Sticks and Stones
It all started with Mel Gibson launching a tirade against Jewish people while being arrested for DUI. The Jewish community came together and blasted Gibson’s anti-semitic comments, which led to Gibson ultimately apologizing for his remarks. This was later followed by what can only be described as “Foot-in-mouth disease”, where celebrities say things they think are funny, but actually offend.
There was the case of Isaiah Washington using the pejorative “faggot” against a co-star on the set of ABC’s primetime soap Grey’s Anatomy. Shortly after, Ann Coulter made reference to this incident at a speaking engagement by commenting that she couldn’t talk about Presidential-hopeful John Edwards because using the word faggot would come with a cozy room at a rehab facility. Both cases drew anger from homosexual activism communities, most notably GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
Then, there was Rosie O’Donnell’s infamous Ching Chong comments about Asian people, which angered several Chinese-American leaders and added fuel to a fire that calls for Rosie to get the ax on ABC’s The View. Rosie’s truthful apology on The View didn’t seem to suffice Chinese-American leaders, so society forced her to draft a more formal, yet not at all, heartfelt apology. It was enough to get the community off her back though.
ABC caught a break from the controversy of colorful words when radio shock-jock Don Imus dropped his now famous “nappy headed hos” line while describing the women’s basketball team at Rutgers University. The Reverend Al Sharpton called for the protest of CBS Radio and MSNBC, both of which carried the the Imus in the Morning program. Protests led by Sharpton were successful in getting Imus yanked from the airwaves—Imus was first dropped by MSNBC, then by CBS Radio two days later.
Sharpton also brought about an outcry following an earlier incident in which former Seinfeld cast member Michael Richards used the word “nigger” at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. Sharpton was, again, successful in his agenda of pulling an apology out of Richards—however, Sharpton has yet to call on Dr. Kamau Kambon of North Carolina State University for publicly viewing his opinion that white people should be exterminated (and, apparently, C-SPAN is still on the air).
The Michael Richards racial slur case brought about discussions as to what groups of people could and couldn’t say certain words, but as the story faded from the media spotlight, so did our round-table discussions and debate. Apparently, what didn’t fade was our newfound sensitive nature.
And that brings me to my point: Whatever happened to the concept of “sticks and stones”? Why, over the past year, has America turned into this place where we cry over spilled milk? Why the uproar over little things that were supposed to be funny, and where is the uproar over a dangerous Hitler-esque declaration against an entire race of people? Those who get offended by stereotype jokes and insult comedy are doing something very dangerous—they are exposing their own differences and furthur dividing the human race in a time when we are all fighting for civil equality.
Living in the land of free speech and expression, we are bound to overhear something that will offend and insult, but instead of getting angry about what is said, we need to learn to laugh. We will all live a little longer, and a little happier, if we can laugh at ourselves rather than get mad at others. And believe it or not, in laughing at ourselves, we’ll help tear down the boundaries that prevent us from realising that we are all part of the human race.
In my past life, I was a tree or something. If not a tree, something that grew old and didn't move very much. I'm pretty convinced of this.