Cleveland Indians infielder Yu Chang shared racist messages he received on social media following an error that cost his team the game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Chang said, "Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES."
In a screenshot, Chang highlighted comments received that contained epithets like "slanty eyes" and those that implied a connection to Covid-19.
NBC News reported that the group Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks hate crimes against members of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, counted nearly 4,000 hate crimes against the community in 2020, a sharp increase.
In 2021 there have been a string of widely publicized hate crimes and murders apparently directed toward members of the AAPI community.
NBC News reported that Senate Democrats on Tuesday warned Republicans against blocking an anti-Asian hate crimes bill.
