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January 11, 2008
Al Sharpton's an ass
I should probably leave this alone, but it really bugs me when public figures, notably the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, co-opt someone else's problem or tragedy as a soap-box for their race and equality issues. It's very dangerous of me to question their motives, but every ounce of my being thinks their actions are motivated first by power, greed, and fame, and second for their desire to be a voice for the oppressed and marginalized. I'm not saying that they're entirely disingenuous, but because their motives are inverted they do more to escalate racial tensions than soothe them.
I was reminded of this opinion when I read this morning on CNN about Golf Channel host, Kelly Tilghman's, recent gaffe:
Excerpt from the CNN article:
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"Tilghman uttered the remark during coverage of Hawaii's Mercedes-Benz Championship on Friday, while she and and co-host Nick Faldo were bantering about how young golfers might challenge ever-dominant Woods.
Faldo said, "To take Tiger on, well yeah, they should just gang up for a while until ..."
"Lynch him in a back alley," Tilghman interrupted with a chuckle."
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It doesn't appear to me that this was intended to be racist. It doesn't point to inner racism coming out in a moment of weakness. She was just trying to be funny and made an honest mistake. I am constantly opening my mouth up to say something that I think will be funny or insightful, and realizing the second it's out of my mouth that it might be inappropriate or hurtful. Just this morning, my wife wanted to sit on the couch, and my daughter wouldn't move her legs, and even after Courtney told her to, Emma said, "I want you to sit on them." In a flash, I said to Emma, "Trust me, you don't want her to sit on them. Doh! You can bet I got a glare from Courtney. With humor, timing is everything. The faster your can respond, the greater the potential for humor. We don't always take the time to filter those statements. Like it or not, my brain has associated certain things, positive and negative, with every race on the planet. At some point in the future my brain may impulse my mouth to say something racially inappropriate before I consider the ramifications. That doesn't make me a racist, stupid perhaps, but not a racist. Tilghman has since issued a genuine apology to Tiger Woods,
Exerpt from the CNN article:
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who through his agent issued a statement saying he was friends with Tilghman and respected her, said, "We know unequivocally that there was no ill intent in her comments."
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Apology given, apology accepted, done. If Al Sharpton really cared about social justice and people he would see that the initial public outcry at Tilghman's comment, her subsequent and genuine apology, and Tiger Woods' forgiveness were information enough that the world doesn't condone statements like hers, and takes racial inequality very seriously. She's been suspended, and had her hand slapped, but he wants her fired. What!?
To me, the drunk rantings of Michael Richards and Mel Gibson likely point to repressed feelings and racial hate, but this was a simple mistake -- plain and simple. I know she's white and all, but demanding she be fired for that mistake seems way overblown. Tilghman is known for professionalism and speaks millions of words per year and six of them are unintentionally hurtful. Give me a break, 80% of the words out of Don Imus' mouth, trying to be funny, could easily be misconstrued and hurtful to someone, but I don't even think he's a racist.
It's not what you say, but how you say it.
Like I said, I should have left this one alone!
[Update: There's some great continued discussion of this post on a friends blog. Thanks Peter.]
[Update: My brother in law read this post while I was with him, his first comment, even before finishing, was that I may have undermined my position by starting the whole post off by calling the antagonist an ass. While I assumed a certain amount of license in rant mode, he may have a point. Thanks Dan.]
Posted by mark at January 11, 2008 10:22 AM Subscribe (FeedBurner)
Comments
agreed!!!! I almost made this exact post, but alas, you are far more eloquent! thank you for the post!
Posted by: Nate at January 11, 2008 12:13 PM
I completely agree.
Posted by: Topher at January 11, 2008 12:32 PM
You've got your yes-men, now make way for the curmudgeon ;-)
I have come to believe three things over the last decade of thinking about these issues, being married to a black woman and moving through the edges of African-American families:
*** We are all recovering racists. ***
Yes, even you and I. This is a broken world, we are broken people, and if you think you can pick up and "cast that first stone" by all means go ahead.
The key is to recognize that racism exists in ourselves and then take steps to soften and reverse it.
Was the "lynching" remark that touched this all off a racist comment? I don't even know how to answer that question. It genuinely could have been lousy word choice based on, I dunno, having just seen Lynchburg Lemonade on a bar menu and having that phoneme at the front of the brain. Was it an insensitive comment? Absolutely.
*** We can have good intentions and still be insensitive. ***
Years ago I was part of a team that helped create a poster celebrating relief work. We gathered a bunch of images of people helping other people in developing nations and published the photo. There was instant backlash from our black staff because all the photos were of white people helping brown ones. I was pissed, "STFU, it's great imagery." Their point was that it represented the ongoing historical power imbalance where whites help the poor blacks.
It took me months to calm down, but eventually I realized my own culpability in the matter. Viewing everything through my suburban white eyes, it never even occurred to me that the poster would be genuinely hurtful to a large number of people. Did I mean for that to happen? Absolutely not. Was I being racist? I don't think so? It was an honest mistake.
Here's the key though-- I had slapped an open wound. I didn't know it was there, but it still hurt just as much. I needed to recognize that I had slapped it and was the cause of the pain. "Lynching" is a highly charged word in this country and hurts people.
*** The Reverends have agendas ***
Having said all that above, I still share some of your disgust when high profile people wield events like this to serve their own agendas. I think the reverends know that some of what they say is too extreme and I think they do it on purpose anyway so that they can drag the center of gravity of the conversation in the right directions. That doesn't mean I like all of what they have to say.
Okay, i"ll stop being curmudgeonly now :)
Posted by: alan at January 11, 2008 2:58 PM
Excellent points Alan! I agree with everything you said. My hackles raised when Sharpton called for her firing. It wasn't enough for him to decry her comments, he had to take it a step further and call for her dismissal. I put myself in Tilghman's shoes and pictured her and her family being put under this stress and microscope because of a mistake. I'm certainly not saying that it was a little mistake. It was a dangerous word to say accidentally on national television, and a mistake that needs to be carefully considered. It just felt to me like Sharpton was a little too willing to make her the sacrificial lamb for his cause. I suppose it just triggered my justice meter in defense of Tilghman, as I'm sure Sharpton's justice flag was raised when he heard of her thoughtless comment.
Thanks for your sage wisdom Alan!
Posted by: Mark D Veerman at January 11, 2008 3:38 PM
Well put! If we look at Jesus as a model, he was a good balance of justice (calling people out all the time) and mercy (extending unbelievable forgiveness). This golf debacle has got more than its share of justice but without mercy to balance it out.
Posted by: alan at January 11, 2008 4:21 PM