Martin Hyde apologizes to two young Puerto Rican tennis players after his racist remarks.
(Photo : Reuters)

Issues about racist attacks by giving comments through radio and television have become rampant nowadays. In the previous report of Latin Post, Tim Ryan, a radio announcer for the San Francisco 49ers, was suspended following his comments about Lamar Jackson's dark skin, stating that Jackson is good at hiding the ball for fakes because of it.  

This time, Sarasota Commission candidate Martin Hyde is asking an apology after his racial remarks towards the young tennis players. The allegation has first surfaced last Friday which Martin Hyde denied however in one of the TV segments on Tuesday, he admitted that he made a racial remark.

in an article published in the Latino Rebels, Martin Hyde appeared on the ABC7 News show and was interviewed by Bill Logan. He was first asked by the host if did he utter the words 'cut the grass' at any point. Hyde said and answered "I came tonight because it's the right thing to do and if I got enough balls to tell people off and to be aggressive towards them, I have to face the reality that my behavior was wrong. It was racially insensitive. It was inappropriate. It's not the first time I've spoken badly to people. I'm hoping that it will be among the last times. It's difficult to explain why one behaves in a certain way, why one seeks to control a situation by putting somebody down."  

Hyde admitted that he uttered those words because they were being loud. However, he did not mention whether or not those boys spoke in Spanish during that time. According to the young tennis players they were speaking in Spanish during the incident. They also said the Hyde uttered the words after their conversation which Hyde denied. 

Bill logan asked him if at what point did he say cut the grass, he said that right at the very beginning of his conversation with the boys and not at the end as what the players alleged. But when asked if was his remarks wrong? He answered, "Oh absolutely and you know it's racially insensitive, it's incongruous, it's inappropriate."

Moreover, the said incident was also captured and posted on different social media sites. It caught the attention of netizens and with this Martin Hyde said "Let's be fair. Quite a lot of them, I can figure out what 'racista' means but I don't speak Spanish. I get it. This idea that it was a slur on the Puerto Rican people. The kids happened to be from Puerto Rico. That was news to me."  

Following the incident, Martin Hyde decided not to no longer run for commissioner as he doubts if he really deserves to be involved in politics. Many are speculating that the main reason why he won't run anymore because of his involvement in this racist scandal.

He also said he will try to be more cautious and aware of how he acts or his attitude and try to do his best to negotiate things better. He did directly say that he promised not to do the same anymore especially towards people from Spanish-speaking communities.

Hyde concluded the interview with this statement, "If anybody else has got these kinds of behaviors and kinds of thoughts and whatever else, they should understand that we're in 2019. It's not colonial times. We don't own people, and we have to behave in a different way, and if you don't, these days, cellphone cameras are everywhere. The idea that you're going to get away with it, is wrong." 

Seems as though Mr. Hyde is more concerned with being caught than being degrading towards minorities.