So Dwayne "Dog" Chapman, commonly known to most people as Dog the Bounty Hunter was caught on an audio recording spewing off racial epithets regarding his son's girlfriend. I'm not surprised.
Dropping N-words and F-Bombs is now the new black. Celebrities are letting their tongues get a little too loose. But when stuff like this happens, I kind of retreat. Not so because of the derogatory words, but where my loyalties are going to lie.
I am a Dog The Bounty Hunter fan. There, I admit it. It's a part of my identity. But a larger, and most would argue more prevalent part of my identity is the fact that I'm Black. When I hear about things like this, part of me wants to throw on a kente cloth and march over to A&E with Al Sharpton, demanding equality, justice and an apology. But most of me just wants this whole thing to blow over. I want Dog to keep fighting crime. I want to see how his wife manages to buy clothes. Ultimately, I just don't want this on my conscience.
I had a similar response with Michael Richards. When is it okay for me to stop being angry and enjoy Seinfeld again? Can I watch the show and laugh, or is that a total affront to the hardship and ridicule people had to face and still face everyday?
Isaiah Washington was different story. He dropped F-bombs like no other, then tried to cover it up. I can't and will not let him start a new show and pretend like it never happened. Is it a double standard? Definitely. But for some reason, it makes sense in my head. I told my mother about this and she questioned it:
"When does he finally get to move on? Everyone jumped on him. It didn't help that he was black."
Great, now I have that layer to deal with. I wish this didn't matter, but it does. And it would be nice if for once, the identity everyone sees could take a backseat to the one I want to put out: "lame grad student who just likes to watch bad guys get roughed up sometimes."
This whole thing isn't going away...is it?
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