I'm sorry professor but you didn't reveal ABC's racism but your own against whites.
ABC is a corporation whose whole job is to make money for their shareholders.
You on the hand have stated many examples of which you are 100% sure are racially motivated.
Let's just take the first one. Three black women leaving an airbnb rental and a white person called the police to investigate.
...Did the neighbor know it was being rented out on airbnb?
...Had their been other break-ins in the area?
...Was it normal to see three strangers carrying suitcases our of that house?
...In the age of trump how many Americans still feel safe enough to walk up to strangers and ask ' what ya doing?'
...Can only black people call the police on other black people without being called a racist by you?
You see professor in the age of trump it has less to do with the color of your skin and more to do with being a stranger.
Luckily the end of racism is in sight, within a generation I'd say as the millennials inter marry and have children together. As it has for all the races that make up American.
14
Barrs exit is good for all but the culture that gave her a voice is still active, that would be the entertainment industry culture. It is sad that Barr made her fame insulting conservatives, but her insults were labeled as " creative, a form of expression and some even claim that comedy is supposed to push the boundaries and if it hurts someone's feeling so it must be true". Barr is an idiot, and the fact that so many people want her back is shocking. Perhaps what some are upset about is the fact that barr was a Hollywood darling until she slipped up and and said something nasty about the people that gave her so much power, fame, and money to begin with. Kind of like the rabid dog an owner loves and defends until it bites the owner. Then the owner has a change of heart and puts the animal down even though it has bitten many people previously.
3
What is the reason for the increase in the last few years of whites calling police to arrest blacks who are just doing normal activities? In past years, that didn't happen like now.
9
If only we could cancel this presidency and administration for its racist tweets!
19
FOX will pick up the show
3
Racism is just below the surface always ready to pop out at any moment in this country. The president who is nothing more than an old white bigot whose father was a card carrying Klan member. No one should apologize to the Russian swamp king who looks like what he is a Russian bigot. Roseanne and the rest of them starting with Sarah Sanders shows once again the alternate universe of hate that they live in. A child asks what is the administration doing about shootings and Sarah looked like what she is a hack. Midterms are coming, get out the vote for normal people. We need an administration who cares about all of the people not a lying swamp person. Last night was a terrible example of a president who can not tell the truth about anything and if those people at the rally were fooled by these lies God help this country.
4
Roxane, as one of the group of American citizens you refer to as the "white people", I am writing to ask you and other black writers a favor. When you criticize the behavior of white persons interacting with black persons, could you please write "some" white people or "a few" white people. Because the behavior you describe as policing black bodies in public spaces is done by a small minority of the "white people". Most of us are sympathetic with your concerns, and are not guilty as charged. Thank you.
18
Barr's comments about Susan Rice several years ago should have been enough to shove her completely into celebrity oblivion. Was anyone paying attention? Those comments in my mind are equal if not exceeding her recent comment about Valerie Jarrett. Vile.
9
I enjoy reading Ms. Gay’s column. But she does herself no favors by parroting anecdotal examples and proclaiming them as proof of a greater truth. Leave that to Trump.
6
In her list of recent events, Ms. Gay should have listed a few events that had grave outcomes, such as the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin because George Zimmerman took it upon himself to police a black body in a public space.
10
Rosanne Barr addresses herself to our country and to the World in exactly the way her parents taught her to. hatred start in America exactly the way Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, III, wrote in 'You've got to be taught," in 'South Pacific."
In the line before the song starts Lt Cable, who is in love with a Tonkan girl says to Nellie Forbush, a girl in love with a man with Tonkan children, racism is "not born in you! It happens after you’re born..."
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
This song brought much opposition by those who felt that mixing of races would destroy America. But, James Michener, upon whose stories South Pacific was based, recalled, "The authors replied stubbornly that this number represented why they had wanted to do this play, and that even if it meant the failure of the production, it was going to stay in."
Now in 2018, we still don't get it, and we haven't really tried to change things. We still hate Black people, people of color, Hindus, Muslims, Asians of all kinds. TIME TO STOP NOW!
11
I'm not convinced that Roseanne Barr is a racist based on a single tweet, but I do feel that something is wrong with a person who retweets conspiracy theories without doing one ounce of fact checking.
7
Amen to everything you stated!
Maybe the show will have to find a new home on Fox.
1
A modest proposal to ABC...just write RB out of the script. John Goodman gets remarried to Rosie O'Donnell.
7
I respect Ms. Gay's right to choose her focus on the ways Roseanne's tweet storm reflects much broader racism and efforts to police black bodies, but I wish she had not been quite so cavalier about her description of the antisemitic venom Roseanne also spewed this weekend. Roseanne did far more than "share some incorrect nonsense about Chelsea Clinton marrying into the Soros family." She also accused Soros of being a Nazi collaborator and of attempting to overthrow the US government; additionally she retweeted a claim that Soros was behind Black Lives Matter, repeating the tired canard that people of color cannot think for themselves and that Jews are puppet masters. In no way do I think Roseanne's antisemitism should have been the focus of Ms. Gay's article, because the policing of black bodies truly deserves our attention and Ms. Gay's acumen, but I would appreciate a passing acknowledgement of the depth of that antisemitism.
11
This article could have been a much sharper indictment of Hollywood, and maybe extended to criticize Big Media. But instead it takes the lazy road to Trump Town, and rehashes Charles Blow's "Racism Everywhere" laundry lists.
I give the Professor a "C."
3
People like Roxane Gay who seek racism everywhere will always find it.
4
Your points about white people policing black bodies are well-taken.
You also said “[O]ne wonders just how many teaching moments we need for white people to no longer feel entitled to comment on or police black bodies.” Alongside that I’d like to set down a line from En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind”, which I remember as “Before you can read me you’ve got to learn how to see me.”
We should oppose dehumanizing language. Given American history, a strong taboo against dehumanizing language about black people seems reasonable and desirable. But we can accomplish this for the most part by appealing to decency, conscience, and widely acknowledged historical facts.
Compare this with the fear and concern that causes some to report to authorities a black body in a public space when they would not report a white body. Recall the experiments from a half century ago: two young men, one black and one white, would briefly appear grappling in a doorway; people in the room usually perceived the black man holding a knife actually held by the white man.
This calls for a transformation involving mind, body, and emotion that will have its own processes and take more time. It’s probably best to let most people (but not for example the authorities) find their own way to that. Vote with your dollars as appropriate. Over-policing language may be counterproductive for this purpose.
1
And yet Roseanne Conner has a black daughter-in-law and a clearly-loved mixed-ethnicity granddaughter; yet Roseanne Conner confronted her own assumptions and the prejudice of a store employee when dealing with Roseanne Conner-s Muslim neighbor...
Roseanne Barr is a deeply-troubled human being who is not only a gifted comedienne--and gifted actress--but one whose original and rebooted shows dealt with our deepest prejudices and assumptions and there was always stark truth beneath the laughter.
Yeah--she did wrong here, and ABC/Disney did right. But Roseanne's shows--new and old--were complex, meaningful and worth watching, and thinking about.
4
rosanne is a horrible person, full stop. I do feel sorry for all her coworkers who just had a hit and were feeling pretty fulfilled in their careers. BOOM, she puts them all out of work because of her hateful and arrogant need to express publicly her racist vision.
1
To place blame on the cast and crew is ridiculous. Is Ms. Gay saying we should be ashamed for not being swallowed up by the blue wave of contempt? It's like some of you believe Donald Trump created racism. He really has nothing to do with this show and never did. Let's quit pretending like we are so hurt by ignorant comments by celebs.
Roseanne is a very talented racist and I think she should still have a show. The show is uniquely in tune with complex family dynamics. They portray Roseanne Conner as weak and ignorant on the show at times, working towards some character-building solution by the end of an episode. The show in no way promotes bigotry but remains unpolished. This is engaging to people most Times readers would refer to as"redneck" or "white trash". Whatever the label, they obviously lack prime time entertainment.
Can we all agree that most people are racist in some way? Silencing racism does nothing to improve the situation.
If you are a parent, do you say "cover your ears" or do you let the child become exposed to ugly things so they eventually know how to evaluate right and wrong?
Also, most white people do not "imagine dominion over another". We can leave that to liberals - pretending to like diversity while destroying the middle class and alienating rural America. All while promoting a rigid system of censorship, segregation, and gentrification through an unchecked allegiance to technology.
5
Now that ABC and Disney have done the right thing, for whatever reason, by removing Barr from the air, it is time for them to continue along this path. The next logical person for them to stop covering is Trump.
No more free air time to pursue his racist demagoguery.
10
Yes, my family came from the Ottoman Empire, driven out by pogroms etc., so I'm caucasian. However, I'm not with Rosanne, Trump, Reagan, Bush i and 2, ad nauseam. I'm hurt when she says "white people" do this or that bad thing. At some point, you have to call out racist thinking. All white people don't think or act the same.
10
What culture gave us Bill Maher? Can’t blame Trump. What culture gave us Kathy Griffin and Wanda Sykes? They were obscene long before Trimp came along.
2
The only discordant note in Ms Gay's insightful essay is that she "watched and enjoyed" the first two episodes of the Roseanne reboot. How is that even possible, given all you knew about who this woman is? Her Twitter feed, her unabashed racism, and her grotesque hatred were on wide public display long before the reboot, as the author correctly notes.ABC knew what they were signing up for and viewers knew what they were tuning in to. I don't get it, Roxane.
5
I just realized today that Roseanne Barr and Rosie O'Donnell are two different people.
3
As I pointed out in yet to be published comment. p.c. police, exemplified by" journalists" like the author, are in the catbird seat, as Red Barber used to say, but a major problem for me is that those who have been blacklisted, drummed out of the corps as it were for incorrect behavior, are in many cases more talented to those who have replaced them, and make no mistake about it, the goal of folks like the author and others in the liberal media is to get at TRUMP by banning Barre among others from the industry. Yet who in his heart of hearts would not rather read Barre's writings, and would not find her more entertaining than being preached to by Ms. GAY?Barre crossed the line no doubt, and what she wrote was inexcusable, but equally inexcusable is VJ's role as O's main foreign policy adviser and her support of ASSAD and the ISLAMIC REPUBLIC when both were teaming up, along with Russia to kill, indeed exterminate Syrians who opposed government in Damascus. It was VJ,. my hunch, who persuaded O to renege on his commitment to bomb Assad;s air force , which would have saved countless innocent lives from bunker bombs and chemical gas attacks, all for purpose of saving the Iran nuclear deal, Obama's "legacy!"What are mere words, however cruel, compared to tremendous loss of lives? I winced when RB wrote that odious tweet, because I thought of my son and and his mother. Racism is a tough thing to have to deal with. But am also aware of VJ's inglorious role as 0's adviser!
I've never been to a golf course that allows five people to play in a group.
1
Not being into showbiz gossip, I had no idea Roseanne Barr was such a racist. Her remarks were despicable, as is racial profiling of any kind. But Roseanne Barr the person and Roseanne the show are two separate entities.
The reboot had gone out of its way to be inclusive. Roseanne's character has a black granddaughter. She defends her gay grandson. When her Muslin neighbor at the store is harassed, the Roseanne character sticks up for her.
I believe if the show had continued, we would have seen its characters grow and change as they struggled with the pains of living in today's divided country.
Instead, we have a cast and crew who, through no fault of their own, no longer have jobs. The rest of us will be deprived of 30 minutes of laughs once a week. And Roseanne will still be a racist.
7
Obviously, many Americans have as much trouble *reading the First Amendment as they seem to have *reading the Second Amendment.
Ms. Gay alludes to the fact that an incredible number of Americans, apparently to include Ms. Barr, suffer from the *painfully illusory notion that "Freedom Of Speech" means that a person can shoot off their mouth free from consequences.
The First Amendment never *did say anything of the kind.
The First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law ..... abridging the freedom of speech," That's it, that's *ALL.
So, if you insist upon bursting into a Biker Bar and screaming out "Harleys Bite Dirt", The First Amendment does *not protect you from having your dental work summarily rearranged on the spot.
This is yet another matter of assuming personal responsibility
for one's actions.
As most kids playing in the sandbox know, "if you are not ready
to *personally 'back it up', you might be wise to keep your mouth *shut !"
Consider this cancellation *very expensive "tuition" on the Bill Of Rights for Ms. Barr, and for every *innocent person (and their families) previously employed on Roseanne's staff.
"Live and Learn" as they say.
8
First, there are too many jerks who put other people down because of some irrational generalization. Currently it is too heavily weighted with too many people with light skins making sweeping generalizations about all people with dark skins.
Second, there are too many well-meaning people writing here who are making sweeping generalizations about people with light skins.
Neither of these generalizations help us to be a co-operative society with a wide range of positive ideas.
Speaking only for myself, you do not know who my relatives are, you do not know who has praised me and who has chewed me out, you do not know who I have corrected and who has corrected me, you do not know who my heroes are and who my villains are.
My relatives’ ancestors come from four continents. I have a friend whose family tradition is that they were descended from an Irish sailor and a former slave. I do not have solid evidence but I think that “Irish sailor” was my great-great grandfather, born in Baltimore, and among other things was master of ship bringing immigrants from Liverpool.
I assume many readers have some of the same heroes that I have: Barack Obama, Bill Cosby, and Morgan Freeman. Obama still is admired by many. Unfortunately, Cosby and Freeman have had feet of clay. Freeman’s fall is really disappointing: how can “God” do what he is accused of?
1
From Wikipedia:"At 16, Barr was hit by a car; the incident left her with a traumatic brain injury.Her behavior changed so radically that she was institutionalized for eight months at Utah State Hospital."
Mental institutions didn't have much success in curing patients in those days,
3
Please explain to me why it is that, when Oprah Winfrey said in a BBC interview, (preserved on YouTube) that "old white people HAVE to die" no one got upset. There were no repercussions to that hate filled comment, even though Oprah was talking about millions of people, and Roseanne's tweet was really only about one individual, and Oprah was arguably endorsing violence towards millions of people, while Roseanne did NOT endorse violence and was only dissing one person. So why did Oprah get a pass, but Roseanne is being destroyed?
5
In another NYT report today, I read this response by pharmaceutical company Sanofi to Roseanne Barr's claim that Ambien made her do it. Sanofi said. “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”
Boom! What a zinger, deserving of being hailed as the zinger of the year. At last, my flagging spirits were lifted; spirits recently weighed down by reading so much of the sociopath Donald Trump.
's
10
When I read in this op-ed about all of these white people calling the police simply because they see a black person in a public space, my first reaction is to ask: What? have there been no recorded incidences of black people in these spaces before? Are we still so racially segregated as a society that people find it strange to encounter black people in all of these different situations?
But then my second thought is about the fear that must lie behind these calls. Racism, yes, but also fear. I think white Americans need to be more honest with themselves and their fellow black American citizens about why they are so afraid of blacks in the first place.
And I think we have to be more worried than we seem to be about being increasingly segregated (again), because its precisely that separation which feeds this kind of fear.
But before that, the fear simply needs to be acknowledged and talked about--honestly.
2
I was not a big Roseanne fan during the 1st series and, like everyone, knew she was a loose cannon. When the new show rolled around, it crossed my mind that it was a nod to the stereotypical Trump family. Just before her new show aired, I heard her profess her support of Trump, on a talk show. I knew then that I would not be watching the new show. If she supports a president like this, how far removed could she be from the hateful, racist, dialogue that spills out of his mouth. Trump has made worse a culture that is only changing its racist mentality by minute increments. He gives voice to the racism that is inherent in our culture. But without exploring the underlying motives, the Network acted swiftly and appropriately and that is at least on its face, a positive thing.
2
"The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
You're kidding me, right? You're going to casually dismiss half of our country based on who they voted for president? This is the sort of blatant, sweeping arrogance that drives millions of decent folks—I count myself among them—away from respectable media outlets like the New York Times.
Donald Trump represents more than just the "deplorable" aspects of our society, and the sooner folks recognize that, the sooner we can get back to building some mutual respect for our fellow neighbors, tens of millions of whom voted for the current president. Their voices are just as relevant as yours, and should not be extirpated from the media simply because they supported a flawed president.
3
Trump wants apologies for being outed as a racist by the news media while Barr apologizes for being a racist. However, he couches it as false-equivalence what-about-ism, the Republicans and Trump are masters of mirroring. This diversionary tactic helps to keep his base from getting that all this racist, xenophobic and mean-spirited is immoral. There's a deliberateness to Trump's tweets -- he keeps his fold mentally conditioned to support where he's going with his presidency. Barr is but one famous and vocal supporter. That ABC wanted this sitcom as a pull for Trump-supporting viewers makes sense considering that it was entertainment and much of the news media that helped to elevate Trump to where he could pull off winning the presidency, to begin with. It's already a long-standing relationship, Barr was transparently a proxy for Trump to benefit ABC's viewer ratings.
1
Give us a break.
Ms. Gay tells us she watched and ENJOYED the first two episodes of the "Roseanne" reboot, even though everyone should have known about Ms. Barr's racist online persona (presumably her real one).
Yet, Disney/ABC should have made a more powerful statement by never picking up the show to begin with.
I have seen maybe one "Roseanne" episode ever -- none of the new ones. The TV character held no more interest for me than the actress, whose opinions wheedled in the news I've always found repulsive. Clearly, however, both fictional and real Roseannes held enough attraction to make a hit TV series twice.
Ms. Gay would have done better trying to explain why she contributed to that given her revulsion at Ms. Barr's personal opinions.
2
Roseanne, Trump and thousands of others are too stupid to handle Twitter. It is a destructive application, one in the hands of bullies has done so much harm. I hate it.
2
Roseanne obviously validated a lot of people with the kinds of things she was saying on and off show. It is almost like a social experiment that demonstrates the existence of deep racist and other socially problematic ideas by exciting the emergence of the phenomena.
1
I'm in complete agreement with virtually everything Ms. Gay says in this article, and I'm appalled and ashamed (though not surprised) to learn of the frequency of these events. My only quibble with the article is with the repeated reference to the behaviors of "white people." Can we just agree that there are many, many "white people" who are just as appalled as the author by these types of incidents, by the bias and racism that underlies them, and by the cheap racist demagoguery that infuses the highest level of our government and, seemingly, the entire Republican party? When we're calling out racists, let's call them "racists" and resist using the term "white people" to paint everyone with the same racist brush.
2
The Obama presidency, for some reason caused the racism in America hiding just beneath the surface to come out into the sunlight. I spent the entire Obama years deleting monkey cartoons from my emails sent from people who I had considered mainstream, Christian, slightly right of center good Americans. It was not comfortable. Now I'm getting Trump cartoons from the slightly left of center Christian-leaning good Americans. After much thought, I am coming to a conclusion that both presidencies have exposed the qualities of Americans that need to be worked on: ignorance, tribalism, exclusionism, exceptionalism, intolerance, faux Christianity, irresponsibility, greed to name just a few.
4
What Ms. Barr said was dumb, even accepting that it was meant as a joke. She didn't do it privately, but put it out there for all the world to see. And it was mean, b/c it wasn't generic, but made about a real person who would hear it. In this environment, there are going to be dire consequences. Generally, I like ethnic humor when it's not personal, and I could care less if it was about my ethnic group. To me, the joke is how horrible a thing it is to say.
But, how mean was it? Was it as mean as the company not only firing Barr but all of the innocent people who work for her? That seems 100 times meaner to me. These companies, scared of their shadow are so devoid of actual compassion and a sense of justice, it is pitiful. Don't be fooled into thinking they really care about racism.
There were lots of people who find Barr's statement unforgivable who also laughed at Kathy Griffin creation emulating cutting off Trump's head, or thought it was no big deal. I felt bad for Griffin, though she made it worse by following it up with her own stupid statements. I understand her career was greatly impacted and even her family received death threats. It's too much. Way too much.
There is a great deal of oversensitivity in this country, maybe the Western world. I grew up with "sticks and stones . . . " Consequences are out of balance. I wouldn't want one person to be fired b/c they said something racist about me, even if I despised them.
2
According to Ms Gay, President Trump is not only "toxic," he is also a "racist" that green lights "white people" to "feel exceedingly comfortable and entitled." She then proceeds to give several examples of "white people" policing "black bodies." It is obvious that Ms Gay lives and breathes "race" every waking moment. I find it objectionable that she resorts to broad brush condemnation of "white people" in the same way that I would object to vilifying "black people" for the disproportionately high number of blacks who commit violent crimes. To see all things through the prism of race is a hellish place to be, whether you are black or white. While Ms Gay may rejoice that Ms Barr's t.v. show has been axed, and that she is now to be silenced and driven from the public square as a branded "racist," the never-ending tragedy of racial grievance will only be exacerbated, as opposing camps retreat to their respective moral certainties. The American dilemma seems headed for catastrophe. And that may well be what many desire.
8
What I hate most about these closet racists is their cowardice. If you are prejudiced against black people or any other race, religion, or gender, admit it and be proud. If you really feel like black people resemble apes, admit it and stop lying about it. Roseanne made a "joke," and Donald Trump made a "joke" about grabbing women's genitals. But they weren't jokes, and everyone knows it.
Have grown up as a white man who was taught by his wonderful parents that we are all equal, I have a unique insight that black people don't. I can't possibly remember all of the white people I have met that were/are closet racists. Once they felt comfortably close enough with me, they took a chance and made a statement to test the waters and see if I, too, was a closet racist. It has happened all - my - life. It's why I don't believe in Trump supporters when they say they don't have to be racist even though they support Trump. Bulloney. Strange how the situation changes when you substitute abortion for racism. If Trump was right on every issue for them, but was solidly pro-abortion, they wouldn't vote for him. But since he's right on everything except that he's a total racist, for some reason that's ok. That's called Bulloney, nothing else. There were plenty of conservatives, even conservative populists to vote for, but, being closet racists, they chose the Donald.
4
Farcical. I do not have the interest or the energy to try to acquaint myself with every actor/producer/performer whose work I might enjoy. I do not want to investigate their stand on race, gender, religion, etc. It is too much. We have become much too precious these days about getting our feelings hurt. Your suggestion that a "green book" would be useful is ludicrous. At the time the information you are referencing prevented LYNCHINGS. Firing and cancelling every person who SAYS things that are offensive will only result in the remaining bigots finding better disguises.
4
Yet another 24 hours has passed with one group self-righteously horrified by a tweet, and another group self-righteously horrified by the reaction.
Both responses richly feed the attitudes and perspectives already present, and neither group listens to or cares what the other thinks about it.
What is alt-right media saying about Roseanne today?
Are they holding her accountable for a truly stupid and crass tweet, or are they using this as 'evidence' of left-wing liberal mainstream media attacking her 1st amendment rights?
Is there an epiphany of the ubiquity and cruelty of racism in this country, or is there snickering about those hateful liberal snowflakes and their dainty skins?
Is there a call-out to condemn Ms. Barr and her beloved Twitter role model, or is the call-out to condemn ABC censorship?
The profile of Stephen Miller yesterday in the Atlantic was revealing: "his mission has always a been to shock and offend the progressive sensibilities of his peers. He revels in riling them, luxuriates in their disdain. Miller represents a rising generation of conservatives for whom 'melting the snowflakes' and 'triggering the libs' are their first principles."
Roseanne simply represents this rising demographic for whom 'free speech' is re-defined as their RIGHT to be openly divisive, to carelessly lie, to be hurtfully incendiary, to aggressively trash political correctness, multiculturalism, inclusiveness, kindness.
Hey, if our President does it . . . .?
3
We have a long and disgusting history of racism, oppression and segregation in this country.
However, as is human nature, people tend to be self-centered on their experiences. While I am certain that many of the events you describe were motivated by bigoted and prejudiced beliefs, Black folk need to recognize that we are not the only one's who've been denied use of a restroom at a coffee shop, not the only ones followed around a store, not the only ones who have suspicious busy-body neighbors call the police, not the only ones abused by rogue cops. Indeed, my 'white' husband has had all these experiences.
We should be careful about ascribing every anti-social encounter we have to racism -- people are often just mean in general.
5
I travelled from Scotland to Maryland to a family wedding and felt that racism was palpable in the air. Still, I was shocked when a long time neighbour and family friend of the hosts told me that 'they' have different brains!
Hopefully Rosanne Barr's racism and support for conspiracy theories will help Americans take a good look at themselves.
2
Oh, come on people. TV depictions of American life are based on what the writers and producers see in suburban malls. If they really were able to show American working class life as it is, everyone would know that working class black people and working class white people have more in common than anyone cares to admit. Instead we get homogenized and superficial characters only pretending they are working class.
4
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” John 8:7.
Well, the stones are certainly flying today. We, smug in our political correctness are so willing to heap piles of scorn on Ms. Barr for making a stupid and foolish tweet. Was it wrong? Of course. But rather than let the viewers decide the outcome of her show by choosing to view or not, oh we become such self-righteous Pharisees by cancelling her show altogether and proclaim with faux piety how foolish we all were to allow her to come back on the air at all. She's such a monster. She's so... human.
And yes, whilst we may expect the celebrities, the educated elite, truly any we put on any sort of pedestal among us to be pillars of perfection, alas, we find them just as human as we are. Maybe that's what scares us into wanting to throw the stones so quickly. But the challenge remains before us:
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
You gonna throw that rock, or what?
6
Roseanne obviously has a fear of having to handle a steady job and got herself fired before everyone found out how incapable she is.
"ABC...never making the reboot in the first place" is a non-starter because everything is about money. Money matters above all other things in today's society. ABC could not resist the billions of dollars that the reboot brought in, regardless of the content of the reboot.
I was speaking with Mark McGuire (CA Senator) at a recent Town Hall meeting where he was updating Santa Rosa residents on progress towards insurance reform after the 2017 Northern California wildfires. He said that many CA senators on the Senate Insurance Committee were opposed to the reform because of fierce opposition from the insurance industry. I asked him if the senators' opposition was all about money (e.g., campaign contributions from insurance lobbyists, and the profitability of the insurance industry) and he said, "Yes". The question of what's right or best for the wildfire survivors is never on the table. EVERYTHING today is about money.
6
Corporate conscience is a relatively new concept. Corporate business, until recently, was never endowed with human feelings, opinions or manners. The "profit motive" was the paramount and singular principle that guided the corporate titans. In the realm of publicly traded corporations, not only was profit the "be all and end all, it was legally protected and, more importantly, mandated. The "shareholder derivative lawsuit" is a tool by which an owner of stock can use to prevent, require or terminate an action by the corporate management. In addition, the lawsuit can seek money damages by the negligent or purposeful actions of the management. At a point in our corporate history, a corporate management's actions to spend corporate funds on socially conscience issues or even charitable donations were subject to these lawsuits. The plaintiffs prevailed in a vast majority of the cases. Like in other matters reflected in the growth and progression of a forward thinking society, there has been a dramatic change. Corporate charitable actions are now construed as a benefit to the corporate image and one that contributes to corporate profit. SCOTUS has even bestowed quasi-human status to the corporation when it involves political campaign contributions (Citizens United). Granting first amendment rights to a corporate body or allowing corporate money into the messy world of ideologies and social engineering brings about its own bag of troubles. Race is just one of many.
1
The culture that is without mean jokes has never existed, but we need it urgently now. More so than preventing nuclear war, protecting climate, combating tyranny and economic inequality, or getting a sane and competent US president.
We need more witch hunts from now until eternity in order that political correctness can finally prevail everywhere and all the time, forever.
6
"Everyone involved made a decision to support the show despite its co-creator’s racism. They decided that their career ambitions, or desire to return to network television, or financial interests would best be served by looking the other way. It was only when Ms. Barr became an immediate liability that everyone involved finally looked at her racism and dealt with it directly."
Similarly guilty of looking the other way: the Electoral College (in late 2016) and the Republicans in Congress (from that time onward). On November 6, everyone involved can deal with it directly.
8
The Electors of the Electoral College are supposed to exercise independent judgment in their capacity as Electors. They use as their excuse for not doing so state laws which purport to bind their votes. Because they are operating as constitutional Federal officers as Electors, any state effort to bind their votes is unconstitutional and void. The Republican Electors of the Electoral College obviously were comfortable with Donald Trump's racism, incompetence and general unfitness for the presidency.
3
I can't believe some of the comments I'm seeing here.
The only thing that clearly comes across that as a society, not only are deeply divided -- but we're drifting further apart.
This country is in trouble.
10
There was a skinny black homeless man laying on a bench at 6am at the San Diego downtown trolley station, he was moving his arms violently and shouting loudly inarticulate words. I asked a guard to call the police to help him. After some confusion, some transit cop showed up and started harassing the poor man and shoving him around. I was shocked. And realized I had become another white person calling the cops on a black guy. But that bum needed help!! Who else to call? And the police were brutal! Shouldn't they be trained to deal with the mentally ill or overdosing in a more constructive manner than harassing and shoving and shouting, "You need to get a job!"..etc.
It was horrible. I will NEVER call the cops again. But just like that poor Aussie woman who was SHOT after calling about a neighbor she thought was getting burgled, who else are we to call? The cops are the front line, they are out there.
The system is broken.
Also Valerie Jarrett is such an elegant, articulate, lovely human being, as far as I can tell - made Roseanne's tweet doubly idiotic. Valerie Jarret - why?
13
It seems pretty obvious, based on the description, that the homeless man you saw had a mental illness. So why on earth would you think that the police would somehow 'help him'? What would you think they would do.... bring him to a shelter?... to a hospital psych ward? And then what? He'd be right back out on the streets within a few days.
What we need is a national movement to put mental health care on the forefront. I can't even imagine what it must be like...to be so mentally ill that you cannot properly function in the world...to be so mentally ill that you become socially ostracized....where most people don't want to be near you or engage with you....to be in that much pain...where that is your entire existence...and yet, for society at large, our government and the medical field to all have the potential to help us and yet.... no one seems to care enough to get us the help we so desperately need.
It's a national disgrace. There but for the grace of god...
1
Grace - Rosanne's tweet would have been just as horrific if directed towards a black person who was not as "elegant and articulate", well-educated and accomplished, as Valerie Jarrett is. Just as horrific.
(It is true though that no amount of education and accomplishment can protect black Americans against racism.)
1
Why is your comment relevant.
If the guy was white would you have called the cop.
If so race was not the issue.
How were the police brutal.
You called because that man acting inappropriately.
How should they have acted.
You are probably not the person to make that kind of judgement.
In either case you do not know that race had anything to do with how this man was treated.
I do not believe the system is broken but people like you just like to tell us how bad everyone else is.
How do you know Valerie Jarrett is a elegant articulate lovely human being.
I know nothing about her .
I believe she is competent but probably no more than anyone else is.'
You are just trying to criticize Roseanne Barr as if there can be no justifiable reason she could have to believe Valerie Jarrett is incompetent.
Remember how she “sang” the National Anthem.
7
Don't forget...we are all primates, and members of Homo sapiens sapiens. Skin color and other somatic/physical racial characteristics barely register in the genetic scheme of things within our own species/subspecies... sapiens/sapiens. In terms of non-human primates, we are closet genetically to the Great Apes...and Chimpanzees in particular...with genetic divergence estimated to have occurred approx. 15 million years ago. You can observe the close resemblance when watching Congress at work.
10
I wish Norman Lear could produce a much needed mainstream TV series about the present era. Though, at 95 yrs. , the energy needed may be too taxing. It seems, in the effort to open USA viewpoints, TV comedy guidance would win over news media seriousness.
Norman Lear has a lot of energy; is currently doing a reboot of "One Day at a Time" on Netflix(?). And has several other projects in work.
He looks, speaks and acts far, far, far younger than 95. Or 75. Or even 55. Don't count him out just yet!
8
The Roseanne incident is at the heart of everything that is wrong now. We are suffering from a lack of decency, respect, intelligence and common sense…while we have an abundance of disrespect, vile bigotry, and complete ignorance. This poisonous excess is fanning out across every area of our government from the DOJ to the EPA, and across all levels of our society and culture. Thank you Roxanne Gay, for sticking it to Roseanne and The Man (Who is both one and many.)
18
In the meantime, Huckabee Sanders is doing her master's bidding in spinning this story to be all about Trump. She truly is vile.
3
The "progressive" weaponization of the term "racism" is going to backfire. It has been used everytime "progressives" don't agree with some position, not agreeing with every "progressive" position results in being labeled racist. For every example this author cites (and I'm more than positive the whole story is not told in each case) there are millions of examples that tell a different story of America's acceptance and inclusion of minorities.
13
Scare quotes around "racism"? Are you trying to claim her behavior wasn't racist?
1
The problem is partly that people don't understand what the word racism means, that it means bias, and that is problematic. Certainly, racism can be played out as overt bias, like for example Jim Crow, or the attempts to disenfranchise black voters in some part of the country. The problem with racism is it a lot more than bias, you can dislike someone, even hate them, but still see them as human. Racism is based on something else, it is the idea that a race is somehow sub human, that there is 'something wrong with them', and as a result they associate characteristics with a racial group that 'prove' this. So for example, the girl in the Yale dorm who reported the black student, assumed a)that being black, she couldn't be a yale student and therefore, b, if she was sleeping in the dorm common room she must be homeless or something and crashing there. The women at the country club were hassled because the person who saw them there felt like 'they don't belong here' and found a way to try and throw them out. The kids shopping for the prom who were hassled by security were assumed that they were there to shoplift, and worse, when they bought stuff, they were met with cops, whereas a group of white kids shopping would have been left alone, even though teenagers as a whole tend to have higher rates of shoplifting, but the assumption there was black=almost certainly shoplifting, since of course "they" don't buy anything, the way "they" don't go to Yale or "they" don't golf.
10
After this fiasco occurred, I watched a video on The Washington Post of Trump supporters being interviewed about Roseanne Barr and the show's cancellation in light of her remarks. I was struck by two things: all the people interviewed were middle-aged and white, and all of them said it was unfair of Roseanne to be fired for saying something negative when people say negative things about Trump all the time. It seemed to completely, totally escape these people that what she said was totally horrendous and that, in light of her remarks, ABC had every right to dump her. One man managed to mutter something inane about liberals while posturing that another network would no doubt pick up her show. Sorry, friend: there isn't another network worth its salt that will touch Roseanne and her smarmy show with a ten-foot pole. A network is a business, and no business run by people capable of constructive thought is going to hitch its wagon to racists and, by extension, Trump.
Of those interviewed by the Post, only one woman admitted that what Roseanne said was incorrect, but even she managed to gloss it over by saying that "our president and vice president" have been the targets of unnecessary smears. There's really nothing that will get through to these people. I think we have to face the terrible fact, as we roll towards the midterms, that there is a significant and appalling segment of our society that basically thinks racism and bad behavior is no big deal.
34
I’m old, white and fat and she had to be fired for the sake of decency. I think Bill Maher has crossed that line as well. We can do without his hatred as well.
2
She was wrong and should be told that.
However you and people like you are exaggerating how bad it was.
It is true liberals have said far worse about Trump.
I have seen people calling him a Nazi.
They even say that about Netanyahu.
These people have done far worse and no liberal demands that they should be fired.
Why is this.
1
Before starting on the Roseanne questions, it's too bad the interviewer didn't ask any of these people how they felt about Colin Kaepernick being un-signed in the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem. I think we all know what they would say.
Then ask them about Roseanne comparing a black woman to an ape, and silently watch as their own racist hypocrisy sinks in. I'm sure there would've been plenty of "yeah, but"s, back pedaling, and angry denials.
3
Is it right to say that the show shouldn't have been aired in the first place? America is polarised and the show could of served some good by humanising people that fall outside of the social circle of many. I haven't seen the show, but the script writers could have used it to help bring Americans together and to bridge divisions. It could also have been used to propagate racist propaganda too of course. It should be judged on its merits.
As for Ms Roseanne, ABC dealt with her perfectly, and should be commended for doing so, even if they did indeed show poor judgement in the first instance.
6
I'm glad I chose not to watch the reboot. I don't need to understand racists. My family is from the south and I remember learning for the first time that my elders were racist. My cousin had become engaged to a black woman he served with in the Navy and my uncle warned us so we could brace ourselves before meeting her. My brother and I just looked at him and said "and." No more discussion or justification was needed. We made it clear that we were not going to be a party to racism.
Enough is enough. We all have ingrained biases but we can make a conscious decision not to allow them to become our reality. It's time we stop catering to and making excuses for racism. Racism will die when white people realize that they are the problem and not a moment sooner. It's not the job of the oppressed groups to end racism.
16
"President Trump often seems like a living embodiment of Ms. Barr’s Twitter feed, and many of his most vocal supporters revel in that. They revel in the freedom and the permission to be racist."
Ms. Gay captures a truth in those two sentences that is too important to let pass. Some white people may look for the "some white people" or some other qualifier to let themselves off the hook. That Roseanne Barr could tweet such a comment as she did speaks volumes to how much white people in general feel comfortable with racist ideas, jokes and rants feel these days. How many white people call out other white people when we are in a group of white people and the slurs and innuendos start? Let's be brutally honest about this. This is not a "black issue." It is a white issue. The railing against "political correctness" was nothing less than a rallying cry from racists and misogynists. And now Trump has taken the lid off Pandora's jar, so that referring to attendees at a fascist, white supremacist rally as "fine people," sparks controversy, but he is still in office.
Roseanne may be banished, but with Trump in office, that's like being confronted by Godzilla, stepping on a flea and saying "we showed that flea, didn't we?" Sorry, but the problem is much bigger.
A word about enablers. When leaders of the Democratic party say that impeachment is off the table, or a distraction, they are enablers.
6
Start the second series without her. She died unexpectedly. Dan remarries... Wanda Sykes. Or Molly from Mike and Molly. Happy times again.
10
Agree with you 100 percent.However, not all white people are exceedingly comfortable with the notion of policing African Americans. Some of us are very, very uncomfortable--even enraged--by it. Calling the police on a woman sleeping in a common room? Ditto for guests departing an Air BnB? People sitting in Starbucks? Absolutely appalling. No other description applies.
17
Kathleen cairns - The neighbor who called the police on the airbnb renters had not been notified by the homes owner she had turned this property into a nightly rental property and to expect strangers coming and going. To her it looked like the place was being robbed by a group of strangers carrying out bags. The problem would have been avoided had the home owner simply informed all of her neighbors of her choice to turn a single unit family home in the suburbs into an overnight hotel. My guess is her town and many others will require permits to make this transition in the future, as neighbors do not like the unknown element in their communities, ie: pedophiles or sexual predators moving in for a week or more, thereby avoiding the obligatory notification process.
2
The culture that gave her a show? Not going to read the article, the title tells it all. The xx million of people that voted for Trump are the ones that liked the show, support racist jokes, and vote Rep. That's pretty much the narrative each day. But it isn't a 'culture' that followed the show, not based on ratings. Like everything, it's more complex. Her tweet was unquestionably bad, and she paid the price. But her show comedy is a mix from the two shows I've seen. Not a real fan, but to throw a large group of people into a culture basket is a huge mistake.
5
"The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia": well, no, it's definitely NOT ridiculous to have a Trump supporter as a major character on a prominent television show. Lots of people voted for him--enough to elect him--and they don't see themselves on television. They do exist, but they are invisible--which is why they voted for Trump in the first place.
Now personally I agree that those who voted for Trump made a horrendous mistake, and elected a guy who is every bit as bad as the article says. But I don't find it hard to see in the absence of Trump voters on television, or in late-night comedy, that they would see nothing but confirmation that the "elites" are against them.
We, as a nation, can't talk across the divide. The show was trying t do that--a little. I had thought--or maybe just faintly hoped--that Roseanne, in potentially tracing the political and social path from Rosanne-1 to Roseanne-2, was one of the few people who were in a position to be a bridge for dialogue. But then Roseanne herself burned that bridge, or maybe revealed that there never was a bridge, just an unbridgeable chasm. I agree that ABC did the right thing in cancelling the show. But Trump won't go away by making his supporters invisible, persona non grata on television. We need to see them, and if they're racists call them what they are, but if they have legitimate complaints, let's air them too.
5
Roxanne, you are doing what liberals always do: conflating discrete events to make broad claims. I'm white and have been harassed by police and other "authority" figures who got off on their limited power and control.
There is no doubt that racism operates in how black people are treated in many circumstances, with poorer people way more vulnerable and then the elite educated. (Yet it always seems it is the more socially well positioned voices we hear about--golf courses? Yale?) But race can be just one factor, and sometimes not a dominate factor. So while you throw around obfuscatory and muddy academic terms like "policing black bodies" (something hardly new in practice despite its jargon-y new spin), and list case after case exemplifying this policing, you also end up abstracting the much more nuanced and individualized issue of how black people--not to mention the rest of us--are treated by those in positions of power.
10
Your first sentence contains an over-generalization and stereotyping of "liberals". You then make a number of statements, offerering no facts to support them. The author did not in any way abstract anyting. She made a clear case and supported it. Your comment does not make sense.
1
you’ve completely, absolutely missed the point.
How many poor white people do you know who have had the cops called on them when they were just shopping, sleeping, walking etc.?
1
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
Should read:
"Roseanne Barr is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
Why do we, as a country, have to wait so long to do the right thing today? I think it's because Trump does not only permit racism-he exhorts it, every single day. That means we have to protest, every single day, and that takes work.
I do have to object the inclusion of the Air BnB example as evidence of racism though-if I saw anyone I didn't know unloading luggage into a car in my neighborhood unaccompanied by the home owner (normally a homeowner would stand on the steps to say goodbye or walk their houseguests to the car when they were leaving), I would call my neighbor and if I couldn't reach them I would call the police. To me, Air BnB could cause us to overtook something very scary-there was just a Brooklyn home invasion where family members' lives were saved by the quick texting of a neighbor asking who was visiting.
2
The "reboot" was a blatant attempt to cash in.
3
Thanks for going further with this by highlighting the other acts of racism that must be decried just as loudly as Roseanne's Deplorable behavior. I hope we can fight the urge to generalize about any group or race, including white people. Don't let the haters divide us. Some of us have marched side by side with our black compatriots, chanting and believing this must be said over and over: "Black Lives Matter!" We must demand action to make this a better place for everyone, not just the privileged who have been protected and defended by so long by institutionalized racism. As a person who has been designated "white," I never will know the threats, pain and sacrifices black people have suffered. But I want us to progress together beyond the Deplorable state we now are in -- the hate-fueled, corrupt and morally bankrupt state that describes the U.S.A. under the minority-elected Donald Trump.
2
Ms. Barr is and has always been a sick and troubled person who became too rich, famous and powerful to get help. It's a sad story but hardly a new one.
9
I remember when I was very young and was going off to my first school classes, my mother told me it is probably best to not tell everyone that I am Jewish. I don't remember if I asked why. I do remember, however, that because of this I told my class that I was Native American, an Indian in those days. Not everyone appreciated that either. I simply liked the way Indians looked, rode their horses, and were the underdog in their fights with cowboys and cavalry. I didn't tell my mother I had donned a new existence. Since then, I have come to appreciate who I really am: I am a human being just like all the other mortals around me. I think this is the best medicine - never invented - for having a society.
7
Why has everyone forgotten the alt-right? Just to remind y'all, this is the kind of speech that they, and their candidate for president, insist is protected by the first amendment. They assume that they won the debate and that the limits on free speech have been shoved back into the swamp so that they can speak their minds.
Prediction: Roseanne will soon have a new show on NRA TV, or the equivalent.
3
Ms. Gay does her argument a disservice when she needlessly attacks the motivations of the cast, crew, and producers: "They decided that their career ambitions, or desire to return to network television, or financial interests would best be served by looking the other way." Is it not possible that Sara Gilbert and Wanda Sykes had more noble motives in reviving the show?
5
Agreed. Using her rationale she would need to quit her job if her boss was a Trump supporter, right?!
Every US citizen is supposed to have freedom to speak their minds. Roseann spoke from a personal stance, not as a representative of ABC. Nobody should have their jobs taken away for exercising that freedom providing it has not encroached on their workplace and/or coworkers. If viewers cease watching the show based on their objection to her personal comments that would justifiably be the end of the show. ABC’s censorship was based solely on their concern for potential loss of revenue—with no concern for the loss of income to hundreds working on that show. Roseann certainly has not hidden herself from us over the years; ABC knew what they were getting into. The new show fairly presented two opposing viewpoints in an an endearing way; kudos to the writers. Our president’s sickening editorials and lies are indulged daily yet he, sadly, has not lost his job. The PC police need to stop; Freedom of speech is what we’re supposed to be about—not the almighty dollar.
5
Suzi:
While I agree with your premise about freedom of speech, businesses have rules regarding their employees' behavior & public comments & have a right & responsibility to enforce those rules as they see fit.
The First Amendment right to free speech is a right that cannot be abridged by Federal (State & Local) Governments.
If you're distressed by ABC & Disney's decision to cancel Rosanne, then it's your right to stop watching ABC programming & not see Disney movies or visit their theme parks.
4
I saw on another news site that Trump just had a hissy fit over some lyrics JayZ sang at a Clinton rally over two years ago. He claimed that Jayz's lyrics were obscene and the only way Clinton got anyone to come to her rallies was by having musicians. Talk about trying to control African-Americans and/or women. The pu**y grabber in chief is whining today about Clinton's rallies and JayZ performance from over two years ago. Would Trump be whining if it was a white guy performing at another white guy's rally?
7
I agree with Ms. Gay. I also agree with a point made by Kathy Griffin; the poor decision to reboot the show is less likely to have been made if more women and people of color were the “check writers” (Bob Iger) at the major entertainment companies. What is true for industry is true for government as well. In fact, research shows companies with diverse boards (>30% minority) are more profitable- not just more socially aware, inclusive, and kinder.
6
Since Roseanne doomed her show with a Tweet, it seems rather appropriate to quote a rather insightful Tweet about the show's demise:
"It's almost too on the nose that the fictional Roseanne is a hard-pressed, working-class Trump supporter while the real Roseanne is a rich racist Trump supporter."
17
Only six years ago racists were furious at Roseanne for tweeting George Zimmerman's address. Now they're coming to her defense. Welcome to the American circus. Roseanne says whatever nonsense will get her media coverage. She's a third-rate comedian that has been offending people for decades. Good riddance.
13
there's nothing new in Roseanne's either old or current run that should have surprised anyone with a sane, reasonable intact civility. her red neck- ish bend goes way back. the real question is : way is it that Roseanne had to go, but trump, for saying the same things just much, much worse - continues to get away with it. big time. the inescapable conclusion : something is very rotten in Denmark.
4
Why was Valerie Jarrett even a target of Roseanne? I didn't even know who she was. Has she been in the news recently before this tweet?
7
Do you know who she is now? -- And where were you for the past 9 years??
1
I keep wondering when someone from the self-proclaimed "Party of Personal Responsibility" will take personal responsibility for his or her own actions.
Just today, we have Roseanne Barr blaming Ambien for her unhinged racism, Eric Greitens blaming unnamed "enemies" for his own sexual peccadilloes and fundraising chicanery, and, of course, our Commander-in-Chief blaming everyone but himself for everything from the Russia investigation to self-inflicted wounds brought on by his own ignorance and inanity.
First rule of "personal responsibility," apparently: point the finger outward.
23
For a few seconds I was hopeful that this once and for all would demonstrate to many what lurks beneath much of the Trump support, then I realized that within a few days Fox and talk-radio will have millions believing that "the media" somehow conspired against a pro-Trump show, and that the Roseanne episode will be political correctness run amok. Please America, let's get back on track and start repairing the immense damage in November.
9
ABC and the other actors involved, took on the Roseanne show, knowing full well that she's a big mouth racist. Capitalism works great for people like this, TV stars making millions,networks and advertisers making millions. There is no morality, no forethought. Make the money until we can't anymore.
3
I've always been in the "If you don't like a show, don't watch it" school.
8
I came across the reboot and watched one episode. I knew then what Ms. Barr is about and had no interest in her hate, certainly not the show. I really still can't believe she said that racist remark and thought she'd get away with it.
3
I look at this from a strictly personal perspective. This woman is mean and she is "self"Ish. To me it's not so much the comment as her obligation to all the people working on (and in) the show to make it really good and really entertaining. She should go on TV for 30 minutes and ask for forgiveness, and never again make these stupid comments. Trump is no hero for women's rights so what could she be thinking anyway? Get out of this psychological trap she's in and start talking to America again- Americans who care about one another and work together for a better country and a better future. Snide remarks should be done in private, preferably after stubbing a toe or burning her finger on the stove. Help the show be a success- she certainly has the talent.
Maybe, maybe- at that point they could bring back the show, with smiles on everyone's faces so people can relax and enjoy being funny and getting a laugh. And on occasion, she and other actors might slip in a self-deprecating remark expressing some humility. Nobody is perfect, and no one is "more perfect" than anyone else. If she "loves" her TV family, she should also "love" her viewers and ergo the diversity that makes the country meaningful and good.
2
Roseanne has been obnoxious on every talk show she's been on while promoting this reboot, and I found her so infuriatingly vulgar and rude that there was absolutely no way I would watch her show and help put money in her pocket. I'm glad the show was cancelled, and it was an opportunity for ABC to very publicly teach her and her fan base a much needed lesson about their crass language and casual slurs. There are real consequences, at least professionally.
1
I never watched the first iteration of this show, and certainly did not watch the reboot. I say good riddance.
8
ABC did the right thing... but when Trump's base is going to do the right thing too?
I guess... never... and that's a real tragedy.
Now USA is becoming a more divided country by the day.
Trump supporters are wrong and unapologetic... but never the less they look like always willing to go for a good fight... just like their boss.
7
Why do we invest so much time and energy in what actors and sitcoms say? Roseanne is repugnant and unfunny (sorry, but her form of comedy is far less than "chewing gum for the mind"), but suddenly she's a lightning rod for public opinion. Why, exactly? Is it because our public discourse has devolved into debating the propriety of the nonsense she spews? At the expense of actual meaningful dialogue? Our obsession with language and symbols and totems is part of the problem. Racism (whether overt, incipient or subliminal) needs to be addressed in our society, but the conversation ought to be taking place on a higher plane than debating the unhinged rants of spoiled, deranged, actress.
5
Pardon me for being skeptical but I find the reciting of isolated instances where whites wrongly suspected blacks of engaging in criminal or other wrongful behavior not particularly helpful in establishing that as a general rule blacks in this country are made to feel unwanted by whites. In order to come to that conclusion, one would have to compare the number of instances of whites wrongly suspecting blacks with blacks wrongly suspecting blacks, or blacks wrongfully suspecting whites or whites wrongfully suspecting whites. The media may be choosing to publicize only instances of whites wrongly suspecting blacks. Or not. But in the absence of a comparative analysis, any claim that there still is a need for a "guidebook" detailing where in this country it is safe to be a black is inflammatory and not based on fact.
6
Exactly. Selecting a small handful of stories which supports your narrative to build your case is not in any way a comparative analysis, and therefore not anything like a true empirical study; it is an opinion piece designed to satisfy the victim-warrior writer. I've called the police so many times on people in my life, living in many places, and most all I reported on were white. Often they might be teens in a group looking up to no good. Sometimes an unfamiliar person shouting in the streets and probably suffering from mental illness, but who needed to be evaluated. No one likes to be the subject of suspicion. If a broader study or sampling were offered, a different revelation would occur. But that would not be so inflammatory to get people talking as the intimations of social injustice presented here.
Take a look at incarceration rates. look at suspension rates for black kids vs white kids - as young as preschool. Those aren’t isolated incidents— better yet, actually talk to people of color and ask what their life is like here. do you honestly think living white in America is the same as living black in America?? Would you trade? wake up.
1
I think you still have your head firmly buried in the sand. Racism is alive and well in this country. Trump has turned over the rocks where it has always laid.
I watched an episode of The American Experience last night about the Chinese Exclusion Act. Apparently, there is nothing new under the sun.
1
I note that President Trump tweeted a shot at Bob Iger for apologizing to Ms. Jarrett. No mention of Roseanne Barr's remarks. As he did so shamelessly on Memorial Day, he turned this story to himself asking why ABC has not apologized to him for unspecified attacks made on the network in the past. Really?? This man is supposed to be the President of the United States.
9
Those uneducated who agree with this woman’s racism because they feel it, will not get the message of her punishment, on the contrary. All we have to do is listen to her own justification.
They will feel betrayed by a compassionate society and will continue to look for ways to disprove the morality of what just happened because they don’t understand it. They will continue to look for evidence that those who look different, dress different, believe different or sound different, deserve to be treated in their communities and punished because their idea of America is different.
If we think things will be better, we’d better think again.
1
Perhaps the weirdest thing about Barr's statement is that it didn't convey any meaningful information. Anyone who enjoys standup comedy (including black members of the audience like myself) has heard, and probably laughed at, jokes with some element of racism, sexism or other bias. I've laughed along with decidedly non-P.C. comics like Daniel Tosh just like I laugh at Dave Chappelle. In similar fashion, I am capable of stripping blunt or even obscene speech to reach the underlying message and evaluating it on the merits. Without that ability, hip-hop would be wasted on me.
Where things become problematic is when: (1) an authority figure is purposefully insulting whole demographics of people; or (2) there IS no deeper meaning.
Barr falls into category 2. I can dissect the tweet all day long. There's nothing communicated beyond pure maliciousness. If it's a "joke," there is no discernible punch line. And if I strip away the racist and xenophobic elements, there's simply nothing left. And to those claiming that there IS something there, I would remind you that Barr herself claims the tweet was some manner of Ambien-induced delirium.
As was often the case with Sarah Palin (and sometimes Sean Penn vis-à-vis Bush) back in the day, I am unable to engage with Barr's "speech" in this case either humorously or seriously because there is no rational foothold for me to climb onboard her train of thought; it's just pure racist gibberish for its own sake.
19
Lets be frank for a moment. It is rare for people to "do the right thing" at the right time. The "right thing' is dependent on context and is colored by self interest, fear, sloth, and ambition. We expect moral courage and sacrifice from others in a way that, in their place, we ourselves could not muster. We tend to judge from the decision backward. Well, great that ABC did the right thing, but THEY SHOULD have done it before. NO. What matters is that IT WAS done. What matters is that from today forward, it SHALL BE done. And if the decision was influenced by greed, by ambition, by less than noble aspirations, then the decision was still human, still made, and still worthy of praise.
5
I certainly appreciate your insights and reservations, Roxanne, but I for one am grateful that ABC cancelled the ROSEANNE reboot -- for whatever reason. It's one more refusal to go along with the racism that Donald Trump has promoted and continues to promote, and the fact that it's a major network making this gesture is even more important: American television gave us THE APPRENTICE, as well as innumerable other shows, that encourage the coarsening of taste and demonization of others that helped elect the current resident of the White House. Let's hope that Trump supporters and other fans of Roseanne take notice.
5
"The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
So a fictional character supports the ACTUAL SITTING PRESIDENT OF THE US, and the NYT thinks it must be stopped.
This is just plain nonsense.
He is the PRESIDENT, he was elected. He is not Hitler. He was ELECTED.
He will be again if the NYT doesn't cool its jets.
This is actually funny.
5
BB - Trump was no ELECTED. He was INSTALLED by the electoral voters. Hillary Clinton was ELECTED by a 3 million vote lead.
1
First of all. Trump wasn't ELECTED. He was SELECTED -- by the Russians, Republicans and the Electoral College system.
He lost the popular vote by over 3 million and his racist support base is still not in the majority.
But if there's anything funny, it's thinking that the NYT is going to responsible for his re-election...Better wait and see how that investigation ends up first.
2
I was never part of that Roseanne culture. For most of the first run I was overseas with the USAF. Even after returning to the US and seeing it once, it seemed old and crude. I'm in my mid-fifties now and by all accounts should be able to relate - grew up poor and saved every cent I got my hands on. The first reboot episode was boring, but tolerable until they got to swapping meds at the table. Is this where we are now? People are comfortable joking about taking pills?
Are our untreated illnesses not something we need to worry about? I'll swap two Zanaxes for a Vicodin, Ha Ha Ha! Perhaps this is just another way the TV industry is duping viewers into dismissing real quality of life issues.
5
Ms. Gay’s opinion piece was excellent. Thank you.
Frankly, we know we have a big problem. But what will we do?
I wish every conversation circled back to — more of us voting (especially people of color in places like St. Louis), registering voters, or helping people vote.
The reasons are obvious.
And pushing for a good education to be more affordable. Rants like Ms. Barr’s prove how inaccessible it is to most people especially at younger age with working class backgrounds.
It’s not working out well for anyone.
5
Ironically, after decades of being blamed for spreading degradation, lowering morals and feeding our most basic instincts, we now can only hope Hollywood and our nation's story-tellers can have the discipline to save us from these untethered, under-educated, self-deluded products of the American swamp.
7
We all have to put up with some bigot in our lives. Fortunately, for most of us, they are not famous people.However, I would have no problem turning my back on a "friend" who turned out to be racist until I could believe they had changed their minds.
Racism should be right up there with the other "deadly" sins, yet evangelicals praise Trump as though he is the finest man ever to be in office. Is that no supporting sinfulness?
I'm sorry for those who lost their jobs, but not for Roseanne, nor for those who supported making a show with such a racist "star." If they failed to check her Twitter account for clues, they should have.
Regardless of whether ABC's reasons were ethical or business, they made the correct decision here.
9
@Shayladane - as long as Trump continues to shred Planned Parenthood, meddles around in Israel, and even appears like he might roll back LGBTQ rights, the evangelicals will follow him anywhere.
You have to wonder what people like Valerie Jarrett, George Soros or Susan Rice have done to earn Roseanne's continuing efforts to defame them? My feeling is that, like Donald Trump, she feeds her deep insecurity by crudely demeaning others. And as with Trump, we should reject this behavior and these people for their disrespect of others, and make a commitment to avoid exhibiting these same antisocial behaviors.
9
"The reboot contributed to a cultural moment that makes white people feel exceedingly comfortable and entitled as they police black bodies in public spaces."
Ms Gay summarized several recent cases where whites took it upon themselves to conclude individuals had no right to be where they were, doing the things they were doing simply because of the color of their skin.
These humiliations, while outrageous are for the most part mild. Yet many whites act as though have a "right" to confront black people for living their lives has it's basis in numerous state laws such as Florida's Stand Your Ground.
Such laws have much more severe consequences for unsuspecting, innocent Blacks when confronted by racist vigilantes who use such laws to hunt down & kill; then hide behind the laws to justify their actions.
There are so many incidences which happen on a daily bases which are an affront to African-Americans, but should be to all Americans.
I'm not "white". I belong to a minority subjected to racist hatred, yet I can pass as white to most people.
I work two jobs to make ends meet & still it's not enough. In some ways, my demographics would place me squarely in with trump supporters.
My part time job is at a Big Box retailer. As a sales associate, I deal with all of our customers. I make a point to offer help to our Black customers all the time. Many complain they are ignored by white associates.
The level of white entitlement is pervasive. Changing that culture is an ongoing struggle.
10
Lester, I have to say, all of these attacks against whites with name calling ("racist") does nothing at all to improve race relations. It actually just creates more distance and discomfort. Friendliness and kindness improves relations, and then that only on a one-on-one basis.
I'm hoping ABC takes a day off from broadcasting to assemble its writers, producers and actors to discuss this issue and put this dark moment behind it.
4
And I'm hoping that ABC and all the other broadcasters keep this issue up front and vital, because that's the only real way of ever doing anything about it.
3
This may be a forest and trees situation. Ms. Barr's Tweets signal an unhealthy mind. She is blurting weird grandiose thoughts and blaming it on Ambien. One wonders if this is the only drug she is taking or there is a deeper seeded mental health problem. Such language deserves medical examination. Those closes to her should help her get attention from a proper physician. It is not logical someone who has been in the public eye for years is saying things that are so off the wall.
4
She has a history of mental health issues, not that that's any excuse for her actions.
2
She will soon turn to dust and a dim memory.
But:
"Act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with 'your' God."
"Be kind and gentle to every living thing.
protect all weaker than ourselves.
think and say pure, beautiful thoughts and words,
say pure beautiful words.
DO pure and beautiful deeds."
"Faith Hope and Love"
Leave the world better than you found it, no matter how insignificant you your role was.
3
I mostly agree with this piece, but I take issue with this sentence, because it discards the views and opinions of a large chunk of the U.S. population as illegitimate: "The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
Having a character as a Trump supporter is not the problem. As you state in the rest of the piece, the problems are i) the prominent actress, who is playing a major character, is (and has been) tweeting racist comments and insane conspiracy theories; and ii) ABC, advertisers, and the cast and crew of the show all ignored this until they couldn't any more.
Having a major character on a prominent TV show as a Trump supporter is not automatically a problem, and, in fact, is to be expected, as, for better or for worse, roughly 43% of the U.S. population are Trump supporters.
1
Bravo Professor Gay. Please keep writing the truth.
10
Ironic Roseanne made those comments as she is Jewish on both side of her parents.
4
What's so "ironic" about it? ... Or for that, what so surprising?
Not really, the Likudniks hated Obama and love Trump.
It is in times of crisis that a society´s ghosts (re)appear. I come from Spain, Europe, and last year I was teaching in the US. I was amazed by the interest in classifying me racially and ethnically - just for statistical purposes, I was told. I have discovered that in Europe I am white (Caucasian according to the American teminology) while in the US I am Hispanic or Latino, but it seemed a little bit problematic because I am fair-haired and light-skinned. Surprisingly enough, nobody asked me about what social class I belonged to or my political affiliations...Roseanne-Barr-Trump are just mirrors of America's obsessions.
3
This is not the most focused piece I've read from Roxanne Gay. There isn't any focus on what Valerie Jarrett thinks can be teachable. Is Starbucks supposed to be an example? Then she turns to a trajectory of whites policing black bodies. But it is selective picking and the binary she needs to uphold to give it traction is very thick. What about Latinas in public spaces? They are made most illegitimate in relationship to space in the US. This isn't to say we don't have a serious racism problem in this country that is being stoked by Trump. But this piece is rushed and doesn't do justice to the sharper insights RG has shared in the past.
4
Right on, pointing the finger at ABC. It's the culture of corporate greed, and the media moguls, script writers, announcers, investors etc. , etc., care not how they make their buck as long as a buck's to be made.
But.... if ABC had not put her back on the air, we wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing her get humiliated this way. It might be worth it.
5
We do seem to be draining the swamp here and there, though not in the political realm...yet.
4
I didn't watch the reboot because I disliked the original. I only watched a few shows of the original. It occurred to me while watching that people that really speak that way to each other and their children aren't really loving - they're abusive. And Roseanne illustrates a big problem in the US. Her show may be cancelled but she still thinks the same. And so do millions of other Americans. Racism is alive and well.
9
If MSM fails to mirror America, it inevitably fails. This truism may be seen in both ABC's decision to re-run Roseanne, and in it's decision that the re-run hurts the network more than it helps.
Thanks to interactive communication, America today is more a collective voice than ever before. By majority opinion, we see both our persistent racial myopia, and the need of media for public support.
In the heat of an aroused public opinion, the glare against racism will dry it up faster than spit on a hot sidewalk; spiters being outliers in the collective eye.
Channing Dungey, ABC's CEO, knew what she was doing
7
ABC gave Roseanne the opportunity to do her show again because they knew it would make them money, just like NBC gave Bill Cosby a show in the 1980s.
However, I don't buy Ms. Gay's cynical and ignorant comment that the actors were there to make money or had career ambitions. Three of those actors grew up on the Roseanne show and it clearly means a lot to them, others have successful careers of their own outside of the show. John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf, two of the finest actors we have, and who worked with Roseanne for years, have never publicly said one bad word about her, whether she deserved it or not.
And why does Ms. Gay give no mention to the other half of Roseanne’s disgusting tweets? Does it only matter to her that a black woman was targeted and not that a Jewish man was called a Nazi and a vile conspiracy theory perpetuated?
It’s clear in reading this essay that Ms. Gay is more concerned with evading facts to build her argument than stating the truth. I suggest she begin with not blaming all whites for racism and work from there.
8
We US citizens, Black and Brown, must always acquiesce to white behavior or space. If we don't police can be expected in large numbers.
5
Ms. Gay:
Where is the culture that repudiates Michelle Wolf's remarks at the White House Correspondents Dinner towards White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and her personal appearance?
Where are Adam Conover defending Rosanne Barr for the same poor taste as Ms Wolf?
Oh, that's right... liberals get a new Netflix show! Why? Because liberals feel this entitlement because that’s what bigotry does — it allows one group of people to feel superior to and imagine dominion over another.
11
Not sure how saying that someone has a "perfect smoky eye" is attacking that person's appearance. Perhaps if Roseanne had chosen to sarcastically compliment Valerie Jarrett on her makeup acumen or give a scathing but fact-based review of her job performance--instead of comparing her to an ape--she would still have a show.
9
For every 1 Roseanne, there are 10 leftists who have said much worse things & are still on the air. Media will have no credibility until they clean up their WHOLE act.
10
Evidence please?
16
A Fractured Fairytale.
7
It would be interesting if the more than 13% of black men who voted for Trump (while 94% of black women voted for Hillary Clinton) have buyers remorse.
9
It bothers me so much that ABC is taking a stand but we have a guy in the white house that is getting away with the same thing and worse. If we are going to hold standards, lets start at the very top. IMHO!
10
The tweet was terrible.
But how many people compare Trump to an orangutan such as one of these commenters, and many commenters in many pieces before? GW Bush was often caricatured as a chimpanzee. Barr's tweet was criticized in the strongest terms, and the show quickly canceled, but why are the comparisons of Trump and Bush to primates accepted? No human wants to be compared to a primate, regardless of race.
10
There is no comparison. An African-American being compared to an ape is profoundly racist as shown in historical documents which deemed people whose ancestors came from Africa as subhuman. Historically, white people were never subjected to this. If Maher compares Trump’s hair to an orangutan’s, it does not have the same historical resonance. When I talk about history I am talking about the very real fact that people from Africa or descended from Africans were treated as property.
1
Does anybody still think that Twitter is good for the world?
9
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, of course.
Thanks again, Dorsey. For nothing.
1
ABC and Disney are to be applauded for their unbelievable prompt reaction to Barr's repugnant racist remark. Normally, canceling the number one show which is going to have a huge effect on their income, would take days for action.
Don't understand how abnormal this was? It's like if your elected member of Congress passed sensible gun control laws and walked away from their huge NRA campaign support. You can bet your child's life that will never happen!
6
Roseanne had to go in the era of the hashtag. She is one more Hollywood titan using power to harass and victimize a woman.
2
Oh, I think Valerie Jarrett, a Washington power player, will get through this "harassment" and "victimization."
6
I don't think we should mix entertainment business decisions with political ones, not until there is a reason for doing so. To bring back Roseanne show could have been a good decision because the show had things to say, regardless of Ms. Barr's reputation or tweeting habits.
She crossed a line and revealed that separating her from the show would not be possible so ABC/Disney made another business decision and cancelled her show.
We know that there are people among us with racist thoughts and when they become public figures and then make statements that insult and demean people then action is taken.
I boycotted the reboot from the start even though I'd been a faithful viewer of the original. That was my decision based on what I knew of Ms. Barr.
Racism has been a fact of life in this country for a very long time. Trump made it easier for them to come out from under their rocks and cesspools and expose themselves freely. That is sad and seemingly there is no consequence to Trump for the truly awful person he is.
I hope his reality show gets cancelled soon. That at least would be justice and then we can live without him and Roseanne polluting us and maybe the rock and cesspool people will go back into hiding while the more enlightened of us pursue our lives and justice for all.
5
"I don't think we should mix entertainment business decisions with political ones,"
tell that to the fake president, the one who crowed about the show's ratings, saying the show "was about us". The fake president came to national prominence by way of a "reality" TV show. The "mix" was a fait accompli.
6
I agree with 99% BUT I can't agree it should never have been rebooted. This was painful but had to happen. I'm glad she showed her true colors even while under management!
If ABC had shelved the show before America got to see Ms. Barr doing her nasty on a big stage she'd be a bigger martyr than she is now - on FOX probably... (not too late if she can get an agent!)
2
We should not assume that the reaction by ABC is the best way to combat racism. They've created a white martyr and played right into the narrative that working class whites are being silenced by the "liberal media."
It also makes little sense to remove the old show from syndication, especially given that according to this article, the Conners "seemed to be liberals." The modern practice of disappearing people from history once they make a mistake is irrational (closing your eyes doesn't make bad things go away), and let's not forget that Roseanne Arnold/Barr wasn't the only actor or crew working on that show. Erasing the works of everyone involved punishes everyone else more than Roseanne, and it looks more like rage than moral superiority.
7
Gay says, "The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
I see it differently.
ABC gave 'Roseanne' a reboot because racism, misogyny and xenophobia have *already* been normalized. The network wanted to cash in on the growing confidence of the misguided masses that flocked to Trump's movement over the past two years and changed the country as they did.
We are already living in that unfortunate normal. ABC was giving America what it wanted. ABC had made some money by doing so and the network was preparing to make much much more. The network was not pushing any sort of social and/or political agenda. The network was providing entertainment for those millions of uninformed (or improperly informed) Americans who have already accepted the loud and ugly nonsense.
5
Completely agree. We need to accept that our world has changed irrevocably since 2016. Stop the ‘I am shocked, just shocked’ response and move on to action. Boycott every advertiser that also pays money to hatemongering websites like Fox News, with a polite note to the company on its feedback page explaining why. Monitor Fox news and other toxic media to become informed about what they actually say.
The Roseanne reboot was in and of itself a lie. The happy accident, as it were, is that Roseanne herself gave us, in no uncertain terms, the truth behind the reboot lie.
Here, ABC claimed, is a story we can all feel good about: a typical family of well-meaning working class Trump voters who are dealing with economics, race, etc. in a reasonable, humane, tolerant manner.
The studies tell us that is a lie. The typical Trump voter was relatively well off. Their principal motivations were racial resentment and the fear losing unmerited white entitlements.
The millionaire Roseanne's racist slur tells us what the typical Trump voter was really thinking. What, by all accounts, they are still thinking.
11
It is unfortunate that so many jobs are lost over the cancellation of this show but this problem has deep roots and one has to ask oneself, "where does my responsibility begin and end?" If I have a job making munitions to be used in a war I am against, does my need for a job absolve me of guilt? Agreed, this view is harsh, but so are the demands of morality and decency and you either serve these or you don't. I'm not at all comfortable saying this, but the invisible enablers of a wrong must also be held to the demands and burdens of conscience whether you're "just making a living' or supporting a treasonous president. Own it.
5
I love Roseanne -- a talented, brilliant artist. If she does a stand-up tour, she'll break records all over the country. God Bless her.
2
That's probably very easy to say for someone living in an predominantly white country over 3,000 miles away.
Good piece, but I find it odd that Professor Gay attributes white entitlement, sense of superiority and a desire to dominate non-white people as the cause of the kinds of racism she illustrates.
Almost all of the situations she describes has to do with fear of black people, and suspicion. It's sad that so many black people, going about the most ordinary daily activities, are so often suspected of acting criminally.
2
A short time ago, a friend invited me to attend his installation as an officer of a fraternal organization. As we sat eating the dinner they served and listened to all the kudos about public service and treating all people alike, he said "You notice we're all white here." Ironically, he soon dropped out of the organization because he overheard rude comments about his girlfriend. Racism is about the other guy, Ha!
6
My concern, if there be one, is what did you say and or do in response, or did his statement just get normalized? I’m often more concerned with the folks who sit quietly and idly by with such statements and offensive actions. Just my thoughts.
I need more evidence. This is about white supremacy. Until I determine if this is a nation-wide problem, I can't make any claims or generalizations. Being a member of such a group is not essential, except, perhaps on an obituary. Also, the man's mother said her 'tuxedo and gown' groups also were exclusionary because "THEY" want to take over.
Television networks do not do the "right" thing or the "wrong" thing. They do the "necessary" thing.
The backlash would be greater than the benefit of keeping this obnoxious clown on the air. It would be nice to think that they made a decision for the general good, but what they made was a calculation.
5
ABC exec Channing Dungey is who cancelled the show yesterday. She is the 1st black head of ABC Entertainment Group.
4
"[Trump] has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous when, in fact, they are not."
Sorry. Conservatism and racism are synonymous.
Conservatives opposed ending the slave trade. Conservatives defended slavery. Conservatives defended Jim Crow. Conservatives defended segregation. Conservatives defended apartheid South Africa.
Nixon won the White House with his overtly racist "Southern Strategy." Ronald Reagan opened his Presidential campaign by going to Neshoba, Mississippi, using the dog whistle of "states rights" at the site of the vicious murder of Freedom Riders less than 20 years earlier. Bush I had his Willie Horton ad. W smeared John McCain with a "push poll" claiming he fathered a black child. Later his brother Jeb used a "felon voter" list he knew was full of false positives to keep blacks from voting.
And then there's Make America White Again.
Conservatism in practice is synonymous with racism. Theory is irrelevant. Actions speak louder than words.
9
I watched a couple of the new Rosanne episodes, because the cast is fantastic. I am not, nor have I ever been, a Rosanne Barr fan. Her humor is too, crude for my taste.
Roseanne's comment was simply unforgivable. I was waiting for something like this to happen, because this is who Roseanne Barr is. This is her mind set. Like Trump, she takes joy in creating chaos and misery at the expense of others.
I also would like to say, that I find it offensive that white people are blamed for ills of the black community or their lack of success in life. In my neighborhood alone, many of my black neighbors are far more successful then I am. They drive newer cars and have nicer homes. I don't begrudge them their success. Why would I?
Black or white, the reality is, we are all just people. People who are sometimes wonderfully kind and thoughtful and other times, cruel and disrespectful. Those character traits are not based on race, but on the individual's personality.
Instead of focusing on negatives that only create more hate and loathing, why not embrace the good in each of us. It makes for a much nicer world to live in.
4
For "white people to no longer feel entitled to comment on or police black bodies", it's necessary that they no longer *be* entitled. How they "feel" will be irrelevant.
4
The murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, also known as the Freedom Summer murders, the Mississippi Burning murders, involved three activists that were abducted and murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in June 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement. The victims were Andrew Goodman and Michael "Mickey" Schwerner from New York City and James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi. All were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Two of them were white, one black.
Roxane Gay's piece is important and argues strongly for the struggle against hatred and racism, which still is too prevalent in America today. This blight keeps the U.S. from being the land of freedom and equality that it purports to be. This is a fight that needs to continue. Yet the statement “just how many teaching moments we need for white people to no longer feel entitled to comment on or police black bodies” is certainly racist. It does not help the cause, it adds to and perpetuates the ugliness .
2
Ms. Gay decries the fact that Roseanne could have ever been allowed on TV because it represents narrow stereotypes and hatred toward select groups. I too lament that. But then she goes on to see "white people" as a monolithic group to be derided as well. We can't cure what ails our society by finding a new scapegoat to stereotype. There are black and white bad people. There are black and white good people. Let's get real and stop canonizing one group and demonizing another while reciting anecdotes as if they are meaningful in a country of many, many millions. You are perpetuating the problem.
15
Ignoring those "anecdotes" (how about factual examples?) is worse, as the problem MUST be confronted, head-on, not relegated to the "we have a lot of problems" dismissive "homogenizer".
1
Sigh. Can't we just say that Roseanne's little comments were disgusting, actions have consequences, free speech and civil disobediance specifically include acceptance of responsibility, it's appropriate for ABC to nuke the show because of its identification with Roseanne, it's a shame for the lost job and the lost voices, a lot of the problem is the current legitimization of ugly by the President, and let it go at that?
I don't like these holier-than-thou lectures from people who write for the Times and have a professorship, not one little bit. And I loathe these lectures on blaming the gaffers and the kid who brings the coffee for what the boss is up to.
This is precisely the sort of logic that encourages "pro-lifers," to show up at a nurse's house, screaming, waving pictures of dead fetuses, and threatening.
Please stop it, okay?
7
Isn't it great how "social media" has brought us all together?
1
Roseanne Barr was responding to a tweet alleging that Valarie Jarrett was instrumental in arranging for supposed surveillance of the Trump campaign....
So Trump's "Fakegate" scandal has already claimed it's first victim and outed its first perpetrator: Roseanne Barr. How ironic.
6
I have been wondering how Archie Bunker’s persona in All in the Family - a very popular TV show from 1970s- will be viewed today. I think it will be received warmly for several reasons. Archie’s racist attitude and behavior towards blacks, Hispanics, jews and his reactions to gays and transgender was very overt yet often unconscious on his part and delivered without malice. Importantly, in the same scene there was often his son-in-law and daughter and his wife Edith who provided foil with counterpoints, arguments and genuinely nice behavior towards subjects of Archie’s racism. Archie’s son-in-law’s (alias meat head) tirades against Nixon and Archie’ defense was portrayed effectively. The show acknowledged society’s biases and laid them bare with humorous situations. Everyone was in on the Archie’s biases and resulting silliness. The reason for success was it presented both sides with humor, humanity and without hate and nastiness. Did Rosanne’s show have a potential to do that? Or was real Rosanne’s attitude, as showed in her hateful tweet, eliminated that option from the beginning? Or may be I am wrong; in 2018 All in the Family would have been cancelled after one season.
5
There are some major differences between "All In the Family" and "Roseanne". First, Archie Bunker was portrayed as a model, an example of the absurdity of the racist, narrow minded individual. He was a character, someone with no insight. His character was created to show how inane and clueless someone like that was, and he repeatedly got his comeuppance as a result of his behavior. That was the point of the show, to highlight the absurd and detestable behavior, not to give it a morally equivalent voice.
Second, Archie Bunker's character was offset by everyone around him. They all showed just how ludicrous he really was.
Third, Carroll O'Conner was the complete opposite of everything Archie Bunker stood for. He was an outspoken liberal. The character of Archie Bunker was just that, a character. Roseanne Conner is Roseanne Barr. Always has been. The only difference is that Barr has money.
12
There is, and always has been, an ugliness to American society concerning race and this is exemplified by Rosanne Barr. Racism is interwoven into the American social fabric but good conscience has helped increase tolerance over the past decade or so. Trump and his supporters represent an easy regression in their 'I'm only joking' racist expressions. The truth hurts but the 40% who support Trump are racists, pure and simple. Ms. Gay is correct, we don't have the luxury of feigned naiveté; believe people when they tell you who they are.
8
Roseanne said in her hapless apology "there is not any room in our society for racism or bigotry." But her entire show legitimized bigotry with laughs as the mother justified voting for a guy conning low income families by scapegoating immigrants & minorities---- and she's made a comedy of it.
Thereby legitimizing Trump.
The character of Roseanne further claimed Trump "looks and sounds like us, right? Burn down the system!!”
When he's proven long since to support the wealthiest among us---- with policies that hurt average working Americans.
She fed into the myth that America isn't great anymore and only he can make it great "again." And fed into working people insulating themselves from the larger world as one to despise and fear. She was trying to normalize Trump.
And by doing so buffered the impact of racism, bigotry and ignorance as something to laugh about.
2
And maybe the ultimate irony is that this is in some way a sexist tale. If you are a racist, conspiracy theory promoting, corrupt, lying man you can become president of the United States. If you are the same but a woman you get fired. I believe in equality... the woman should not be excused, rather the man should also be fired.
9
Roseanne showcased a unique segment of US society. Ms Barr on the other hand reminds me of one of my closest friends who is by all means a stupid racist but he is My racist. How can we effectively confront racism, snip it without fueling its wicked flame? The networks action has created an unlikely martyr.
1
When your friend says something racist, object.
4
Exactly, just explain calmly why it's wrong and that you find it offensive.
It's interesting that Ms. Gay had mentioned the Green Book. When I learned of its (past) existence, I found it sad, especially considering the reasons it was so necessary back in those times. Not exaggerating to say that it could be a life or death matter in the days of lynchings.
When I posted it to my Facebook, and briefly explained what it was, one of my friends made a joke - and amazingly managed to insult black and asian people in the space of about 15 words.
I politely pointed out to him why what he said was both unfunny and offensive. Instead of taking it as opportunity to learn or grow, he played the 'political correctness' card, so I unfriended him.
2
Trump is a racist , and that, for a whole lot of people , has made that behavior ok. Well, it’s not ok.
The Winestein perp walk shows that another of Trumps behavioral problems is being addressed.
Women have said enough of that. Parkland students have stood up to our collective paranoid need for over the top unsafe self protection. We all need to do the same, loudly, against racism.
5
Ms. Gay, While you bring up Roseanne Barr for spewing hate and the consequences for it, let's not forget your friend Randa Jarrar, Professor at Cal State Fresno and her hateful screed towards Barbara Bush after she passed. I recall her bragging that she couldn't be fired for attacking BB's legacy.
Hypocrisy much?
6
'...white people took it upon themselves to police black people in public spaces...'
Hmmm... if that ain't inflammatory language, I don't know what is.
I'm the first to call out blatant racism when I see it, but is there really any benefit in trying to create a further divide between black and white folk, with the use of such language? Now (all? most?) white people are 'policing' (all? most?) black folk??
Now as for Roseanne. I never found her funny. And it seems that, yes, she makes some outright racist, hateful remarks. But whether it's the #metoo movement, or stories such as this one, I have a real problem when we are trying to collectively curate our lives, what we see, what we hear, who we interact with, ad nauseum. Life ain't all purely black and white, nor should we want it to be. To me, what makes the world an interesting place, is that it is full of people who are very different, one from the other. What a boring world it would be, were we all 'intellectual', politically-correct, etc.
So now it seems that a racist comedienne has been silenced, at least for the moment. But what about all those TV sitcoms that portray husbands/fathers as bumbling idiots, all for 'laughs'? Will those shows be next.... cancelled for their hateful misandrist ways?
8
Bill Maher calls Donald Trump an orangutang and the response from the media is . . . . . . . . . . . . ( crickets ).
Ain't hypocrisy grand ?
8
Maher’s joke is based on the obvious fact that Trump weirdly cakes burnt-orange makeup on his face.
Roseanne’s tweet was clearly calling an African-American an “ape” which had a long history as a racial slur.
That’s the difference.
5
In, the Sixties, the political struggle to overcome racism and discrimination finally overcame our history of racism and established civil right laws that made discrimination illegal. It would be nice to hear a more nuanced conversation about racism and discrimination. People have the right to be can be ignorant, immature and unchristian about any particular ethinic group (racist) as long as they dont refuse to rent those ethinic group members an apartment or dont violate their civil rights (discrimination). They really are two different things. One is a cultural belief system, the other is illegal in a court of law.
2
Roxane Gay goes too far.
I admit I have not gone through Roseanne Barr's Twitter feed so if there are statements as terrible as the one about Valerie Jarrett, then I will concede that.
But refusing to hire people for what they might or could say in the future is dangerous. When Roseanne went over the line (way over), ABC did the right thing.
when Ms Gay suggests that it is basically immoral to have a character give voice to support for Trump, then she is dead wrong .
Before Trump, Richard Nixon personified the worst face of the Republican Party. If you followed Ms Gay's reasoning, there would be no Archie Bunker, who was a creation of genius by Norman Lear.
Freedom of speech is about hearing things you don't want to hear, not things that you do.
8
Just for the record. Roseanne Barr is no Norman Lear.
I dated a black man for five years. On one occasion we walked into a 7/11 to pick up a few things. When we left, Kevin was fuming. I hadn't noticed it, but the entire time we were in the store, the owner had followed him through the aisles, watching him, waiting for him to steal something.
I hadn't even noticed. As white people, we are oblivious to the black experience in America.
Kevin was a college educated man with a good job, a company car, and his own home. He was among the funniest, most gifted people I have ever known. And yet, here he was being treated as a potential criminal just because of the color of his skin.
On the occasions that I went to Kevin's family functions or black events and I was the only white person in attendance, I began to understand how he must have felt, often being the only black person in a sea of white people.
The only difference was, at those black events, no one ever followed me around to make sure I didn't steal something. No one ever called the police on me just because I was white.
America is supposed to stand for something special. It was founded on equality for all. Equal justice. Equal treatment. Sadly, America does not live up to its values when it comes to our own black citizens.
6
"the owner had followed him through the aisles, watching him, waiting for him to steal something."....Is that racism. What would have happened with a group of white teenage boys? Prejudice yes; racism maybe, maybe not.
3
It's a thought problem, but it would be great if there were a way to applaud networks who don't pick up shows suggested by racists and other companies who do the right thing. It might take some intense investigative reporting, but how about a few stories about companies who are trying hard to behave ethically? Maybe a few articles in which black people talk about places they do feel safe? (If there are any.)
Many comments here seem to think trump's the problem when he's really playing the role of Pied Piper calling all the rats out to display themselves. Which would you rather deal with, a person who's PC but has the rat vibe or one who is patently a rat? I'll take the latter, it's easier to make the decision to deal with it.
So deal with it. Midterms are right around the corner; hand the rats their hats. As for the networks, there's lots better programming on the pay-to-views, and best, you don't have to listen to a litany of pharmaceutical side effects...
5
You can have the rat, I'll take the PC rat. The PC rat knows what he is doing is wrong and cares what other people think.
1
I wonder if Mr. Buskirk will reconsider his opinion piece, published on this platform, on May 15 this year. In it he exhorts readers to "have our political differences, even vigorous ones. But let’s do it within the context of mutual trust and shared goals." He claims the show, and Roseanne herself, show us the way this can be achieved.
This claim stuck in my craw the moment I read it. And I must admit, as a white, straight, man, it took me a few minutes to figure out why. But it didn't take that long. And it hit me with full force: he's right. Discourse must be had within the context of mutual trust. But mutual trust is not something Roseanne, or "Trump's America" is willing to engage in. They cannot demand it without providing it.
This column, and the many that came before and will come after it about "living while not white, straight, male" in america clearly articulate that. And it is not "being racist against racists" to point that out.
2
There is an abhorrent racist element among Trump supporters and it should be addressed at every opportunity. But there is also an element of economic despair that fueled his rise.
Referring to the racist element as a "culture" is a mistake, as is ignoring the economic malaise that so many in this country are experiencing daily.
It's very easy for urban elites (and wannabe elites) to lump all Trump supporters together, and to forget that the Democratic party played a huge part, along with the Republicans, in creating the economic despair that helped give us the Trump presidency.
Elitism, condescension and a lack of empathy for those left behind by globalization, are only going to make things worse.
2
If Trump were impeached, the culture that put him there will still be around.
6
The author talks about the "Green Book", there should be a book today that outlines the places where tourists can be mugged beaten or worse that exist in every major american city. There is a lot more in play for the average person today than these issues. When a comedian says something inappropriate and looses her show, when the comedian of an opposite race says something horrible about the white house press secretary it seems to help her Netflix show. There is something wrong when we police comedy. How many times have black comedians made fun of the way white people talk or dance? Everyone laughs. It cant be the other way. That is racism. There is a problem in this world.
4
While the fundamental point of the article is right-on: media companies should not promote racists, bigots, homophobes and (dare I say it?) deplorable people, the fact is that not ALL white complaints are rooted in race. To say that is but a hairs-breadth from crying "lynch mob" whenever a person of color is found guilty by a jury. Just like some things can be true even if Donald Trump says they are, people of color can be guilty of crimes even if they are not Caucasian. There is no question that people of color face prejudice and injustice, unfortunately, just like white people, they do commit crimes, on occasion.
1
Honestly, who will care this time next week? This was a tv show that most people in the U.S. and world didn't watch, just as with the first go 'round of the same name, peopled with the same actors and stereotypes. Twitter is designed for opportunistic ranting lefties and righties in the same way Facebook is designed to strip users of privacy and IQ points. Why even pay attention to drunk dialing boneheads and low education actors or politicians of any stripe? Does it add even one positive thing to the human species?
Any moderately aware person cannot help thinking that America would be infinitely better off if it fed itself less of a hair-on-fire diet of carb 'n fat media 24/7. Most entertainment media is badly written, trashy and worthless lowest common denominator dreck, some a passable way to zone out and waste a few hours. But it's all produced to sell advertising or subscription streaming to the masses that have never been known to be discriminating or much more than comatose. And then, there's the utter garbage dump of cable news and its toxic twin social media.
3
Just so we can be clear - comments disparaging whites, asians, homosexuals, and any other groups by a person of color should immediately lead to their show/performance being cancelled?
And no claims of prejudice and special treatment?
Can we start with Joy, the Rev, pretty much every rapper and black comedian.
8
The sad truth of the matter is that Barr can now run for President of the US and win the Red States.
5
Doubtful, she is FEMALE and thus either Aunt Lydia or a Handmaid, or just invisible since Ms. Barr is well past the jail bait age preferred by the Roy Moores - and the Bill Clintons - of the nation.
2
One thing still puzzles me. Why did Roseanne Barr pick on Valerie Jarrett as the object of her venomous and oh-so--unfunny jibe on Twitter at this time, a year and a half since President Obama left office? I know she made the same kind of disgusting comment about Susan Rice in 2013 when Ms. Rice was the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Is she that insecure about her own physical unattractiveness that it makes her want to attack accomplished, articulate and classy women like Ms. Jarrett and Ms. Rice because they are Black and because they served under a Black President? To those of us who are minorities in this country, it signals more than an odious whiff of the notion that for some people, female "whiteness" in any form will always be superior to the rest of us "apes" struggling to be recognized, accepted and yes, admired as equals, for who we are as human beings in our society.
5
In many respects white and black men in America have pitted white and black women against each other. It's one of the least discussed and understood aspects of both race and misogyny over the last 60 years of race and gender advancements in the U.S.
1
I get that this is entirely beside the point, but social media is lame and childish, and still it's pathetic how many people aren't capable of handling it.
4
Very true that the culture that gave Roseanne a show isn't going anywhere. Of far greater consequence, the people who put Trump in office are not going away. We can investigate him, we can impeach him, we can toss him out of office for 'high crimes and misdemeanors'...but then we will still have to address the problems that will still be here. I can honestly say I'm out of ideas there. Short of a second civil war - which is a horrifying thought - I really don't have any clue how this could be fixed or how our country and society can correct course.
3
It's time cancel the Trump reality tv show. It's time to cancel the Republican party. Vote in November.
6
I pretty much immediately tune out (even when I may agree with the substance of the argument) the moment I hear persons referred to as 'bodies'. I probably need a lesson n post-modern thought, but this formulation strikes me as incredibly backward. At best it comes across as pretentious jargon, at worst, it's dehumanizing.
I wish it would go away.
3
Roseanne's tweet was despicable, but so is the writer's suggestion that we -- the networks, the content producers, society -- should not allow a "major character on a prominent television show" to be a Trump supporter. This is the sort of hypocritical "freedom of expression, but only for people with whom I agree" mentality that hurts the progressive cause.
8
"should not allow a "major character on a prominent television show" to be a Trump supporter."....Trump is a vulgar bigoted narcissist. You either look the other way and support people like that or you don't. What does looking the other way say about you as a person?
2
Trump is going after ABC now is that a surprise to anyone with a heartbeat? Someone at ABC thought they could reincarnate a Modern Day Archie Bunker in the New Roseanne show. Problem is Carrol O'Connor played a racist and Barr is a Racist. Barr didn't just create her Racist character for the series the serious was created for the Racist Barr.
6
Ironically, the one who greenlighted Roseanne v. 2 is the same black ABC head of entertainment who cancelled it.
It is not ironic because white executives have made boneheaded mistakes about shows with White Cast. When they do the race of the decision maker is never mentioned. Maybe the author is correct to talk of American Culture.
@Mary
No irony there. The show was first picked up before Barr came out with a comment like this.
And whether the studio exec was Black or white, it only shows common sense that they cancelled it.
Two comments:
re: racism <> conservatism
By definition conservatism is a favoring of tradition over change. If racism is traditional then, yes, this hate is conservatism. Otherwise, it's just hate.
re: to reboot or not to reboot
I'm sure ABC had conditions built into Barr's contract that she had a limited range of bile she could spew. I'm a fan of second chances. She blew it. Good bye.
1
The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia.-----No it does not. Just because a fictional character supports the President, that does not mean that the network or people involved support those horrible things. There is no way to logically make that argument. I supported Trump rather than Clinton, and that does not mean that I have those traits. Your statement basically also says that all who voted for Trump are racist, xenophobic and misogynistic. That is just not true. Not about the voters, the networks or me.
Roseanne was everything an America Family Should Not Be. I can't believe that Roseanne is the image an American family looks like in today's world, or should look like. I thought the original Roseanne show was bad, but this reboot was horrific in how it display how Americans lived. Growing up I always viewed what an American family should look like, shows like Father Knows Best, Leave It To Beaver, Donna Reed Show, this is what American needs to strive for and display to America and the world.
Thank you for speaking the truth!
I was an investigator of discrimination complaints for several Civil Rights Agencies for nearly 40 years. I retired not too long ago. I am a white female. I will tell everyone that racism is still alive and rampant in the USA. I can recall quite a few cases where a person was arrested for (as it turned out), shopping while Black or Brown or inappropriate gender. e.g., a Black man who went into a fabric store looking for pillow stuffing; an Hispanic man who was a state maintenance employee, in uniform no less, who was shopping for a snack in a small-town fastfood shop; or how about a female teenager shopping in a hardware store? she was deemed "suspicious" (after all what is a young girl doing in a hardware store?) I could go on and on.
9
The people who waste police time should be punished.
1
From my personal experience, the election of Trump has allowed many people to believe that they have carte blanche to say anything they want to say or do anything they want to do, regardless how improper, insulting, and downright repulsive those things may be. While I find it heartening that ABS put the kibbosh on such "free speech" being practiced by their star, Ms. Barr, I do wish there were a way to get more regular folks to back off on the aggression a bit ... without risking a punch in the face from them.
1
It is appropriate for members of a democratic society that values all of its members to shun those who promote vicious and dangerous racist beliefs, especially those who attempt use their positions of power and wealth to "mainstream" their opinions. I'm happy to see some corporations standing up for what used to be core American values.
3
Absolutely. Now if only the Republican party would do the same.
4
Don't understand why the author talks about "black bodies" like some piece of meat. "Black people" is the polite way to refer to a person who is perceived as black by white people or anyone else. Also, the author is referring to white people policing black people's behavior because they are black and the phrase "police black bodies" used in the article almost sounds like a sex crime.
3
OK, so the eponymous character is unhinged on social media. What other show has normalized race, gender, sexual orientation... as much as Roseanne? Not to mention giving a voice to the part of the country I come from and still empathize with. Does ABC really want to silence that voice? Let's keep the microphone and drop the namesake. She can be killed off and the show will thrive without her.
1
Barr has always been a conspiracy theorist, but her information source used to be talk shows. When Oprah talked about multiple personality syndrome, there was Rosanne talking about all the people inside her. When Oprah talked about repressed memory of childhood abuse, there was Rosanne again suddenly remembering her family had abused her. She said (I paraphrase), "You can't say you weren't abused as a child; all you can say for sure is you don't remember it." I loved her show, but even then, she had problems.
Now she's got the right-wing internet suggesting to her what she thinks. Seems to me to be a logical progression.
1
It seems racism is on the uptick in the US, for a variety of reasons...however, intolerance in general seems to be leading the way. Have we ever seen more of an 'Us vs. Them' mentality in the United States?
There's an entire industry, growing every day, that perpetuates divisiveness by exaggerating and focusing on cultural differences. Roseanne's comments were reprehensible and without conceivable defense. In another few days, we'll hear about yet another tweet by yet another known person that will be equally loathsome - whether made by a conservative or progressive, take your pick.
Perhaps we should place our unifying values on a higher plane than viciousness and divisiveness.
1
I couldn't agree more.
Now, if only Congress would act as swiftly as ABC did to remove our Racist-in-Chief.
5
More surprising than the swiftness with which ABC dropped the show is the slowness of FOX in picking it up!
5
Great. Loudmouthed jerk gets comeuppance.
But Republicans in Congress -- aiding and abetting, as they are, the racist president in the White House -- are doing exactly like ABC did in having allowed Roseanne's new show to air in the first place: lending shoulder to the wheel of a known racist. No doubt ABC felt it was "making America great again" with all that money, the sole component of "greatne$$" in Trump's small mind.
Too bad we won't at least get from Capitol Hill GOP'ers what ABC finally did: the jerking a perpetrator of racism from his hate-soiled pulpit. Thanks, ABC, for finally coming clean. Being fully human in spirit feels so much better, doesn't it?
3
Barr didn't just spout nonsense about Chelsea Clinton and the Soros family, she continued by relating the discredited conspiracy theory that George Soros, who, born in 1930, was 9 when the Nazis seized power, and was only 15, when they were defeated was a member of the SS and helped to steal Jewish possessions. This isn't "nonsense," this is Anti-Semitism of the worst kind, and as vile as her comments about Ms. Jarrett.
11
Political Correctness is straitjacket, I refuse to wear. Thank You, Roseanne Barr.
6
Phil, hate speech is not 'political correctness'. Try that jacket on for size.
2
No, intolerance of racism is NOT a case of political correctness. It is a case justice, directed at someone with a long history of making overtly racist comments. That's what happens in a society with at least a shred of civility left.
6
How would you like it if you were told you resemble an animal? And if said comment were part of a widespread belief that the race you belong to is less than human? Have a heart, will ya? This has nothing whatsoever to do with political correctness.
4
Thank you Ms Gay. This is the best piece I read on the Barr debacle. Enablers, in that case promoters, are as much despicable and their conduct cynical at best, criminal at worse, than lowest Barr.
Ms. Gay clearly defines the act of "whites policing blacks" and the fact that this is far different from blacks being policed by police. The latter is scary enough but the former is the scariest of all.
In just the past few years which also includes Trumps run for office, our nation as a whole has slid backwards to a place where one's racially charged impulses are permissible. You lead from the top down and when the most talked about person on earth, Trump, rails against Mexicans, Muslims, and people of color, the light is now bright green for anyone else to do the same.
Where I disagree with Ms. Gay is her premise that the new Roseanne show should never have seen the light of day. Actually, its airing and immediate cancellation are a blessing. For some it is a bucket of cold water in the face. A wake up call. You simply can't just say what comes to your racist mind without repercussions no matter if the President does without impunity.
For the rest of us, it is a wonderful reminder that even though Republican members of the Senate and Congress can't come to terms with chiding the leader of their party when he race baits his constituents, that in the real world outside of Washington, there are prices to pay for being biased and stupid.
For Roseanne to end in this manner is a wonderful way to remind us all that while Trump is blind to the damage he is doing, others are not.
1
I am going into my 85th year, and as much as things seem to change that more they remain the same. The words racism & Anti Semitism are still stirring emotions & hatred.The problem cannot be swept under the rug especially, in the Democratic Party, where two important voting blocks are at each others throat, instead of concentrating about how we can remove Trump & the Republican Party from power.
To begin with, Roseanne Barr, only represents herself, not her religion, if she has one.70% of American Jews consider themselves progressive Liberals, & of these many are staunch supporters of Israel & many do not support Israel when it comes to the Palestinian issue.Whether you support Israel, it has nothing to do with our current problems with a reactionary Government, run by a runaway dangerous President, Jews & Black Americans must stick together and put our differences aside, for the common good & put a Liberal in the White House.
4
I wouldn't worry too much about "the below the line" crew. The industry is so packed right now with both worthwhile shows (and others not so much) that they will all be on other shows after the wrap and pack this one up.
The creators of the show on the other hand should maybe take a long hiatus and reconsider the effects of the normalizing of the vile, stupid and cruel message they are contributing to.
3
Nothing Barr said that lead to her firing was funny. But Gay’s column here makes her appear wholly HUMORLESS!
3
She is.
2
Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas. That applies to giving the green light to Roseanne, working on her show, working for Donald Trump, being a Republican politician and pandering to the conservative base to get elected/stay in power (here's lookin' at you, Lindsey Graham... and quite frankly you John McCain (Sarah Palin anyone?), working for Fox News... The list goes on and own. If you make your bed here, you lie in it.
3
Roseanne’s racist vulgarity is symptomatic of the society in which she lives. The United States has lost all sense of common decency and morality.
2
All racists are conservatives, but not all conservatives are racist.
But there appears to be fewer and fewer non-racist conservatives in today's age. It's almost the ticket of admission to the GOP. What was once whispered at cocktail parties is now trumpeted. (No pun intended)
5
To paraphrase that old saying about terrorists,
"Not all Trump supporters are racist bigots, but all racist bigots are Trump supporters".
2
That's not true. There are plenty of racists bigots who are not Trump supporters. Sure, he attracts them, but he does not have a monopoly.
2
And I suppose you'll be calling them "very fine people" next.
ROFL. Your contention is that everyone left of center is pure as the driven snow? There are plenty of left wing bigots and racists in the U.S. and around the world. All -isms are part of the human condition. We all have our
-isms, we all ought have the right to those -isms and even voice them. However, no one has the right to harm someone else.
Many people said that they enjoyed the show, including Ms Gay, ... come again? Which racist part did you like? I did not watch Roseanne 20 years ago and did not watch her now. She is the same person, yes, racist to the core! There is nothing here folks, just pack your bags and move along. The sad thing is that there are many millions of Americans who voted for Trump and his racist views. How do we deal with that?
The Trump culture of hate towards minorities and women emboldens racists and misogynists. It's a lovely breath of fresh air to see some appropriate responses to hat speech like Barr's.
PS: Cancelling her show because she tweeted racist hate speech is not shutting down her right to free speech. Just like Trump, she can tweet ignorant noxious hate all day long, but she has to live with the consequences.
2
ABC should keep the show without Roseanne! Why punish all other actors for her faults?
2
No, "'Roseanne'" is NOT gone. She's still sending out hate tweets. Twitter needs to shut her down and take steps to stop the hate tweets it has been all too permissive in allowing to pollute our culture. This is one show that Twitter also must cancel.
1
Thank you Roxanne Gay. Let's hope the provocation of hate becomes downright unacceptable one of these days. Until then, if there's a buck to be made from it, look for more Roseannes. Anyone want to take a bet on when Fox announces they are picking up the show?
1
*Gasp*
It's almost as if... cable television... is a business.
3
I have no problem with Roseanne getting kicked out but it is aggravating that others are allowed to get away with just as awful comments - for example Bill Maher on Sarah Palin and how even Palin's kids were mocked, and of course the mocking of Trump, his son and family. Christians are routinely mocked, and Antisemitism is glossed over. Hillary called half of Trump supporters deplorables and racists. Seems hypocritical to me.
3
Um, Hillary Clinton rightly called out the hatemongers who aligned with Trump's hatemongering statements on the campaign trail.
In this case Ms. Gay is absolutely right. No company should have given Ms. Barr a show. But I fear any form of censorship, even when done by private organizations. If there was no market for racist shows, they would cease to exist. Sadly, there is a market, so we have to depend on content suppliers to choose carefully. This is an extremely weak solution, and exactly the kind of control Rupert Murdoch wants more of.
1
Preach it! You hit the nail on the head with this one. I’m glad to see ABC finally take a stand, but everyone turned a blind eye to her when they decided to do the show. Thank you, also, for the reiteration of recent high-profile examples of white people calling the police on black people because they feel uncomfortable. That uncomfortable feeling? It’s called racism.
1
Roseanne will likely end up in one of two new jobs.
Media Analyst at Fox "News".
Senior White House Adviser for Cultural Sensitivity.
I hear Alex Jones has filled up her inbox with requests to come on his show.
Next stop, bottom.
1
We're already there.
Nothing like putting people out of work to show how much you care!
1
If Ms. Barr "cared" -- she would've thought twice before publicly saying what she did.
4
It's a mistake to believe that Americans are somehow "nice" people. Sure, in transactions they tend to be friendly, helpful and attentive. Friendliness is "conditional," for the most part. Unfortunately, the public space today is chock full of nastiness, resentment and outright intimidation. After a generation of listening to hate radio and watching FOX propaganda, Americans have become comfortable with simply "speaking their minds." The problem is, most of them merely spew the toxic mess they've been exposed to and their minds are simply a pile of mush.
3
"The “Green Book” was created out of necessity, and though it ceased publication in 1966, recent events have made it clear that there is still a need for some kind of guidebook detailing where it is safe to be black." So? I can tell you tons of places it's not safe to be white either and I don't hear you bleating about that.
2
Ms Barr spent a lot of money making her outside pretty but seems to have forgotten inside.
1
So ABC even pulled reruns of the original show? Good. Now I'm wondering why reruns of Thw Cosby Show are still being aired.
5
I am a middle-aged white man who's worked for 20+ years with urban youth and have seen systemic, socialized racism up close and personally. It's more apparent now as social media and the 24-hour news cycle expose it and the current political climate encourages it, but it is and has been built in to the American society for centuries. I could recite comparative situations I've witnessed to every incident Ms. Gay describes. Be they Black, Hispanic, Asian, Mid-Eastern .... I've repeatedly witnessed and intervened in blatant racist treatment directed toward clients who were doing nothing wrong but had the temerity to be non-White. It remains a major problem this society must continue to face.
However, I completely disagree with Ms. Gay blanketing the cast and production team of 'Roseanne' with blame for Barr's personal behavior. This wasn't part of the show, they are not complicit in her behavior and they have every right to voice their own personal outrage. They're also professionals who have a right to hold jobs they are competent at who have now lost those jobs due to someone else's racism .... just like so many of the young people I've worked with. Everyone pays a price for racism.
This whole situation is sad and it can be a teachable moment, but that's simply not enough for such a monumental problem of historic proportions.
3
Excellent piece, covered all the bases in this sad saga and yet, exposes the enormity and insolubility of the actual problem: the deep-seated, even genetic-level of American racism.
Haven't watched this program in years. RB turned distasteful a long time ago, and her "family" does not represent the decent working class family that I grew up.
4
It is unfortunate to see employers use their power of employment against people without trial by jury. I can bet that Roseanne has been called worse. Sure, what Roseanne said was not right but ABC's action has punished another 100 plus people around her and that is wrong.
3
There is a lesson for both conservatives and liberals here. The First Amendment only prevents the government from suppressing speech. Employers, customers, neighbors and others are free to fire you, boycott your products, or shun you for speech they find objectionable. In fact we would be better off if society rather than government was more involved in policing potentially objectionable actions by individuals. Thus a baker is free to refuse to bake a cake for a same sex wedding, but must also be willing to assume the risk of a boycott for his/her actions.
1
But the baker isn't merely risking a boycott. The government wants to literally shut down his business (through the mechanism of a huge fine) if he refuses to directly participate in a gsy wedding that violates his religious beliefs. Big difference.
I don't know what -- if anything -- will get white people to wise up. I returned to the Pacific Northwest a few years back after 25 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and one thing I noticed right away here is that there are a lot of white people and that they seem to live in fear. Fear of what, exactly, is hard to say -- fear of the Other, fear of difference, fear of losing status -- but they know they are privileged and they are going to fight to maintain it. There is no money here to pave the streets, but the City of Seattle came up with millions of dollars to build what is essentially a state-of-the-art cage for black teenagers -- and there was no meaningful resistance. Obviously, I previously lived in a bubble, because I now understand that most of the United States is like this. To me, the "Roseanne" reboot legitimized white fear, white privilege, normalized it. I'm with Gay on this one -- I don't think it ever should have aired, and what does it say when an entertainment corporation decides to run with an idea that demeans every non-white person in the U.S. solely to make money? So over white supremacy. I want to live in a equal, fair, just society, for everyone. Sadly, I don't think I will experience it during my lifetime, especially not in the U.S.
3
A couple of thoughts occur here. The first is that there is a difference between playing a part and being a part. What made Carroll O'Connor so brilliant as Archie Bunker was that he clearly wasn't Archie Bunker and brought a humanity to his white Southern police chief in "In the Heat of the Night" that was vastly different from Rod Steiger's performance in the movie version. (Oddly enough, Roseanne 1.0 started out more liberal. Did she just become a crotchety, fearful person? What happened?)
The second is that freedom of speech is protected by the law but it is not protected in the same way in the workplace or the court of public opinion. If it's OK for the NFL to legislate against protesting players, it's more than OK to fire Roseanne. At least Colin Kaepernick is protesting against inequality rather than savaging another human being. And he didn't cost anyone his job except, of course, himself. -- thegamesmenplay.com
1
The oft stated comment that white people should avoid black neighborhoods because they were high crime areas seems that African Americans need to avoid the baleful eye of profiling white people. Of course this is unAmerican as the land of truth and justice. But even when Obama was president the steady drum roll of events showed that force was the first inclination of the police when dealing with black people. And that Obama was Muslim and the myriad racist conspiracy theories about a fine intelligent man who was elected president of the US.
1
It’s really not about right or wrong for a corporation. ABC / Disney knew there would be fallout - loss of money greater than canceling of the show - for her comments. We seem to all anthropomorphize corporations but it’s the bottom line that matters and the CEO will act accordingly.
2
My husband I watched the Roseanne reboot and we thought it was ok. We even had it set to DVR. I didn't watch the original run until it went into syndication and thought it was a good show. I was appalled by Roseanne's comments. In the Trump era, some people feel they can say/do anything and won't suffer consequences simply because Trump doesn't (yet). What Roseanne did was not only cruel, mean-spirited, racist and not acceptable. And instead of truly taking accountability, that she is racist (or has tendencies), she choose to blame a sleeping aid. I feel ABC did the right thing by canceling her show. Roseanne forced that hand. I do however feel sorry for her co-stars as they now suffer due to her utter stupidity.
1
So many of you have time for Twitter, it makes me wonder about your general productivity in those cubicles. Twitter is siphoning off valuable time and brain cells in our youth oriented society. I won't use the word 'culture' because I have serious doubts about that too. Not only is all this gossip and repartee wasting time, it is an affront to the English language and concerns me that as letter writing is disappearing from common practice, so is the beauty of English-American prose. Stop the nonsense of swapping tidbits of gossip, racial slurs, stupid innuendo. Stop caring what this one or that one writes in this fractured language and get down to work. A lot has to be solved now in this country and many diseases cured, not the least of which is mouth run-off by people who should know better. Cancel the thing and let them find something better to do with their time, I'm glad Roseanne showed her true colors, I'm glad the show was canceled but do we really need this awful fad?
6
Brilliant. Thanks.
WAY TO GO ABC!
finally, a stand against what's unacceptable and intolerable interpersonal behavior. When a totally racist parasite reveals herself in our culture, we need to call her out.
So sorry that real folks who had jobs on her TV show suffer for the insidious comments of the so-called celebrity. Is she so self absorbed that she doesn't even realize her venom hurts even those who align with her (or work for her, for that matter)?
Thank you ABC, and NY Times reporting.
1
Back in the 70's when I heard my sweet little old grandma use the n word I knew that racism was everywhere and it wasn't going to be easy to get rid of.
This piece is spot on. A dear friend tells of being new to Denver and going to his job on his first day. He was dressed in a suit, but pulled over by a cop with a drawn pistol. For no reason.
t rump was elected by racists who felt they were given permission to once again be racists in public. But he was also elected by the angry, the mean, and the crazy segments of our country and for the same reason. He is allowing anyone with a chip on their shoulder or a tic in their brain to be deplorable in public.
Hate crimes and racial profiling and general meanness are all up in this Nation. That is the only thing (except for the wholesale slaughter of our National resources) that the so called man in the White House has accomplished.
On a somewhat lighter, but also somewhat repulsive, note; I hope we get to see his prison mug shot right after they shave his head.
3
So let me try and understand this please, you were aware that Roseanne Barr has been making offensive racist comments like this most recent tweet online for years. You routinely watched her original show and both episodes of the reboot.You are a black woman, this makes no sense to this white guy.
2
Dr. Gay's choices are hers to make. They are not required to make sense to you or anyone else.
1
She chided the TV executives for being silent and complicit. I feel that she has been the same by being a supportive viewer. with the full knowledge that Barr was a racist. The executives decisions were also theirs to make.
Rosanne likes to bray. It gets her attention. Just as when she brayed the National Anthem in 1990 at a baseball game (laughing and smiling as the crowd booed, and apparently spitting on the ground when she finished, then waving her arms triumphantly in the air), she continues to bray to get attention. Her actions are not those of a patriotic and certainly not someone who believes in American values. Just like He Who Does Not Have to Be Named, she does it to get attention, craving endless attention to feed a moral black hole. Maybe some people who lack compassion and empathy -- attributes of love -- confuse getting attention with being loved.
1
The only difference between Mr. trump and Ms. Barr? One is a really poor actor. The other one had a sit-com.
1
Just hope this will be last article about Roseanne Barr and let`s allow the woman to go to oblivion and the Country will forget about her existence.
Yes, ABC stands to lose money but they only had a handful of shows for a month or two.
This will be how the situation was before and they could have other good shows, as we know Good Morning America , and ABC World news was a ratings grabber.
1
Some readers have pointed to the fact that Roseanne might be mentally ill or under medication as a reason for her comments. Please stop. Stop using mental illness as an excuse for people being racist. Just like the people who want to excuse all Trump's despicable actions by bringing on his narcissism. Illness, of any sort, is not an excuse for racism and despicable and cruel deeds.
3
It is a tragedy that people are judged by their racial appearance rather than their individual qualities.
Roseanne should never have been given her reboot due to hateful racism and angry xenophobia.
Then again why should Trump remain as President when he represents the same anger and prejudices?
I think his show should be cancelled immediately and he should be yanked off TV, his Twitter account, and thrown out the White House!
After all isn't the Presidency more important than a situation comedy?
Just fire him!
3
Roseanne Barr basked in the permission given her by the leader of the free world be a racist, oblivious to the fact that, unlike the president, she was not immune to the consequences of her disgusting actions. Unfortunately, Trump is not a fish out of water. He was not voted into office in spite of being a racist, but because he was and is a racist. Trump and Barr represent a very large slice of America, and far too many are ok with that. Pogo was right: we have met the enemy and it is us. DJT doesn't cause racism; he just allows it to exist in the open. Sad.
See: RevolutionOfReason.com and TheRogueRevolutionist.com
7
That you think people had to no reason to vote for Trump other that that he's a racist (which he is) is exactly why the Democrats will continue to lose elections. And I say that as someone who actively campaigned for Gary Johnson and will be voting for Bill Weld in 2020 without hesitation if he is the Libertarian candidate.
1
Thank you, Ms. Gay, for your voice. You teach me so much, and I never miss your column.
3
This, "normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia.", is the only take away from Barr and Trump.
ABC took a chance on Roseanne and made the reboot show because they saw an untapped audience and knew there were advertisers who would would pay big bucks to appeal to this audience. They dropped the show because advertisers would no longer want to be associated with their show, that viewing would go down and that ABC's image would be affected. ICM dropped Roseanne because there was no longer an easy way to make money by representing her. To assume that these decisions had anything to do with what is right or wrong in terms of racial issues is a waste of time. What Hollywood does or does not do or what actors say or do not say is a poor measure by which to put stake in a belief system, and misses the larger point. Racism is wrong because it is despicable, unfair, ignorant and repulsive, and we need our community leaders and government representatives to say so in their platforms, in their actions, in their speeches, in their legislation. Vote in every election and get your voice heard!
Trump and Rosanne Barr, birds of a feather that flock together.
If the human race survives this stage of history it will undoubtedly go down as the Lying Times. Lie about yourself, lie about others, lie about everything. It's nonstop lies.
According to the WAPO fact checker the current count for Donald Trump is over 3,000 big public ones since taking office. And he repeats them so often it's hard to keep up. American culture has taken a huge nose dive.
Twenty years ago when you thought about the Holocaust and America you concluded - Nah, that couldn't happen here. Today? I'm not so sure.
I always thought Roseanne Barr was backward and downright nauseating. She made a career out of being an annoying provocateur. And I'm white and I came from the "wrong side of the tracks". I'm no "East Coast liberal".
It only begs the question - why do "some" people openly embrace the lie with the enthusiasm of crazed lemmings scrambling pell mell towards the edge of the cliff? I guess the racist trope (those people) provides an easy answer to hard questions for simple minds. Simple minds for small people seems to be the underpinning of Make America Great Again.
Well America just passed through it's Nazi moment and a correct decision was taken this time - Roseanne got bounced.
But why do we keep having Nazi moments - big and small? What's going to happen next time?
3
It’s a tough slog, unmooring America from its belligerent, racist past.
1
and it's present.
2
Did anything significant happen to the Rev. Jessie Jackson after the called NYC "hymietown"?
5
That was disgusting, but this discussion is about Barr and previous bigoted statements, particularly those made decades ago, by other people are no excuse.
3
Yes, he lost his TV show. Oh, wait... he did not have a TV show, or endorsements. What he lost was a lot of respect, and deservedly so.
The two situations are totally different.
3
Yes, his reputation was significantly compromised. These days people apologize publicly, genuinely or not is questionable, maybe even cry, then go on with their lives as though it all disappeared. Jesse Jackson's credibility as a civil rights leader, at least in my opinion was damaged. He may endeavor his entire life doing good work, but that event may always eclipse his ultimate reputation.
He is human as is Rosanne, as well as the rest of us who often cast stones. But our culture as far as racial, sexual, and cultural acceptance and tolerance, is in decay,moving backward instead of forward, and it worries me.
6
If she, indeed, has been suffering from insomnia then such remarks have an excuse. Until you have suffered from ongoing insomnia, you cannot understand what it does to you. Sleep deprivation has been used as an effective form of torture as a means to extract confessions throughout the world. In America, police forces have been known to extract confessions that were later discovered to be false. As a sufferer of extreme insomnia, I have said some things to other people that surprised me because they do not represent my thoughts or feelings. Sleep deprivation does weird things to the mind. Many studies have been undertaken on sleep deprivation that show this to be true. So, Roseanne has a very dark sense of humour, but she was probably quite out of it when she wrote those tweets. Then she likely panicked and tried to perform damage control but that went awry too. I never liked the "Rosanne" show. While semi-conscious with sleep deprivation, she expressed herself, digging herself a ditch she can't get out of. She's not one to censor herself, but she might have had she not been sleep-deprived. Sleep deprivation sucks!
1
I absolutely enjoyed Rosanne, it was very well done, the writing was top notch, and they portrayed your average american family. What I did not care for was the injection of politics into the script. It made me cringe. Why does a mindless sitcom have to touch base with such garbage? It did.
The internet and the ability to make comments like right here on the NYT even with moderation. Leaves most of us unable to think before we speak. Not very many people will walk into a room full of strangers and start babbling racist sexist and mindless political drivel without really thinking first. But with the internet you can easily spew whatever you want and argue back and forth. Never having to really look someone in the eyes and take the few seconds to realize what you are saying and how it effects someone else and society in general. Long live the internet and the ability to be stupid.
1
If you lose your job as a result of speaking your mind, are you really free to speak your mind? Of course not. What a silly thing to say.
2
This is the needed convesation.
So Roseanne tweets something horrible and now anyone who voted for our president and/or his success is to blame? Is that how it works at the NYTimes? Apparently so.
2
“Rosanne” the reboot was a show about white entitlement. Full stop.
1
I've heard people say they do not want to be called "racist", because being called "racist" is a serious charge. But look at it from the perspective of the person who might be at the receiving end of the consequences of racist attitudes and actions. They can lose their freedom; they can lose their life; they can lose their future. I don't know much about Ms. Barr, but so far, her being called "racist" has only resulted in her being out of a chance to make some money - an obstacle I am sure she will soon find a way to overcome.
2
The only surprising thing about this is that the entertainment producers didn't see this coming. Roseanne has continued to show that she harbors deep hatred and a predictable tendency to self-destruct. It's too bad that she also doesn't seem to care who or how many she takes down with her.
I can’t get my thoughts organized, but I completely agree with Prof. Gay’s. Especially about the ‘teachable’ moment. This reminded me of Henry Gates arrested for being Black in his own house. I don’t think racists will ever learn.
2
"Trump ... has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous when, in fact, they are not."
This is naive at best, and ignorant of history at worst. Conservatisim in the United States has been rooted in racism since colonial times.
So-called conservative values are all derived from the desire to keep whites dominant over other races. To provide one example: Fiscal responsibility, as represented in legislation introduced by conservatives, ignores tax cuts which accrue mostly to wealthy whites, and attacks safety net programs, which are portrayed as handouts to people of color.
1
Yes, I was wondering how, given her long, nasty history, ABC would even think of giving this crank a show of her own. Did they just think they could get away with it? As fast as they canceled her, it seems that they were fully aware of the risk. So, what possessed her co-stars to agree to work with her? Like they didn't know? (BTW, it wasn't Ambien that made her a nutso racist, conspiracy "theorist." Good riddance.)
2
Roxane, what an amazing summary of the state of racial affairs in the US. Well done. Thank you for your observations.
I too, see an entitlement when it comes to being openly racist. It is distressing, as I thought our society was well beyond this.
When the president became "our president", he was embraced by the far-right, accepted by the right - since he is now "our guy" and reviled by the left, there was an immediate shift on all groups. My family members who voted for the imbecile proudly stated, "finally, someone who speaks the truth". The truth?
I am hopeful that there will now be a shift. I feel it happening. I am hopeful that those republicans who publicly state that a vote for them is a vote for Jesus, whether they believe it or not, are starting to see the idiocy of this president and what he is doing to this country. I am hopeful that collectively this nation will do what we all know is right - and vote them out. Where is the compassion, love, tolerance, and the desire to help our fellow human brothers and sisters? I am hopeful that this country will awaken. I am hopeful that we will heal as a nation and set an example for the next generation - one of love and acceptance rather than bigotry and racism.
2
Ms Gay wrote: "The “Green Book” was created out of necessity, and though it ceased publication in 1966, recent events have made it clear that there is still a need for some kind of guidebook detailing where it is safe to be black."
This is true of GLBTQ people as well, but it especially true for GLBTQ people of color. It is not safe to be GLBTQ in all but a few cities in the US. Ask any GLBTQ person, and they will tell you there fear of being seen as gay in many places in the US.
4
Why does no one question the tenuous premise that to be gay is akin to being black? There has been a welter of books titled "The New Jim Crow," (or words to that effect) trying to analogize the black experience with that of LGBTQIA Americans. Unlike the case for people of color, no one is aware that another person is LGBTQIA. Moreover, being a person of color is strongly correlated with poverty, adverse health outcomes, & a variety of other poor life outcomes. Lastly, this denigrates the experience of Black Americans who were killed and who lived in poverty. Please stop with this false analogy.
It isn't the one tweet folks.
Certainly the racist tweet about Ms. Jarrett was beyond awful, but if Ms. Barr didn't have a history of such behavior, and if Ms. Barr wasn't periodically awful, racist, and mean-spirited in public, she might still have a job.
The last straw.
I'm sorry for her costars who just lost their jobs, too. That said, maybe not since the revived show just wasn't that good anyway. Great cast, great premise (especially having a Trumpster in the house), but the writing just wasn't there.
3
While I agree with much of the writer's commentary, I have to point out that the broad bush of "white people" feels overly universal. It is absolutely true that too many white people in the US feel they can judge the appropriateness of where and when a black person can be, but "too many" in this context is "more than none". I believe It is too much to expect that 100% of white Americans will somehow not be racists; but that doesn't mean that 100% of white Americans are racists.
It is also true that in 1966 such stories wouldn't have even merited a yawn from the mainstream press, so the reaction of so many people - white and black - to the reports such as the student at Yale or the men in Philadelphia is a good sign that for many, many people such policing of black Americans is wrong. It is also true that it seems Trump's election has empowered the racists to be more vocal, so it's important that people of good will be vocal in response.
1
Well, sorry to see that Ms. Barr couldn't keep it together long enough to let the various story lines of her amazingly true to life cast of characters play out more. I was very hopeful that given the talent of her crew-including the incomparable John Goodman, as well as the hugely talented Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert-and the timeliness of the theme of the show ('We are the Dispicables') that the show could have done for the Trumpian 2000's what 'All In the Family' did for the Nixion/ Ford 1970's.
And yes, in case you were not around in the 70's Ms. Gay or was not aware -or simply ignored the fact-Many, many far left critics in that equally turbulent era also often questioned why, in AIF's case, CBS would let a network series depict such hot button issues such as racism, reverse racism, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and the cost that rabid political division (and BTW, the shrinking opportunities for the poor, both Black and White) were having on the nation.
So yes, 'Roseanne' will be sorely missed, even by old style Lefties like myself ,but Ms. Barr's publicly displayed lack of good sense and fair judgement will not be.
1
If people want to be publicly ugly and demean others because of color or any other reason, then let them suffer the consequences of being ostracized. Free expression and the lack of censorship are based on assumptions of civility and reasonableness that in our time have sadly eroded. What value is added to public discourse, entertainment, or art to have somebody like Barr spew ugliness around publicly and think she's offering the public something?
2
Racism also has hurt us as a nation when our president ignores the devastation in Puerto Rico. Implicit in his refusal to help those in need, which he blames on leadership failure to maintain a fiscally sound government, is his deep racism.
3
... “but the Culture That Gave Her a Show Isn’t.” What culture is that? The part of the country and not just the ‘heartland’ that is not liberal, leftist, Antifa, BLM, and all pro-illegal immigration organizations? Do you mean the rest of the country? Who will vote for Trump again?
2
Here we go, let’s bring Trump into it. So typical and unoriginal. Roseanne was doing her thing long before Trump, so try finding another angle to do your Trump bashing.
3
It is good that Barr is gone. She deserved it.
But why does Joy Reid still have a job? Her blog includes horrid homophobia, which she apologized for, but then said must have been the work of hackers.
Oh, please. We've heard that one before. At least Barr was a bit more inventive in trying to blame her tweets on Ambien. More inventive than Reid, but no more convincing.
1
Yes, they took a big risk rebooting this show to begin with and yes they are to blame partly. On the other hand, this is a very important stand against racism by a major American corporation. In fact, some corporations have been taking stands against everything trump represents for the past year. But this ABC response, supported by the parent company Disney, is memorable.
1
recent events have made it clear that there is still a need for some kind of guidebook detailing where it is safe to be black. Recent events have made it clear that such a guidebook would be a very slender volume indeed.
-----
Many single black moms have this fear and keep their children inside all summer, safe from their neighborhoods. Sad.
I also don't think black are being empowered when you suggest a booklet where they are not wanted and will not be safe. Isn't that giving in to the racists?
Do you believe really believe in racial separatism? Is that the answer you think? (I don't. We aren't helping black people by teaching them fear. We should teach them "sticks and stones..." like we do our own. Words are ok. Violence is not.)
You ask, "How many teaching moments do we need?" The answer is very clear: we will need many and they will not become truly "teaching moments" until we at least remove our toxic president and get our more liberal feet back on the ground.
Barr got exactly what she deserved and hopefully she is gone for good. ABC's response to her is a "teaching moment!"
5
" They revel in the freedom and the permission to be racist. "
And it cuts both ways. They also give Trump permission. It's why he continues with these absurd campaign rallies, which in effect are a self-perpetuating negative feedback loop to the bottom.
2
As long as we continue to draw distinctions along racial lines, racism in every direction will continue to exist. This opinion piece does not take us higher. It takes us into the swamp of grievances and looking backward. By the way, my son was also asked to leave Starbucks. Why? Because the seats are for patrons only. They are running a business, not a public square. The difference is that he didn't disrespect the police when they arrived because the police never had to go there in the first place. The manager asked him to leave and he politely left. If he wanted to stay, he had to buy something. No big deal.
Yes, Roseanne made a stupid joke that was insensitive. We all have. Yet she is the latest to be crucified in the social network square.
This is a moment for reflection for all of us...with our mirrors.
"The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
The opinion writer is apparently unaware that half the country are Trump supporters and voted for him (I'm not and didn't). Criticizing ABC for having a major character as a Trump supporter is utterly offensive and no better than Hillary's "deplorables" comment.
3
The real problem with Roseanne Barr's unfortunate statement is that it reflects the current overriding sentiment here in the U.S. and a president who takes every opportunity to express the same kind of bigotry.
That Ms. Barr used her platform to do the same, and then try to deflect it as some kind of a joke is only further evidence of her own poor taste.
But seeing as she has built a career around this kind of thing while getting away with it -- it should come as a surprise to no one.
What however is surprising, is the alacrity with which ABC responded by pulling the plug on her show.
And while it is unfortunate for all those involved in its production, it was ultimately the right thing to do.
There's already too much of this hateful talk going around, with a lot of it emanating from the White House.
It's high-time that the joke was on them.
4
I was more upset to read about police being called because a black graduate student was napping in her dorm, black women were checking out of their Airbnb rental, black teens were shopping, black women were golfing, black people were BBQ'ing and black men were sitting in a Starbucks without ordering while waiting for a colleague. It's not the in-your-face racism which is truly upsetting - regretfully, I expect that, it's the quiet racism which I find abhorrent and horrifying.
2
"It was the kind of thing Roseanne Barr has been doing online for years. "
Yeah, I recall her antics while "singing" the national anthem at a baseball game some years ago.
Regarding "policing" Black bodies, those white folks were doing no such thing. They thought they saw a crime in progress so they called the police. As far as I can tell the instances were investigated by the police as they should have been. That includes the Starbuck's incident.
Here's a suggestion. We convene a national dialog to understand why people react to other races the way they do. Housing patterns and school attendance patterns will be in the forefront. We have groups who can attend public discussions, held in their neighborhoods with their neighbors, or virtual groups were necessary. The participants state whey they live where they live and what has driven them, as is the mostly the case, from living in an integrated environment. And yes, by integrated I mean brown, yellow, red and white folks living with black folks. (Sorry liberal/progressive whiteopia, but you are living in a racially segregated environment.)
They can recount their personal experiences that shaped their decisions and actions. For example, was it aggressive policing that caused someone to move out of that urban neighborhood? Was it the crime and violence they experienced? Do you just plain favor private schools over public schools?
Can't wait for this national dialog on race to begin.
1
I have yet to read a article from prominent Black writers or commentators such as Don Lemon who I greatly admire about the vast number of "white people" who do not and would never embrace any kind of mistreatment of anyone--especially African Americans. As a Reform Jew, I've given up seeing any acknowledgment or gratitude from African American spokespeople like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton that "my people" have made to the Civil Rights movement over the years all the way back to Dr. King who marched arm in arm with Jewish people to advance the cause of the Civil Rights Movement.
Perhaps some day many of us "white people" will be given credit for supporting the efforts of prominent writers like Ms. Gay to end racism in America. But I doubt it.
2
We all know people like Roseanne. I’ve often wondered what makes them tick and I’ve noticed they have some traits in common:
They don’t like being chastised. They don’t want to be told to be good and to get along with others.
They hate feeling scolded, more than anything.
They will dig in and get nastier just to frustrate those who try to correct their behaviour.
Perhaps they feel that others are trying to control them and they need to resist to retain some shred of autonomy.
It’s a childish reaction, really. Sort of an arrested development.
3
The BBQer's in Oakland were BBQing in a location in a public park that prohibits BBQing with charcoal. While the woman called this in to the police in a clumsy, insensitive way, aren't we ALL required to observe the rules and laws, everywhere?
2
On the flip side the friend they were waiting for at Starbucks.......did they ever show up? And where is he to speak up on their behalf?
A perfect coverage of ABC and Roxanne, Ms. Gay. Thank You. And I am an old Liberal Democrat......one who is still fearful of Roxanne's Group's words and thoughts. I know that they live on in our culture, and will linger undercover, spoken in hush tones to the backside of our hands. But always with us. This is a very good time to be very old.......Now, getting Trump out of public office would go a long way to solving the ignorant, crass, sexist culture which he has thrust upon us. Perhaps we need a new all-inclisive phrase: "trailer trash" covers too many hard-working, good people which I was once a part of. They are not what the name implies....
In 1854 the California Supreme Court ruled against admitting testimony from “a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior, and who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point, as their history has shown; differing in . . . color and physical conformation; and between whom and ourselves nature has placed an impassable difference.”
The reference here was not to African Americans but to the Chinese. Yet one hears very little about racism directed at Chinese Americans nowadays. Why? Could it be because they’ve embraced education as a means to get ahead, or because they maintain a certain sense of decorum when in public, or even because . . . they show in general an abiding respect for the police?
3
The notion that the "system" is stacked against any group of people through "systemic racism" is a pernicious one. Like many immigrants, my family landed on these shores without the benefit of speaking English, having the wrong skin color (black), and with too many mouths to feed. By playing by the rules, (and working hard) they lifted themselves out of poverty and into a comfortable middle class existence. All this despite "systemic racism" and being black. Many of the examples cited by the commentariat are best described as a failure to adhere to unwritten norms. The woman sleeping in a public area at Yale without an ID reflecting her name was easily mistaken as homeless. The two men who were loitering at Starbucks without purchasing anything were violating written Starbucks policy. Frequently, these events are not the result of evil but of foolishness-that of the person complaining.
4
Thank you for your honesty, Uncommon Wisdom. There are many forces at play here, but I think what we can ultimately point the finger at isn't individuals, but the government that keeps perpetuating racist beliefs (on the GOP side) and victimization (on the liberal side). While I'm a moderate liberal, the problem I see is that we are in continuously swinging from one extreme of the cycle to the other (Conservative/Liberal/back to Conservative), which is just keeping us fighting amongst ourselves instead of uniting and working hard to better ourselves and the world. This is where the government and big corporations want us so we won't complain when they re-allocate funds, rig policy and start wars to benefit themselves and their rich buddies. It's gone on for too long, and unless we all agree to stop this useless bickering and start looking at the REAL perpetrators, it's only going to get worse.
It is unfortunate that the removal of this show will ordain its replacement with something that will scrounge the same turf on near or outright prejudice and overt hatred.
It is profitable for the media and you can bet that opportunity will be exploited. The titillation provided by slightly obscured racism and hate will rise in some new dreadful phoenix.
The principle reason ABC should never have run a "Roseanne" reboot is because Roseanne Barr has become iconic. This happens to actors sometimes. Becoming iconic is when an actor's stage performance becomes inseparable from their real life persona. A decent example is Robert De Niro. Any character played by Robert De Niro is Robert De Niro. You can choose a different actor but you're effectively changing the character as well. There can be only one De Niro.
"Roseanne" now suffers the same fate. In the original show, there was some credible distance between Roseanne Barr and Roseanne Conner. No longer. Everyone else on the set might be acting but Roseanne is Roseanne. You can't separate her public statements from her television performance. That's what makes all the faux nods to racial acceptance that much more offensive. We know she's lying when she makes a joke about racial equality. It's the rough equivalent of someone making a racial slur and then claiming "but I'm not racist."
ABC definitely made a huge mistake in rebooting this show. That's a given. However, I'm actually more concerned by the show's popularity. Who are these people?
The issue here as I see it with the general topic we are discussing is due process and measured discipline.
You have somebody like Trump, who is a bigot, rabble rouser, pathological liar, admitted sexual predator, philanderer, de facto Russia spy, ego maniac demagogue and the Congress is derelict in their duties re doing anything re discipline.
Roseanne Barr makes a crude racist joke and she (and all other innocent employees) are fired/let go from the show, ie trial by media court.
Where is gradual discipline? She should have been warned, fined, suspended and then told if did it again she would be fired.
2
It’s certainly ok for The View to make any abhorent comments against anyone who is not liberal, leftist, Antifa, BLM. So when is that show going to be cancelled? Oh, that’s right, ABC and all of the networks are run by the leftist media. Now there is nothing to watch on ABC.
1
There are 11 million blacks in this country. We aren't perfect, and we haven't reached the level of perfection, but there are black billionaires here. There are black business leaders. There are black political leaders. There are black heroes in the military, in sports, in the arts, in everything we do.
There even was a black president, if I remember correctly.
But when a black man, Henry Gates, breaks into his own home because he was locked out and a white policeman who was called to investigate asks him to identify himself, it is the cop who is reviled, not the man who refuses to do so because he says he is being racially insulted.
And you, from your ivory tower, say that a white who questions a college student's sleeping in a common room, and a white who calls police because people she didn't know were loading packages taken from a residence where they did not live prove that the USA is profoundly and hopelessly racist.
It would be kind to you to say that your political ideology has blinded you, but your are in the position of teaching our young people, and you should not be allowed to be so blind.
2
I agree with Barabra Siegman. Stop saying "White people" as if all of us are racist. How is that any different from stereotyping black people?
3
Another "win" for the inanity of social media. If every ignoramus like Barr and Trump broadcasted every stupid, hate-filled thought that passed between their ears on Twitter, Facebook and they myriad other electronic mass-distribution systems that represent the culmination of technological achievement, America and the world would have enough negativity to ensure that nothing positive ever happens again. And of course, the mainstream media would treat each such incident as "news" until it's completely normalized.
Thank you, Ms. Gay! For calling out the suddenly shocked!-Shocked-I-tell-you! pack of Hollywood enablers and lackeys who re-booted the Roseanne show for money, seeking a way to milk the deplorables by inciting them and making them feel good about their backwardness, their prejudice, their failure to thrive or even to identify why they are not -- and it's not immigrants.
That goes for everyone who signed on to the project for a profit share (looking at you, co-producer Sara Gilbert!) or a big acting fee.
All the so-called progressives who eagerly played with fire, handed this freakish conspiracy theorist and racist a career revival and a platform, in their personal quests for millions: Sara Gilbert: COMPLICIT! John Goodman: COMPLICIT! Michael Fishman: COMPLICIT! The writers: COMPLICIT! The suits at Disney and ABC who treated Roseanne's insane far-right tweets as somehow amusing and "that's just her," until she finally went one step too far by overtly comparing an African-American to a chimp or gorilla: COMPLICIT!
At the moment they are probably all scrambling to see if there's still any way to make money from the property following this debacle. And even as i write, the despicable Roseanne Barr has ALREADY returned to Twitter, blaming her big racist reveal on Ambien, fake-apologizing, and then following up with what-about self-justifications that render her apologies worthless.
To Trump, Pence, Giuliani, Cohen, Ryan, McConnell, Flynn, Nunes, Manafort, Gates, Papadopoulos, van der Zwaan, Pinedo, Barr, Weinstein, Cosby, and too many other demented politicians and celebrities to list here who have been sullying America's reputation (and their own) via Lies, Self-Serving Propaganda, Racial Epithets, Sexual Assault, and other abhorrent deviances, let it be known that we who time and again have suffered your narcissistic hogwash -- we who have been, and will continue to be, in full-frontal moral war against you -- have just added another banner to our good cause, a banner that proudly joins MeToo and Black Lives Matter, and all the other current and future causes against you. That banner is this: ZERO TOLERANCE.
1
When the United States looks in the mirror, the reflection is Roseanne Barr.
1
No, you see Marxists, not conservatives or Republicans.
Interesting how Ms. Gay ignores the years of disrepect, misogyny, sexism and horrible demeaning comments about Black women in rap and other music in the entertainment industry. Snoop Dogg's Instagram post "If Food Stamps Had A Commercial" was beyond the pale. And yet, he thrives.
2
It's different according to some.
It's way past time for Roseanne to fade into the sunset forever. More to the point, it's even further past time for news outlets like this one to stop enabling her bigoted tripe by wasting scarce column space on her.
Barr blames her racist tweet on Ambien taken in the wee morning hours. Ambien or not, what emerged from her 2 AM twittery digits came from what's inside her twisted soul. The rest of the world hardly needs it.
2
Let's acknowledge , Trump administration set back us decades in terms of civil rights.
Racism , Woman rights violations, Minority persecution is a theme of this administration.
Adding injury to Insult we may well end up 2008 type economic crisis.
I am not really happy, for many aspects of our life , I feel much worse than 2006-2008 period.
If firing Roseanne was ‘the right thing,” then why are Joy Behar and Joy Reid (Christian and gay slurs, respectively) still on the air? Liberal hypocrisy much?
2
In the 2008-2016 Presidential elections the Republican Party candidate won 55%, 59% and 58% of the white vote. That culture is alive and well.
Despite her history of confirmed white supremacist misogynist bigotry that compared Susan Rice to a man and an ape a black female ABC senior executive approved the 'Roseanne' show. That same black lady led the cancellation.
Moreover unlike Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson, Betsy De Vos, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and John Kelly, Roseanne Barr is not a powerful government official.
1
omg. this is so refreshing and real and right on. thank you Roxanne Gay!
On another site, "Rosanne" was described as one of the few working class sitcoms on television. What, I wonder, is the definition of a"working class family?" Has it come to mean a white family with a no more than adequate income, sketchy education and conservative political leanings? There are many sitcoms about other kinds of families, and they all work for a living. However, they are not designed to celebrate a particular political philosophy as I suspect was the case with "Roseanne," given the star's very public political orientation.
I can only imagine my calling white working class people by using similar epithets:
Of course the social Media ‘ outrage’
But a big smile by Trump KochMercer and Co
‘ they’re at each others’ throats, right where we want them right whete we need them’
And the opioid epidemic rages on for profit
The public schools continue to crumble
And each and every Republican labelled ‘ entitlement’ like Social Sec becomes 1 step closer to extinction
It’s class warfare stupid
2
Spot on. Don't think too many people are "woke" to THIS, though.
Roseanne Barr is already working her 'poor me, bad you' act with a pile of self-serving excuses and phony accusations.
Too bad she can't just be honest and say since she's very rich she can afford to offend people if she wants to and still lead a very nice life. No matter how disgusting a person she is in real life a certain segment of human trash will always be there for her. At least when they're not busy worshipping at the altar of Donald Trump.
2
I don't think you're saying anything new or helpful. They did the right thing and have obviously learned from past mistakes. What's the point of rubbing their faces in it? And it isn't all white people who police blacks, as your language would indicate. It's racists. Not all white people are racists.
3
Good essay, but I will push back a little on this: "He has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous when, in fact, they are not."
I would argue that for the past several decades conservatism has been defined by a racial backlash. If not always in governance (which is debatable), then surely in campaigning and winning elections. That said, I'm not sure if we should really be calling this movement conservatism, since its ideology and beliefs aren't fitting with the definition of the word.
2
I have not seen either show. Never cared to; anyone who still supports Trump gets only my scorn.
Yet there's more to the story. The white working class that went for Trump has been given the shaft by our cultural and economic elites for decades. Their wages have not risen and they can be considered as disposable as used cleaning products, once a firm no longer needs them. And for people of color? Even worse.
We needed a Teddy Roosevelt to bust up our era's banking trusts and telecomm trusts and health-insurance trusts. But instead we got a Sociopath, a buffoon and apologist for Tiki-Torch Nazism.
So Roseanne you got what you deserved. Now let's see it happen to the white knight you so loved.
2
Many years ago in the late 1970’s I remember a Black American colleague of my husband telling us that when he drove south to Florida, he filled up his car in SC and drove straight through Georgia, not stopping until he crossed into Florida. This was before I 95 was completed, so it was back roads through Georgia and it was dangerous.
I remember being shocked and saddened, as I had no idea this book existed. Growing up I had determined that I would always treat people the way I want to be treated and I have. After all, that is the basic tenet of Christianity.
This president finds great power in stoking racism. He encourages it. It is sickening and sad and disgusting. It’s mob mentality. It’s shades of Hitler.
I never liked Roseanne. I notice that it didn’t take her long to jump back on Twitter to blame her actions on a medication. It appears that, like the president, she’s also an attention junkie.
The larger question here is whether or not a work of art can be (or ought to be) considered independently from the artist who makes it. A second, related question, is whether or not the quality of a work of art can be separated from its "content"--especially when that content is overtly political.
In the history of art, there are countless instances where we have decided to separate art from its maker. Caravaggio famously killed a man. Leni Riefenstahl was a Nazi sympathizer, as was Ezra Pound. Picasso was a flaming misogynist, as were most of the Abstract Expressionists. And in our own time, we have such artists as Woody Allen and Chuck Close. Are Allen's movies and Close's paintings any less good now than we thought them before--now that we have questions about the moral behavior of the artists?
My own take is that Roseanne is actually an ordinary and typical popular TV show for our day--aimed at pleasing people with a vulgar taste. For people who aren't white working class, it's a window into what they think that world is like. For people who are white working class, it reaffirms that the way they talk and behave is legitimate. While its political content is at times extremely questionable for liberals, it's no worse for them than Murphy Brown is for conservatives.
The toxicity rests with Roseanne Barr herself, who is a dangerous and insufferable bigot.
5
The whites who take it upon themselves to police blacks are like far, far too many of my fellow whites: they don't realize that American racism is WHITE racism and that WHITES, not blacks or browns, are the problem, the root of so much of what is terribly wrong with this country and has been for centuries now. And now given a new lease on life by a racist president - "permission" is exactly what he has given white racists, most of whom would never, ever think of themselves as racist.
When whites instigate police actions because they see blacks and immediately suspect crime, when they wouldn't call the cops if white were doing the same things - shopping, golfing, picnicking - that's just racism, and those whites are racists, though I'm sure they're in denial about that.
The thing is, calling the cops on blacks is not just whites being concerned citizens (who happen to be racists). It can and does have far more serious consequences. It puts the very lives of those black people in serious, deadly jeopardy. Whites who call the cops on black golfers and shoppers probably don't begin to imagine what might happen to those golfers and shoppers. That's because they don't know what black Americans have to endure in a white racist society just trying to go about their daily lives without being accosted and worse by police. How many blacks have been killed by police in circumstances that started out just so innocently?
Roseanne Barr is just the ugly tip of that white iceberg.
1
Thank you for articulating the fact that white peoples police black bodies.
Thank you Ms. Gay. Let me be forcefully truthful about this. Roseanne’s violently cruel, racist and anti Semitic tweets could have been posted on any Neo Nazi website.
They essentially reflect that level of dangerously dehumanizing vitriol that was used in Nazi Germany. I believe that I am
not using hyperbole or being alarmist.
This speech is becoming increasingly normalized reflecting the systemic racism and rot in Trump America.
People of conscience need to wake up and realize that Fascism advances in stages. And that here in America it will be advanced by promoting white supremacy, male supremacy, xenophobia and anti Semitism.
This is a watershed moment. Will we continue to indulge in comfortable self deceit?
Or wake up to the historical moment and actively confront and resist Fascism arising in America?
And in November, Uncle Sam will be cancelling the Trump Show. You know, the crazy uncle with millions of voices, if he can only get them down onto the ballot papers in black and white.
For those of you who don't have time (or the inclination) to read this column, let me give you abridged version.
"Roseanne is a racist. It's Trump's fault".
The irony of this practice--of labeling, as much as possible, anything related to the Republican Party, as "racist", is that racism is relative, widespread and not the exclusive domain of either party.
After all, you will find no more a racist--than those liberal elites--living inside secure buildings in Manhattan, or in gated communities in San Francisco, or on Long Island.
And then of course, there's this: "There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
--Jesse Jackson, race hustler, faux religious leader.
3
I didn't realize how crazy Roseanne was until the media started displaying all her tweets from the past few years.
It is plain to see that all those who give time and attention to fringe conspiracy theories are simply weak-minded and susceptible persons, victims of their own hubris. They think, somehow, they are on the cutting edge of "truth" when in reality they are sailing away to the land of self-delusion. Most never come back. These people go to their graves believing 9/11 was an 'inside job', that pizza parlors are child sex-ring fronts, that mass shootings are staged dramatizations and that the holocaust was a hoax.
Worse, malevolents with a hate agenda exploit this vulnerable time when truth itself is now the victim. We are all entitled, apparently, to our own version of the truth, one that fits our agendas. If challenged they immediately cry foul and claim their 1st amendment rights are being infringed upon. It's a cacophony of duplicity and tactical lechery. Truth- it's been reduced to a cat-and-mouse game.
2
Never thought that she was funny. Don't think her ignorant racist tweet is funny. Won't miss her or her crudeness.
2
The executives and the producers of the show are very similar to the Republican Party, namely Republican Senators and Republican legislators, who ignore Trump's most egregious racist and hateful statements. I wonder when they will follow ABC's lead and get rid of the vile racist heading this country?
I have never cared for Rossanne Barr or anything in which she has starred. She always seemed"white trashy" to me. Now, with that being said, this author in this article uses this incident with this individual person, Ms Barr (as the author begrudgingly calls her lol), to start naming how other black people have been "wronged" recently and then blames all white people, not the individuals. The author also speaks on how white people feel entitled to police black people and "impose their beliefs" of how black people should act while at the same time, telling us whites how we should think and implying which individuals and corporations we should support. Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black. Lady, you are generalizing individuals of my race as stereotypical of my race. In other words, RACIST! These incidents are given without context and I'm sure some can be taken at face value, while others definitely not. I'm sure we all can relate to how individuals lie or color the truth when monetary lawsuits may apply and we all can relate to how the media sensationalizes stories. Rossanne Barr doesn't seem to be the type of person who should be rewarded with fame and fortune by ABC. The same can be said for Louis Farrakhan and BET (another racist, who is given a place of honor in the author's culture). Remember the saying, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. STOP BEING HYPOCRITICAL!
3
While the author may be guilty of being imprecise (perhaps she should have said ‘some whites’ instead of just ‘whites’), I, as a white guy, am inclined to give her a pass on this one. Living as a minority in America means living ‘a death by a thousand cuts’ each and every day. The fact is that you simply don’t see news stories about an African-American calling the cops because a white person was where the caller felt they shouldn’t be. That particular behavior is a one way street.
The channel 2 news on Cbc Nyc shows the media cooking up the story. "As you already know, she didn't vote for Hilary" then later they edited their "hash" to present it as Roseanne is bad. It's brainwash either way you present it.
A culture that considers an ad hominem attack the equivalent of a reasoned argument.
When the original Rosanne show went to number one, the producers barely thanked her. When other shows on ABC went to #1, the actors got raises, and there were parties thrown. When her show hit #1 the only thing they gave her was a big chocolate cake shaped like the number one. Some thanks.
I suspect she wanted out, and it was her revenge against ABC, costing them millions for a cancelled show.
2
Her racist views were well documented. She only came back because ABC/Disney wanted to capitalize on her and Trump's racist audience. It's a shame she was even given a shot at come back.
2
When reading the Times I often feel like I'm reading Part 2 of a story where I missed Part 1.
The Roseanne story is one example. I never heard of Valeria Jarett. What possessed Roseanne Barr to ruin her career insulting her? And why did everybody involved immediately know that VJ referred to Ms. Jarett rather that somebody else with those initials? Is there a previous story about Ms. Barr and Ms. Jarett that I haven't read?
None of this is to excuse Ms. Barr's behavior. I'm complaining about the way the story is being reported.
I never liked the show - an Egyptian fellow I worked with in the 1980s found it interesting in that it was about 'a certain type of American', and he thought the show did a good job of representing that type. That is the same reason I did not watch the show. I'm not a snob, watched a lot of the other popular network shows during the 1980s every week, from family ties to hill street blues to night court to cheers, but Roseanne never appealed to me. That the show, and she, have appeal to a large chunk of America, however, illustrates the divide in this country - a bunch of us think her behavior is okay (although some of her fans probably conveniently forget or excuse her grabbing of her crotch during the national anthem at a baseball game) and a bunch of us consider her and her show uncouth and crass and unfunny.
half of America has NO culture, they are lazy, repulsive, people with abhorrent ideas, happy to stew in their ignorance. without immigrants America simply would not survive. it has always depended on almost-free labor, and on intellectuals and entrepreneurs from abroad. America would indeed be great, of only for half of its people.
1
A despicable choice for rating and money from ABC.
I always loved the Roseanne show, and was thrilled to see the reboot. It was funny.
I have to admit that I did not realize she was such a racist and conspiracy theorist, an idiot, till recently.
Her costars are very good. I hope they will do well after this disaster.
And yet, Mel Gibson, who wrote the script for racist remarks, continues to make films and win awards.
No, selective outrage is no outrage at all.
Are you actually implying that Roseanne Barr crossed the line because her targets were people of color, but Gibson’s crimes were okay because his targets are Jews, and you know, they’re white?
3
"He has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous when, in fact, they are not."
They are not?
Does American conservatism have, despite what they might espouse, any other real world impact? Take racism away, and they are just a bunch of free loading gang of white collar criminals hogging at the federal teat while de-legitimizing, de-humanizing, dis-enfranchising others. Yeah, I am generalizing. But, it wasn't the liberals who created the Reagan debt, nor was it liberals who caused the 2007 meltdown, nor was it liberals who started unwinnable wars in Iraq that has today metastasized into a massive problem that holds the whole world hostage.
At this point in your article, it became clear to me that you have nothing new or important to say except repeat old, well-worn huzzas. Roseanne is vile and foul, a cultural disgrace, and I will be glad if she disappears from the nation's consciousness. But the equivocating language and tone of the liberals is about as nauseating. Call spade a spade, or shut up. Because the conservatives can't and won't; all they want is your money with you gone.
It becomes scary when people feel so strongly about politics and/or race that they accept conspiracy theories that the opposition is running child sex rings. Or that a black belonging to another political party resembles an ape.
It is not enough for some to disagree, even strongly, with another's politics. The other must also be demonized as a human being. Barr had everything to lose, but she could never resist dehumanizing others. When a husband and father drove across two states to shoot at people in a pizzeria because he was told that Hilary Clinton was running a child sex slave ring from the pizzeria, I knew that many were crossing a line. no respect for others, just hate that requires the other to be viewed as not only wrong, but a terrible human being.
Where in the world do we go from here?
1
I agree that was disturbing to see the enthusiasm with which the American public greeted this racist sow. This country horrifies me.
2
You do no favors to anti-trumpism when you label ms. Barr as ovine. Verbiage is important. Find better words than the opposition would choose, and don’t fall in with scoundrels.
Perfect pitch, Professor Gay. Thank you again for lifting up the carpet to expose a stained and splintered floor.
It is time for my fellow white Americans to rise up and do our best to throw every elected republican official from top to bottom out of office. They have to be made to pay a heavy price for Trump and Their complicity in his racist dog whistles to his base on a daily basis.
2
Maybe Kathy Griffin will try to be funny by holding Roseanne Barr's severed head (instead of President Trump's severed head). Hardee har har - now wouldn't that be funny!
Vote, vote, vote citizens for each and every Democratic candidate listed on your election ballot this November, and unequivocally register your own personal "cancellation" of any Trump-Republican "reboot". There is where your power lies, and your flag can be planted against racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, and corruption. Throw the bums out!
Thank you ABC for doing the right thing. Garbage in -- garbage out! Too bad we can't do the same thing with the cast in the White House.
Racism is real. But the seeds of change are found in the mirror. Only YOU can grow and change your attitudes.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
This is America, not Rosanne Barr, neo-Nazis and NOT MY PRESIDENT.
Change yourself and you will change the world.
1
Is Valerie Jarrett even black? Roseanne was making a joke - she is a comedienne.
The culture you are denigrating in this piece is the culture that can make jokes about each other without treating them like insufferable offenses.
1
If we want to subdue the subculture that feels so blase about racism, we need to loudly take offense. Rolling our eyeballs and thinking they're jerks isn't enough. Roseanne got what she deserved. Racism is horrible for our country.
Only when equal justice and equal outrage is meted out for such transgressions, perpetrated by people of all color and political affiliation, such as Barack Obama's 8 years of openly fanning the flames of racial and political divisiveness, and Joy Reid, still employed at NBC peddling her homophobic slurs, will Roxanne Gay's opinion be valid. Until such time, it's merely more in an ongoing diatribe of partisan left wing gas.
1
ABC thought they could make money off the Trump viewers by hiring the incendiary Barr, who talks an awful lot like the incendiary Trump (no coincidence there folks). When they found that their gamble had become a loosing bet and sponsors would no longer flock to the show, they bailed. It was all about money and the free advertising that Barr would generate with her filthy mouth.
You lost me completely when you made your sweeping generalization that "white people feel extremely comfortable policing black people in public places". Maybe some.
But many "white people" are not " comfortable" at all with the blatant and hidden racism in America. And we push back.
We see it and we are not "comfortable" with it. At all.
It makes our skin crawl. And we detest it.
4
Exactly. This show never should have been re-booted.
The lead already was known for her abhorrent views and loose Twitter mouth .
If u want an open forum on TV for situation comedy then choose someone capable of doing that.
Blackish has tried but still cautious .
Truth is there is no comedy in the underbelly of Racism.
I am embarrassed to be white....
Susan Miller-Havens, EdD
Ms. Barr is not 'gone'. As long as show business corporations believe they can make money using her, they will do so. Her offensive behavior and views, which she expressed openly and publicly during the last few decades, were no secret. Disney corporation had to have been aware of them, and chose to tolerate or ignore them, because they hoped to make big money by renewing her show.
Ms. Barr is not gone. She will find a new sponsor and a new network. If not now, sometime in the future.
The show business community knew about her horrible views, yet refused to voice any criticism for decades. They tolerated her for far too long, let her get away with far too much.
2
So well put. ABC/Disney is being lauded for “doing the right thing” when the reality is they knew that the sponsors would yank themselves out in the blink of a tweet if they didn’t cancel. As with any corporation it is the bottom line, first and foremost.
I work in film/tv as a crew member, and have worked on productions that I have taken pride in, as well as a few that I wasn’t too enthused by. But in all productions the tone is set at the top, by the producers. What is deemed “acceptable behavior” trickles down to how all the others work well together or not, how disputes are settled, how production assistants are treated, etc.
When there is a respectful professionalism at the top it goes very well. When there is not, it becomes a corrosive atmosphere. I cannot imagine the set being a truly amicable place- it is not a vacuum. Job security in the industry is nonexistent, but those in positions of power tend to have a bit more leeway in terms of options, as well as the money to cushion the vicissitudes of uncertain futures.
I empathize with the crew, and much of the cast, who now are out of jobs. I hope that Roseanne does the right thing and pays them severance or at the least donates to their pensions and welfare funds.
I wish them all future success.
1
The genesis of our tragic era was the quest for higher ratings and a leadership style forged in a crucible of insatiable need, extreme grandiosity, and the utterly absurd notion that somehow being a TV CEO was akin to running the country. Whereas once popular culture was once an escape from reality, it is now a painful reminder that there is no escape, no safe quarter. Tragically, we have let our Madisonian democracy devolve into the Truman Show. It is high time we turn the TV off and get ourselves up off the couch, before we lose the ability to do so.
Wildly irresponsible writing here. And this should be easy to go after. First of all, you make the very very serious claim that this is not the first of her racist comments. That’s way too serious of a charge to not back up in depth. Because this can easily be read as her going off the deep end, but you seem to be claiming she has always been that way. And please, no grey area micro-aggressions that are subjective : real ones. Secondly to suggest ABC is some kind of racist machine is bizarre and sounds wildly immature and out of it. ABC lead the gay wave of tv shows, it started the career of Shonda Rimes , Scandal etc. Bizarre comment. To anyone on the right ABC represents surreal, absurd liberalism, with all its cow-towing to wacky new liberal norms and mores. Love the way you pull out one example there about the NFL. Doesn’t compare - secondly, speaking your mind on a job is something no American can get on board with. Especially working class people who can’t spout their political beliefs while serving coffee.
And lastly in talking about police brutality against black people, the whole NY Times appears to need a wake up call on this. The first data on this was published here in this newspaper by a black Harvard researcher, who found to his own surprise that poor whites - even accounting for population - have more deadly run-ins with police.
It doesn’t mean blacks aren’t brutalized, it just means that apparently poor whites are more.
4
Cite the source you are using to clarify your interpretations and conclusions- that would be in keeping with your interest in responsible claims. The point is not dueling victimhood.
As for Barr and "grey-area micro aggressions", all people have to do is look at Barr's twitter feed. She posts racist and conspiracy sites regularly, in black and white.
Barr has always been a racist - nothing new here. Maybe another cooked up trump/barr deflection from trump's traitorous behavior and legal problems. Or just more of bringing out the racism to forefront. NFL, Charlotteville, just trying to make the horrible alt right racism a normal, everyday part of American life under the trump regime.
Roseanne Barr's tweets are beyond the pale. They are not only racist, they are utterly tasteless and disgusting. ...and unnecessary. ABC is right to deny her a platform though I'm sure she'll be hosting a Fox TV talk show soon.
Fine.
But . . .
"age-old racist ideas about black people and primates."
ALL human beings ARE primates.
4
Ms. Gay, suggesting that the reboot should never have happened is in fact to endorse censorship before the censored item is created.
This is a discredited approach that stifles speech based on a group's fear of what might be said.
Ms. Barr so closely identified her character with her actual person that her speech as an individual on Twitter was inextricable from her television 'self' and was judged to contaminate her employers, colleagues and audience with views so toxic that her platform had to be taken away.
That is the correct response. However, censoring her 'art' over negative perceptions of what her personal speech might possibly include in the future prior is prejudiced and unconstitutional.
You are absolutely right that she knowingly crossed the line and is paying the consequences. But assigning consequences without actually incurring them is antiAmerican.
3
Leave it to the illiberal left to censor a show whose political opinions differed from their while leaving their propaganda intact. By the way, Valerie Jarrett is a servant of the Muslim Brotherhood and will turn this country into the planet of the apes. You are misreading Roseanne just as badly as you did Kanye. I still cannot decide if it is incompetence or willful, but it has to stop if we are to avoid the descent into a police state of wrongthink v. rightthink.
1
Ms. Gay continues to throw fuel on the fire with classic," it's all your fault " mentality .2 points to ponder ms. Gay. You will never be equal until you quit pointing out your differences. The second point is in that of opjnions....it's wrong for Barr to make a racist comment, but it's ok for Blackish to criticize of nations leader because that's just a fictional show...(I've never been more embarrassed and offended by a show than Blackish...right down to its racist title.)
Wanda Sykes . ...calls Trump an orangutan . ..but that's her shtick so its ok....yet she quits and is offended by Barr, for making a similar comment about a former political identity. I'd say that's the kettle calling the pot black....but in doing so, you'd probably accuse me of being racist.
Here's a thought ... People Lives Matter. End the decisive hate. #boycottABC
4
Snark sells. Or so thought ABC execs as they surveyed our current political landscape and jargon. But snark eventually chokes and gags people to the point they spit it out. Hope this nation beginsto get rid of Trump and his snide supporters in the November election.
And now she's a martyr and a hero, a victim of freedom-hating, hypocritical, politically correct liberals.
Nothing has changed, no progress has been made; one nasty racist fool has been denied a tv show but had her stature among the other nasty racist fools elevated immeasurably.
3
This disgusting deplorable merely brought to the surface and further spotlighted the underlying racism that is rampant in America. Her unabashed support of Trump is a despicable wedge that continues to divide America. No matter how hard we try removing 200 years of perpetuating racism is a continuing challenge. Getting rid of this loudmouth is merely one bite of eating the elephant.
IT IS NOT A FREE SPEECH IF THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES.
1
Perhaps you should study the Regents Competency Exam curriculum.
Free Speech does not mean you can say whatever you want. Surest path toward retaking "US Hist and Government" is to write your words in your essay.
Agreed. If only voters never voted for a racist for President.
1
Roseanne's apology should have been: "My comment was racist and ugly and I don't know why I didn't realize that before I said it."
1
Her fake apology doesn't change the fact that she is racist. Thank you ABC for having the guts to take that action. You have won the heart and support of million of people
1
Spot on, Ms. Gay. I too scoff at ABC’s moral high-ground for canceling the Roseanne Show, wondering where their morality was at earlier when Roseanne compared Obama aide Susan Rice to an ape, and Barr’s stunt of baking human shaped cookies while dressed up as Hitler. I trust none of the big tv networks. NBC buried the Weinstein story and refused to air Trump’s crouch-grabbing Planet Hollywood tape. Charlie Rose worked for CBS. The only thing these tv networks abide by is their bottom line, what will make them more loot. If ABC shed tears over the cancellation of Roseanne, I’m sure, if truth be known, it was only over the loot they lost and not the racial ugliness of her tweets, for the network had plenty of reasons to get rid of Barr long before the Valerie Jarrett outrage.
3
Roxane is right just like she was in her first essay. The only reason the show was produced was because of Roseanne’s very public pivot towards Trump. She gave it credibility. Except the Roseanne portrayed in the show was not the same Roseanne reviving her career on Twitter. Worse than the casual bigotry, IMO, were crackpot conspiracy theories. No self-respecting institution would ever provide a platform for someone who spreads a blatant lies about Democrats, pedophilia rings, and pizza parlors or a high school shooting survivor and a Nazi salute. But that’s exactly what ABC did. And their conservative defenders and liberal apologists totally glossed over the discrepancy between Roseanne the character and Roseanne the person when the former was inextricably linked to the latter. It was cynical and exploitative. These producers aren’t mad that Roseanne believes those things; they’re mad because she couldn’t keep a lid on it.
1
I find Ms Barr's political views abhorrent.
But.
Refusing to permit her to star in a TV show because of her political views would have been censorship and political correctness of the worst order.
Doing so would be the beginning of the end of American democracy. If performers were required to adhere to a political point of view in order to be allowed to work as a performer, we will indeed have become a totalitarian state.
Let's not go there.
4
Being racist and ignorant is not a political point of view.
Are you saying ABC doesn't have a right to control their content? How is that not censorship?
If you remember, that was successfully done in the McCarthy era, watch the movie Trumbo to understand. By the way Trump's favorite lawyer. Ray Cohn, was Senator McCarthy's lawyer.
"And how much longer will we choose to consume pop culture that encourages such policing, either implicitly or explicitly?" Answer: As long as Trump remains in office.
Ms. Gay writes, in part, "The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
Er, no. Art generally reflects life, particularly television sitcoms. The normalization of these vile and base traits occurred in the broader culture, and well before Ms. Barr's reappearance on this reboot.
We have the regrowth of a number of societal cancers that many of us had hoped were on the very brink of being cured. Sadly, it's not the first time nor will it be the last. One piece of hope that can be taken from all this, though, is that we've seen these sorts of "last gasp" relapses many times in the past and the reaction against them is often their final undoing. Let's hope that's what will occur this time.
1
I don't blame ABC for bringing Roseanne back. There seems to be a wave a TV nostalgia happening and they wanted in. Fair enough. Also, while the show is "Roseanne" don't forget most of the other cast members have gone to far greater success than Roseanne herself did in the interim between the shows. I also believe that ABC was looking for an "All in the Family" type show for this generation. What they forgot was that Carroll O'Conner was a great guy in real life and only played an outdated bigot, curmudgeon on TV. Roseanne on the other hand...
1
I am so tired of people blaming Trump. The only thing new is that technology is exposing what has long been hidden but some of us knew still existed.
All the people lamenting now are the same people who a few years ago argued that we lived in a "post racial" society. I was told that Native Americans had casinos and no longer faced poverty or discrimination. That African Americans needed to just get over it and move on. That immigrant success stories were proof that racism no longer existed.
All the sudden shock and sadness over racism just proves that a lot of so called liberals were just as tone deaf to the suffering of so many.
"I am more interested in the statement ABC could have made by never making the reboot in the first place."
Besides being a perfect kicker, Dr. Gay raises the perfect question ... so many people signed on to this reboot and ABC fully embraced and promoted it while knowing who and what Rosanne Barr is, making them indirectly complicit in her racism. What will any of these people do and how will network screening systems change for the future?
The author aggregates and highlights several incidents of "policing black bodies in public spaces" which might shock the conscience if viewed in a vacuum. Calling the police over seemingly trivial potential transgressions (if there were any at all) seems unjustified and potentially racially motivated. However, in the age of YouTube, where disparate acts in a vast populous country can be documented and grouped together, an alternative narrative is easily conjured - "Don't call the police at your own risk!". See the video of an ihop manager fighting off a group of violent black women (just one of many such videos) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-AnZf-83w
1
this op-ed goes too far. everyone has the right to express themselves online. roseanne peddled some conspiracy theories, sure, but none that were overtly racist before yesterday. to suggest ABC is somehow culpable for not cancelling her show before yesterday is yet another example of "liberal" intolerance going too far, and this is coming from a progressive. i am tired of the hysterical identity politics espoused by people like this author, and democrats are being hurt because of it.
" I remember the Conner family as working class and solidly invested in the greater good of their community. They seemed to be liberals, which is antithetical to the Roseanne in the reboot, who is a working-class Trump supporter."
If you don't understand why this sentence is not only out of touch but problematic, you're part of the problem
1
It is so true that "the culture that gave her [Roseanne} the show" is pulsating frighteningly with life. While Roseanne falls, Trump remains standing even as he pushes his conspiracy theories at his show time rally in Nashville. Recently Trump told graduates of the Naval Academy in Annapolis that America is respected once again. Wrong! Even conservatives abroad are aghast at the buffoon Americans have placed in the White House. Meanwhile Trump supporters dig in their heels and also put their heads in the sand! As Ross Douthat writes today it is now acceptable to be open about bad behavior, because there is nothing worse than "political correctness". Most egregious is permission to be racist with Roseanne as exhibit A. The PBS documentary which aired last night details the exclusionary policies which not only kept citizenship from Chinese Americans who were born here but which encouraged violence, murder and lynching, in a form of ethnic cleansing. The recent statement by John Kelly that immigrants are not able to be assimilated because they tend to be uneducated and rural chillingly evokes that period in history. Now Sessions is sanctioning the practice of separating children from immigrant parents, another echo of the past. Michael Gerson makes a practice of pointing out how politicized Evangelicals have nothing in common with the teachings of Jesus who taught us to welcome the stranger and count all as neighbors.
2
It's not what you do when people are watching or know what you are doing in the light of day...it's what you do when nobody knows that determines a persons character. It has been said that overt racism, bigotry and intolerance is not what we should worry about. It's an easy target. The racism, bigotry and intolerance we should worry about is the kind that hides in the back rooms of corporations, country clubs and all white neighborhoods. The kind of racism that is spoken of in whispers, hushed tones and condoned by looking the other way is the kind of racism that's crushing us. That kind of bigotry is what has been on display since the re-boot of Roseanne. Roseanne shouted it out loud for everyone to hear. ABC, the cast and others simply looked the other way even though many knew exactly who they were dealing with.
I am not a fan of Roseanne Barr and I never watched the show. I am shocked and outraged that she was fired over that tweet. Yes, it was nasty, but 1) it was not on air and 2) all the left wing comedians, Michelle Wolf, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, etc, have used much more offensive language against Trump, and on air, not in private tweets. So Democrat and Obama officials are off limits when it comes to jokes and free speech but Trump and his sympathizers have lesser rights?
4
Keeping racist sentiments under the rug will only make those holding those sentiments feel like righteous victims and thus less likely to change their racial views. However, normalizing such sentiments, as Roseanne does, also serves to solidify those views.
Could we have a reboot of Archie Bunker?
4
Interesting and thought provoking. Just one quibble...golf is played by a group of 4 not 5 people.
Agree. My first response to all the adulation ABC was getting for cancelling the show was, "Why did they start it in the first place?"
And let's not forget to add #LaughingWhileBlack to the long list of recent outrages, when a group of black women were thrown off a Napa Valley wine touring train in August of 2016 for the sin of laughing and having a good time. I'm white and interact with white people all the time. I know what's in their hearts. It's not always good. Racism agains African Americans is still intense in this country. The good news is that it can absolutely be unlearned. We're in that process right now. Can't happen fast enough.
2
The market has spoken, and therefore the decision was the correct one. Amiright, conservatives?
The market has NOT spoken. It didn't get a chance to speak. What spoke was a TV executive who made a unilateral decision to cancel a show over a tweet.
The market spoke when it gave the show high ratings and a larger viewership.
1
Colin Kaepernick spoke his mind but was not free from the consequences.
"I am more interested in the statement ABC could have made by never making the reboot in the first place."
Absolutely. ABC tried to cash in on the hatred-- that it blew up in their faces is a good thing that they'll hopefully learn from, but better to have actually had some scruples in the first place.
Hyper sensitivity has taken hold in our great republic. Though I agree Ms Barr's tweets were abhorent, she is one person. The fact that one person can "gaslight" an entire demographic is worrisome. College campuses have banned the 1st amendment, just so someone's words don't offend someone else. There is no such thing as illegal 'hate speech" in the USA. If you are offended, BIG DEAL! Be offended. So what?!? Same goes for me. We can boycott their advertisers, shows, and products. That's what we have as a tool. We should never allow the government to regulate speech, NEVER, as some NYT posters have suggested.
2
Rosanne makes one probable (after all, there are human characters on the Planet of the Apes movies) comparison between a relatively minor public figure and an ape, and gets canceled. Meanwhile, Bill Mahar at least one out of every three weeks makes direct comparisons between Mr. Trump and an orangutan and is cheered for it.
Personally, I do not see either as reason for removal from the air, but why is one acceptable to so many people and not the other?
1
Great point. Great!
In a way, it is good that the reboot was tried. The quick response to the racism and abhorrent tweet is a teachable moment, and a good lesson in the Time of Trump. This is not acceptable, and it is not funny. And there are consequences.
This was a full view of the extreme racism of the Obama reaction, and that is has not died. When Paula Deen used the N word, I saw some people said that everyone uses that term at home sometimes. No, they don't. I have never heard it used except by die-hard, mentally deranged racists.
Television culture brings into the home all kinds of materials and people. Not that many young people watch anyway, but Trump's entire presidency is based on his reality star persona and his "ratings". This is a delusion, and delusional thinking prevails in some circles.
Time reveals truth is an old saying. Now we see this level of racism is still a strong rip tide in some circles, and no, we do not need to read it, see it, or let it harm anyone in the country.
3
Channing Dungey has demonstrated behaviour that is shallow, unsophisticated and opportunistic. First, by putting Roseanne on the air given Roseanne's history of making crude and offensive remarks, and second, by being the very first to condemn the 'abhorrent', 'repugnant' behaviour of the star she so eagerly cashed in on. Shallow, unsophisticated and opportunistic... And in her head she's a role model? For whom?
2
Bravo! Perfectly stated. We need to continually hear this message in its many forms from as wide a community as possible - from every gender, ethnic group, age - until it finally sinks in to a larger segment of the country as a whole. There will always be that group of deniers, trolls, unenlightened who will never understand, but their time in the limelight - thank you, Mr. President- needs to come to a crashing, resounding end. A beautifully written nail in the coffin.
Not to say that racism isn't still a significant injustice and shame for this country, because it is. And not either to say that cancellation of the rebooted insipid TV program in question ... apparently so well received, saying something about this country ... wasn't justified based on recent hate-filled remarks from its principal figure. But what I find troubling about this column is the monolithic way in which whites and blacks are seemingly described as adversaries. There is more than enough divisiveness in this country without further provocation from this. Plus that and very importantly, the implied rigid racial divide in just expression of humanity simply isn't true, as countless examples can be cited. Indeed, it is in these examples that we have reason for hope, even despite occasional setbacks that probably will never go away, evil having the influence it does.
2
ABC and their lawyers, weighing the possible gain against the risk, saw fit to enter into a contract with a person who was, from her Twitter history, not merely racist but clearly delusional. And sadly, despite the evidence, the GOP and even world leaders are negotiating, as if he were of sound mind, with a man they must know to be utterly delusional.
1
Conservatism is racism, at least as it is practiced by the Trump administration, the Republican Party, right-wing radio and the Fox propaganda machine. A person professing to be a Republican and having no qualms about the GOP leadership endorsing Trumpism - tacitly or overtly - is in fact participating in a racist enterprise.
2
Can we white people please stop with the knee-jerk, "but I am not a racist" reaction whenever someone details the pervasive and institutionalized racism that exists in white America?
Sure, there are many white allies in the movement to throw off the scourge of racism in the U.S.
But far too many of us spend so much time refusing to admit to the possibility that the vestiges of racism still exist in ourselves, that we never get to the point of being ready to acknowledge the prevalence of institutionalized racism and white privilege throughout the country, much less act to diminish it.
It's like Donald Trump refusing to even acknowledge Russian interference in our elections, much less acting to protect our electoral system, because he can't bear the thought that his election might be seen as being tainted or illegitimate because of that interference.
It is hard to grow up white and not internalize racist attitudes that swirl around us on a daily basis, without our even realizing it. Many of us have to deliberately venture into spaces we are not used to, in order to begin to know how often our assumptions are based on bogus stereotypes, misinformation, and ignorance.
But acknowledge these racist attitudes and venture into those spaces we must.
If we are truly as prejudice-free as we believe ourselves to be, then we risk nothing. And if we aren't, we gain the opportunity to truly become the people that we want to be and make a difference in the fight against racism.
1
will the glass ever be half full? or is cynicism too profitable for you?
2
When I was young, "All in the Family" was must see TV in our house. My dad loved it. But it did not change his racist attitude. He saw what he wanted to see-the everyday guy saying what he himself thought. The "message" of brotherhood escaped him. I suspect it was the same for many of those that loved this show (especially since they knew of the star's "real" feelings.) Those who wanted this show to be a vehicle of thought, a unifying experience, may have been sadly disappointed. But perhaps, in time, small steps toward understanding may have been made. Unfortunately, because the star truly is a hate filled racist, she couldn't help herself and did exactly what ABC was afraid she would do. They gambled and lost. Nothing else to do but cut and run. I realize one can't have a reboot of Rosanne without Rosanne, but the whole concept contained its own seeds of destruction.
Trump has taken the culture promoted by the fake FOX News to a higher level.
If voters do not severely punish Trump and the Republicans in the 2018 and 2020 elections, I fear that the USA will shortly no longer be "the land of the free".
2
Seeing Roseanne get the boot really made my day.
She probably felt that with Trump trashing minorities non stop, is was open season for her too. It was like she wanted to out Trump Trump. It worked, she is gone, and America is a little better off today. Congrats to ABC for their very quick and important decision. We are still stuck with the millions of Trump and Roseanne supporters, but education is a slow process. Let this progress continue!
1
At the risk of overemphasizing this event, this can be a turning point in America.
When it's pretty clear that the majority does not support racism, and has little tolerance for intolerance of others as groups, it tells every republican office holder that it isn't okay if you want to win elections.
Politicians are largely windsocks and they can't help but sense this shift in the breeze.
I agree that this show did not deserve a reboot. I stop watching, listening or supporting people who espouse hatred and division. I may be old fashioned in boycotting these people and their crafts but my life is not diminished by these choices.
Speech is protected from govt action - but certainly your employer has the right to take action. Consequences exist.
1
I get the wish that white people should not be allowed to comment on the behavior of "black bodies" anywhere - whatever those bodies do. But it means linking the right of free expression to the shade of skin (or some "color" classification independent from that shade). Also I get the wish that no unmocked "Trump supporters" shall appear in the popular media. That's for keeping filter bubbles intact and that is important for peace of mind. But I don't get that binary people code involved, I learned that the human skin's color worldwide is a continuum (where the endpoints "white" and "black" are rather scarce). On a related note, islamophobia and christianophobia are very sane dispositions for the atheist and agnostic, IMHO.
1
For some reason ABCs response reminds me of the punchline to the story about the guy who didn't want to admit to torching his own house after falling asleep with a lit cigarette in his hand by saying "the mattress was already on fire when I lay down on it."
"In each of these encounters, white people took it upon themselves to police black bodies in public spaces. They felt entitled to do so because of racism, which they used to delineate the borders of what they arbitrarily determined as acceptable behavior for black people."
I don't think the white people referred to here were being consciously racist, rather they were unconsciously fearful of black people, and inferring possible criminal behaviour where there was none.
2
Our "president" either by design or inadvertently has made it acceptable to be a racist. His own actions have bred much of the racism that is targeted toward those who are not white, have a fine education and wealthy (well, unless one contributes to the racist in chief).
However, there are other instances of racism on our broadcast media that are perpetrated by none other than Trump with his continuous dog whistling and gas lighting at his "I Love Me" pep rallies. Perhaps some day we will cancel this sad reality show at the ballot box.
I watched the race riots, the marches and the speeches of Dr. King and had hoped that we as a society had put the days of racism behind us.
Well, we didn't and Ms. Barr and her biggest fan, Trump, are proof we have not progressed much at all.
I only have one small quibble here: you are absolutely not allowed to play a round of golf with 5 people. 4 people is the limit and any 5some would be reported to course management.
Not saying they deserved to have police called but they deserved to be thrown off the course for ruining the playing experience of all the people playing behind them.
1
To embolden the stand against Roseanne Barr I suggest continuing the show but swap out the lead role with another actor and call her Roseanne. To go further perhaps even a black actor in a multi racial family. This way the message would be that ABC is committed to the show and an industry whose employees have depended on these jobs and not make them collateral victims while taking a firm stand against disgusting behavior.
The point of my message is to punish her, specifically her, to make it clear we can and will target the source, the offensive, to maximize the message and not dilute it by including everyone and anyone involved with the show.
1
People say mean nasty things about me all the time....nobody ever gets fired. This doesnt bother me in the least....nor has it ever stopped me from living a good life.
The Roseanne show was very popular proving many people looked the other way. Or they cheered hearing her alternate facts. Our president who has risen to power by tooting a bunch of dog whistles and worse, spreading conspiracies, and openly insulting individuals and whole nations, considers has been invulnerable to any consequences. His show can’t be canceled and won’t as long as our nation’s latent racism isn’t called out for what it is. During Obama’s presidency, when Americans’ better post-racial side was encouraged, open racism was apologetic, now, being encouraged, it is on full display. What some consider our president ‘s embarrassing behavior Is a reflection our darker side.
if only trump could be held to the same standard as a hack comedian
1
Isn't there a very young black actress on this show? Might Roseanne not have thought of this child before speaking?
I think Roseanne has always been pleased to make controversial statements, and may have been fishing for the presidency... problem is, with her chosen crowd, she's a woman.
Both of my parents were blind. I have found that we faced the same discrimination as have people have with racism. Patronization is not the answer. Putting the handicapped in pigeon holes is not the answer. When a handicapped person is discriminated against, his family is also.
The cancellation of Roseanne's show is just another example of Political correctness run amuck. Wherever the "lefties" are in charge of anything, they will stamp out and decimate anyone or anything that does not meet with their approval.
I think you will find that a lot of American have a negative opinion of Valerie Jarrett, I know I do. This is all part of the reaction to the Obama years. It was Obama and his coterie of fellows travelers that have ended up dividing America.
Personally, although I did not watch the show, I don't believe it should have been cancelled. ABC knew what Roseanne was like and knew she made the sort of remarks that make some people cringe, so I am not sure why they are upset over the tweet. I honestly believe that the tweet was just an excuse ABC used to cancel the show. I don't believe it was the real reason.
We no longer have free speech in this country. Our speech is censored by the likes of that David Hogg, Chris Hayes and other fellow travelers like them. They would have been right at home in Stalin's USSR. After all look at how our colleges and Universities no longer allow divergent views to be presented on their campuses. This is nothing but the modern version of Lenin's dictatorship of the proletariat.
1
One thing is not to like Valerie Jarrett and another is to compare her to an ape.
Of course there is free speech in this country. Roseanne was free to post what she posted. Twitter did not censor her. But there are consequences to whatever people write or say publicly. I guess she is learning now. Yes, times have changed. What was accepted or ignored before, is no longer accepted or ignored. Tough luck for her.
The grips will survive this. I hope Roseanne does not. ABC, just like North Korea; it is hard to say no to a cheap burger with a huge bottom line.
From the article:
"but one wonders just how many teaching moments we need for white people to no longer feel entitled to comment on or police black bodies."
"before white people..."? Yes, words matter. Can you imagine someone saying "before black people" or "before Muslims"? As if they ALL are the problem. Quite a generalization. Is the author suggesting ALL white people are inherently racist and calling the cops whenever they see a black person?
Yes, we have a race issue. Nobody denying that. But when we use such broad generalizations, we misrepresent the truth and we make it harder to deal with the problems we are facing.
It has become trendy to paint with a broad brush. Unfortunate. It's like doing surgery with a hatchet. We can do better.
As for Rosanne? It's unfortunate. She is capable of so much better than she's done. Another example of talent crippled by flaws. We see the same with folks like Weinstein and Morgan Freeman and Cosby and Matt Lauer and Clinton and Trump. We have this propensity to put flawed people on a pedestal... empowering them... giving them a voice... treating them as "leaders"... knowing how flawed they are. We need to aim a little higher.
This isn't a partisan issue. It's much bigger than that. Until we see that, we'll continue to be distracted by the politics of these situations instead of the heart of these issues.
1
Except it is a partisan issue & denial won’t change that. The southern strategy was and continues to be a deliberate thing perpetuated long after Nixon as a cynical ploy to win elections. That doesn’t mean all republicans are racist or all democrats are not. But the use of racism as an election strategy, now perfected by Donald Trump is a uniquely republican one. After all that’s where the southern racists went when Kennedy and Johnson started turning the democrats away from Jim Crow and slavery’s legacy. Republicans own this regardless of the overall societal contribution to racism & conflict.
2
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. – Proverbs 18:21.
I have seen less than a handful of black people during my entire 68 years of living. I've seen more people afflicted with albinism.
When I was a young pre-adult in high school girls were not allowed to take shop or woodworking, we were suppose to take Home Economics and Sewing. It was assumed that girls went to college to find a 'good man to marry them'. We didn't pump our own gas at the gasoline station or check the fluids. I knew what a car battery was only because I saw one on my Grandpa's farm. I didn't know how to put gasoline in the lawnmower but I did know how to clean windows and get the sweat marks out of a man's shirt. I also knew how to iron it. After High School I couldn't buy life insurance, period. I needed my father's or husband's approval signature if I wanted a credit card or wanted to buy a car or lease an apartment.
Do you want to know how we women stopped that nonsense? We began by refusing to be called 'Hunny'. We began by mowing our own lawns, paying cash for cars, and not allowing men to slam us in the corner to do what they did before without impunity. We got divorces when needed without having to prove our husbands were having an affair. Most of all, we stopped acting like the women men wanted us to be. That is how Feminism became such a bad word.
All people are Humans. Period. There's no such thing as race and you being a professor at Purdue know that, Ms. Gay. Say no. Stop playing the game by 'their rules'.
1
Wanda Sykes is funny and gets a joke.....Bravo to Ms. Sykes who stood up first in not letting her paycheck outweigh her sensibilities; she also stood up to her friend, Roseanne. One more loss for Roseanne.
I never watched one episode of her series.... obviously I dodn't miss anything!
Roseanne's hate and the hate of those who relate with her and Trump, is a consequence of self-loathing vis-a-vi Eric Hoffer. Her show offered no value. If you removed the canned laughter, you were a fly on the wall to a boring and common drama of sarcasm on a delivery vehicle of poor parenting. Didn't like her then and now like her even less.
1
Now she blames it all on Ambien...what about her other comments from the past? Even if true, you can't blame rascist feelings on drugs or alcohol! She needs face it, own it, and atone for it. Cancelling the show won't educate until the cou try has an open conversation. The Starbucks traing is a good start.
Thank you Ms. Gay, that was a beautiful and well written article, except for the part where you said you watched the first two episodes of the reboot. Why you would watch knowing what you know and then be critical of Disney? You're right in doing so but it seems somewhat hypothetical. Wanda Sikes should really be embarrassed, being the so-called progressive feminist that she is. I guess she forgot about her African American heritage until someone brought the tweet to her attention. That said you did a great job.
Bigoted characters have always had TV appeal - the prejudices and bigotry of Archie Bunker and Alf Garnett were on open display in All in the Family and Till Death Us Do Pat - but their saving grace was satire (or so we're told) Missing from 'Roseanne' is any credible claim to satire - rather, it's a trash-talk fest between Conservatives and Liberals which I suppose is one way to present alternative points-of-view. I've never been a fan of Roseanne Barr or her sit-com but perhaps they represent an acceptable way to air the discord between warring factions in 21st. century America. Kind of a dumbed-down Archie Bunker if you will. I think ABC could have handled this differently - important because it gave the network the opportunity to address prejudice and racism - and instead of burying the problem (which they haven't) 'Roseanne' has been picked up by Netflix where it will probably thrive.
1
Racism is deep in the hearts of Americans. I suspect many Times readers do not view openly racist postings on the internet. They should do so to understand the pervasive hatred that has always existed and the obscene level of depravity illustrated in the articles. As an example after the recent NJ school bus crash that severely injured dozens of teachers and students, vile, racist postings popped up on the net because the driver was a black man.
Selective television programming will not change the minds of nearly half of the population. If anything, taking actors off the air because of outrageous racial statements will only exacerbate the problem. Racists will decry the deprivation of Roseanne's right of free speech.
While MLK's life and death have altered minority legal rights, there has been little change in people's hearts and minds. I don't know the answer. I do know that several generations will have to pass before any real change takes place.
"The problem is that Donald Trump is a toxic president who amassed his power through the provocation of hate. He has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous when, in fact, they are not."
I disagree with Ms. Gay's conclusion. At this point, conservatism and racism are, in fact, synonymous, if only because of any meaningful conservative rejection of either Mr. Trump or his politics.
I am grateful to Mr. Trump for having brought this toxic relationship out in the open. The era of dog whistles is over, and we can simply call a spade a spade.
The "culture" has been in place since the American Revolution.
Race issues have been destroying our country since then.
We fail to learn from experience.
There needs to be a deterrent to keep paranoid white people from calling the police on African Americans who engage in normal behavior, like shopping at Nordstroms or waiting for a colleague at Starbucks. Filing a false report with the police is a crime, so with that in mind perhaps paranoid racists can be charged with a crime for phoning in these absolutely ridiculous calls to the police?
Law enforcement also needs to be trained to differentiate actual crimes from normal behavior. Being black in American is NOT a crime, and they need to think long and hard before treating people like criminals just because some lunatic made a phone call.
To paraphrase a great President ( Harry S. Truman ) ; ''The buck stops here ... ''
That works both ways. ABC showed how indeed , the buck stops there and that racism will not be tolerated in any form and will be immediately dealt with. (even if it costs them millions upon millions)
The current President leads the way in that racism while been echoed in megaphone form by a ''news'' station and always asked in the form of a question. (so as to not be found libel)
Which buck do you choose ?
1
I bet this is a trap.
Watch as some leaked comments sinks a prominent Democratic candidate by the end of the summer.
Democrats fall for these traps all the time and never learn.
1
This is such an unforced error that other people will pay for. A lot of actors and support staff on the show are out of work because of Roseanne's racism, lack of restraint, immaturity, and boorishness. And now she has the audacity to play the victim card. She's learned well from the master pseudo martyr and warrior against alleged political correctness-- Trump. Hey, maybe political correctness isn't so bad after all. Maybe it's just simple decency, sensitivity, and respect for other people's feelings.
Please understand that most white people I know find the idea of “policing black bodies” abhorrent and immoral. The examples you cite are frightening to me and many other white people. Although we can’t know the myriad ways black people suffer today, Trump world is not where we want to live.
America has arrived at the nexus between racism & white privilege. Clearly, racism is a mental illness which expresses itself through the ideations of white privelege, white superiority, and white supremacy. The CDC should declare racism to be a mental illness and put forth a treatment plan for those who are afflicted.
Dr. Alvin Possaint, Chair, Harvard Department of Psychiatrist, once told me in an interview, "People are entitled to be racist. It's when they act on those tendencies, they become dangerous." He has also treated patients for racism.
Unless and until we address racism as a mental heath epidemic, we will continue to have the Dylann Roofs and Roseannes out in the World dehumanizing non-white human beings.
Is the problem the reference to an ape? This is what everyone is outraged over? It's hard to understand how today this is still a problem. Bill Maher had a split screen with Trump on one side and an ape on the other. No one thought it was disrespectful. Is disrespect only a problem when the target is of a certain political persuasion or identity? I'd call that "tribal" but wouldn't want the reference to be misconstrued.
2
The culture that gave her a reboot is the same one that has been in this country all along. It did not change when Obama became President and now it is back in full force led by the racist/fascist in Chief.
No, I am not related in any way, shape, or form to Roseanne.
1
Humans need "teaching moments" all their lives as the saying goes " It just cannot stop its true colours from shining through".
It is natural that it seems hard for many white rich people such as Roseanne, to overcome their prejudice and sense of entitlement after centuries of racism and cultural biais. Before the social media ascendance, this struggle would have gone unnoticed. Now immediate reactions go viral.
Now what the right media is saying is "look, she apologized and still got fired/cancelled, so see how mean the liberal/black media are".
It seems now the war culture popularized by Bannon is on and the alt-right is basically encouraging white people not to struggle (as this is a lost battle) but to push back and confront the "libs". This is a kind of white "resistance" based on the crassest judgments and encouraged daily by Trump and Fox News. They want the white to "fight" so never again a black president comes back and "humiliates" them. The question is what is the end game ? it seems what Fox News wants is a never ending civil war where events such as Roseanne "Martyrdom" will be avenged by whatever number of black policing and "acts of resistance", until some extraordinary situation (war, etc.) allows GOP to restore segregation or make sure blacks, Jews, latinos, muslims, etc. are no more as a "threat". Crazy and Sad !
1
"He behaves as if conservatism and racism are synonymous, when in fact they are not"
Sorry, but all evidence supports the notion that they are synonymous. Don't agree? Just try talking to a conservative and mention race. Then just sit back and wait for the immolation.
1
On the overall, I found this a very thoughtful piece and I agree with most of what you write. But please don't make it into an identity politics fight... Instead of writing about the entitlement of "white people", call them "racists" (or if you must: white racists) because that is what they are.
I am white and I do not identify with these people, just like the vast majority of muslims needn't be identified with terrorists. Nor do I have a sense of entitlement. We are your allies, not your enemies, in the fight against racism.
3
What Valerie Jarrett said about tone being set at the top is exactly right. And Trump’s toxic tone has emboldened closeted racists for sure. But I’m happy to see that the pass given to their leader is not extended to his followers. I’ll be even happier when Trump himself is finally held accountable for the toxin he has released into our nation’s bloodstream.
1
I think you are too harsh on ABC and the writers and producers etc. Have you ever worked on a project with someone whose views you did not like? I'm sure you have. We all have done so. It doesn't mean I have accepted that person's views. It means that I have to work to earn a living and perhaps ignore that person's racists views. To suggest that ABC should not have rebooted the show in the first place and that the writers and producers who joined on could have said no ignores the reality of life: the need to earn a living. The need to make a profit.
2
Roseanne, like Trump, degrades what it means to be an American.
2
Yes, Roseanne spoke her mind and got fired for it. And she was not even on company time when she did it. Her comments were viewed, and rightly so, as offensive, but also as potentially costly to her employer -- in terms of lost sponsors and viewers. So why is this so easy to understand, but the actions of the NFL to prevent on-field protest kneeling is not? Sure, perhaps the intent of the message is a noble one, but many NFL fans view it as disrespectful to the flag, the nation, and our veterans. And, by the way, it was as a salute to our armed forces that the anthem was originally introduced to sporting events. I am sure that many of the usual commenters here will say the NFL fans are just too stupid to understand the underlying meaning of the protest, but they are still the ones who make the NFL a profitable business -- and both Roseanne's network and the NFL took appropriate action. Too bad the NFL did not do it the next morning after Colin first "took a knee."
While I agree with all of Ms. Gay's article, one thing gives me pause: Why are black people referred to as black "bodies"? This seems weirdly dehumanizing.
And what about her co-stars? John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Johnny Galecki, Sarah Gilbert? They needed the work? They needed the paycheck? This mess could not have happened if they hadn't signed on. What are they saying about this?
2
"I am more interested in the statement ABC could have made by never making the reboot in the first place."
Business is business. Ms. Barr will be in Hollywood prison for a while, but will return. Just look at Mel Gibson, racist and anti-Semite nominated for an Oscar for Hacksaw in 2017.
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/mel-gibson-oscar-nomination-hacksaw-ri...
Ms. Barr is not gone. Hollywood is the kingdom of resurrection, and dare I write second, third and as many comings as it can get away with.
2
The characterization of Trump as someone who "has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous" is so ridiculous it doesn't require a response.
Roseanne Barr has always been a liberal who recently bought into the Trump narrative. Given the innate and utter corruption of the left-wing narrative all these years, can you blame her? There are deep and resonant reasons Clinton lost the election. They have nothing to do with racism and everything to do with contemptuous elitism.
4
The issue is much bigger, it's white people. As minorities, we have to stop expecting so much of them. I'm tired of everyone saying this is abordant behavior. No, it's every day behavior and it's not going to change. White people are who they are. We should be careful of them. And we should teach our children to be careful of them. I've had that conversation with my daughter many times. Take care of yourselves and be safe out there.
1
That makes you part of the problem, not the solution.
1
Ms. Barr always appeared to be a crass individual to me and I didn't bother to watch anything in which she was a party. It's difficult to understand why she chose to make such a racist comment but maybe she thought it would be generally acceptable. The current president has probably fostered the attitude that racism is somehow acceptable.
I think a first step in stopping this racist behavior is to publish in the articles/stories the names of the people who friviously call the police when reporting these stories. We know the name of the young lady who had the police called on her for napping while black, but not the name of the student who took it upon herself to call the police. Why not? We know the ladies who were confronted for golfing while black.. where in the story were the names of the people harassing them? And so on.
Continually the perpetrators get off anonymously, why? Make them accountable.
I listen to my black friends with amazement sometimes. Situations that would be commonplace for me as a white woman are fraught with anxiety for them. I can walk into any place without fear of being stopped, or followed, or challenged. They almost never have that experience. A colleague who had spoken to a client only by telephone before meeting them in person was told “Oh you didn’t sound black”. Another went to play golf and was told “it’s expensive you know, 150 dollars.” A third was picking up clothes to try on in a boutique when the sales assistant approached her and said tartly “are you planning on buying anything today?” She handed everything back and said “I was!” As Valerie Jarrett so graciously said yesterday, she worries for those who deal with daily racism and don’t have the support that she does. We can all do something to change this.
3
I'm wondering how racism got entangled with conservatism.
I read recently that conservatives blame the individual while liberals blame the system. Is that the key?
Or is the underlying truth that political tactics, which won elections, were used by Republicans and, because Republicans have assumed the mantle of conservatism, racism became conservative? It seems undeniable that all Republicans aren't racist, but, if you're a racist, you will be most comfortable in the Republican party.
My conservative relatives are also racist and Republican. They don't think they're racist because they believe that their prejudices are based on facts they see reported. Yes, Fox News, but also their local news outlets.
Roseanne Barr is something else. She might be mentally ill. That she is a valued symbol by a segment of our society worries me.
I have to disagree with Roxane Gay, who watched the first two shows and is criticizing ABC for airing the show.
See, I never gave the new one any of my time of the day .
Roseanne Bar was and is always a crude, uncouth, vulgar woman. We remember the day she insulted the American Flag yet the players now taking the knee are being punished.
This is now a teachable moment for the Nation, and people could see how classy Ms. Valerie Jarrett is and how the Country chose an embarrassment as Trump.
Trump yesterday lost a McCain moment to speak up but remained silent.
I commend ABC for taking prompt action to cancel a show which for now was bringing profit for the network.
1
I find anyone who can sit down and think clearly enough to write about the awful plague infecting this nation in the form of President Trump inspiring. My reservoir of words for this ever-enlarging, monstrous culture are running dry and I simply feel sick. There is no escape from this dark cloud by too many fellow citizens. ABC does the right thing, but in the process, their millions provided hate an even more powerful platform. Rosanne will continue to be Trump's muse. She is a white insatiable celebrity, eager to hurt and maim the "other" soul.
The problem with ABC airing a show like Roseanne is that it made Trump supporters who are racist, homophonic and misogynistic seem mainstream. Their behavior is abhorrant and should be condemned not glorified.
I would have preferred ABC ask Roseanne to shoot an episode of her show featuring her black granddaughter, Mary, as the target of age-old racist insults. The episode could show how such insults, designed to humiliate and denigrate, can write on the slate of a person's soul, contribute to a crisis of low self-worth in the black community, and perpetuate a culture of fear among white people.
This could have been an opportunity to show Trump supporters, through art, how racism hurts us all, not just black people. This is the power of art- it can reach people in subtle, affecting ways without the sledgehammer of popular discourse. To not use this power seems a shame.
Hiring an emotionally unstable racist is never a good idea for any job. ABC made a mistake with Rosanne. 63 million Americans made one with Donald.
ABC corrected it's error by firing Ms. Barr and cancelling her show.
A presidential "firing" still seems highly unlikely, but perhaps enough voters will correct their error to ensure that the Trump Horror Show isn't renewed for another term.
3
We are living in a climate where the sitting President of the United States actively promotes racism, misogyny, attacks on the free press, the rule of law and democracy, our laws-based judicial system that lie at the heart of the American system, who lies endlessly about everything, and demeans our storied institutions like the FBI and the Justice Department.
We are living in a climate in America where examples like President Trump and Roseanne Barre have made it permissible for people to hide behind the anonymity of social media to promote racism, misogyny, xenophobia and intolerance.
In this climate ABC and its leadership (including its enormously courageous Channing Dungey) canceled the hugely profitable reboot of “Roseanne” because of Ms. Barre's overtly racist statement. And yet, Roxane Gay spends the last two paragraphs of her oped piece decrying ABC's lack of backbone in the past. With friends like Ms. Gay, who needs enemies? PLEASE! As Valerie Jarrett pointed out, this is a teachable moment. ABC stepped up to the plate and made the tough call in the face of what will be financial loss and huge pushback from fellow Americans that have consumed all the hate Trump and Barre have foisted upon America.
We do not live in a perfect world Ms. Gay. But with actions like ABC's at least there is hope that America will not spin off into oligarchy and tinpot dictatorship without a fight. Bravo ABC!
1
Roseanne is gone -- good. Her tweet was racist and over the line. But how about some of the comments by women on The View? They are just as bad, but their elitist and ethnocentric ramblings get a pass. We need to nix this kind of tribalism equally on the left and the right if we really want a more civil dialogue.
1
"Ms. Barr was free to speak her mind, but she was not free from consequences." Very, very true. It is such a shame she did not give a first thought to all of the people her racist, vile tweet would impact. Not only are people associated with the show out of work, but they also pulled all of the shows reruns from the networks. That means the other actors who received payment when the reruns were shown shall now receive nothing, and it is all because of her tweet.
Very sad to hear FOX has hired her as a commentator. It gives her a place to splash her bile all over the airwaves. May she learn what the word "REPENT" means and show us all she really meant it when she apologized for her "joke."
1
Thank you. Well said and very needed.
The ABC management team that greenlighted the new Roseanne Show should be fired. They knew she was a racist when they agreed to air the new show. Cancelling the show doesn’t exonerate these executives from their prior irresponsible decision.
We should call upon ABC senior management to fire those people responsible for putting the show on the air!
1
The show was great, and respectful of all people. Ms. Barr's character sometimes espoused a Trumpist attitude, but she was always checked - and mated - by another character. The show was warm, tolerant, accepting, humane. Why should anyone be fired for putting that kind of show on the air?
1
Had she made he comment at a Trump rally, she likely would have been cheered.
It's funny how Michelle Wolf's remarks at the WH Correspondent Dinner were MUCH more offensive and she was praised for it by this newspaper and this columnist with various mental gymnastics.
We have come to a point that any insult can be hurled at Trump and at any white, straight, Christian people, while none can be thrown at anyone who is Black, Muslim or Gay, who are shielded from the freedom of speech and no longer treated as individuals that can be criticized but as a special class with special privileges to insult others but to be spared of others vitriol.
I often wonder if people like trump and barr really believe and feel what they say or are just acting out a part they see will get them attention? The problem is because of their media power other people believe them, like the ones who call the police or the police who single out blacks. trump is the enabler, as president he sets the tone and bar for the country. The media and congress need to call him out as loud or louder than he is and be as relentless as he is. ABC might of been late however they showed more backbone than the GOP. ABC capitalized on a unbalanced person, saw their mistake and cut. The GOP has done the same but will not cut to save America. VERY SAD!!!
2
When Donald Trump proudly announced he was a non-P.C. candidate with his first words denigrating Hispanic immigrants, he crossed an important line by ripping away civilized discourse and replacing it with his new P.C.--Poisonous Comments. As Freud said over a century ago, civilization requires that we suppress and ban our basest human impulses. What Donald Trump and those who follow him like Roseanne Barr took from his election was permission to engage in all the worst aspects of human behavior with hate speech, racism, and human degradation. This is the coarsening of human culture that is part of the real "human carnage" that Mr. Trump and his rabid followers (aka "the base") has unleashed across America. While he claims to "drain the swamp," he has taken us into a neanderthal jungle where he's the alpha-male unleashing a Pandora's box of depravity, fear and hate. Fortunately, there has been a cultural backlash with Ms. Barr's firing and the #MeToo movement. But the truth is it will not end until Donald Trump "is gone."
Mrs Barr disgraced and exposed by using offensive language expressing herself in racist terms. Humour like a broken arrow failing to find its way through forbidden territory. If she had used some Chinese B-movie she might be home dry. The fact she offended Muslims goes unnoticed. Race a sensitive issue for historical reasons like American civil war. However the US has been strident in the area of addressing race relations like STARBUCKS retraining many workers. But there is still room for error; as with the police. Embarrassing for everyone because Mrs Barr probably not racist; at heart?
To comment on race in America is to look for trouble. I look for none. I do agree there is a deadly racism in my country. No question at all. Yet I wonder how many people feel they can't say what they think and are more concerned with being policed by political correctness than that they are stone cold racists. That said, too often people don't recognize that what they think is free speech or simply race-related comments is indeed soft bigotry. Unsure if Roseanne Barr is an actual racist, though she seems ill informed and not particularly educated, but she certainly traffics in clueless, ugly comments masquerading as speaking truth to power or pseudo-comedy. It is neither.
So Ambien was the cause! I am reminded of Flip Wilson and his "The Devil made me do it!" response when his character was caught doing something wrong.
" I am more interested in the statement ABC could have made by never making the reboot in the first place. "
... Never would have gotten as much notice as the statement ABC just made. The cancellation happening now is a louder statement given the ratings of the show, and the revenue it presumably was bringing in. The reboot's being a hit could not be known beforehand. Big kudos to ABC for doing the right thing and ridding the airwaves of this racist, and being willing to take the financial hit to do so.
Ms. Gay, you are exactly right--Ms. Barr exercised her right to freedom of speech, and others exercised their freedom not to employ or associate with her. Now she will have even more time to exercise her free speech rights, except that no one will be paying her millions to do it on a TV show.
And as for feeling sorry for the people whose jobs on her show were lost, I don't at all. They had to know the high wire act they were walking by working for her. Much of her career was built on the thin reed of shock. (Remember her hideous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at a baseball game many years ago?) Their jobs existed because of her ability to spout outrageous nonsense, conspiracy theories and hatred. So should they be shocked that she went over the line and it all came crashing down?
3
Excellent article,
But Roxanne Gay is kidding herself when she writes that conservatism and racism are not linked. Wether intentionally or not, consciously or not, they are linked and have been at least since Nixon’s southern strategy
1
Why did it have to come to this?
What was the constructed framework from which this
effluvium flowed?
It looks like things are way too out of balance to successfully resurrect a female Archie Bunker and the meathead.
Our canyon of inequality, deepening so over the last twenty years, is pushing us apart.
Racism is a superficial difference which we can be and is sidestepped everywhere every day.
A high-income black family that can afford that $500,000 dollar house in the high-fenced neighborhood won't have a problem with their neighbors, unless they chose to ignore the covenants.
Their religion won't matter much. That can be overlooked.
And who cares what turns them on, in the privacy of their expensive condo.
But if your just happen to be walled up in a Red State, you will find that most of your neighbors are hard-core Republicans, still watching Fox News, reviling Obama, Nancy Pelosi, refusing to consider other views on the critical issues of today, convinced that our government induced doom is imminent, and the F.B.I. is corrupt.
And still clinging to the twisted Trumpian worldview.
This inequality drives the "dark state" of the Corporate Koch's Tea Party-Line which feeds the bigotry, widens every schism, splitting every coalition, and bleeding-out any real, effective American Majority.
The way it used to be down here, the rich had lots of land and lots of slaves. If you didn't you wished you did.
The way it is now, how else can it be?
As Donald Trump attempts to make America, Trumpistan, it is very refreshing and a sign of hope to see the reaction of ABC, a good portion of the public and Rosanne's agents, to her comments. If it were only so easy to fire the wellspring of all this anger and hatred, Donald Trump, but we will have to live with his vision for America until we don't. Hopefully this November will be the beginning of making Trumpistan America again.
On the bright side, i think Roseanne just got more Democrats elected this November who otherwise may not have been.
1
Dear Roxanne;
Although I agree with almost all your arguments, it disturbs me, when you imply all "white" people are racist. Two or three sentences sound like that. However, you have asked rightfully, why has ABS restarted the show in the first place?
1
Rosanne is a comedian and, I'm sorry, but what she said was funny. I've seen "Planet of the Apes" and Valerie Jarrett does bear some resemblance to the eponymous characters. Should Rosanne have said Valerie Jarrett looks like the aliens in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or "Predator"? Jarrett doesn't remotely resemble these creatures, so the joke wouldn't have been funny. Rosanne herself has been repeatedly compared to very large animals over the course of her career, because she is obese. That's the nature of humor in a free country.
If this is where we are headed in the politically correct Brave New World of 21st century America, where comedic jabs based on physical comparisons so plain even a child could observe them are grounds for across-the-board media and academic censure, career termination and deplatforming, denial of rights etc... then brace yourselves.
All this will end up achieving is a society constantly watching over its back, terrified of its own shadow, humorless and severe: like the oppressive Puritans of old, or life under the former East German Stasi. It will not lead to greater compassion kindness or understanding. It will accelerate tribalism and a yearning for free thought and free speech, particularly among the rebellious youth. Eventually, it will fuel the rise of a counter-culture which will make the Alt Right appear like the first slight tremors of a shattering earthquake.
2
Ms. Barr most likely assumed that the present POTUS has normalized hateful targetted discourse. After all, he gets away with inexcusable behavior and statements, and so far it is like water off a duck's back. I think the culture is changing partly because of POTUS 45. His statements and actions horrify many, and increase the resolve to end this kind of hatefulness in America. Permission has been withdrawn, and the landscape will become more civil and empathetic when 45 and his unappointed grifting family who occupy powerful positions in his administration is sent packing.
2
Trump, in his Tweet silence (quite unusual), is complicit with Barr's tweet. A real president would have something to say about racism. I guess his writers are still working on it.
Valerie Jarrett was incredibly gracious, but I’m white and the racists among us don’t deserve teachable moments. They deserve exactly what happened to Roseanne Barr. And perhaps the hundred people out of work because of her will resolve not to ally themselves with disgusting bigots in the future.
1
Why not keep the show and replace Roseanne with another actress?
There might be other reasons to watch the show besides Roseanne the bigot. John Goodman is great!
Would that not be the ultimate message to send to Ms. Bar and others like her? ... You are not important.
4
Every action, and inaction, has consequences.
Yes. Everyone "booted up" to work on this show knowing Barr was an avowed racist. There was nothing funny about that show, no matter how ABC tried to package it.
1
If there's any good to come of this, it's that Roseanne will be gone from the screen. She's a has been with a vile and filthy mouth. Kudos to ABC for their stance. Now she can go back to popping Ambien and sleeping. She will not be missed.
Roseanne is profoundly mentally ill. Remember her "recovered memory" accusations that implicated innocent people? Those who exploit people with mental illness hoping for a train wreck are the real issue
It’s not Donald and Roseanne we have to worry about, it’s the millions of Americans who voted for Donald and the millions of Americans who thought what Roseanne tweeted was funny and just a “joke.” I’m tired of trying to play nice with these people or respectfully try to understand their feelings and “fears” and “anger”. It’s time to call them out for what they are-racists.
I was unaware of Roseanne's racist tweets and conspiracy theory promotion but vaguely remembered other indications she was mentally and/or emotionally unstable in the 1990s. Isn't it strange a woman of considerable talent and means evidently never found the help she so desperately needs? And yes, I believe racism is a form of mental illness and/or a function of ignorance in that sufferers seem easily drawn into the unhinged world of conspriracy theories and virulent racism and misogyny.
ABC had to be aware of Roseanne's history of ...troubled behavior...yet they pursued the reboot of her show hoping to exploit her appeal to the portion of the working poor who have glommed onto trumpism to express their fear, hate and frustration.
This entire ugly mess is part and parcel of trump's stolen presidency, his hateful beliefs a catalyst for those harboring hatred in their hearts and emptiness in their heads. I don't excuse trump supporters or Roseanne but reading her twitter feed this morning made me nauseaous in its unhinged expression of hatred, its irrationality and ignorance. It's a frightening peek into a world where anything goes, where nuts is good, up is down and stubborn ignorance is applauded.
When trump fails, and he will, we're left with the knowledge racism, irrationality and insantiy was just beneath the surface waiting for a spark from an arguably also unhinged character known as trump.
I don't know how to break this news to Roxane Gay, but Americans don't need "permission" from their leaders to think what they think. If mere nice words sufficed, Obama should have talked us all into racial harmony by 2016, don't you think? Contrarily, Trump does not exert God-like control over millions of the much-hated Deplorables. They base their decisions on real-life experiences which are often at odds with the PC narrative presented here. For more on this, have a look at the murder rate in Baltimore, and let me know if "stereotypes" are somehow responsible for this.
Roxanne, this is a great piece, and of course accurate, but as for white people feeling "comfortable" in this environment, please know that many of us are very, very UNCOMFORTABLE. This environment is disgraceful.
Roseanne was always a loud, shrill character portrayal with an underlying anger masked by humor. The reboot seems to have added meanness to her as well. Barr has been difficult to separate from her TV character because of those very same traits. She now reflects the loud, angry shrill voices of Americans who support Trump & feel free to repeat and spew his racist, ugly tirades. She is exactly where she belongs.....fired.
How quickly people froget. Roseanne Barr is a dusgarce to America. Flashback to her disgusting rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. In which she mockingly sang it off key and with apparent lack of respect. after which she is seen spitting. Fast forward to the present. And her rascist comments. This is the problem with America today. We idolize people who have no respect for others or this country. Just like Trump. This behavior is symptomatic of a larger and greater disease in America.Bigotry,hatred and lack of respect for people different than themselves. Wake up America. This is the time to change the staus quo.
3
There's plenty to agree with here, but I can't agree with the implication that having a Trump supporting character on a prominent TV show is somehow unacceptable. Also, the reflexive and carefree tarring of Trump with misogynist, racist, and xenophobe labels for the millionth time is starting to sound lazy. Let's refine the discourse a little bit, Roxanne.
We should all think like the FAR-LEFT EXTREMISTS and then we can all claim the freedom of speech. It seems that only "White Christian People" can be insulted in every way possible with a full Fake Media support.
Have you seen repugnant comments about Regan, Bush, Palin or Trump?
We place a high value on people who speak plainly what they think, who 'tell it like it is'. And yet, that high-value presumes that we really want to know what is happening not only in the best and brightest parts of our minds, but in the deepest recesses. Freud called those recesses the ID. In the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet the base finds it is being attacked by 'monsters from the ID' created from the evil thoughts of one character made material by an alien technology.
In this case the alien technology is Twitter. As we keep learning, it releases not only our best and brightest news and observations and messages of love, but our rampant IDs.
Ms Barr will go on being whoever she wants to be whether or not she uses Twitter or is on ABC, I am quite sure. But when public figures cannot control their impulse to blast with their ID into the cybersphere for fun, attention, or profit, they must expect to bear the consequences.
Having an ID is like my having a male organ. We may all know that it is there, but I must not flaunt it in public, especially when my intent is to shame another. Bad joke indeed.
Could it be anymore befitting that the creator of a fiction regarding the supposed majority of "normal" Trump voters who are in fact "not racist at all", just "struggling to maintain dignity in a fast changing world" turns out to be a completely unhinged, racist loon?
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde:
Life imitates art far more than racist cretins attempt to inoculate the population through disingenuous propaganda, but the latter happens with surprisingly frequency, and when it does, it's hilarious.
Hopefully Roseanne will have as strong an impact on racism as Me too has had on sexual harassment.
Cry babies making an assault on free speech. They were looking to do her in because of pro -Trump stance.
1
So right about ABC. This reminds me of when Bobby Jones, the famous golfer, said after calling a penalty on himself that on one saw-"You might as well have complimented me for not robbing a bank".
Ms. Gay I live in So. Fla and I cannot tell you how many times a black person driving a car is pulled over for a traffic stop and 5 police cars show up. Or when a black boy on a bike is pulled over by police officers-because he is in a "white area". Donald Trump is a racist. There is no question about that. And he is the President of our country. Sessions is a racist and there is no question about that. His zero tolerance attitude is aimed at who-you guessed it minorities. Devos-yup her too. We need to elect more Dems and change the government if we are to rid ourselves of a government being run by racists.
Rest assured, Ms. Barr has become a cause celebre and has now ascended to martyrdom within the Trump electorate. Who knows, maybe demigoddess is next ...
One wonders how long Archie Bunker would last in today's environment.
If NBC had fired Trump for his racist Birther Conspiracy rants we would not be in the horrible situation we are right now.
2
I'm puzzled by the declaration that white people, monolithic as they are, now feel entitled to police black bodies in public spaces.
I've personally made the opposite conclusion - the two examples of this which came to light involved the first individual being fired and a massive corporation changing it's policy to allow anyone to sit in their shops without purchasing anything, such was the outrage following the event itself.
The second incident saw the woman in question rebuffed by police, crying and universally mocked for her idiotic behaviour. The general tide of public opinion with regards to these events has been overwhelmingly on the side of outrage, derision and contempt. I see no correlation between these events and a perceived sense that 'white people' have been emboldened to be more racist than usual. If anything the two events serve as a timely warning to keep your hatred internalised.
1
Time to bring Tom Arnold back to the fold of ABC, which banished him when he complained about Barr's first racist tweet.
I am simply sorry...sorry that you can actually define how “Black” people are watched and reported upon. I don’t think it differs much from any person assumed “poor” or “less than”...I know plenty of 0f “whites trash” people who suffer the same shame and humiliation.
But, in the end...I am just sorry. It creates anger and resentment. It creates a wall that I do t want to be there. When my 16 year old daughter attended a talk you gave and was so excited to have you sign the books you authored...I felt bad for the disdain you displayed toward her...a “white” girl.
Ironically, it’s her generation that change evolves...but yet we adults are far from opening ourselves up to the change we profess tgatxwe want to see.
So all I have to say in return in hopes the judgement and hate ends...is that I am sorry.,. And I hope that we release the younger generations from our experiences and chains that hold us back from creating what should “be”.
You matter. We all matter. If we can honor each person with that mantra test us when good things start happening. And again I am sorry for any Action, support of feeling that keeps another from feeling whole. We must develop “whine” not continual chips on our shoulders or anger...thus never moves us forward...
And you are a leader for this...by embracing not black kids who what to understand and read your books...wow...hug them,,, don’t despair them. That is the first start to healing and understanding.
1
Ms. Gay, Candidate and President Trump was called an Urangutan -- also a Primate -- and all the possible insults in all the late night shows of all the TV networks and all the MSM for almost three years and nobody got fired! With him it was all called free speech.
May I ask why some Americans can be compared to primates for a joke and others can't?
The ones who can't be compared with primates for a joke have more rights than the ones who can be compared to p primates? Care to explain why? What is the consistency of public policy here?
I hope Ms. Barr will sue ABC News and will present in court a montage of all the insults hurled by network TV comedians at Trump when nobody got fired.
1
Meet Trump's new press secretary.
2
First let us remember that Roseanne is a socialist who would have much rather had Bernie Sanders than Trump. Secondly, I bet ABC was all too happy to have a racist represent your prototypical Trump supporter. We are not racist. A vast majority are not racist, in fact we view any program that treats people based on the color of their skin rather than their merit is racist, so we believe more people on the left are racist. She is a socialist which is unapologetically on the left. So, no, it's the liberal culture that wants to paint the right as racist that gave her the show, not actual Trump supporters. But keep up the race baiting.
She’s a vocal Trump supporter and she represents you people accurately. Nice try, though.
"The problem is that Donald Trump is a toxic president who amassed his power through the provocation of hate. He has behaved as if conservatism and racism are synonymous when, in fact, they are not. The problem is that having a major character on a prominent television show as a Trump supporter normalizes racism and misogyny and xenophobia."
Not in this case. In this case the problem is that Roseanne Barr's TV show is, and always was, profitable as amusing trash. Like most of what's on TV. It might be liberal trash or conservative trash, sometimes it's high-blown trash, but it's trash, whatever its provenance and sympathies, and people like the trash they like.
TV watchers tried to turn her first series into sociology and political science, but it was just profitably amusing trash. Now many are shocked, shocked!, to find that it is what it always was. I'm surprised and disappointed to learn that Ms Gay watched the first series. I guess it was trash she liked.
1
Some, all or most. Please use an adjective when describing what people will do. Do you mean American white people? I agree with your premise but object to the idea that something like white people is all encompassing.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).