Douche Bag Of The Week: Vivica Fox

Are we coming to a point where only black cops can arrest black people? How about juries...must they now be all black if the defendant is black? How about the District Attorney? The Judge?

Can only black bosses fire black employees (see Isaiah Washington)? Would that mean that only black people are allowed to hire black people since they are the only ones allowed to fire them?

This whole thing is really starting to piss me off. Here's another story that surfaced this week about a dumbass diminishing and devaluing the real issue of racism.

Actress Vivica A. Fox called a state patrol officer a "racist white cop" during her drunken driving arrest and repeatedly failed sobriety tests, according to an official report.

The 42-year-old black actress was pulled over in March after passing a CHP officer who said her Cadillac was doing 80 mph and weaving in its lane on the Hollywood Freeway. The officer noticed that Fox's eyes were red and watery and that she had a "strong odor" of alcohol. After she failed sobriety tests, he arrested Fox for investigation of driving under the influence.

"Fox began to walk away, yelling at my partner, 'Brother, help a sister, are you going to let this racist white cop do this. ... Well, are you?'" according to the report.

Breath tests indicated her blood-alcohol level was greater than .08%, CA's legal limit for a driver. She was charged in March with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit. Her arraignment was scheduled for July 19. If convicted, Fox could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

It doesn't take a genius to see that it only takes one false allegation of racism against a white person for them to be reluctant to hire another black person. Years ago, this is precisely what happened to someone I knew. After hiring many black people who performed so well in their jobs that the friends they recommended for hire were quickly added to the staff.

Then one of them had to be fired for poor performance. And then the racism card was played and all the black people that the white manager had hired turned. After a lengthy legal process where it was found that the person was indeed fired for appropriate cause, the manager told me they would never hire another black person again. Another case of let no good deed go unpunished.

The selfish acts of a few made discrimination a part of the hiring process for many. Black job candidates who now come before this hiring manager may actually have a point when it comes to being passed over for employment due to race. But is that the fault of the manager who now sees it as an act of self preservation after going through a emotionally draining ordeal that almost cost them their job? Or is it the fault of a previous employee, having been written up several times for poor performance and eventually terminated, who would rather hold onto their job with a false cry of racism instead of upping their job performance? Regardless of fault, is it fair to the current candidate who had no involvement but is now guilty by association because they have the legal right to charge racism merely by the color of their skin?

It's a shitty situation all the way around. But as far as Vivica Fox is concerned, this week's Douche Bag of the Week, I say, "Throw the racist drunk driver in jail."
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Playing The Race Card

I suppose it was only a matter of time before Isaiah Washington, the Grey's Anatomy dumpee, said racism was a factor in his firing.

He told Newsweek that "someone heard the booming voice of a black man and got really scared and that was the beginning of the end for me."
• More homophobia is implied here when he states that T.R. Knight was "really scared" by the booming voice of a black man. Pansies/gay men are afraid of real men.
• He has previously said it was a lie that T.R. Knight heard him say he was a faggot. So did you say it or not? Not only are you a mess, but a lying mess at that.
• If someone was indeed scared by a booming voice, why does that have anything to do with being black? If you ran around my workplace causing a commotion with an intimidating booming voice, I'd want your ass canned too. Black or not. I don't seem to recall James Earl Jones having any problems finding work.

Washington said it was his unwillingness to act like a submissive black at work was part of the problem.
• Does Mr. Washington think that because he is a black man he shouldn't have to do as he's told by his employer?
• Ummm, it's called being an employee. Employees are submissive. We do what we're told, and if we don't, we're fired. Or if we don't want to do what the boss says, we quit. What does that have to do with being black? If you wanna be the boss, start your own company.
• Implying that white people are afraid of black people that aren't submissive sounds a bit racist to me...against white people.

"Well, it didn't help me on the set that I was a black man who wasn't a mush-mouth Negro walking around with his head in his hands all the time. I didn't speak like I'd just left the plantation and that can be a problem for people sometime," he said.
• Oh, Mr. Washington, you're just so much more intelligent than the rest of us! How could we ever stand to be anything but intimidated by your presence?
• Do the other black people on the show have these interpersonal problems? Or are you saying they're all mush mouth negroes?
• I don't know any white people that expect black people to be "mush-mouth" Negroes. In fact, until you brought it up, I'd be willing to bet that most white people don't even know what a mush mouth negro is! We expect our co-workers to be respectful, nice, professional, and easy to work with on a daily basis. Now if you can't manage that, it doesn't have anything to do with your skin color, race, or background. It's because you're an asshole. And the fact that you don't take any personal responsibility for your behavior and blame it on racism within the people around you just makes you a bigger asshole.

Now dry up and blow away.
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Racism On American Idol? No.

Remember several seasons ago when Fantasia, LaToya London, and Jennifer Hudson were in the bottom three in the American Idol voting? That was the fateful night that dreamgirl Ms. Hudson didn't get enough votes to stay on the show.

There was a huge outcry of racism. Elton John even managed to sober up and make headlines by declaring that the American public was racist and this was an obvious example.

Last night, there were three black girls and three white boys. The white boys were the bottom three and two white boys went home. Where are the cries of racism? Is it only racism when blacks don't make the cut?

Well, I don't think there was racism then and I don't think there was any last night. No one can predict how the votes will fall on any given night and it is a crap shoot in many ways. Undoubtedly there is racism in American, but not on American Idol.

I point this out because every cry of racism, when there isn't any, only diminishes the voices when it is authentic. Like rape. For every false accusation, each real victim's voice becomes that much more muted. It is Little Boy Cried Wolf, only we're playing with real people and real lives.
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