Carl Edwards Jr. Received Racist Messages on Social Media, and MLB is Investigating

I’m grateful that The Athletic unearthed this, because as galling as it is that we still need to have this conversation in 2019, we need to have this conversation in 2019. Mostly, I’m just sorry that people like Carl Edwards Jr. have to go through something I’ll probably never totally understand, even if I know it’s gotta be very awful:

Sources: MLB investigating racist messages sent to Cubs pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. on social media. https://t.co/iIHusACrwe

— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) April 16, 2019

As Mooney reports, MLB has a unit that works with social media companies – Instagram, in this case – to work through these situations. Ideally, they would not only identify and ban the users, but would also broadcast the process in some way so that people can see what’s going on.

In the meantime, the best we all can do is to not let this kind of crap – be it racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, degrading the disabled, etc. – live without comment. If you see it or hear it, you should challenge it. Don’t let it stand. Make people feel properly embarrassed by this stuff. Change happens slowly over many, many interactions, but it *does* happen.