I don't understand people; some for obvious reasons (Tom Cruise), others for semi-valid reasons (Ozzy Osbourne), and others because they are idiots. No, I'm not talking about Houston Texans front office, my friend Power, or, even, the walking train-wrecks known as Britney Spears, or Lindsay Lohan. No-no, I'm talking about people who are just plain ignorant; people who have no clue what they are saying, or even worse, saying something without understanding the impact of what they are saying, or who they are hurting.
A couple of weeks ago, Don Imus, of Imus in the Morning, called the
This coming Sunday, Major League Baseball, its fans, the entire sporting world, and, what seemingly should be more important, Americans (white, black, brown, purple, or red) will have celebrated the 60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the baseball color-barrier and becoming the first black man to play professional baseball in the Major Leagues. Obviously, I wasn't alive at the time to watch him play, but reading about him and hearing about his trials and tribulations which he had to go through, it makes me kind of sad because some people still have to go through a similar form of racism, even 60 years later…long after athletes have broken the color barrier in all sports; even ice-hockey, i.e. Jerome Iginla from the Calgary Flames, or Jesse and Russ from The Mighty Ducks movies.
Look, racism still exists in today's world, even with all the efforts to combat it; some people will not change their views on people who do not fit into their criteria; or what they perceive to be the norm. And, sadly, most often times, the person who spews any type of racial epithet is usually trying to be funny, sarcastic, or make light of a certain event; however, the only thing they really are doing is making an ass out of themselves. Think about it: Fuzzy Zoeller asking Tiger Woods to not serve "fried chicken…collard greens, or whatever the hell they serve" at the Masters tournament dinner chosen by the winner, or Michael Irvin explaining Tony Romo's athleticism by suggesting his grandmother had sex with a slave. Want further examples? Ok, Rush Limbaugh telling an entire nation that the only reason Donovan McNabb was successful as an NFL QB was because the media needed a successful black QB. And, this doesn't even count the countless people, celebrities, and athletes, who have said the word, "fag", "queer", n-bomb, or Jew. That list includes people from John Rocker to Mel Gibson to Michael Richards, and even The
"All people are created equal…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". This phrase is arguably the most well-known phrase ever created; no it's not from The Joshua Tree, but rather The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. If this is the premise of the Declaration, then why are we still seeing struggles in today's society? When Thomas Jefferson, a known slave owner and father to an impregnated slave, was writing the Declaration, did he keep in mind all people, or just those he thought should have these rights? Look, I'm not bashing
So, why does racism still exist in today's world? Everyday it seems there is another controversy, one way or another, because someone said something and it made GLAD, NAACP, LULAC, or *NSYNC mad. Most often times the person who has said, or done something, controversial will often say their words were taken out of context, or the words were misinterpreted. But, I want to know how hard is it to misinterpret calling a black teammate a "fat Monkey" or a describing New York as "looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids"? It's not hard to comprehend those words. Fergalicious is hard to comprehend; those words aren't.
Richard Pryor was one of the greatest comedians, if not the greatest, of all-time. The majority of his stand-up routines were racially and sexually motivated; yet, this made him unique. He was unafraid to say what people thought, especially the black people. He was fearless and his comedy will never be touched because it was groundbreaking; he did something that no one else had ever had the balls to do. Now, we are stuck with Dane Cook and Carlos Mencia. See, the thing with Pryor was he never used racism, bigotry, or sexism as anything else other than in his comedy routines, or movies; it was all a form of entertainment; The Toy and Silver Streak had racial overtones, but they ended in the movie. In other words, you never saw Gene Wilder use shoe polish to pretend he was black in real life boarding a train. (Sadly though, this idea was ripped off in the good-bad movie, Soul Man with C. Thomas Howell.) You never heard Pryor shout out vulgarities or other derogatory remarks towards others in his everyday life; on stage yes, but off-stage no. Some people don't know how to separate the two; and this is what gets them in trouble.
And what I mean by trouble is this: people use any excuse they can come up with as a means of getting them out of what they said; almost like a do-over. There have been plenty of people who said, "I was trying to make a smart-ass comment out of…", when in actuality they are just making an ass out of themselves. But, are comedic reasons valid for saying ignorant remarks? Some people believe they are but often times that humor goes unseen on the majority of people. Others think age is an excuse for people to say remarks or have certain views towards certain populations. Imus is an example of that type of person. There are certain things in life you can apologize for: the shittiness of Nickelback, dropping a silent-but-violent in the middle of the Homily at church, and letting your buddy hook up with a Monet; and there are some things that are inexcusable: ignorance is one of them.
This is
One of the best examples I can think of is when I was in grad school. My friend's aunt is a lesbian and she was with her partner. While we were all getting ready to go out to eat, another friend of mine was unable to go and everyone wanted to know why, not thinking, and being a smart-ass, I said, "oh, because he's gay." Talk about uncomfortable, but even though I didn't intend to sound mean, I came across that way, and more often than not impressions are lasting, which explains why people think Ty Cobb was such a bigoted racist; impressions are just that.
I'm not racist, hell I'm a minority myself, I have gay friends, I know people who are lesbians, and have a lot of black friends. Now, if I knew exactly how many black friends I have then I might be a racist, at least according to Chris Rock. And I know there are things that I will do, say, act that may irk some people, but you can't live life watching what you say all the time, 24-7. This doesn't excuse what Imus, Rocker, and the rest of the celebrities who have said something controversial, but it does hopefully make you aware of your surroundings and what's going on, not just in your life, but others as well. Sure there are double-standards, censorships, and hypocritical issues in the world, but they are prevalent in other issues as well.
Going into this column, I didn't know exactly how I wanted to get my points across to you; should I approach this with a serious overtone, full of various pop-culture subjects, sarcastic, what? The answer is neither. I didn't want to write it a certain way, I just wanted to write what I thought about what's going on, especially in lieu of what's going on in the sporting world, and let you form your own opinion. And that's the whole thing, what's your opinion is, fine, however have enough sense to not express it in a demeaning or hurtful way. As Pee Wee Reese (or maybe it was Pee Wee Hermann) once said, "you can hate a person, but don't hate a person for their skin tone" I think it goes a little further than skin tone; orientation is another example, however fondness of Creed is fair-game. So, if you excuse me, I have to find some crackers…saltines, that is. Until next week…
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