The National Enquirer has an audio clip of bounty hunter and A&E reality TV star Duane "Dog" Chapman going off on a terrific self-immolating racist rant to his son Tucker, who is dating a black woman. He insists that his son stop dating girlfriend Monique Shinnery because it will "deny" Dog the freedom to express his inner Klansman.
Via Sandra Rose, a transcript of the audio:
Duane "Dog" Chapman: I'm not taking the chance on some motherf**ker. I don't care if she's a Mexican, a whore, whatever…it's not because she's black. It’s because we use he word n***er sometimes here.I thought this reaction over at Celebitchy mirrored my initial reaction:I'm not going to take a chance ever in life for losing everything I've worked for for 30 years because some f**king n**er heard us say n***er and turned us into the Enquirer magazine. Our career is over. I'm not taking that chance at all, never in life. Never. Never.
If Lyssa [his daughter] was dating a n***er we would all say F*ck You. . .and you know that. If Lyssa brought a black guy home ya da da…it's not that they're black, it's none of that. It's that we use the word n***er. We don't mean you fucking scum n***er without a soul. We don't mean that shit. But America would think we mean that. And we're not taking a chance on losing everything we got over a racial slur because our son goes with a girl like that. I can't do that Tucker. You can't expect Gary, Bonnie, Cecily, all them young kids to [garbled] because 'I'm in love for 7 months' - fuck that! So, I'll help you get another job but you can not work here unless you break up with her and she's out of your life. I can't handle that shit. I got 'em in the parking lot trying to record us. I got that girl saying she's gonna wear a recorder…
Tucker Chapman: I don't even know what to say.
It looks like all of Dog’s concerns could be coming to fruition. A&E has announced that it has suspended production on his reality series until they thoroughly investigate the matter. You know they’re just talking to their lawyers and trying to figure out how to tie up all the loose ends before dropping the guy.How about a big Charlie Brown "ARRRRGGGGGGGH!" Right out of the Michael Richard playbook — step 1: go hide behind Al Sharpton's apron (and, of course, Sharpton, never one to avoid a camera, is considering meeting with him). Man, this is incredible. Next step will be racial tolerance rehab, right? What a sorry spectacle.Meanwhile Dog has asked esteemed Reverend Al Sharpton to help him, and has retained the African American pastor that performed his last marriage to speak on his behalf. He has also released a statement saying how sorry he is. The pastor makes sure we know that Dog has gone to black churches “to help inner-city kids” before all this happened. I wonder if he used the N word in front of the little kids, because he pretty much told his son that it just comes out without his knowledge when black people are around. Was he uttering it under his breath repeatedly while he was taking his vows?
But back to the simplicity and beauty of Dog's diatribe. It is beautiful in that it strips off the nicities, and exposes the third rail of race in a way — albeit a crude, offensive way — that can generate honest discussion about the "closeting" of overt racism. For some people — who knows how many — this is a sad cultural development. More after the jump.
It's Tucker and Ms. Shinnery's fault that Dog's career might be threatened he believes, because he wants the free license to say nigger when he wants to. Well, no one is stopping him; free speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences of social disapproval of that speech. He fully realizes that, which is why he said "Our career is over." (Actually, I don't think that's necessarily true, given that Don Imus will be back on the air after what I suppose the MSM considers the appropriate amount of time in media purgatory for his slurs against the Rutgers women's basketball team.)
It's as if her presence will cause Chapman to blow a gasket because in private, he'd have to watch what he says. The more pointed question is why does he feel compelled to use "nigger" so casually — he knows the connotations, the history, the vitriol behind the word. From his statements on the tape, it's clear he isn't using it as a term of endearment (the ludicrous excuse often cited by blacks as justification for tossing the denigrating word around). Dog isn't into self-reflection, it's everyone else that's not with the program.
Dog's dilemma is that he wants to project a public image of tolerance — he may even have an honest sense that "racism" is wrong. Remember, as defined in his minds of plenty of good people, when called on their ignorance-based racism, they usually cannot admit to themselves they are racist (see Michael Richards), even though are culture is steeped in it. A racist in their minds wears a Klan sheet, or hangs out in a white supremacist survivalist unit, they are not the person next door. "That couldn't possible be me," they say to soothe themselves.
Clearly burning a cross on someone's lawn or dragging a black man to death behind a pickup truck is not the same as hurling "nigger" at the dinner table, but it comes from the same place — a dehumanization of an entire group of people in order to preserve a sense of supremacy in a world that is race-mixing out of control. It's clearly unnerving many, and when it "hits home" in this case, Dog didn't hold back.
Stripping away the crudeness of his remarks, you can see the underlying emotion being articulated — Chapman's disappointment at his son for even contemplating, let alone actually dating, someone outside his race. It's pretty obvious that Tucker Chapman grew up in a home where the word "nigger" and other racial slurs were used casually. Through the profane bluster on the audio, there is disbelief directed at his son in that moment; he's reallly saying "Didn't you get the message when I used that word in our home for all those years? Did I have to spell it out for you? Stay with your own kind."
I think it's safe to say that many parents who feel the same way about interracial relationships and their children are equally reluctant to spell that sentiment out directly to them. What has spun out of control for parents uncomfortable with the idea of their son or daughter dating outside their race is the ability for subtle (or in Dog's case, not-so-subtle) messages about what is "appropriate" to get through to their kids, because it's hard to project and foster tolerance in public, and then justify the opposite in private. In interpersonal relationships it's quite difficult for people who hold opposing public and private views on race they have to interact with a real person, not a stereotype, and that bores into long-held assumptions and beliefs. It. Does. Not. Compute. They only way to hold on to the security blanket of private racism is to isolate oneself from people in that group that challenge those beliefs, because the conflict is too messy to deal with.
Tucker Chapman ended up on the receiving end of "It. Does. Not. Compute."
Chapman is unnerved that despite raising his son "right" he didn't get the message — the culture of increased tolerance that Tucker grew up in allowed him to see Ms. Shinnery as a person he could be in a public romantic relationship with. He has forced his father to admit his inner racist exists — and Dog's reaction is a fight for its right to exist. The realization that a cultural norm has shifted makes people like Dog long for the "good times" when dropping "nigger" in public or private was acceptable among friends and family. That's progress, in my opinion. This also shows, however, that we are so far away from eradicating racism and bigotry in this culture.
***
Public versus private views on race are kept well-hidden in some ways, and not in others. For instance, in the corporate sphere, no company would run an ad like that one on the left today, an example I blogged about during the Imus debacle. Eventually someone at the company realized this wasn't going to fly as a marketing tool; times had changed, and what was once publicly acceptable, had become unacceptable. David Pilgrim, Professor of Sociology, Ferris State University (and the The Jim Crow Museum), discussed this in "Commercial Toms."
Rastus was created in 1893 by Emery Mapes, one of the owners of North Dakota's Diamond Milling Company. He wanted a likable image to help sell packages of "breakfast porridge." Maples, a former printer, remembered the image of a Black chef among his stock of old printing blocks. He made a template of the Black chef and named the product Cream of Wheat.Racism was bad for business (something clearly at the forefront of Dog Chapman's mind in his rant), and what is defined as racist or racism is always going to be a moving social target, and that can be unnerving for those who are having a difficulty getting past their internal biases. That's the place where the Bounty Hunter's anger comes from.…Rastus, like Aunt Jemima, is more than a company trademark — he is arguably a cultural icon. Rastus is marketed as a symbol of wholeness and stability. The toothy, well-dressed Black chef happily serves breakfast to a nation. In 1898 Cream of Wheat began advertising in national magazines. These advertisements were often reproduced as posters. Many of those advertisements are, by today's standards, racially insensitive.
We all have prejudices, and some of us are self-aware enough to try to overcome them, others remain blissfully in their own world until it blows up in their face in public embarrassment, and then we have the Dogs of the world, well aware of the impact of private biases surfacing publicly and seeking others to blame for his desire to maintain them.
UPDATE: The AP reports that Dog’s son was the one that sold the tape, to reveal his father’s racism. As predicted, Chapman’s lawyer put out the “he’s not a racist” statement.
Hart said his client is not a racist and vowed never to use the word again. “I have never seen anything that suggests he judges people by the color of their skin or racial background or anything but on their character,” he said. “Duane lost his composure and made very, very inappropriate remarks, for which he truly regrets.”
91 Responses to “The simplicity and beauty of Dog the Bounty Hunter’s racist tirade”
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So Dog has black friends! Imagine! Well, did anyway … doesn’t get him a “get out of racist tirade free” pass.
At least his son seems to have his head on straight and is acting like a mature … well … like a man about it!
I think a great place to start dealing with this would be forcing ourselves to reject the idea of race as a tangible, definitive, scientific method of classification. My daughter has a ‘white’ mother and a ‘black’ father, but she will be raised to understand that she has only one ‘race.’ She is human. Race is a social and political construct, and it has no basis in biology or even in logic. That’s why the politics of race are so labyrinthine.
I’m not suggesting that we adopt a head-in-the-sand, Pollyanna, Ward Connerly approach; we have to deal with this tangled web we’ve weaved. But continuing to give this destructive, nonsensical concept currency and life– by using terms like ‘biracial’ and ‘interracial’ as descriptive devices– is not going to help. We are wasting our time and energy fighting racism as long as we’re working within a racist frame of reference.
(Off-topic a bit, I know, but this issue peeves me to no end.)
WOW, wow, wow. — the whole “PC has shackled my ever-lovin’ blue-eyed soul” mindset on PARADE. WOW. Thanks for posting about the whole thing, as I am guessing media portrayals are going to get reduced to “celebrity caught using the N word, apologizes profusely, public agrees it is wrong wrong wrong, life carries on”.
it has no basis in biology or even in logic
While we roundly revile the just-so stories of the evopsych bullshit, I think your logic is faulty here. If it had no basis in biology or logic, then it wouldn’t have become a sociological construct.
In other words, something ABOUT our biology and the way our minds work has led us to make a big deal of it. Sorry, but oversimplifications are ineffective.
Also, how is your daughter ever going to make sense of how the world treats her if she isn’t given a roadmap to the madness, huh?
continuing to give this destructive, nonsensical concept currency and life– by using terms like ‘biracial’ and ‘interracial’ as descriptive devices– is not going to help. We are wasting our time and energy fighting racism as long as we’re working within a racist frame of reference.
Agreed. I blog about that all the time. It’s clear the terms, meant to create easy ways to pigeonhole people and assign or withhold power from one group or another, are misleading as well.
For instance, biracial has only come into use fairly recently, and it’s become an unintentionally amusing issue to deal with, as many people asks whether I’m biracial, when in fact you have to go several generations on either side of my family before someone white turns up.
Prior to the common acceptance of the term biracial, I was never asked this, one just assumed I was a light-skinned black person. Does this make a difference? Is there social value/stigma attached to how “diluted” your heritage is? What does any of this mean?
It becomes absurd on so many levels. But it’s the frame of reference this culture relies on, and to pretend it doesn’t exist or isn’t institutionalized isn’t realistic either.
I always thought this “Dog” was an insufferable blowhard. Glad he’s getting his comeuppance.
For some reason, this whole thing made me think of “Semi-Tough,” where Dan Jenkins sprinkled “nigger” around like confetti but was at pains to make us understand that Jimmy Bob Pickett, or whatever his name was, really valued his “nigger” teammates. Good ol’ boys, or those who think of themselves that way, apparently think they deserve a pass. They don’t.
As for Cream o’Wheat, we’re still seeing that kind of “mascot” black product icon with Aunt Jemina and Uncle Ben. To be fair, it would be hard to kill them off without destroying some very valuable brand equity. (Mars Inc., the owner of Uncle Ben’s, had a roaring success a few years ago by extending the brand into rice-based frozen meals.) The half-assed compromise was to “modernize” the icons by making them look more like marketing executives than servants. But it’s still, for me anyway, an uncomfortable throwback to an earlier period when prejudice was the norm.
Dog is a disgusting pig who should be fired, but . . . .
Why exactly is the Cream of Wheat icon racist? Maybe I’m biased because my dad is a chef (white), but how is showing a black men dressed as a chef offensive? They did not exagerate his lips or teeth, or otherwise make him look undignified.
I’m thinking some rehab (anger management classes) and then a tearful interview (well, Dog won’t be crying, because his buddies wouldn’t go for that, but he’ll get as close as he can without actually shedding a tear) with the B-list version of Diane Sawyer…maybe Julie Chen?…and then he’s back on the air. Oh, and he’ll do a show that’s scripted to show he’s racially tolerant and is over his anger issues. He didn’t claim to be drunk in that phone conversation, but he did, in some statement somewhere, talk about it being the result of anger.
I love that he says “this isn’t because she’s black.” Um, that’s exactly what it’s about. You like using the n-word and know that that’s not going to endear you to a black woman; so she must be thrown out of the picture so you don’t suffer any consequences for your racism.
Then the lawyer:
“I have never seen anything that suggests he judges people by the color of their skin or racial background or anything but on their character.”
Except when he told his son to dump his black girlfriend because black people generally don’t appreciate hearing white folks throw the n-word around and what if she exposes him!? Hah. Too late, asshole. You may vow to never use the word again but you don’t have to use the word to be a racist motherfucker. Biting your tongue when you get the urge doesn’t make you anti-racist.
I usually try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I think most white people could use a good sitdown with civil rights’ activists to have a little consciousness-raising.
But when people whine and moan about how the mean ol’ n—-rs will get upset because you use the word n—-r and ruin your life because you’re just being yourself, it makes it REALLY HARD to think that a person has gone through an awakening when they get called out for this and are looking for a means of facilitation towards expanding that awakening. And anyone who believes that this isn’t some last-ditch effort to keep his show should contact me about some prime real estate in Florida.
Ms. Kate and Pam:
As I said before, I don’t advocate sticking my head in the sand and pretending it will go away if I ignore it. However, casual acquiescence is not an option, either.
She will be armed with knowledge. She is a human being, and she will learn all that she can about why the rest is b.s. Others may choose to stigmatize her or stick her into a racist pigeonhole, but she will always know that she can choose not to do so to herself. She will have the option of doing what I do, which is to reject easy reliance on the racist paradigm (e.g. refusing to use the term ‘race’ as an identifier). I didn’t say it was going to be easy; sorry for not spelling that out.
I have to say, after reading the asinine rantings of Duane “Dog” Chapman to his son, simply because he’s dating a black woman, I better appreciate my parent’s positive reaction when I (white/European + some native American) brought home my (then) girlfriend (not white), who went on to become by wife (for the last 20-years).
I vividly remember my grandfather talking about “birds of a feather…” when I was 8 or 9, remember him telling racist jokes, seeing him mock “colored” folks on TV, hearing about how “the coloreds” are descendants of Ham, the disgraced son of Noah, etc. I also remember my dad’s comments about various races and cultures (some of which he still whips out periodically), comments about people’s sexual orientations, etc.
My grandfather learned to accept and embrace my wife, my marriage, and our “mixed” daughter before he died. My dad seems to have learned to handle the situation very well over the years (in fact he’s living with us now), and even at 70, he’s still learning. I try to help him with his growing tolerance every way I can.
My mom has always had a better attitude toward “other” people, and I assume I must take after her and her attitudes.
All in all (especially considering what “Dickhead” Chapman said to his son), I think I got pretty lucky…
Ms. Kate, I think that race can have a cultural basis without having any basis in biology or logic. Culture issues often have no basis in reality. The variety of religions throughout the world should be statement enough that culture is not logical. The concept of race is about the Other.
Irish people have argued over their ancestor’s country of origin for centuries. So have people from various parts of the world. In many of these cases, there’s nothing “racial” about the distinctions. The Hutu and Tutsi distinctions in Rwanda that caused genocide were based on arbitrary distinctions determined by their prior European overlords.
Phenotype and genotype have been shown to have very little correlation, so that while our cultural conception of race is based on phenotype (outward appearance) the “real” basis of race (genotype) has no (or very little) correlation with racial stereotypes.
Dog has a LOT of kids and the problem is that he did very little to raise most of them. His son is the one who sold that tape to The Enquirer. They are living on an island full of people of color. Most of the people I see him bringing in are “natives.” Does he slip up and use the word nigger around his pastor or the “black kids” he helps? No! He and his wife kinda creep me out but I cannot say that I haven’t watched that crazy show (and I’ve watched far worse reality shows).
Google the girl his son was dating. She sounds like she was a top high school athlete a few years ago. Maybe he just didn’t like the chick and that is his prerogative. But he needed to find a better excuse. It’s not like he’s an aristocrat. I’d hedge a bet that the girlfriend’s family has a better pedigree than his family does.
He need not worry. He will end up with a show on AM talk radio or on Fox News. It’s not over. There is an entire market for his brand of justice and language.
It’s a little interesting to me that Dog reacts this way. He is in Hawaii IIRC, where he is a distinct minority. I was stationed in Hawaii myself for four years while in the Air Force and found it very educational on many levels to experience life as a minority, even if only peripherally. When I had the nice woman of Japanese descent turn to me one day while at lunch and tell me that “You’re a nice man Richard but I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry a haole,” it registered what many minorities have dealt with all their lives.
Odanu, you’re the best. That’s the kind of knowledge I’m talkin’ ’bout. If I might launch a wee tangent to your comment, it is to suggest that culture is not static. Racism was not born with humanity, and there’s no reason to expect that it is immortal. It is powerful and ubiquitous, but I think it can be brought down eventually. I may not live to see its end, and neither may my daughter, but we can fight it now in our own (albeit small) way.
Pam, thanks for your post on this. This puts everything I’ve been trying and failing to articulate for days on this subject into perfect order and sense! I intend to send this link to several people.
Odanu, cognitive perception is a result of biology, too. We can’t so easily separate our minds from our biochemical makeup like that.
So, while there is no biological basis for defining race, there is a biological basis for what our eyes see and what our brains fairly universally do with what our eyes see. That may well be illogical, when “logical” is very strictly defined ala computer code, but that doesn’t mean that the social constructions which flow from perception and cognition are NOT biological!
To deny the biology inherent in how a given group of humans sees differences and then tend to construct amazingly complex piles of bullshit around them is to miss the opportunity to deconstruct those cultural heaps.
I think Dog needs to enroll at the University of Delaware and participate in the Residence Life program. That’ll get his mind straight!
It might be interesting to survey younger people regarding the Cream of Wheat guy to see what their view of him is now, during the day of Food Network and celebrity chefs, especially since so many of them have their own shows, restaurants, etc.
I admit to missing the racism of Aunt Jemima, mostly because of two reasons: 1) She reminded me of one of my own aunts who (although lily-white) was a phenom in the kitchen and was just so open and friendly with everybody that you couldn’t help but like her, and 2) In my family, “aunt” and “uncle” was a term of respect used for those adults who were close family friends without being blood relatives (i.e., my mother’s best friend we addressed as “Aunt Darlene” because it was disrespectful to address an adult only by their first name and it would have been rude for us to call a family friend “Mrs. Aranda”, the way we would have a stranger we’d been introduced to). Thus, in my family, “Aunt Jemima” would have been a close family friend whom we addressed as “Aunt” to show we respected our elders.
Same thing with “Uncle Ben,” too. As a child, I think I may have also had some crossover with the Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit stories as well, as I always enjoyed those stories, what with Remus really being the only sensible adult in them.
Weird, huh?
Race and biology, although it’s true that it’s our biology (and that of just about any living thing) to perceive difference, the ideation, reactions, and actions that are racism (as we experience it in this time period) can’t be called biological in any serious way.
The first encounters of people of different races don’t seem to provide a single model for how humans react to humans who look and act different from their home group.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH WHAT THE BOUNTY HUNTER SAID TO HIS SON EXCEPT HIS SON DIDN’T RAISE HIMSELF TO BE A RACIST. DOUG HAS! WHAT DOUG DOESN’T UNDERSTAND IS THAT THE WORLD HAS CHANGED!! DOUG IS STILL LIVING IN THE PAST, HE IS REAL OLD SCHOOL WITH HIS PRIMITIVE RACIST MINDSET. TO THE BOUNTY HUNTER ON A PERSONAL NOTE: BE THANKFUL THAT YOU WEREN’T DOWN IN WATTS IN AUGUST OF 1965, YOU WOULD GOT KNOCK THE FUCK OUT WITH THE REST OF THOSE COWARDS IN THEIR BLACK & WHITE UNIFORMS WHO USE TO CALL US “N”.
I don’t think most white people - and certainly not those inclined to read this blog - are like this behind closed doors. So, I think that focusing on incidents like this in the context of Pandagon may allow people who are not “actively” racist in word or deed to stay in denial about the ways in which we contribute to racism, just like the violent, hood-wearing cross-burners allow Dog and his ilk to stay in denial about their relatively non-violent racism.
Sala, read the board he is holding. He’s meant to seem illiterate.
This leads me to think that, if he’s so free with using this word in private, A & E must have footage of it somewhere, considering they’ve been following the guy around for 3 years now. They probably kept it hushed up because this is one of their top shows.
A bit of Cream of Wheat trivia: they found the guy who was the model for the Cream of Wheat chef. The grave he was in had only a small marker without his name on it, so a researcher campaigned to get one for him.
I agree with Mhorag — in this day of celebrity chefs, is that image read differently now than it was when it was first created? I’d be curious to know.
Oh, and I heard some DJs on the radio this morning who were shocked that his son was the one who sold the tape. Duh! You piss someone off like that, they’re going to strike back. It wasn’t a very mature thing to do, but you went on a rant against his girlfriend — what did you expect?
I think that focusing on incidents like this in the context of Pandagon may allow people who are not “actively” racist in word or deed to stay in denial about the ways in which we contribute to racism, just like the violent, hood-wearing cross-burners allow Dog and his ilk to stay in denial about their relatively non-violent racism.
On the other hand, one pretty cool aspect of this particular insight is that it came to light because Callahan’s son was willing to stand up to his father (a guy who also happened to be his boss), and call him out publicly on his racism. As paranoid as Callahan was about being revealed as a racist, it never occurred to him that his son was a threat.
Um, that should be “Chapman,” of course, not “Callahan.” I’ve been following the Criss Angel brouhaha this morning as well.
Great post as usual, Pam. These blind spots about racism are SO FRUSTRATING. I’m white, and while my dad isn’t as free with the n-word as Mr. Bounty Hunter, he finds it totally unfair that people (me) take offense when he makes racist/ethnic jokes. I’ve tried explaining to him time and time again, in many different ways, that just because he doesn’t think he’s racist, that doesn’t mean that the jokes aren’t racist. But it does not compute.
Loving my parents, both birth and in-law, right now. Never a word of this kind of nonsense. Not only was no objection raised about me (fifth-generation-off-the-boat Amerimutt, primarily Irish) marrying a first-generation Dominican woman, it wasn’t treated as at all remarkable. Maybe it isn’t, at least not for our family. My brother’s wife is Mexican (made for a rather funny moment at my wedding reception where they ditched the salsa-challenged hubbies and went off onto the dance floor together, leaving us looking at each other with rather dumb “what just happened?” looks on our faces. Ha ha! Grrr.)
My extended family on my father’s side is all right, too. Grampa occasionally embarasses us young’uns by using racial language that was okay in his youth (advising me, one time that I borrowed my father’s good shoes, that I had better return them “shining like a nigger’s heel”, whatever that means. Grandma promptly set him straight on that one), but there’s no actual venom there, and again, no indication that this is at all remarkable to any of them.
My mother’s side…not so much. Despite the fact that they’ve known my wife Liza (pronounced “Lisa”) for about eleven years, some members occasionally call her “Maria”, which is my brother’s wife’s name. As my wife puts it, it’s like all hispanic women are interchangeable to them, and they’re all named “Maria” or “Juanita” or “Luisa” or…you get the idea.
Loving my parents, both birth and in-law, right now. Never a word of this kind of nonsense. Not only was no objection raised about me (fifth-generation-off-the-boat Amerimutt, primarily Irish) marrying a first-generation Dominican woman, it wasn’t treated as at all remarkable. Maybe it isn’t, at least not for our family. My brother’s wife is Mexican (made for a rather funny moment at my wedding reception where they ditched the salsa-challenged hubbies and went off onto the dance floor together, leaving us looking at each other with rather dumb “what just happened?” looks on our faces. Ha ha! Grrr.)
My extended family on my father’s side is all right, too. Grampa occasionally embarasses us young’uns by using racial language that was okay in his youth (advising me, one time that I borrowed my father’s good shoes, that I had better return them “shining like a nigger’s heel”, whatever that means. Grandma promptly set him straight on that one), but there’s no actual venom there, and again, no indication that this is at all remarkable to any of them.
My mother’s side…not so much. Despite the fact that they’ve known my wife Liza (pronounced “Lisa”) for about eleven years, some members occasionally call her “Maria”, which is my brother’s wife’s name. As my wife puts it, it’s like all hispanic women are interchangeable to them, and they’re all named “Maria” or “Juanita” or “Luisa” or…you get the idea.
New show names:
“Cracker: The Bounty Hunter”
“Honky: The Bounty Hunter”
“Redneck: The Bounty Hunter”
“Roidrage Trash: The Bounty Hunter”
“Peckerwood: The Bounty Hunter”
Still not as bad as n***er and never will be.
An Anonymous Kate,
I think that focusing on incidents like this in the context of Pandagon may allow people who are not “actively” racist in word or deed to stay in denial about the ways in which we contribute to racism, just like the violent, hood-wearing cross-burners allow Dog and his ilk to stay in denial about their relatively non-violent racism.
I both agree and disagree. I think these posts give voice to what most of us have experienced with people we know, even if we don’t do this ourselves, and provides the tools for analyzing it if we didn’t already have the words. So it’s really important in that way.
On the other hand, you’re absolutely right that it’s always important to check ourselves and have posts dealing with how us self-satisfied progressives contribute to racism, which are in some ways harder to write and to process. I don’t think it has to be either-or.
Good point, Kristin. My only concern though would be if they replaced Dog’s show with another episode of Law & Order.
Thanks as always to Ms Kate for pointing out the biology of the brain and how it influences what we think. While I agree with Cornel West’s theory that racial thinking–attributing behavioral and moral meaning to biological differences–is a shared mental illness, I also think it’s a kind of crazy that our species seems prone to suffering.
She will be armed with knowledge. She is a human being, and she will learn all that she can about why the rest is b.s. Others may choose to stigmatize her or stick her into a racist pigeonhole, but she will always know that she can choose not to do so to herself.
I used to think the same thing, and then my kid had to live in a racist world and I came to realize that my opinions and beliefs are not the most influential factors in her experiences.
Obviously YMMV, and good luck, but I’m curious about two things: How old is your child, and what is the IRL or online support community you’re using to build relationships for her with others who share (y)our radical beliefs?
You’re right, of course, but you must be aware what that’s worth.
**He will end up with a show on AM talk radio or on Fox News. It’s not over. There is an entire market for his brand of justice and language.
What the heck is he doing on A & E anyway? Shouldn’t he be on Spike?
Re “biracial”: Gary Sheffield used Derek Jeter’s racial makeup to imply he was an Uncle Tom to Joe Torre.
(Some of you may be rolling their eyes that I’m mentioning Sheffield, but I would point out that, at least regarding his remarks about how Latino players are more malleable than African-American players, they were supported by his own teammate, the highly underrated Carlos Guillen of Venezuela)
Brooklynite and Betsy - you both have good points. I was not careful enough writing my post. I should have made it clear that I do realize that talking about this story can be valuable. Just that if we aren’t looking at ourselves as well, it can obscure as much as it clarifys.
I just finished reading a book called “Why Do All The Black Kids Sit Together In The Cafeteria?” which was written by a WOC psychologist / professor.
She points out the importance of instilling within minority children a sense of positive racial identity.
Church Secretary, while your heart is in the right place, throughout her life your child will be bombarded with negative & mixed messages about her place in the world as a person of color. Pretending her racial background is not important, in this racist society of ours, will do no good.
It’s a really good book; I’d recommend it to any Pandagon reader (though it’d probably be more beneficial for people who don’t believe racism still exists).
This is a little OT, but it has to do with the use of N-word:
I’ve been catching up on The Wire, and it seems like there’s an intentional difference between the way whites and blacks use the word. Whites use it as a bludgeon to prop themselves up, blacks use it to mean something along the lines of “poor soul” (”poor” meaning oppressed, not deficient), with the implication that they are “poor souls” as well.
On the other hand, the show is written by two white guys (David Simon and Ed Burns), so maybe they’ve invented this usage of the word for the purposes of the show.
Actually he is quite literate. His spelling is mostly perfect, his printing is neat, and his grammar though colloquial is certainly acceptable for 1921. In fact, in 1921 the country was full of illiterate people. Rastus may not have known what a vitamin was, but based on his writing he was better educated than a good deal of the population.
Pam, can’t you get a grip on something that matters? Don’t you realize that your petty obsession over this simple word is just creating a climate of hysteria which may prevent this hardworking convicted murderer from running around with a badge and gun and…
Ummmm…..
I may not have thought this one through. I’ll get back to you.
I’m waiting for the “Tourette’s Defense”. That seems like it is all that he has left.
Tom, you aren’t measuring the ad by the right yardstick. It’s quite true that many people in 1921 couldn’t have written the text in the ad.
But you should be looking at OTHER ads from 1921. No ads for food or cleaning products that featured white people would EVER have used such language. A white housewife’s message was always perfectly correct. This message is reinforcing a racist stereotype that black people are ignorant and semi-literate, to the point that even in situations (advertising) where people are expected to be on their ‘best behavior’, writing-wise, this stupid ole n***** can’t even spell properly.
It’s really, really, really freaking racist.
I only acquainted myself with Dog the other day while channel surfing. I couldn’t stop laughing; the macho man schtick was bordering on self parody. Then I was like “Wow, I bet this guy’s even MORE of an assclown when the camera’s off.”
And I was right!
Loving my parents, both birth and in-law, right now. Never a word of this kind of nonsense. Not only was no objection raised about me (fifth-generation-off-the-boat Amerimutt, primarily Irish) marrying a first-generation Dominican woman, it wasn’t treated as at all remarkable. Maybe it isn’t, at least not for our family. My brother’s wife is Mexican (made for a rather funny moment at my wedding reception where they ditched the salsa-challenged hubbies and went off onto the dance floor together, leaving us looking at each other with rather dumb “what just happened?” looks on our faces. Ha ha! Grrr.)
My extended family on my father’s side is all right, too. Grampa occasionally embarasses us young’uns by using racial language that was okay in his youth (advising me, one time that I borrowed my father’s good shoes, that I had better return them “shining like a nigger’s heel”, whatever that means. Grandma promptly set him straight on that one), but there’s no actual venom there, and again, no indication that this is at all remarkable to any of them.
My mother’s side…not so much. Despite the fact that they’ve known my wife Liza (pronounced “Lisa”) for about eleven years, some members occasionally call her “Maria”, which is my brother’s wife’s name. As my wife puts it, it’s like all hispanic women are interchangeable to them, and they’re all named “Maria” or “Juanita” or “Luisa” or…you get the idea.
I like Brooklynite’s apt observation. Yes, white privilege only gets Dog so far. Assuming that his white son wouldn’t sell him down the river, but the son’s black girlfriend would? Big mistake! Some white people have no vested interest (aside from that can’t-get-around-it white privilege) in fostering racism. I wish more white people who hear other white people say racist crap would call them on it—and out it when they hear it so it’s tougher for racism to slip under the radar.
I think something must be getting lost in the semantics, because I keep getting accused of wanting to stick my head in the sand. I’ll try this again.
I don’t underestimate the depth and breadth of the insanity of racism, nor would I encourage my daughter to do the same. But teaching her to cope by encouraging her play along with the racism is not my idea of a mentally healthy approach. Understanding racism while consciously fighting against it is not the same as ignoring that it’s there. My daughter will have a fight on her hands just as I have. Apparently, she’ll be fighting good intentions at least as much as she’ll be fighting hostility.
OK, Church Secretary. But what do you consider “playing along with racism,” and who encouraged it in the first place?
Isopluvial–The UD story has been pretty grossly handled by the University and by the press. Take a look into the backgrounds of the two faculty members quoted in the story has having brought the ire of FIRE down on the uni. Jan Blits and Linda Gottfredson have received grants from the Pioneer fund, a group that supports research on eugenics. Her research appears on David Duke’s webpage. They both argue that IQ tests prove the intellectual superiority of particular racial groups (can you guess which ones?). It’s a very insidious form of racism. So–to have them cited as representatives of the faculty is highly questionable reporting and, I think, casts some doubt on the veracity of the claims about brainwashing. I’m not going to defend the actual program (I know little about it) but I would defend the motivation behind it. Hell, the presence of two defenders of white supremacy on their tenured faculty may explain why it is needed.
I wish someone would take a look at this story with a slightly more critical eye. (HINT HINT!)
Somehow, I doubt that Dog would have been happier at squelching his racist diatribes in the presence of the girl friend if he knew for sure that his son was in love for life, and not just for 7 months. But, be that as it may, I think “I’m in love for 7 months,” all by itself, is a far more important thing that the father’s freedom to use racial slurs without encountering any disapproval. Heck, “I’m in love for 3 days” is still more important.
I think this is the most unambiguous case I’ve ever seen of “I’m Sorry” actually meaning “I’m Sorry I Got Caught”.
I’m glad Dog’s son ratted his racist ass out. You reap what you sow; kids don’t necessarily feel the need to be loyal to parents who abuse or neglect them. Especially if said parents hold repellent worldviews. I can’t fling around the n-word with abandon because some black person might hear me and then I’d lose my business OMG? That’s not just nasty and racist, it positively reeks of stupid. (Not that using the n-word is ever acceptable, but jeez, this just made me WTF.)
Bed, Made, Lie, Dog. Bed, Made, Lie.
Thanks for the info Pennylane. I’m currently trying to find as many of the documents actually used in the UD program to see for myself what the alleged controversy is all about.
My husband is Sri Lankan Tamil and I’m glow in the dark white. My immediate family was cool with him, but I had to carefully prepare my grandparents and a few other family members before I brought him home for the first time. My grandfather sounds about like yours, with the racist jokes and comments being pretty commonplace. I ended up basically flat out stating that if I ever heard him saying that sort of thing in my presence, my husband’s, or any children we had that he would never see me again. Since I’m the oldest granddaughter and am my grandmother’s favorite, that threat carried some weight. On my mom’s side, I had several aunts and uncles pull me aside to ‘make sure I knew how difficult my life and that of any children I had would be because of that relationship.’ I replied that that was one of the reasons I didn’t live in southern WV anymore. Then, once they saw that they couldn’t convince me otherwise, it became okay because ‘at least he’s not really black, he’s only Asian. Eventually the family came around and they all love him and our children (and Papa mellowed out tremendously before he died last year), but it’s definitely been interesting.
And then my sister went and had a kid with a black guy without even marrying him first. I’m suddenly not the scandalous one in the family anymore, but it was educational to watch the reactions of some in the family. Of course, they all dote on my niece now, because she’s just too adorable not to.
The grammar and syntax on the blackboard do show the Chef’s lack of education, but, since my grandmother never went to school past fourth grade, I don’t think of that as particularly racist. Realize that the “Vitamines” were a new idea in America in the early 1920s — the first English translation of Casimir Funk’s book of the same name came out in 1922. Probably the vast majority of Americans were unfamiliar with them, so the chef’s unfamiliarity would not stigmatize him.
I could see where someone who grew up saying “Nigger” might be afraid he’d let it slip in public. But most people have enough self-control to keep from saying bad words, so that the rare slip should be forgiven. Although I did have a friend who used “fuck” as a sort of verbal seasoning — every other word out of his mouth was the f-word; it served as adjective and noun as well as verb.
“Then, once they saw that they couldn’t convince me otherwise, it became okay because ‘at least he’s not really black, he’s only Asian.”
I’ve heard a lot of that crap too, and it’s sickening.
Goddamit! We’re all people, we’re all genetically related, we all look the same on the inside - why do some people get so hung up on the little things (hair, skin, etc.) that they can’t see the important stuff?…
I wonder if Chapman feels the irony of his son selling the tape of him worrying that the girlfriend would blow the whistle on him because that’s what “those people” do.
On the Cream of Wheat ad: of course it’s racist. It’s not racist in the way that the Willie Horton ads were racist, but it perpetuated the hell out of racist stereotypes. Black men in those days were not chefs. They were cooks, they were stewards, they were waiters, they were porters. If you think the hat made a black cook into a chef, you probably imagine that the fancy dress of the black waiters at country clubs made them into members of the upper classes.
(I used to be pretty stupid about this too; years ago I was reading a memoir of 30s naval life in Hawaii, and noticed that all the pictures in the book had black faces in them. It seemed to my untutored eyes that the navy must have been pretty well integrated. Only on the second reading did it become clear that all the black faces were of cooks, stewards, orderlies and other members of the military servant class…)
I confess I haven’t read all of the comments thoroughly, which is Not Smart, but I wanted to throw this bit of trivia in about Aunt Jemima:
I worked at a voodoo museum for a year - that is, a temple and cafe owned by a practicing chief(tess) who had collected a great many pieces of West African art. She had a giant wooden statue of Aunt Jemima - who was not, in fact, Aunt Jemima at all but a traditional Mami figure wearing the garb of North African women. If my laptop wasn’t in the shop I’d go look up her name from my tour notes - but basically, the image of the shapely red-dressed, white-aproned, be-turbaned black woman actually comes from West African religion. The wooden statue from the chieftess’s collection was a copy of one that still stands by the slave road to the Atlantic coast.
And it was appropriated by white folks to sell syrup. THAT’S wrong.
It’s cool to reclaim the awesomeness of the shapely domestic goddess of any race, but it’s still important to recognize and criticize that Aunt Jemima and Rastus were such successful sellers of breakfast food because they played on the white imagination’s desire for happy, useful darkies. The singing slave updated for the advertising age.
And there it is.
But he doesn’t mean the “n” word in a bad way. Not to disparage or belittle all African Americans or anything like that. Oh no, he has some whole other meaning for it. ???
Loving my parents here too; I never heard any of this crap from them growing up and that was 30+ years ago. One of my earliest memories of hearing something racially offensive was from my great-grandmother who said she wouldn’t swim in the pool at the club we all went to because she “wasn’t about to take a bath with coloreds” (I guess the place used to be all-white and she hadn’t ever gotten over them integrating). I don’t recall any real discussion of it, probably my parents thought I was too young (maybe 5?) to really get into the issue, but I do remember they treated it as if she’d said she didn’t want to swim because she didn’t like her oxygen molecules mixing with her hydrogen molecules — something totally whacked and senile, that made no factual sense whatsoever. It’s interesting that I still remember that (I remember so little from my very-young years), and even without any real serious discussion of racism I absorbed the message that expressions of racial inferiority were just plain crazy-talk. As I grew up and learned more about race and racism, I was always working from that it’s-not-right basis that I start learning very young. Good job, Mom & Dad!
Speaking of grandparents, I can’t even remember the context, but I remember my grandmother referring to “ghosts” once. Because, you know, to call them “spooks” would be unladylike. I knew that she was referring to black people, but it was still a slack-jawed, “What the hell?!?!” moment. I was about 14 or 15 and I have no memory of her saying it prior to that time (but I may not have been paying attention).
Of course, my grandmother also insisted in the mid-80s that the IRA weren’t terrorists, despite their then-current London bombing campaign, so I was already convinced she was a little cracked.
The one and only silver lining to this story: Dog’s son kicks ass. Tucker, if you’re ever in town, stop on by and I’ll buy you a beer or six.
I think a lot of Americans simply don’t grasp the gravity of racism in our society. People cognitively recognize the existence of racism, and most think racism is bad, but if they actually faced and felt the extent of racial prejudice in America, it would be unbearable. It’s hard to live with constant thoughts of societal injustice, especially if your privilege has long protected you from thinking about it.
Could someone explain to my why people type n***er or use the absurd construction N-word? Is it to get past filters at work? To soften the blow of seeing the word? It surely can’t be because someone thinks it’s fooling anyone? It’s like seeing f**k or s**t in a quote in a newspaper, it just seems pointless to do that if we’re all going to read it as “I saw the guy and I felt like fucking his shit up because he called me a faggot”.
NYexpat:
I had a post abot this a while ago. I’ll probably reconstruct it for my own blog someday. But the short version is that racial epithets are intended to establish pecking order in a racist hierarchy.
Basically, using a racist epithet against a person of another group is to try an mark them as an inferior. To use it amongst a member of your own group is an expression of equality. Where this breaks down is using racial epithets against the group that’s been on top. It’s why terms like “cracker” don’t have the same emotional resonance; because it relies on guilt reminding a person who believes in equality that they are still part of the privileged group at the top of the pyramid.
My daughter and her cousin have started going to the same junior high-school in our neighbourhood.One is black,the other white.What an eye-opener the reactions from their friends and peers have been to them.This would include the reactions from the adults they are dealing with.The idea that they are family freaks people out.
We are living in a very diverse urban community.It would be very easy for anyone to feel excluded because of their race.Both children are aware of it.Now they are very aware of it.I won’t go into specifics because everyone,at this board, knows what I am talking about.I appreciate the intelligent posts here.
Race has been on my mind since school started.We feel like we don’t know our neighbours anymore.What changed for them except seeing our family together?The kids are handling it better than we,the adults members of the family,are.
The talk at our family gatherings has brought us closer together,but every discussion ends the same way.What would make someone not racist?None of us can answer that.Of course,the kids think we are all nuts.
My daughter and her cousin have started going to the same junior high-school in our neighbourhood.One is black,the other white.What an eye-opener the reactions from their friends and peers have been to them.This would include the reactions from the adults they are dealing with.The idea that they are family freaks people out.
We are living in a very diverse urban community.It would be very easy for anyone to feel excluded because of their race.Both children are aware of it.Now they are very aware of it.I won’t go into specifics because everyone,at this board, knows what I am talking about.I appreciate the intelligent posts here.
Race has been on my mind since school started.We feel like we don’t know our neighbours anymore.What changed for them except seeing our family together?The kids are handling it better than we,the adults members of the family,are.
My daughter and her cousin have started going to the same junior high-school in our neighbourhood.One is black,the other white.What an eye-opener the reactions from their friends and peers have been to them.This would include the reactions from the adults they are dealing with.The idea that they are family freaks people out.
We are living in a very diverse urban community.It would be very easy for anyone to feel excluded because of their race.Both children are aware of it.Now they are very aware of it.I won’t go into specifics because everyone,at this board, knows what I am talking about.I appreciate the intelligent posts here.
Race has been on my mind since school started.We feel like we don’t know our neighbours anymore.What changed for them except seeing our family together?The kids are handling it better than we,the adults members of the family,are.
My daughter and her cousin have started going to the same junior high-school in our neighbourhood.One is black,the other white.What an eye-opener the reactions from their friends and peers have been to them.This would include the reactions from the adults they are dealing with.The idea that they are family freaks people out.
We are living in a very diverse urban community.It would be very easy for anyone to feel excluded because of their race.Both children are aware of it.Now they are very aware of it.I won’t go into specifics because everyone,at this board, knows what I am talking about.I appreciate the intelligent posts here.
Race has been on my mind since school started.We feel like we don’t know our neighbours anymore.What changed for them except seeing our family together?The kids are handling it better than we,the adults members of the family,are.
My daughter and her cousin have started going to the same junior high-school in our neighbourhood.One is black,the other white.What an eye-opener the reactions from their friends and peers have been to them.This would include the reactions from the adults they are dealing with.The idea that they are family freaks people out.
We are living in a very diverse urban community.It would be very easy for anyone to feel excluded because of their race.Both children are aware of it.Now they are very aware of it.I won’t go into specifics because everyone,at this board, knows what I am talking about.I appreciate the intelligent posts here.
Race has been on my mind since school started.We feel like we don’t know our neighbours anymore.What changed for them except seeing our family together?The kids are handling it better than we,the adults members of the family,are.
Count me among those pleased with Dog’s son for exposing his father for the jerk he is.
Aand there it goes.
I’m fascinated by the wording here. “Healing process”? What the hell does that mean? Seriously, wtf, it makes it sound like Mr. Dog is the victim here.
Apparently racism is some kind of growth now or something, it’s discovered and it’s a big surprise and then they ship you off for two weeks somewhere to have it surgically removed and you come back and you’re healed! Like with Ted Haggard’s homosexuality. The apologies wind up sounding not like apologies so much as pleas for pity, look at poor me, I got diagnosed with racism and now I have to go through a healing process! Doctor, when will I be able to go back on TV again?
Aand there it goes.
I’m fascinated by the wording here. “Healing process”? What the hell does that mean? Seriously, wtf, it makes it sound like Mr. Dog is the victim here.
Apparently racism is some kind of growth now or something, it’s discovered and it’s a big surprise and then they ship you off for two weeks somewhere to have it surgically removed and you come back and you’re healed! Like with Ted Haggard’s homosexuality. The apologies wind up sounding not like apologies so much as pleas for pity, look at poor me, I got diagnosed with racism and now I have to go through a healing process! Doctor, when will I be able to go back on TV again?
Aand there it goes:
I’m fascinated by the wording here. “Healing process”? What the hell does that mean? Seriously, wtf, it makes it sound like Mr. Dog is the victim here.
Apparently racism is some kind of growth now or something, it’s discovered and it’s a big surprise and then they ship you off for two weeks somewhere to have it surgically removed and you come back and you’re healed! Like with Ted Haggard’s homosexuality. The apologies wind up sounding not like apologies so much as pleas for pity, look at poor me, I got diagnosed with racism and now I have to go through a healing process! Doctor, when will I be able to go back on TV again?
that faux “apology” of his is sickening:
total bs. i don’t think he should be allowed to apologize, or pretend to apologize. it’s just all the more insulting.
Mercy, no! What sensible corporation would call attention to the lack of vitamins in their product?
deep6 suggested [New show names:
“Cracker: The Bounty Hunter”
“Honky: The Bounty Hunter”
“Redneck: The Bounty Hunter”
“Roidrage Trash: The Bounty Hunter”
“Peckerwood: The Bounty Hunter”
Still not as bad as n***er and never will be.]
Agreed, but I hope some day the racist terms about white people will go away as well. Anything with “trash” comes from faux-aristocratic nonsense regarding white people who associate with blacks. The rest are generally anti-Southern words. I know some white people (usually the ones with the Confederate Battle Flags within reach) love those terms, but I try hard not to indulge them. They want to be called trash just so they can call blacks nigger, and then say “But we oppressed white folk blah, blah, blah….”
Stop the oppression of the Southern White Idiots! It only makes them feel entitled. It shouldn’t, but stop anyway because it’s stupid. Call them idiots, morons, “morans”, maroons, dolts, throwbacks, racists, dildo-deprived, or whatever you want. But don’t call them trash, cracker, or the other terms that give them a sense of misguided pride. Please.
We don’t mean you fucking scum n***er without a soul. We don’t mean that shit.
It’s funny that he says that, because, oddly enough, that’s exactly what I think he means.
Huh. A super-aggressive fundamentalist Christian turns out to be a not-so-closet racist. Imagine that!
Honky has a northern U.S. origin. Honky comes from Hunkie comes from Bohunk, which comes from Bohemian, but meant any Eastern European laborer that a black man would have worked with. Few Eastern Europeans migrated to the South.
But, in the North, I have been called both honky and peckerwood, years ago.
One of the problems with racist slurs is that they always tend to serve a wealthy elite. I was talking to an anglophilic, Indian friend once about racist and class-based slurs in general. Between England, India, and the U.S., we couldn’t come up with even _one_ stinging slur for the aristocracy. I hate “white trash” because it STILL normalizes whites. There’s the normal, average “good” white, then there’s the “white trash.” “Nigger” is malicious to _all_ blacks. See how that works?
Fop? Oh fucking please. Ponce? Eh, it has a bit of bite, but it’s real sting comes from the accusation of effiminancy implicit in its use (from what I understand — been awhile since I was in the U.K.).
Frankly, the fact that our culture has not thought up a hard, malicious term for the rich elites (and, no “kleptocrat” will not do, kids), is an indication that the old-school primate worldview has crippled us. Having stuff makes you a better person. We believe it in our bones. So racist white people terms will be weak because whites Have Stuff, and racist black people terms will be strong because they don’t.
Any takers on a nasty word for rich people? Bet you can’t make it stick. It’s not in us.
Our rich elites: clueless, mean, spoiled, entitledemented, and snobby. “Country Club” is a good term, but it borders on homophobia with the Boy George allusion most of my generation would give to it. You’re right, Inconsequential Person, none of it will stick or stick hard. And that’s because they actually are clueless entitled snobs with dementia.
But the working class (or however they get termed/delineated/demographically-whateverified) white racists still shouldn’t be called those names even if they do stick. In fact, they definitely shouldn’t be called those names because they do. Don’t legitimize their fucked up view of history any further. It’s not helpful even when it is accurate. See the Confederate flag for what it is: the losing side’s symbol. If you really want to stick it to them, get a flag symbolizing Sherman’s March or something. Paint your Dodge Charger with an 1860s-era U.S. flag, call it the Gen. Sherman, and get the horn to play Yankee Doodle. But don’t call them a redneck. It doesn’t make you better than them. You probably already are, and history is on your side.
I’ve always suspected that “good ole dog” was a damned racist and I’ve been waiting with quiet confidence for many years for him to slip up. To most other people his quite rabid racism may be a surprise but not me.
Just look at the guy, his crew and what he does for a living for God’s sake!
Next… Bill O reilly! Trust me! I’m never wrong about these things!
When I was a young 14 years old and my father took me to disneyland, I remember saying something to the affect of ‘Look at the niggers playing’. My father scolded me and that scolding has stuck with me all my life. His disapproval in me and the use of that word and WHY it is so disgusting has been the building blocks of my dealings with anyone. I learned at that age that people, regardless of race, intelligence (sp), or pedigree are still people.
As my ethical boundries became more mature, I also realized that for my inner-racism to heal, I must learn to tolerate those who use words that hurt. Attempt to help where I can and scold when I must.
Regarding Dog, his show should not be cancelled or post-poned. It should air. I personally do not like the show at all, but, the use of the word in a private conversation with his son shows the need for his own level of maturity and tollerance to be elevated. I believe Mr. Chapman is a conflicted man, but, a good man none the less. In other words, I believe he has it in him to call me a nigger and the next minute do everything he could do to save my life if I where in need.
He is not polished by any stretch of the imagination and it truly firghtens me that the use of the word nigger STILL makes front page news.
We as a race (the real four letter word here) MUST come to accept and understand that a Bandwagon against Racism should not be even constructed over the use of a word. Dont like it? Work within yourself. Smile and understand that your future rests with your children and teach your children well. Teach them respect and understanding. Teach them that even you as a parent can make mistakes.
Or someday they may sell a tape of what you have said to a Tabloid.
When I was a young 14 years old and my father took me to disneyland, I remember saying something to the affect of ‘Look at the niggers playing’. My father scolded me and that scolding has stuck with me all my life. His disapproval in me and the use of that word and WHY it is so disgusting has been the building blocks of my dealings with anyone. I learned at that age that people, regardless of race, intelligence (sp), or pedigree are still people.
As my ethical boundries became more mature, I also realized that for my inner-racism to heal, I must learn to tolerate those who use words that hurt. Attempt to help where I can and scold when I must.
Regarding Dog, his show should not be cancelled or post-poned. It should air. I personally do not like the show at all, but, the use of the word in a private conversation with his son shows the need for his own level of maturity and tollerance to be elevated. I believe Mr. Chapman is a conflicted man, but, a good man none the less. In other words, I believe he has it in him to call me a nigger and the next minute do everything he could do to save my life if I where in need.
He is not polished by any stretch of the imagination and it truly firghtens me that the use of the word nigger STILL makes front page news.
We as a race (the real four letter word here) MUST come to accept and understand that a Bandwagon against Racism should not be even constructed over the use of a word. Dont like it? Work within yourself. Smile and understand that your future rests with your children and teach your children well. Teach them respect and understanding. Teach them that even you as a parent can make mistakes.
Or someday they may sell a tape of what you have said to a Tabloid.
MS Kate, I know that you cant be serious that his son is acting like a mature adult in this situation, if it wasnt for him there would be no situation. This is a matter that should have stayed in the family and and handled privatly. He acted like a 3 year old begging for attention and tore his family apart to boot. So his dad doesnt aprove. Lets try and ruin his life. completly out of line!!! This story should have never hit the streets.
“MS Kate, I know that you cant be serious that his son is acting like a mature adult in this situation, if it wasnt for him there would be no situation. This is a matter that should have stayed in the family and and handled privatly.”
“DOG”, I bet Ms Kate was as serious as a heart attack. I know I was when I said what I said about Mr. Chapman.
I’m sure this didn’t just come out of the blue for his son. But some people just can’t/won’t get it through their thick heads that racism is not acceptable, especially when your son’s GF is involved.
Indeed, Tucker Chapman has already shown more of the makings of a real man than his “old man”…
deep6
November 2, 2007 at 2:01 pm
New show names:
“Cracker: The Bounty Hunter”
“Honky: The Bounty Hunter”
“Redneck: The Bounty Hunter”
“Roidrage Trash: The Bounty Hunter”
“Peckerwood: The Bounty Hunter”
Still not as bad as n***er and never will be.
I personally disagree, racism is racism, period all of it have to be lolerated on none of it there are not gray areas here.
racism (racial prejudice or discrimination) is pretty clear to me
b
nice fat finger tyepos i hat it wen that ha[pens…LOL
b
So Tucker Chapman is some kind of big hero to a lot of you idiots, is he? Swell! In that case, let me inform you mental midgets of a few facts: Tucker was subsequently popped for parole violations, including associating with known felons, failing a drug test and walking away from a rehab facility. Maybe he can use all his new spare time to ponder what he did when he sold his own father out for a paltry 15 Gs! And as for Ms. Monique, her 15 minutes is now officialy up! Adios, sister!
Man, karma is sure a beautiful thing!
And it goes to show that Dog was right all along when he was so worried about Tucker screwing up and ruining his life, which he ultimately did.
Dog’s wonderful tv show is returning to the air, and Tucker is back in jail where he will get a third chance to finally grow up and learn from what he has done. And all of you Dog hate mongers can go cry in your Bosco! LOL!!
No matter who tries to screw him, whether it’s Mexico or even his own son, Dog ALWAYS wins! That’s called JUSTICE, folks!
Duane “Dog” Chapman: The TEFLON Bounty Hunter! Ya gotta LOVE it!
So Tucker Chapman is some kind of big hero to a lot of you idiots, is he? Swell! In that case, let me inform you mental midgets of a few facts: Tucker was subsequently popped for parole violations, including associating with known felons, failing a drug test and walking away from a rehab facility. Maybe he can use all his new spare time to ponder what he did when he sold his own father out for a paltry 15 Gs! And as for Ms. Monique, her 15 minutes is now officialy up! Adios, sister!
Man, karma is sure a beautiful thing!
And it goes to show that Dog was right all along when he was so worried about Tucker screwing up and ruining his life, which he ultimately did.
Dog’s wonderful tv show is returning to the air, and Tucker is back in jail where he will get a third chance to finally grow up and learn from what he has done. And all of you Dog hate mongers can go cry in your Bosco! LOL!!
No matter who tries to take him out, be it Mexico or even hios own flesh and blood, Dog ALWAYS triumphs! That’s called JUSTICE, folks!
Dog The TEFLON coated Bounty Hunter! Ya gotta love it!