Hank Aaron Receives Hate Mail After Defending President Obama

Story by TheGrio.com

Hall of Famer Hank Aaron was honored on the 40th anniversary of his 715th homer prior to the game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets at Turner Field on April 8, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Forty years after baseball legend Hank Aaron was hit with a barrage of hate mail for breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, he’s reportedly getting nasty letters in the mail again — this time for defending President Barack Obama.

In a recent USA Today interview, the 80-year-old Hall of Famer used some incendiary words to describe the partisan opponents of the president. “This country has a black president, but President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated. We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long way to go in the country. The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts,” he told the USA newspaper.

Aaron, who is still affiliated with the Atlanta Braves organization, has been the subject of a right-wing backlash.

Some of the mail sent to Hank Aaron following the USA Today article reads as such: “Hank Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur),” read an email to the Braves’ front office from a man named Edward, according to USA Today.

“My old man instilled in my mind from a young age, the only good (racial slur) is a dead (racial slur),” is how he concluded his message.

Ironically, reports of the racially insensitive messages came out on Jackie Robinson Day, when Major League Baseball was commemorating the 67th anniversary of the integration of their sport.