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I am an English major, and through all my studies I have never yet encountered a lethal word. Words actually do NOT kill, unlike humans and other animals. It would be logical to say that the "intention" behind certain words can cause harm, and even then it would depend upon the context in which the word is spoken. Also, no one can contract AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), but one can contract HIV which can lead to AIDS.
I will be boycotting Tracy Morgan and any company who sponsors any project that he is involved in. I am a black gay man who has faced all kinds of bad treatment because people like Tracy Morgan are allowed to dispense hate speech. It is time for us to stop taking this kind of abuse. I am a gay black man and I attend black churches. I have experienced the "God hates gays" sermon on numerous occassions. When I have approached ministers and church members regarding my displeasure with this type of hate speech and the problems that it causes, I have basically been told that they do not care about the harmful impact their words may have. I have also been told that they won't mention AIDS prevention in their church because AIDS is "a gay disease". This is part of the reason that heterosexual black women are one of the largest group currently being diagnosed with AIDS. Many balck people think that heterosexual people can't contract AIDS. Tracy Morgan's comments are an indication of this type of thinking. His words are killing AIDS prevention efforts in the heterosexual community--expecially the heterosexual black community.
RECENTLY I HAD A MINISTER FROM A GAY SUPPORTIVE CHURCH... GIVE BE THE GAYS ARE GOING TO HELL SPEACH.. WELL ITS JUST MY OPINION... SHE A BLACK WOMAN... I WAS SHOCKED... THEY USED TO TELL BLACK PEOPLE THEY WERE LESS THAN WHITES.... THE OTHER MINISTER SAID AFTER I TALKED ABOUT, HOW I DISAGREED, "..WELL WE CAN AGREE TO DISAGREE." THIS SHOCKED ME EVEN MORE. CAN WE AGREE TO DISAGREE ABOUT EQUALITY FOR WOMEN OR BLACKS... IF ANYBODY SAID SOME GROUP OF PEOPLE WERE GOING TO HELL... WELL NOBODY WOULD LET THAT PASS BUT HELL BOUND GAYS.... IT STILL OKAY TO SAY THAT GOD HATES GAYS....HATRED WRAPPED UP IN THE CROSS.. AS A ROMAN CATHOLIC LAY MINISTER.... I WON'T LET HATRED PASS MY WAY WITHOUT STANDING UP
Tracey later issued this statement: "I know how bad bullying can hurt," he said. "I was bullied when I was a kid. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I never want to use my comedy to hurt anyone. My family knew what it was like to feel different. My brother was disabled, and I lost my father to AIDS in 1987. My dad wasn't gay but I also learned about homophobia then because of how people treated people who were sick with that. "Parents should support and love their kids no matter what. Gay people deserve the same right to be happy in this country as everyone else. Our laws should support that. I hope that my fans gay, straight, whatever forgive, and I hope my family forgives me for this." I think that as members of the GLBT community we have to allow people to aplogize. We can't cast out everyone who speaks out against us. Yes these words cause damage but we have to use things like this to educate America on gay issues. Use it as a tool to educate. How many people have said what he said in their homes, etc. We need to win the battle for equality by using the thing that we are asking for, love and acceptance. We have to educate.
As an obviously gay male, I have been descriminated against for most of the 57 years I have been alive. What I learned from that is you don't treat other people that way. Not even "jokingly". Obviously Tracey Morgan didn't learn anything. And I agree, he is covering his a$$ with his apology. If he had really learned anything, he never would have gone on his "rant". There is freedom of speech. There is also freedom not to support the person that says them. Do NOT buy his CDs, or watch any show that he is on or support any broadcasting company that hires him. Sooner or later, actors and "comedians" will learn that we will not tolerate their poisonous words. I, for one, didn't hear anything that I found funny in his comments. Maybe one day we will learn not to call each other "faggot". Descrimination starts with each of us and needs to end with each of us.
TRACEY MORGAN GOT A LOT TO LEARN HIM ASK FOR FORGIVENESS WAS TOLD TO DO BY HIS MANAGER SO HE WONT GET A BAD REPUTATION. WHICH HE ALREADY HAS IN THE GAY COMMUNITY. AND TO BE HATFUL AND CRUEL IS NO EXCUSE. NO ONE ASK TO BE GAY OR IN LOVE WITH THE SAME SEX. IF TRACEY BE AROUND MATURE GAY MEN OR WOMEN HE WOULD UNDERSTAND WE ARE ALL THE SAME JUST DIFFERENT IN THE BEDROOM.SHAME ON TRACEY MORGAN.
Thank you. As a homosexual father of a heterosexual son I am appalled at the level of ignorance which Mr. Morgan spewed.Indeed he needs to see the hurt, the harm, the destruction of valuable lives that are at the end of hate and bigotry. Sorry is not enough. He would do well to go to the trenches and look into the faces of children who have been condemned through no fault of their own. I can not even fathom the idea of causing any harm to one who I was given the blessing of being a father. My son Isaiah, good, bad, or indifferent is so very precious to me.
Aundaray Guess
I understand where you're coming from but life is not a thesis. Yes if you want to literally break it down, an actual word such as a noun or vowel doesn't kill. Yet the combination of words with someone with no morals can cause harm. You have been fortunate to not have encountered lethal words in your life, yet your life experiences, is different from mine as mine is different from others. Words do kill as it's not always others who take life away but speak to young LGBT people who go to school and have to encounter harassing words everyday, eventually those words forces some to feel that the only way to stop the words is to take their own lives. I applaud the letters behind your name but we can't forget forget how those letters can be abstracts that, yes, can kill. As Martin Luther King said "The most criminal may be the man gifted with reason and no morals.
July 20, 2011