I loved the Roseanne Show of the 90's, but something in my spirit told me not to support the revamp of her show. I wrestled with my own personal ideology and whether I could or even should support a woman who was a staunch 45 supporter.
Part of me felt that I should be able to intellectually be mature enough to separate my own attitudes and party affiliation with comedy and programming. Especially since I'd heard that her show presented both party perspectives, had a diverse cast and diverse team of head writers and producers.
Yet, her latest Twitter rants have optimized what it truly means to be a racist. Racism is about exercising one's power and influence over others in order to degrade, oppress and control. Just because she strategically utilized the diversity platform for financial gain (although business savvy) doesn't mean she's not a racist and those of color that defend her, and say how disappointed they are that she, "had no filter," remain part of the problem.
When are we going to stop giving people passes for their despicable and insensitive behavior? As the makers of Ambient stated, "Racism is not a side effect of our drug."
It's really deplorable when people of color, in particular, say they're disappointed that she had no filter. Why? She showed who she really is. We should believe her gutteral actions; not what she says in the aftermath of the storm she created when the loss of hundreds of millions is on the line.
Yet people make excuses for her vile attitudes out of some nostalgic allegiance to days gone by. I don't get it. It breaks my heart.
Thank you ABC and Disney for immediately doing the right thing by cancelling the show and stating that Roseanne's latest rant was, "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values..." Like the elders in the community used to say, "All money ain't good money...Good riddance to a bag of old rubbish."
Hey, maybe you can revamp the show with Dan and Roseanne getting a divorce. Now that's a show I would watch. Just a thought.
#Roseanne, #Roseannecancelled, #Racisttweets, #Roseanneracist, #Roseanneracisttweets, #ABCcancelsRoseanne, #RepublicanRoseanne
Aaron Braxton is an actor/writer/teaching artist and author of the young adult novel, JESSE AND THE CATERPILLAR WHO GOT HIS WINGS. He holds a BA in Communications from SDSU and a MA in Education from USC.