The Houston Dynamo would like to apologize to Louis Crayton, the Liberian goalkeeper for D.C. United, for the stupid remarks directed at him after the conclusion of Sunday's D.C. United-Houston Dynamo match.
We condemn in the harshest terms the comments made by one of the 17,000 fans in attendance on Sunday. With the highest level of certainty we can state that this individual, who has been banned from attending Dynamo matches indefinitely, does not represent in any way the vast majority of fans who are part of the Dynamo family, nor do they represent the position of the franchise or the league.
Historically, MLS has been given high marks by independent observers when it comes to racial hiring practices and diversity amongst its players, coaches and front offices. In fact, in 2008, MLS received an "A" in racial hiring practices and an "A+" in diversity initiatives from the annual survey conducted by the well-respected Sport Management Program at the University of Central Florida.
There is no place in a civilized society for racism. In particular, I have always believed that competitive sports should be a leader in creating that for which we all strive: a colorblind society. Professional sport is the ultimate meritocracy. The clichés are true: A player is only as good as his last game, a coach as his record, as one pundit says.
I think that by and large over the past few decades, sports in the United States have been at the forefront of breaking down racial barriers. Every fan knows the celebrated history of Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey and Larry Dobie in Major League Baseball. Most folks who came of age in Texas know very well the inspiring tale of Jerry Levias, a native of Beaumont now living in Houston, who broke the color barrier in the old Southwest Conference. Most of those same folks, however, do not know that the SMU head coach at the time, Hayden Fry, threatened to quit his position unless the school agreed to allow him to recruit Jerry.
I had my own experience with racism in sports as a member of the Houston Oilers in the early 1980s when the club signed Warren Moon from the Canadian Football League. Warren, as many fans will recollect, led the University of Washington to a Rose Bowl title but went undrafted in the NFL and was forced to continue his career in Canada. After lighting up the CFL for a number of years, he was the rarest of creatures in professional sports: a true free agent with no restrictions. A bidding war ensued, and Warren ended up an Oiler.
Like most CFL players, he struggled his first year or two in Houston. Unlike most CFL guys, he went on to have a great career and is now deservedly in the Professional Football Hall of Fame. But the point is that during Moon's early struggles with the team, I received mail (fan mail it was decidedly not) that was blatantly racist. The "N-word" was used often. The pressure was intense for Warren, both on and off the field, but I admired the professionalism with which he went about his work. At the time, I felt ashamed for the folks that expressed such viewpoints, and I feel the same way today regarding the despicable comments made by the individual on Sunday night.
Houston, as we all know, is a very tolerant city. Once the 2010 census results are released publicly, we will see that Houston is not a city in which Anglos have a statistical majority. In fact, Houston's ethnic hodgepodge today reflects the projected ethnic breakdown in the country as a whole 50 years from now. I would encourage all Dynamo fans to express to Louis Crayton and the D.C. United organization that we are an open, welcoming, and tolerant community. Please take a minute or two and send a short note to Louis care of the following e-mail address: DHicks@dcunited.com.
