What'd You Call Me?!?!
Here we go again. Another celebrity having a racist rant and then saying, “Oh! I didn’t mean it! I was just drunk! That wasn’t me!” Only this time, I don’t think Michael Richards is even admitting he was messed up on something, which he clearly seems to be on the footage I viewed.
O.k., so sometimes people do say stuff they don’t mean when they’re drunk, like, “No mom, I wasn’t drinking,” or “I’m looking for a serious relationship; I would really love to go to your place so we can TALK.” But racist rants? Anger-fueled insults? Those are rarely lies. Those usually have at least a core, a kernel, of truth.
I’ve been angry and drunk (occasionally at the same time! ;), and I have found myself wanting to insult someone. Once or twice a racist remark might cross my mind, because I think of what someone else might say or what I heard someone utter in a film. THAT is anger; THAT is confusion. But racism is saying it out loud and meaning it. Racism is knowing what words will truly hurt and enrage a certain person or group because of their historical connotations and saying those words anyway. Racism is loading up your gun with the most hateful ammunition… and then shooting.
A popular song from a musical I know is “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” which satirizes the sad truth that no one is immune to stereotypes and it is almost impossible for someone to be truly colorblind. But the difference between being slightly prejudiced and being a downright bigot, in my opinion, is one’s actions and words.
I am not a racist. Therefore words like those used by Mel Gibson to the LAPD and Michael Richards at the Laugh Factory WOULD NEVER COME FROM MY MOUTH. They COULD never come from my mouth. No matter how drunk or angry I could ever be, it just wouldn’t happen. I mean, let’s face it: when I’m drunk I’m much MORE honest and uncensored than when I’m sober—my truest thoughts and desires pour from my mouth, sometimes uncontrollably. I think this is true for most people, whether they like to admit it or not, or unless they are using specific lies to achieve a specific goal. Hateful, racist remarks like the ones these two men made are not in my heart, so I could never say them, therefore I just don’t buy the excuse that they could come out of anyone’s mouth that didn’t mean them, at least a little, in the deepest, darkest part of their souls.
So since these men are, in my opinion, racist, why not admit it and try to change? They have plenty of protection and all the money they’ll ever need. (Hell, they have all the money most small countries would ever need!) So instead of saying, “I’m not a racist, I didn’t mean it!” why not send a great message and maybe even set an example for other people to overcome their biases, by saying, “You know what? I am a little bit racist. And that sucks. And I hate that about myself. So I’m going to get some help, some therapy and try to change.”
THAT I would believe… and respect.
posted by Shannonymous @ 6:03 AM
4 Comments:
I'm gonna get yelled at for this.
So first let me say I don't CONDONE the nature of Richards' outburst.
That being said, I think the thing Richards was "messed up on" was 10 years of feeling like a wash-up, like a one-hit wonder, hitting the stand-up circuit and everything pissed they're not seeing Kramer, etc.
Of course no one's going to feel sorry for the rich guy, but those clubs are brutal. He probly just got heckled as a "has been" one too many times from some drunk (gotta love those 2/3 drink minimums) in the audience, and snapped. And BOY did he snap.
I'm not saying I forgive the guy or whatever. The writer in me is just more interested in the "why," and I don't think it's simple "racism."
Mel's case is different. He and his dad have a history of that shit.
I would like to say that I don't appreciate someone oh-so-satircally employing the phonetics of my shannonymous handle.
Okay, I said it.
Michael's meltdown on stage was shocking and an embarrassment. And it obviously reveals something about who he is, so now it seems disingenuous for him to say "I'm not a racist."
Still, to me his apology seemed sincere. He says that his tirade was a bunch of "crap," he doesn't blame anyone but himself, and he admits that he has a lot of "personal work" to do.
In some ways, Mel Gibson's apology was similar. He says "I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot." Later on he adds, "I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from..."
It makes a certain amount of sense to me that you could have some bigoted feelings, even blurt them out sometimes, and still know deep down it's wrong. I think that's what these guys mean when they say "I'm not a racist" and "I'm not a bigot": no matter what feelings may bubble up in them, they know on some level that it's wrong.
I am with you on this one. These guys are racist and no matter what you say in your "apology". You can never cover up that fact. It was out there for all of us to see. I was never a fan of Richards and although I love Braveheart, Mel never really did it for me either. I am choosing to just write them both off.
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