Giants coach Antoan Richardson: Mike Shildt is not a racist

San Francisco Giants assistant coach Antoan Richardson and San Diego Padres assistant coach Mike Shildt were able to meet and discuss things Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, San Francisco Giants assistant coach Antoan Richardson met with San Diego Padres assistant Mike Shildt to discuss comments Shildt allegedly made in Richardson’s direction Tuesday evening.

According to Richardson on Tuesday, Shildt made remarks that carried “undertones of racism.”

During their meeting Wednesday, Richardson and Shildt apparently were able to share their thoughts on what happened and they were able to have a productive conversation about the situation.

Following the meeting between the coaches, Richardson and Shildt met with a group of reporters to clarify what was going on and explain the situation.

San Francisco Giants: Antoan Richardson meets with Mike Shildt, states that Shildt isn’t a racist

“And, after we kind of discussed, just to make it very clear that in no way do I believe that Shildty is a racist,” Richardson stated to media members while standing next to Shildt Wednesday morning.

Richardson continued on, explaining that he was intending to raise awareness of the way words can have an impact that may not be close to what was intended.

“What I was trying to do is just bring awareness to how words impact certain communities, even though they might not have ill intent,” Richardson explained. “This was just helping us to be more aware of what those things mean.”

When Shildt was presented with the opportunity to speak, he thanked Richardson for helping to clear the situation up and then acknowledged how he used “inappropriate language” Tuesday.

“I don’t know Antoan’s heritage,” Shildt said. “I can’t walk in his shoes. I can only have empathy and love, which I do have and have always had in my life. I used inappropriate language, which is my biggest issue last night and I apologize for that.”