Houston Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair is apologizing for saying an anti-Asian comment in front of a crowd at a charity event earlier this year.
Bally Sports reported that McNair shocked attendees and staff at the Houston Texans Foundation Charity Golf Classic at River Oaks Country Club in May when he told the crowd, “I’m sorry that we couldn’t get together last year, because of the China Virus.”
Many in attendance gasped at the reference to Covid-19, while McNair and his wife seemed amused, Bally Sports reported.
“My comments at the event last May included an inappropriate choice of words,” McNair said in a statement sent to Bally Sports by a team representative. “I immediately apologized to people who approached me then and I apologize again now. I know how important it is to choose my words carefully. I would never want to offend anyone.”
The anti-Asian phrase was introduced by former President Donald Trump. Anti-Asian bias and violence against Asian Americans spiked following his use of the term.
McNair’s father, Bob McNair, who owned the team before he died in 2018, was also criticized for controversial comments.
When talking about players kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice and police brutality, Bob McNair said: “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
He later apologized, saying that “I regret that I used that expression. I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players.”
But then he said he regretted apologizing because he was talking about league executives and had nothing to be sorry for.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
