Among Other Things

[copied from dland]

I think we're all agreed that despite whatever wonderful charitable things he's done in recent years, Imus is essentially an asshole. I doubt that he's a racist, and I'm sure he never gave a thought to the things he was saying because he's said nasty things about people for years, and there is this very peculiar double standard in our society that makes it okay for certain words to be used in some contexts by selected people, but those same words become cause for job loss, among other things, when used in the wrong mouths.

That aside, he said something stupid and actions have consequences and that's the way it is.

Racism/sexism/religion-ism/sexual preference-ism/obese-ism and all of that stuff is everywhere. We are much more conscious of it than we once were, and perhaps it has tapered off, at least in public, but it is not gone. I watched this PBS show that was on the other night called FAT: What no one is telling you, and it was quite interesting, and among other things, a variety of people who have one obesity issue or another were featured. One was a woman comedian who has lost a great deal of weight and struggles to keep herself "just chubby", but who once performed at a much bigger size. She said that it was not uncommon for strangers on the street to say to her "You're fat!" Did they think she didn't know? Did they think she was not actually a living human being with feelings like they had? What actually is the point of saying that to someone?

And Bill Maher, whom I adore, was bugging the shit out of me on this week's show. He was arguing with Al Sharpton, which, hey, go for it, although he too was against the words that Imus used. Yet in the course of his monologue he made two crude anti-gay jokes, and later on, he referred to Hilary Clinton as a bitch. HEY! No more calling any woman a ho or a bitch! It's not right!

But what really got me was this one. You know, if you want to see if something is really racist (we'll use that as the general term), what you do is take out the word in the phrase or remark that means one race (or group) and substitute another, and see how it sounds. I read this article in People on Friday: Dr. Ian Smith, who used to be so sweet on the local news and then sold himself out to Celebrity Fit Club is sponsoring a huge weight loss project. For African Americans. Look here.

Here's a quotation from the website:

The 50 Million Pound Challenge is an historic opportunity for African Americans to come together against a growing health crisis. Our challenge is to collectively lose 50 million pounds and reduce the very real risks that being overweight poses to our community.

Now imagine for a moment that it's an opportunity for white Americans of European descent to come together against a growing health crisis. Al Sharpton would be on that in a minute. Why is the program only for white people? Are white people somehow better than un-white people? Why should they get all the breaks, like attention from a celebrity doctor? Ad nauseum.

There's nothing wrong, of course, with trying to improve the health of anyone, or of any group, for that matter, and I applaud the actual sentiment behind Dr. Smith's program. But it's still racist. It is. Do the math.


watching The Tudors :: entry #1431