What exactly does it take to get fired?
Talk About Race — By Vince Jordan on October 18, 2010 at 11:52 amI think many of us were relieved to see Rick Sanchez fired so quickly after his blatantly anti-Semitic remarks. Frankly, he couldn’t have been let go any faster save his showing up on air with a Hitler mustache which, though inappropriate, would have been quite memorable. But where was the outrage when he called Barack Obama, our first African-American president, a “cotton-picking president?”
There are a few possible explanations for this apparent firing discrepancy. One is that blacks don’t have enough media clout. Another is that there was not enough media coverage of the presidential slave reference. Another still is that potential supporters [i.e. offended parties] neglected to join the fight. Though we could postulate the reasons for this injustice until the cows come home [and they never do], let’s examine the case and figure it out. Better yet, let’s go to the video – and root out this evil for ourselves!
Well…he did say “cotton-picking.” But given the context, maybe it’s not as bad as it first sounded. And in all fairness to our recently departed [from TV] one, he did come back on air and immediately apologize, saying that, “it’s a term that [he’s] used because he grew up in the South [is Miami really the South?]. It’s a point that’s often used to illustrate frustration.” He’s right. “Cotton-picking” has been used to express frustration in generations past but in fairness, who knows how old that dude is anyway. I do take issue with his labeling Miami as part of the South. My hometown, Nashville, is the real South and I must say that when I first went to Miami, I knew that I was at home no more. So, though I wanted to give Sanchez the ax, I have to [begrudgingly] agree that he deserved a pass on this one.
But since we’re stuck on antebellum idioms, let’s take a look at the same utterance from Newsweek editor Julia Reed. With her straight-off-the-plantation twang we can surely nail her on this one. To the video – and the chopping block!
Hmm…I can still say that I dislike her use of the phrase but again, given the full context of her commentary, I, unfortunately, do not see any cotton-picking fireable offense in this case either. Similarly, Julia Reed saw no since she apparently issued no apology, either by choice or by force.
So what we’ve learned here is that it is not the words but the intent behind the words that gets one fired, well, most of the time. And despite all of our, my, hyper-sensitivity and our collective political correctness, that is the way that is should be in a free society.
Isn’t that right Shirley Sherrod? She was the Department of Agriculture staffer who was due to an out-of-context statement. Worst of all, her statement was part of a larger arc that, instead of the prejudice assumed, spoke to the enlightening and healing to which we should all aspire. For fear of appearing like a Sanchez or a Reed, Sherrod’s boss, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack abruptly fired Sherrod before sheepishly apologizing and asking her to accept her job back [she politely declined].
Sherrod committed no ‘crime.’ Instead she was victimized by an ideologically set-upon federal government in a in a hyper partisan, overly-racially charged time. In a cowardly effort to appease all, the government effectively told us to not discuss race, except in the most generic and timid way. It is our responsibility to reject that charge and engage each other honestly and completely. Only then will we as a nation get past the urge to keep throwing each other under the bus.
Now if you will excuse me, I have a lunch meeting with Tom Vilsack. And, by using his same level of judgment, I’m sure that I’ll have something on him before the meal is over.
Tags: cnn, Sanchez, Sherrod, US Dept of Agriculture, Vilsack
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Vince Jordan was born and reared in Nashville, Tennessee where he was mistakenly led to believe that he was a Jew. After high school, he left Nashville and his Southern twang behind only to pick up an often troublesome dry wit which remains the cause for the sometimes conversational discomfort coupled with an always awkward apology. Upon crossing the Mason-Dixon, Vince went to Yale where his acting bug was subsequently born and promptly ignored in favor of a major in architecture, the source of much guilt for the all-nighters that he should have pulled but didn’t. Vince then moseyed out to Northern California for grad school and then back east to New York, where he assumed the position of worker in the field of architecture, and was given the glorious opportunity to make up for all of those wonderful all-nighters he had so foolishly passed up years before. In New York the dormant caterpillar that was Vince’s acting bug awoke and transformed itself into an eager yet inexperienced little moth with credits that only a mother could love. Then, thanks to good representation and a dwindling winter wardrobe, the moth flew back to California, Southern California this time, and finally blossomed into a butterfly, albeit skinny and [generally] clean-shaven with hairy legs. Television and film work followed beginning with educational films for Disney and advancing into commercials, series TV [from Doogie Howser MD to Jimmy Kimmel Live] and independent films. Along the way, Vince crossed the great hyphenate divide, first by adding “writer,” with his award-winning opus-cum-comedic-short screenplay The Pothole. “Comedian” soon joined his hyphenate junta. Vince lives and performs in Los Angeles and is currently in preproduction on his new web series Silver Tongue, which is a comedy that follows his character [an architect] Vince as he glides through life trying to build a castle on a foundation of charm. Shooting begins in October 2010.
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