BosGuy

As if only to perpetuate my frustration that I wrote about in my previous post with African American athletes and stars perceived acceptance of homophobia… this morning I read on Joe.My.God a really smart and very thoughtful response from Tina Fey regarding the difference between the comments from Morgan and the individual she knows.

The blog post under Tina’s thoughtful statement was a tweet from Chris Rock (another African American comedian who I genuinely enjoy watching).

Apparently GLAAD tweeted back: “Language about stabbing kids for being gay isn’t ‘foul.’ It’s dangerous.”

I get what Chris Rock is saying and I understand that comedians have a role to play in pushing the envelope and saying things that people can find offensive. I don’t begrudge anyone their right to speak their mind and realize what one person may find funny another won’t but it’s disheartening to read.

Chris Rock could’ve spoken up like Tina Fey did or he could’ve said nothing, but instead his response – much like Tracy Morgan’s joke leaves me feeling a sense of disappointment. If people can’t seem to pick up on that then so be it, but just like we live in a society where Tracy Morgan is free to say what he likes and Chris Rock is free to come to his friend’s defense; I’m also free to feel disappointed and share my feelings.

Today, Tracy Morgan said he was sorry for telling an audience in Nashville, TN, that if his son were gay, he would “pull out a knife and stab him.” According to the article in Boston.com, a Facebook account posted by an audience member from the TN performance said Morgan’s stand-up routine was full of homophobic references.

So here I sit on the Friday evening before Boston’s Pride Parade, and I’m left wondering have I lost my sense of humor? Am I so politically correct I can’t laugh off edgy jokes? I suppose we all have opinions on this and I’m not here to tell people what they should think or how they should feel, but the story leaves me cold. It also disappoints me because lately the African American community in particular seems so homophobic. Recently Joakim Noah (Chicago Bulls) and Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers) were fined for making homophobic slurs and rapper 50 Cent seems to be making a career of maligning the gay community encouraging gay youth to commit suicide… among other graphic comments.

The silver lining to this story is that there was a measured response on social media platforms like facebook and twitter and main stream media like my local paper, The Boston Globe, picked up and ran the story. A decade ago, I don’t think anyone would have blinked and without sites like facebook or twitter the story would have never been told. However, my response to Tracy Morgan is “Apology not accepted.”

Suddenly I’m terribly thirsty… Brings whole new meaning to the phrase “tall drink of water” doesn’t it?