Quote:
Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
And how do you know he wasn't doing a satirical piece? How do you know that Chris Rock really doesn't hate white people and means what he says when he is doing his comedy act that you consider satire?
My point is that your perception of their intentions is entirely colored by your own personal bias. You have no earthly way of knowing what Richards' intentions were in that moment. Perhaps he was trying to be a racist ass, perhaps he was just being satirical.
|
I agree that intention is a big factor when deciding whether a comment is racist, demeaning, derogatory etc. The dichotomy with the "N" word is case in point.
I have a brother who regularly calls me a "f__king Nazi" (we are both of German origin) as a quasi term of endearment because he thinks I'm more organized and punctual etc than he is.
I think also the first person vs. the third person is relevant. It's fairly difficult to be satirical in a first person attack on a specific individual. But a third-party descriptive comment lends itself more readily to satire.
I have also seen the tape - and I sure don't think Richards was being satirical - as was confirmed by his public apology. He lost it and let out the swine.
It's all just common sense really.