Ed Delany/MMO
On June 14, New York Mets 1B/OF Dominic Smith released a statement on social media addressing racism in today’s world following the nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. He followed that up by having a conversation about the racial issues lingering in the world today with Steve Gelbs in an SNY interview entitled “Dom Smith: I Believe in Us.”
The interview, which premiered on Thursday, touched upon a range of topics including the death of Floyd, Smith’s social media statement, the conversations Smith has had with his white teammates on the topic of racism and his firsthand experience with racism.
Smith expressed the sadness he experienced in watching the video of Floyd’s death.
“To me, obviously I felt sick in my stomach and very emotional,” said Smith. “Obviously saddened for the family, saddened for our community and our people, and just saddened that this is happening in America.”
The issue of racial inequality hits close to home for Smith who grew up in the inner city of South Central Los Angeles, CA. Since the topic was important to him, he did not immediately release a statement on social media, but rather took some time to ensure that his post would be meaningful.
“This has been happening for so long, and this is why it took me so long to post about it, because it just means too much to me,” said Smith. “I just had to really get my words together, because like I said, I’ve been through it and I see it on an everyday basis. So it really means a lot to me that the world has taken notice.”
Smith has had conversations with different white teammates on racial issues such as Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis. He complimented their eagerness to learn, understand and do their part to help.
As a whole, Smith complimented the respectfulness found within the Mets clubhouse and how the players are more like brothers than just teammates.
“I think, as a group, we don’t see skin color, complexion, anything like that,” said Smith. “We treat each other with respect, and I guess [we’re] a brotherhood, really. We’re wearing orange and blue together, we’re brothers.
Davis was with Smith during one of his recent encounters with racism during spring training earlier in the year. The two of them went to a restaurant in Port St. Lucie, FL, ordered their food and never received their food after an hour and a half of waiting.
“An hour and a half goes by, Steve, still no food,” said Smith. “The restaurant’s not even packed. They don’t bring us bread, they don’t bring us water, they don’t bring us anything. So I’m like ‘J.D. are you seeing what’s going on?’ and in my opinion, people obviously can be verbally racist or show racism verbally as much as they did back in the day, but I feel like indirectly you can show some prejudice, in my opinion.”
Smith also opened up about one of his recent encounters with more direct racism while driving his nice car in Port St. Lucie. A driver who was upset he did not use his blinker cursed at him, used a racial slur and said that he probably stole the car he was driving.
“Those two instances, I have instances with police, I have instances playing travel ball, I have instances when I was 14, 12, I mean it can go on and on,” said Smith. “I showed you, in my opinion, indirect racism and direct racism for me.”
Smith ended his interview with Gelbs with hopefulness for forward progress and change.
“It’s a tough conversation to have, but, I mean, the fact that we had it, it’s one step forward. I feel like we can change and I do believe in us,” Smith said. “I see the reaction across the world. That’s why I believe in us. That’s why I believe we can change and help others, and like I said, it starts with us. If we can be a good person, ourselves, I feel like we can affect so many other people across the world. That’s why I believe in us and I think we can change.”
