Sammy Sosa Responds to Bleaching Allegations

Baseball great Sammy Sosa spoke to Spanish station Primer Impacto yesterday regarding the dramatic lightening of his complexion. Defending his newfound facade, Sosa shot down claims that he is suffering from vitiligo, a skin disorder, and actually attributed his new look to a moisturizer.

According to the New York Daily News, Sosa said:

I'm doing well, doing well, thanks to God. ... I use a cream to keep my skin smooth and soft. I apply it before I go to bed. When I was playing for Chicago all those years, I was in the sun a lot for 1 o'clock games. The flashes (from the cameras) also made my skin look lighter.

He also went on to disprove speculation that he is trying to become the next Michael Jackson by bleaching his skin:

Not at all, I respect him very much. I'm not a racist. I'm not like that. I'm just a happy person.

What about those green contacts he's been sporting as of late? Sosa deflected critics by retorting that he was just trying something different. "I'm not trying to be superficial," he said.

Who knew a "cream" could literally wipe the black off of your face. I mean, is this guy serious? If I were to put on a cream that drastically altered my complexion, I'd probably sue -- not to mention take the quickest route to my dermatologist. I think it speaks volumes that Sosa plans on being the spokesperson for the "cream."

Sosa, who would not tell...the name of the cream he uses, did say that it is European and that he is in negotiations to market the product.

I get a headache just imagining how it is possible that any person would think this type of change has anything to do with keeping one's skin "smooth and soft." My people, my people, it is 2009, the year of the first black president. Must we still yearn for the Europeanization of our features? If we want to take it back to yesteryear -- beyond Michael -- let's take it back to the black empowerment years of the '60s and proclaim in our minds and hearts that we are black and beautiful. As God made us.