Mea Culpa....kind of.
It seems that Naomi Judd of the famed singing duet "The Judds" has come under fire for making racist remarks on Star Search. Apparently she told a dancer that he was "a funky monkey robocop", and gave him two stars after the other judges had given him a minimum of 4 stars each. Of course she may not have been a big fan of that sort of dancing and that sort of music. Additionally she praised a dance team for doing tap. She said that she liked to see good tap, "especially when white people do it." Trent Lott made remarks lauding Strom Thurmond on his 1948 gesture toward winning the Presidency by saying that, "If he would have won we would not be in the mess we are now." Shaq responded to Yao Ming's insistence that he would shut him down by saying, "Tell him I said, "waakaaaa yoooooo yeeeee yyyy chooong" or something like that.
The thing that all of these people have in common is the fact that they made stupid remarks that could have been avoided had they thought a little bit before they said them. The difference lies in the fact that no matter how logically unfair it may seem, black people do not come under the same scrutiny for racial misbehavior than what whites do. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with the remarks that Shaq and Naomi made and the fact that they were meant to be fun is not being recognized. Perhaps Trent Lott was talking about Strom Thurmond's domestic policy, Defense Plans, and economic stimulus thoughts when he talked about the "mess we are now in." But unfortunately what they meant, and what was perceived are two seperate issues.
[continued...]
It seems that Naomi Judd of the famed singing duet "The Judds" has come under fire for making racist remarks on Star Search. Apparently she told a dancer that he was "a funky monkey robocop", and gave him two stars after the other judges had given him a minimum of 4 stars each. Of course she may not have been a big fan of that sort of dancing and that sort of music. Additionally she praised a dance team for doing tap. She said that she liked to see good tap, "especially when white people do it." Trent Lott made remarks lauding Strom Thurmond on his 1948 gesture toward winning the Presidency by saying that, "If he would have won we would not be in the mess we are now." Shaq responded to Yao Ming's insistence that he would shut him down by saying, "Tell him I said, "waakaaaa yoooooo yeeeee yyyy chooong" or something like that.
The thing that all of these people have in common is the fact that they made stupid remarks that could have been avoided had they thought a little bit before they said them. The difference lies in the fact that no matter how logically unfair it may seem, black people do not come under the same scrutiny for racial misbehavior than what whites do. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with the remarks that Shaq and Naomi made and the fact that they were meant to be fun is not being recognized. Perhaps Trent Lott was talking about Strom Thurmond's domestic policy, Defense Plans, and economic stimulus thoughts when he talked about the "mess we are now in." But unfortunately what they meant, and what was perceived are two seperate issues.
[continued...]
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