Hank Aaron provided no specifics. Calling out a whole political ideology with uncorroborated generalities and likening a whole population to a hate group.
And then ANYONE is surprised that responses are angry?
Mr Aaron, your greatness at baseball is an achievement no one in their right mind can take from you. Nor should anyone try.
Your political and social commentary, less so.
The story decries:
Aaron speaking his mind was apparently too much for some baseball fans. Some of them promised to burn Aaron's book, others called him "classless, racist," according to USA Today.
Freedom of speech, as others have pointed out in the past, is not freedom from consequence. And I'm not speaking of the violence, or the threats of it.
I'm not a Republican. I consider myself a conservative. And I have no doubt, based on the stereotyping and whiny language Hank Aaron used, that he'd put me under that umbrella.
Neither he nor those who interviewed him should be surprised that people take umbrage at what he said. And calling him classless and racist for saying them isn't hate mail. It's truth.
If you label a whole swath of the country as being no better than the KKK, then yes, you are just as racist as those you meant to call out.