about this Cubs t-shirt:

which has right fielder Kosuke Fukudome’s name and number on the back.

Here’s the quote:

A Fukudome T-shirt with a racist image is the hottest-selling item at a souvenir stand that sells unlicensed Cubs-related merchandise across Addison Street from the ballpark, according to Mark Kolbusz, who’s in his fourth season operating the stand.

On the front of the shirt is the traditional Cubs cartoon bear face but with slanted eyes and wearing oversized Harry Caray-style glasses. It’s accompanied by the words ”Horry Kow,” scrawled in cartoonish ”Japanese” script. Fukudome’s name and number are on the back.

Got that?

The writer didn’t say “A Fukudome T-shirt with a possibly offensive racial image” or “A T-Shirt with racial imagery” or “A T-shirt with a ‘racist’ image …” or “A T-shirt that some are calling ‘racist.’” He actually said “a racist image.”

Got that right.

But if you read the news a lot (as I do), you’ll notice the U.S. press in particular really shies away from the R-word. Even comedian Michael Richards’ profane outburst was sometimes referred to as “racial language” or a “racial rant.” So apparently calling somebody the N-word is easier than calling somebody the R-word.

Search the words “racist” or “racism” in Google News, and you’re likely to find a lot of links to stories from the UK or Canada or South Africa. Stories from the U.S. seem peculiarly inclined to avoid those words, unless of course we’re talking about the racism of black people.

Is the t-shirt racist? It most certainly is. Makes it a little easier to talk about racism, doesn’t it? Because if we can’t acknowledge its existence, we can’t ever address it.