Mariners: Dissecting Steve Clevenger’s Non-Apology, Apology

The Mariners, Steve Clevenger’s apology must have been ripped from the book of awful apologies. In truth, he did not make an apology. He made a four paragraph appeal for how he is the victim not the villain of this situation he created. His lack of empathy and understanding for the African-Americans who were shot and killed this week and how it is making people feel, is just another way he is shooting himself in the foot.

The purpose of an apology is to make people understand that you feel bad and/or regret whatever you did. Steve Clevenger did not do that. In fact, it appears that he is defending his comments. Most of his apology seems to be making excuses. He also trying to convince us that his poorly worded, frustration tweets are somehow patriotic. What a joke.

After insulting the entire African-American population by referring to them as “animals”, Clevenger has now insulted Mariners fans by trying to trick us into believing he is not a racist. So far, it doesn’t seem to have fooled anyone.

In a poor attempt to make amends, Clevenger opened with an not-so-sincere apology. Everything went downhill from there. He went on to say:

"“I am sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms. My tweets were reactionary to the events I saw on the news and were worded beyond poorly at best, and I can see how and why someone could read into my tweets far more deeply than how I actually feel.”"

The problem here for Clevenger is that- I’m sure to his disbelief- there is no other way to see the comments. To blame the African-American community, the groups that defend them and our African-American president for the crime and looting. Calling a group of African-Americans animals and urging they be locked up. It can only be seen as racist.

Furthermore, he said this:

"“I am also proud that my inner circle of friends has never been defined by race but by the content of their character.”"

From these comments, we can only conclude that his “inner circle” is all white. We can also

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conclude that these opinions were never voiced to non-whites. If they had, the inner circle’s character, which he refers to, would be know as  having racist ideas.

Clevenger does have the right to publicly make these types of statements. But, he must understand the consequences. His inner circle must not have warned him that he shouldn’t make these opinions public. Unless, he wants to be seen as a racist.

Towards the end of his plea, he said this:

"“With everything going on in the world, I really just want what is best for everyone regardless of who they are. I, like many Americans, are frustrated by a lot of things in the world and I would like to be a part of the dialogue moving forward to make this a better world for everyone.”"

There’s a couple issues here. First, How do his tweets help anyone? Let alone “everyone”? Second, it appears that what he’s frustrated about is African-Americans and how they react to one of their own getting shot. Again, how does this frustration help anyone?

Lastly, his tweets do not suggest the invitation of conversation. They are just angry thoughts of white man who is upset that African-Americans are trying to make a change in society. Whether their method of going about change is productive or not, is up for debate. But, their effort and intent has been recognized countrywide.

Clevenger ended his non-apology by defending himself. He went on to say this:

"“I once again apologize to anyone who was offended today, and I just ask you not judge me off of a social media posting. Thank you and God bless everyone.”"

For an apology to feel real, a person must feel bad for what they said, not who they hurt by saying it. All this does is reaffirm that he meant what he tweeted. It is hard not to judge someone when they haven’t made a good case why people shouldn’t judge them.

Next: Clevenger, You're Outta Here

In fact, Clevenger has never made a case for why he is not a racist. Now, he is going to have to try extremely hard if he wants to ever be thought as anything but a racist.