Dressups banned at S.F. baseball

The San Francisco Giants baseball team is warning fans not to show up at AT&T Park wearing “culturally insensitive attire.”

Culturally insensitive clothes? My head may explode.

Sr. Vice President Staci Slaughter said the Giants’ fan base is one of the nation’s most culturally diverse and the team wants to make sure that Giants’ opponents are the only group in the park whose feelings are hurt on game day.

“We want to make sure that our fans are respectful of each other and the different backgrounds that everyone comes from,” Slaughter said.

The move was triggered by an ugly incident at AT&T Park on Native American Heritage Night.

Several Native Americans showed up in traditional gear. So far, so good. But a non-Native fan wore a headdress, too. He claimed it was a tribute. "Authentic” Indians weren't convinced. One asked the bogus brave to ditch the headdress. He did, but hurt feelings lingered. Hence, the ban against “culturally insensitive clothing.”

It’s bad enough that the government tells citizens what kind of light bulbs to buy and how many gallons are allowed per flush. Now a sports team tells fans what to wear to a game?  Amazing.

A highlight of the ballpark experience is seeing the outlandish outfits sported by some fans. Any of them could offend someone.

Plastic cheese heads worn by Green Bay Packer fans surely offend the lactose intolerant. University of Georgia fans painted like pooches and barking their lungs out must give cat lovers a case of the creeps.

During a recent World Cup soccer match, one dude showed up dressed like the Pope, with marijuana leaves and swastikas embroidered on his robes. Who wasn’t offended by that?

Besides, most of the outfits aren’t mean spirited. I speak from experience. During a Thanksgiving pageant at Edward J. Hynes Elementary School in New Orleans, Kent Davis dressed as a pilgrim. Margie Eggles was a pilgrim-ette. I was an Indian, complete with plastic feather and lipstick war paint.

As the pilgrims frolicked around a table loaded with cardboard turkeys I stood nearby, grinning and saying, “Ugh.” As far as I was concerned, “Ugh” was Choctaw for “I love Tonto.” (Which I did. And still do.)

The San Francisco clothing ban is as dumb as calling white paint racist. And it's not as if the ball park didn’t have bigger things to worry about.

The day before the insensitive clothing ban was announced, a man beat a woman so badly at AT&T Park she had to be hospitalized. Her offense? She rooted for the Giants’ opponent. At least her feelings weren’t hurt.

Speaking of Giants, has the club considered that their nickname might be offensive to people of average or below average height?

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