Indians player Yu Chang shares racist comments received after error in loss

Cleveland Indians player Yu Chang shared racist comments he received on social media after an error he made during Monday’s game.

Chang tweeted on Tuesday that people can “[e]xercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES.” 

Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES.
Thank you all and love you all#StopAsianHate pic.twitter.com/xMaWc59wvt

— Yu Chang 張育成 (@YutheSouljaBoy) April 13, 2021

His tweet included screenshots of comments he received on social media, including ones telling him to “fix those slanty eyes” and calling him an “Asian f—ing retard.” Another comment called him a “sars coronavirus mother f—er.”

Cleveland lost 4-3 against the Chicago White Sox on Monday after Chang hit Chicago’s Yasmani Grandal with a throw during the ninth inning, allowing Chicago’s Nick Madrigal to score the winning run, according to ESPN.

Chang is a native of Taiwan and has played parts of three seasons with the Indians, ESPN reported. 

Hate crimes and violence against Asian people have risen over the past year across the country. A recent study from California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism showed that hate crimes against Asian Americans in 16 of the country’s largest cities increased nearly 150 percent in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate said last month that it received nearly 3,800 reports of hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the past year.

A gunman in March killed eight people, including six Asian women, in a spree shooting in the Atlanta area, further underlining concerns even as police did not immediately blame race as a motive in the shooting.