Series because he did not want to penalize Mr. Gurriel’s teammates. But more significant may have been his desire to avoid a messy appeal process that could have distracted from the sport’s marquee event. Mr. Gurriel, who has the right to appeal, said he would not. He also seemed stunned by the public outcry over the incident, saying that in Cuba, what he said and did is not considered offensive. With the heaviest penalty of its kind, Mr. Gurriel learned that it is offensive in Major League Baseball, and, hopefully, in the entire United States. Mr. Waldstein is a sports reporter for The Times who is covering the World Series. Do you think the punishment by Major League Baseball was appropriate? Tell us if you agree or disagree at racerelated@nytimes.com. We’ll include a selection of the responses in the next edition of the newsletter. 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