Kyle,
As young adults, we make mistakes.
Some are small and minuscule, like little ripples in the pond, hardly noticeable.
Others are jarring and life-changing, causing title-waves that have prolific effects.
This week has been nothing short of a tsunami for you.
I’m not sorry for you, just disappointed.
As an Asian-American, I had a strong connection to you as a driver.
It isn’t very often that we see people of Asian descent, mixed or not, succeed at the highest level of American motorsports.
I heard your apology, and you understand your mistake.
But as a minority yourself, I hope you understand the pain words like that can have.
Because I’ve been called racial names before and regrettably, I’ve done the same to others.
To a friend or not, hurtful intentions or not, it is not ok.
But I have a belief that you will be back.
I know that one day, I will point you out to my son and say, “look, you can do it too.”
And explain that you came back from what seemed like insurmountable odds.
I’m sure when you became a professional athlete, you weren’t intending to be anyone’s hero.
You weren’t entitled to be anyone’s hero. And that’s ok.
But I hope you wanna be one now.
Kyle, I’m behind you because I believe everyone deserves a second chance.
We all make mistakes, the question always is, what do you learn from that mistake?
Sincerely,
Scott Masom
photo credit: Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
