The past week has been like old times for Hank Aaron -- not the celebration of the 40th anniversary of his historic 715th home run on Tuesday, but the racially charged mail arriving at the Atlanta Braves' offices. A USA Today report said "vile letters" directed at the Mobile native "have poured in" to the team.

The letters came in the wake of Aaron's comments in a USA Today story about the 40th anniversary of his breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record. During his pursuit of the record, Aaron received stacks of letters filled with racist language and death threats. His answer to why he has kept the letters for four decades was interpreted by some as comparing the current Republican Party to the Ku Klux Klan of the past and drew public criticism from notables such as talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who called Aaron's views on racism "silly" and "disappointing."

USA Today reported that others have made their feelings known the same way as 40 years ago, except now instead of coming via the U.S. Postal Service, the letters are delivered through e-mail.

USA Today quoted from one letter obtained from the Braves: "Hank Aaron is a scumbag piece of (expletive) (racial slur). ... My old man instilled in my mind from a young age, the only good (racial slur) is a dead (racial slur)."

Here's what set off responses such as that -- Aaron's reported answer to why he kept the hate mail from the 1970s:

"To remind myself that we are not that far removed from when I was chasing the record. If you think that, you are fooling yourself. A lot of things have happened in this country, but we have so far to go. There's not a whole lot that has changed.

"We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president. But when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he's treated.

"We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country.

"The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts."

On Monday, Bob Nightengale, the USA Today baseball writer who reported the original story, came to Aaron's defense.

"Never in our 50-minute conversation did Aaron suggest anyone critical of President Obama is racist," Nightengale wrote. "Never did he compare the Republican Party to the Ku Klux Klan. Simply, Aaron stated that we are fooling ourselves if we don't believe that racism exists in our country. It's simply camouflaged now."