Al Sharpton has become a millionaire by fanning the flames of racisim for decades. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would probably punch Sharpton right in the face if he were alive today. Sharpton has managed to undermine a lifetime of work by some very respectable people by squirting lighter fluid on the racial tension that so many have given their lives to extinguish. Sharpton has only one agenda: himself.
He claims the comment was offensive. You know what? So is his perm. You don't see me calling the TV networks demanding the immediate resignation of his hair stylist. Offensive is just a word. The only people that find simple, innocent comments like that racist are the ones that are inherently racist themselves.
Al, if you are offended by that comment, then perhaps you should take a deep, long look into your own soul, and consider a little self-discovery, because apparently your own self-absorbed insecurities are the only truly offensive issues in your life right now. The other 99.9% of us have matured, and grown beyond such petty behavior. The comment was neither racist nor offensive to any of us. It was a light-hearted joke with no ill intent - nothing more - nothing less. Despite what you think Mr. Sharpton, the majority of us are intelligent enough to look beyond the 1960's, if you let us. Congratulations, Al! You have successfully set the world back another ten years in our fight for freedom from prejudiced arrogance like yours.
Al is an idiot, that is common knowledge. But that does not make Kelly's comments ok.
Was it malicious? probably not. Was it stupid and innappropriate? Absolutely. FFor the love of god, she is a broadcaster, and if she has any professional competence she should be able to have the spider sense to to reference the lynching of a black man.
Should she be fired for the comment? No. But, someone should look into her competence. her job is to be a 'commmunicator'.
I agree with you that some comments are intended to be hateful or even ignorant, but she made an innocent comment about lynching a man - not a black man - she made no racial reference whatsoever. Yes, Tiger's ethnicity is half african-american, but if the person reading that story or listening to her comments made that association, that is their own racism coming out. I heard them, and then even read them, but I inferred no racial overtones nor did I pass any judgment.
She made a joke about a golfer - a golfer that is a good friend of hers. A joke that is more of a compliment than anything else. Anyone who heard her comments would know that if they weren't perched on their holier-than-thou pedestal.
I like Cougar's suggestion... perhaps Al should focus all of his political energy on something more productive like fighting pollution, researching a cleaner fuel alternative or providing better health care.
Why must he continue to play the race card every time he thinks it will get his name in the paper?
I can't explain why this has triggered the soap box in me, but I'm starting to understand what the real problem is here...
It's not about race or offensive language or inappropriate comments or anything else that could be misinterpreted. It's about a small group of people that make a lot of noise about some very minor details to promote their own cause with no regard to the consequences or the lives of those it affects (or ruins).
Nowhere in the constitution does it say I have the right to not be offended. Guess what? There are plenty of things that can be offensive:
The hairy guy with all those gold chains at the beach in the speedo.
The 400lb woman wearing a "Playboy bunny" t-shirt and spandex
The barefoot mother who sleeps in the laundromat with a beer in her hand while her 4-year old daughter runs amok in nothing but her diaper.
The nerve of the IRS that leads them to believe I'm ok with them telling me I have to pay tax on the refund I got last year for overpaying my tax in the first place.
Just because something could be offensive, that doesn't mean it offended me. It's about tolerance. I'm tolerant of the person next to me in line at the bank that just passed gas with no apology. I'm tolerant of the elderly woman behind me at the grocery store who's wearing her slip on the outside of her dress and enough perfume for the entire Bingo hall. I'm tolerant of the idiot holding up the drive-thru because he just ordered 27 custom Whoppers for his boy scout troop when he should have placed such a large order inside.
The truth is, things "offend" us every single day that we shrug off because we have matured and no longer let childish bahavior influence our actions, and unlike Al Sharpton, we acknowledge that the world does not revolve around us.
