Here in the United States, we most definitely have a racism problem. As we work together on fighting racism, we need to avoid hyper-overreaction and be able to separate a verbal gaffe from intentional racism. Here’s an example of a verbal gaffe: Bill Maher calling himself a “house nigger. Here’s an example of intentional racism: Donald Trump opening his mouth.
They are not the same. Every one of us—whether black, white, brown, or green—has slipped up on occasion. I know I have.
Most of you know me as an author and a college speaker, but behind the scenes, I have been a talent agent for more than twenty years. During that time, I have represented numerous black entertainers. When having conversations with my black clients, I’m always just a little nervous that something I learned back in my childhood will come pouring out of my mouth without my consent. And one time, not too long ago, it did:
I was having drinks in Houston, with a client who has long, beautiful dreadlocks. In my admiration, I asked, “Can you wash them?”
Of course, you can wash dreadlocks! But somewhere in the recesses of my brain was a memory, from long ago, of some bigot criticizing dreadlocks because “blacks don’t wash their hair.” Luckily, my client knew me well enough to know that my comment didn’t have any racism behind it (at least I hope she did), and nothing was made of my verbal gaffe.
My point is that, as humans, we will all occasionally screw up. And I would bet ten thousand dollars that my client, with the dreadlocks, has done the exact opposite and inadvertently said something racist about whites. That’s okay. She’s human too.
So let’s all—whether we are black, white, brown, or green—work together and realize that there is a big difference between someone who screws up, with no malicious intent, and someone who is out and out bigoted.
Bill Maher is not a racist. In fact, a large percentage of his regular guests are black. If he were to be fired for his gaffe, blacks would lose one of their biggest television audiences. If someone is to be fired for racist comments, let’s start with the man who called an entire group of people rapists and drug dealers.