This article was originally published by Politicus Sports.
For the second straight day, protesters showed up at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis to demonstrate while the St. Louis Cardinals faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League Division Series game. While the Cardinals were handling their business inside the stadium, taking the series from the Dodgers and moving on to the National League Championship Series, a passionate group of activists and demonstrators let their voices be heard as they demanded justice for Mike Brown. Just like the night before, the protesters were confronted by mostly white ‘fans’ who insulted and disparaged their efforts.
However, for the most part, things weren’t nearly as testy on Tuesday as they were Monday night. Some of that could be attributed to the earlier start time of the game on Tuesday, meaning that the Cardinals fans gathered outside the stadium hadn’t imbibed as much alcohol as the previous evening. Another possible reason for the slightly better behavior could be due to the national coverage that the previous night’s encounters received. On top of that, there was more security on the scene. (The protesters were stationed outside the designated smoking area of the stadium.)
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While things weren’t nearly as volatile as the night before, that does not suggest that the protesters were warmly received or that they weren’t met with angry taunts and racist derision. In one instance, one fan gave the demonstrators a Nazi salute. Bassem Masri was livestreaming the event and noticed it right away.
Nazi salute pointed toward #Ferguson protesters dayymmmm https://t.co/nD377xg4DO
— Bassem Masri (@bassem_masri) October 7, 2014
He asked those watching the livestream to make a video of the salute and post it to YouTube. Below is the clip, courtesy of YouTube user zeev Burkz:
As you can see in the short clip, a man with a white cap points towards the protesters and then clearly gives a Nazi salute. After finishing the gesture, he tips his beer and takes a sip. He then walks back into the stadium. The demonstrators on the scene were somewhat flabbergasted. One simply said, “Did you see him do that white power sign?”
The demonstrations at Busch Stadium, and the national attention Monday night’s protests received, have helped reveal the ugly racism that exists within the St. Louis area. While black residents are demanding justice, white people want them to not only shut up, but to just not be seen. The reactions that we’ve seen from many of the people attending these Cards games says it all. Their feeling is that the mostly black protesters have no right to invade their territory and make them feel uncomfortable. It is that attitude that has created the extremely segregated community that a large portion of St. Louisans live in, and frankly, embrace.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
