Story Highlights
For those who missed the Michael Richards (forever known as “Kramer” from Seinfeld) tirade caught on tape—there is a very similar issue at work. For as you watch Richards explode at his African American hecklers, he launches into a racist profanity filled tirade. One is for a moment tempted to write it off as something that happens in the heat of the moment. But we need to stop and think for a second. For in his moment of anger we see the purity of thought absent of any socially correct filters. And at that moment he looks at an African-American in the face and sees a “Nigger.” Unless there is part of him that sees African-American in such light, that’s not going to be the word that he jumps on.
And that brings us back to our own backyard, to the young junior high school student, whose only crime may have been he was a bit too cocky or perhaps he had no crime at all; it just doesn’t matter. Kids bully. They look for the most vulnerable spot and they hit on it again and again and again until it becomes raw and bleeds. That’s the way kids are. But that too is no excuse. For you cannot call someone gay epithets in a fit of anger without looking at them and seeing that the word “gay” or its more pejorative derivations as epithets.
There has been a lot of talk in the last year about the dark underbelly of Davis ethos being a little less pristine than some might like to believe. I do not know how deep it goes, but there is a very dark and ugly strain of racism and homophobia that infuses our liberal veneer. Most of us seem either unaware of this problem or we bury our heads in the sand. We bury this side of us deep down however, because at our core we are ashamed and we know it is wrong. That’s why it comes rushing to the surface in the most ugly way when we are angry and our protective barriers are lowered.
London asks the critical question about homophobia that we should be asking not only about homophobia but racism and prejudice in general. “Where are the young people getting the message?” And it goes to the core:
If you really believe that it is not coming from you (the parent), the adults in their lives, then it is all the more necessary to institute proactive, systemic, school-site curriculum and character training programs that counter and reserve the insidious messages from the “other” parents and/ or media-saturated peers.
None of us want to think of ourselves as prejudiced or racist. We go to great lengths to deny it. And yet in children we see a weaker barrier of social correctness, we see in them what is worst in us and it is laid out bare for all the world to see, just as we see it exploding to the surface in the anger and hatred of Michael Richards. Has it been there all along? We dare not believe the answer is yes, but at the end of the day, we wonder, just maybe whether it is. (Or in our less frank moments, we deny it altogether).
The first step to fixing any problem is to admit that we have one. In all the talk that has occurred over the last year, not one person in a position of power or influence, not one, has admitted that there might be a problem in this community. We get into defensive mode and want to believe that things are not so bad here. We defend our neighbors saying this is a good community. We defend our police saying that they have a tough job where they put their lives on the line. And we are right—this is a good community and police do have a tough job.
Our young people are the ones who shall lead us into the future and we need to teach them the values of the future, a future where hatred and prejudice go by the wayside. But we can only do that if we are honest and frank with them, because unlike adults, children can see through the bs. We need to teach our children that it is wrong to look at someone different from them with fear and mistrust. That at the core everyone is just a person and is entitled to be treated as a person. And we need to teach them to not be bystanders, to stand up when someone acts out of hatred or ignorance and tell them that it’s wrong and that you will not tolerate it anymore.
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
Doug has touched on some quite profound points here. As parents, our children are the mirror that offers the clearest reflection of us.. not the rhetoric, posturing and bs. This image is often initially rejected as unrecognizable and distressing.. If given serious consideration, however, it offers parents the most accessible portal to profound personal growth. Each Father’s Day, I make it a point to thank my children for this most valuable gift.. the opportunity to become a better person. This concept can be extended to Davis youngsters and the Davis community.
Doug has touched on some quite profound points here. As parents, our children are the mirror that offers the clearest reflection of us.. not the rhetoric, posturing and bs. This image is often initially rejected as unrecognizable and distressing.. If given serious consideration, however, it offers parents the most accessible portal to profound personal growth. Each Father’s Day, I make it a point to thank my children for this most valuable gift.. the opportunity to become a better person. This concept can be extended to Davis youngsters and the Davis community.
Doug has touched on some quite profound points here. As parents, our children are the mirror that offers the clearest reflection of us.. not the rhetoric, posturing and bs. This image is often initially rejected as unrecognizable and distressing.. If given serious consideration, however, it offers parents the most accessible portal to profound personal growth. Each Father’s Day, I make it a point to thank my children for this most valuable gift.. the opportunity to become a better person. This concept can be extended to Davis youngsters and the Davis community.
Doug has touched on some quite profound points here. As parents, our children are the mirror that offers the clearest reflection of us.. not the rhetoric, posturing and bs. This image is often initially rejected as unrecognizable and distressing.. If given serious consideration, however, it offers parents the most accessible portal to profound personal growth. Each Father’s Day, I make it a point to thank my children for this most valuable gift.. the opportunity to become a better person. This concept can be extended to Davis youngsters and the Davis community.
“For as you watch Richards explode at his African American hecklers, he launches into a racist profanity filled tirade. One is for a moment tempted to write it off as something that happens in the heat of the moment.”
Everyone, when provoked or for some other reason distraught, can get angry, can blow up. Some people are more prone to anger than others. However, unless you have some racial animus within you, or you are insane, I don’t think, even “in the heat of the moment,” a normal person would do or say what Michael Richards did and said. I wouldn’t doubt that insanity plays some role in explaining his outburst.* But even that seems to fall short. For some reason, Richards is a racist, his denials notwithstanding. No one who is not a racist would launch into a tirade like he did.
In Davis terms, I think the parallel episode is not the anti-gay bullying that took place (and for all I know may still be taking place) at Harper Junior High, but is the case of the two vandals who attacked the Baptist and Jehovah’s Witness churches and Fairfield Elementary school west of Davis. While it is unfortunately true that a large number of teenage boys (and a few girls) engage in vandalism and spraypainting graffiti, it is not the case that most of them would write “Kill the N*****s” and “Die Jews!” on church walls. Those words, much like Richards’s words, tell the story. They had to have racial and religious hostility in their hearts to express those thoughts. A typical angry and frustrated kid would not have that racist animus in him.
The anti-gay prejudice is a more complicated question. There is far more societal prejudice against gays than against racial or other minorities. The anti-homosexual bias stems not only from religion, but at the junior high school level it comes from kids’ insecurities.
At ages 12-14, most kids are just starting to become aware of their own sexual feelings. Most at that age have had no sexual experience. And because of that lack of experience, a lot of kids feel that they have to prove themselves to their peers. So by taunting a kid as “gay,” they are “proving” to their friends that they are “normal,” that they are straight. If they were more secure about their own status, they wouldn’t feel the need to prove themselves.
As a community, and as adults, we need to understand that this is where kids are coming from. And we need to teach them 1) that bullying is wrong, 2) that being gay or straight is biological and not right or wrong, and 3) that no one has to prove himself or herself to anyone else. And beyond what we teach kids, we need to make it clear to all kids that we have very harsh punishments, including expulsion, for kids who bully or taunt others.
———-
*It’s been said over and over that Richards was heckled by two black people in his audience. However, I saw the two guys on a TV interview, and from their account, they didn’t even do that much. All that happened, according to them, was that Richards observed a Hispanic guy, who was sitting at a table near them, talking and not paying attention to his pathetic act on stage. So Richards launched into an anti-Mexican rant against that guy. And then one of the black guys responded by saying to Richards that his comments were out of line. And from that, Richards launched into his insane tirade, entirely focused on the two black guys and their dates. According to what these guys said, the recording that has been shown on TV starts about 1 minute after the original anti-Mexican rant.
“For as you watch Richards explode at his African American hecklers, he launches into a racist profanity filled tirade. One is for a moment tempted to write it off as something that happens in the heat of the moment.”
Everyone, when provoked or for some other reason distraught, can get angry, can blow up. Some people are more prone to anger than others. However, unless you have some racial animus within you, or you are insane, I don’t think, even “in the heat of the moment,” a normal person would do or say what Michael Richards did and said. I wouldn’t doubt that insanity plays some role in explaining his outburst.* But even that seems to fall short. For some reason, Richards is a racist, his denials notwithstanding. No one who is not a racist would launch into a tirade like he did.
In Davis terms, I think the parallel episode is not the anti-gay bullying that took place (and for all I know may still be taking place) at Harper Junior High, but is the case of the two vandals who attacked the Baptist and Jehovah’s Witness churches and Fairfield Elementary school west of Davis. While it is unfortunately true that a large number of teenage boys (and a few girls) engage in vandalism and spraypainting graffiti, it is not the case that most of them would write “Kill the N*****s” and “Die Jews!” on church walls. Those words, much like Richards’s words, tell the story. They had to have racial and religious hostility in their hearts to express those thoughts. A typical angry and frustrated kid would not have that racist animus in him.
The anti-gay prejudice is a more complicated question. There is far more societal prejudice against gays than against racial or other minorities. The anti-homosexual bias stems not only from religion, but at the junior high school level it comes from kids’ insecurities.
At ages 12-14, most kids are just starting to become aware of their own sexual feelings. Most at that age have had no sexual experience. And because of that lack of experience, a lot of kids feel that they have to prove themselves to their peers. So by taunting a kid as “gay,” they are “proving” to their friends that they are “normal,” that they are straight. If they were more secure about their own status, they wouldn’t feel the need to prove themselves.
As a community, and as adults, we need to understand that this is where kids are coming from. And we need to teach them 1) that bullying is wrong, 2) that being gay or straight is biological and not right or wrong, and 3) that no one has to prove himself or herself to anyone else. And beyond what we teach kids, we need to make it clear to all kids that we have very harsh punishments, including expulsion, for kids who bully or taunt others.
———-
*It’s been said over and over that Richards was heckled by two black people in his audience. However, I saw the two guys on a TV interview, and from their account, they didn’t even do that much. All that happened, according to them, was that Richards observed a Hispanic guy, who was sitting at a table near them, talking and not paying attention to his pathetic act on stage. So Richards launched into an anti-Mexican rant against that guy. And then one of the black guys responded by saying to Richards that his comments were out of line. And from that, Richards launched into his insane tirade, entirely focused on the two black guys and their dates. According to what these guys said, the recording that has been shown on TV starts about 1 minute after the original anti-Mexican rant.
“For as you watch Richards explode at his African American hecklers, he launches into a racist profanity filled tirade. One is for a moment tempted to write it off as something that happens in the heat of the moment.”
Everyone, when provoked or for some other reason distraught, can get angry, can blow up. Some people are more prone to anger than others. However, unless you have some racial animus within you, or you are insane, I don’t think, even “in the heat of the moment,” a normal person would do or say what Michael Richards did and said. I wouldn’t doubt that insanity plays some role in explaining his outburst.* But even that seems to fall short. For some reason, Richards is a racist, his denials notwithstanding. No one who is not a racist would launch into a tirade like he did.
In Davis terms, I think the parallel episode is not the anti-gay bullying that took place (and for all I know may still be taking place) at Harper Junior High, but is the case of the two vandals who attacked the Baptist and Jehovah’s Witness churches and Fairfield Elementary school west of Davis. While it is unfortunately true that a large number of teenage boys (and a few girls) engage in vandalism and spraypainting graffiti, it is not the case that most of them would write “Kill the N*****s” and “Die Jews!” on church walls. Those words, much like Richards’s words, tell the story. They had to have racial and religious hostility in their hearts to express those thoughts. A typical angry and frustrated kid would not have that racist animus in him.
The anti-gay prejudice is a more complicated question. There is far more societal prejudice against gays than against racial or other minorities. The anti-homosexual bias stems not only from religion, but at the junior high school level it comes from kids’ insecurities.
At ages 12-14, most kids are just starting to become aware of their own sexual feelings. Most at that age have had no sexual experience. And because of that lack of experience, a lot of kids feel that they have to prove themselves to their peers. So by taunting a kid as “gay,” they are “proving” to their friends that they are “normal,” that they are straight. If they were more secure about their own status, they wouldn’t feel the need to prove themselves.
As a community, and as adults, we need to understand that this is where kids are coming from. And we need to teach them 1) that bullying is wrong, 2) that being gay or straight is biological and not right or wrong, and 3) that no one has to prove himself or herself to anyone else. And beyond what we teach kids, we need to make it clear to all kids that we have very harsh punishments, including expulsion, for kids who bully or taunt others.
———-
*It’s been said over and over that Richards was heckled by two black people in his audience. However, I saw the two guys on a TV interview, and from their account, they didn’t even do that much. All that happened, according to them, was that Richards observed a Hispanic guy, who was sitting at a table near them, talking and not paying attention to his pathetic act on stage. So Richards launched into an anti-Mexican rant against that guy. And then one of the black guys responded by saying to Richards that his comments were out of line. And from that, Richards launched into his insane tirade, entirely focused on the two black guys and their dates. According to what these guys said, the recording that has been shown on TV starts about 1 minute after the original anti-Mexican rant.
“For as you watch Richards explode at his African American hecklers, he launches into a racist profanity filled tirade. One is for a moment tempted to write it off as something that happens in the heat of the moment.”
Everyone, when provoked or for some other reason distraught, can get angry, can blow up. Some people are more prone to anger than others. However, unless you have some racial animus within you, or you are insane, I don’t think, even “in the heat of the moment,” a normal person would do or say what Michael Richards did and said. I wouldn’t doubt that insanity plays some role in explaining his outburst.* But even that seems to fall short. For some reason, Richards is a racist, his denials notwithstanding. No one who is not a racist would launch into a tirade like he did.
In Davis terms, I think the parallel episode is not the anti-gay bullying that took place (and for all I know may still be taking place) at Harper Junior High, but is the case of the two vandals who attacked the Baptist and Jehovah’s Witness churches and Fairfield Elementary school west of Davis. While it is unfortunately true that a large number of teenage boys (and a few girls) engage in vandalism and spraypainting graffiti, it is not the case that most of them would write “Kill the N*****s” and “Die Jews!” on church walls. Those words, much like Richards’s words, tell the story. They had to have racial and religious hostility in their hearts to express those thoughts. A typical angry and frustrated kid would not have that racist animus in him.
The anti-gay prejudice is a more complicated question. There is far more societal prejudice against gays than against racial or other minorities. The anti-homosexual bias stems not only from religion, but at the junior high school level it comes from kids’ insecurities.
At ages 12-14, most kids are just starting to become aware of their own sexual feelings. Most at that age have had no sexual experience. And because of that lack of experience, a lot of kids feel that they have to prove themselves to their peers. So by taunting a kid as “gay,” they are “proving” to their friends that they are “normal,” that they are straight. If they were more secure about their own status, they wouldn’t feel the need to prove themselves.
As a community, and as adults, we need to understand that this is where kids are coming from. And we need to teach them 1) that bullying is wrong, 2) that being gay or straight is biological and not right or wrong, and 3) that no one has to prove himself or herself to anyone else. And beyond what we teach kids, we need to make it clear to all kids that we have very harsh punishments, including expulsion, for kids who bully or taunt others.
———-
*It’s been said over and over that Richards was heckled by two black people in his audience. However, I saw the two guys on a TV interview, and from their account, they didn’t even do that much. All that happened, according to them, was that Richards observed a Hispanic guy, who was sitting at a table near them, talking and not paying attention to his pathetic act on stage. So Richards launched into an anti-Mexican rant against that guy. And then one of the black guys responded by saying to Richards that his comments were out of line. And from that, Richards launched into his insane tirade, entirely focused on the two black guys and their dates. According to what these guys said, the recording that has been shown on TV starts about 1 minute after the original anti-Mexican rant.
Let me defend Davis teenagers somewhat
There is a presumption here that there are some serious issues with the youth of Davis and they need education. I would bet if you were to take two samples of people (100 people aged from 12-18 and 100 people aged from 42-48) you would find the younger group to be substantially more tolerant than the older group. If anything, the younger people should be teaching the adults how to handle diversity and tolerance. The younger group is generally more honest, they are not encumbered by hidden agendas and they have the advantage of growing up in a much more diverse society than their parents. If I wanted to feel tolerated in Davis I would much prefer to stand with the youth instead of the adults of the community.
Do not allow adult insecurity about intolerance manifest itself in programs that end up punishing the youth for things they are not responsible for. If adults are truly interested in diversity then they should display the commitment – more diversity in the Davis police force, at least one Black high school teacher, much more low cost housing for the minority staff working at UCD, to name a few.
I agree when people display intolerance then corrective action should be taken, but it has to go both ways. If a person lies about being mistreated (racial intolerance) then the person making the false accusations should face the same consequences as a person who is actually racially intolerant. In Davis it is way too easy to cry wolf.
Bullying in Davis always seems to focus on race/sexual preference issues. The worst form of bullying I remember (in school) had to do with physical disabilities and mental conditions. I remember one poor little girl who had been ravaged by polio. The only way she could walk was with the support of heavy steel braces – she was teased at every recess because she could not run. The same little girl is now a mother of two and occasionally is asked to provide inspirational speeches in Palo Alto schools. The other group pf kids who were bullied all of the time were the people who attended “special education”. I bet the treatment of kids with learning disabilities (or even conditions like autism) is a huge problem in Davis but it gets no attention at all. Please expand the view of bullying to all of its forms. SAH
Let me defend Davis teenagers somewhat
There is a presumption here that there are some serious issues with the youth of Davis and they need education. I would bet if you were to take two samples of people (100 people aged from 12-18 and 100 people aged from 42-48) you would find the younger group to be substantially more tolerant than the older group. If anything, the younger people should be teaching the adults how to handle diversity and tolerance. The younger group is generally more honest, they are not encumbered by hidden agendas and they have the advantage of growing up in a much more diverse society than their parents. If I wanted to feel tolerated in Davis I would much prefer to stand with the youth instead of the adults of the community.
Do not allow adult insecurity about intolerance manifest itself in programs that end up punishing the youth for things they are not responsible for. If adults are truly interested in diversity then they should display the commitment – more diversity in the Davis police force, at least one Black high school teacher, much more low cost housing for the minority staff working at UCD, to name a few.
I agree when people display intolerance then corrective action should be taken, but it has to go both ways. If a person lies about being mistreated (racial intolerance) then the person making the false accusations should face the same consequences as a person who is actually racially intolerant. In Davis it is way too easy to cry wolf.
Bullying in Davis always seems to focus on race/sexual preference issues. The worst form of bullying I remember (in school) had to do with physical disabilities and mental conditions. I remember one poor little girl who had been ravaged by polio. The only way she could walk was with the support of heavy steel braces – she was teased at every recess because she could not run. The same little girl is now a mother of two and occasionally is asked to provide inspirational speeches in Palo Alto schools. The other group pf kids who were bullied all of the time were the people who attended “special education”. I bet the treatment of kids with learning disabilities (or even conditions like autism) is a huge problem in Davis but it gets no attention at all. Please expand the view of bullying to all of its forms. SAH
Let me defend Davis teenagers somewhat
There is a presumption here that there are some serious issues with the youth of Davis and they need education. I would bet if you were to take two samples of people (100 people aged from 12-18 and 100 people aged from 42-48) you would find the younger group to be substantially more tolerant than the older group. If anything, the younger people should be teaching the adults how to handle diversity and tolerance. The younger group is generally more honest, they are not encumbered by hidden agendas and they have the advantage of growing up in a much more diverse society than their parents. If I wanted to feel tolerated in Davis I would much prefer to stand with the youth instead of the adults of the community.
Do not allow adult insecurity about intolerance manifest itself in programs that end up punishing the youth for things they are not responsible for. If adults are truly interested in diversity then they should display the commitment – more diversity in the Davis police force, at least one Black high school teacher, much more low cost housing for the minority staff working at UCD, to name a few.
I agree when people display intolerance then corrective action should be taken, but it has to go both ways. If a person lies about being mistreated (racial intolerance) then the person making the false accusations should face the same consequences as a person who is actually racially intolerant. In Davis it is way too easy to cry wolf.
Bullying in Davis always seems to focus on race/sexual preference issues. The worst form of bullying I remember (in school) had to do with physical disabilities and mental conditions. I remember one poor little girl who had been ravaged by polio. The only way she could walk was with the support of heavy steel braces – she was teased at every recess because she could not run. The same little girl is now a mother of two and occasionally is asked to provide inspirational speeches in Palo Alto schools. The other group pf kids who were bullied all of the time were the people who attended “special education”. I bet the treatment of kids with learning disabilities (or even conditions like autism) is a huge problem in Davis but it gets no attention at all. Please expand the view of bullying to all of its forms. SAH
Let me defend Davis teenagers somewhat
There is a presumption here that there are some serious issues with the youth of Davis and they need education. I would bet if you were to take two samples of people (100 people aged from 12-18 and 100 people aged from 42-48) you would find the younger group to be substantially more tolerant than the older group. If anything, the younger people should be teaching the adults how to handle diversity and tolerance. The younger group is generally more honest, they are not encumbered by hidden agendas and they have the advantage of growing up in a much more diverse society than their parents. If I wanted to feel tolerated in Davis I would much prefer to stand with the youth instead of the adults of the community.
Do not allow adult insecurity about intolerance manifest itself in programs that end up punishing the youth for things they are not responsible for. If adults are truly interested in diversity then they should display the commitment – more diversity in the Davis police force, at least one Black high school teacher, much more low cost housing for the minority staff working at UCD, to name a few.
I agree when people display intolerance then corrective action should be taken, but it has to go both ways. If a person lies about being mistreated (racial intolerance) then the person making the false accusations should face the same consequences as a person who is actually racially intolerant. In Davis it is way too easy to cry wolf.
Bullying in Davis always seems to focus on race/sexual preference issues. The worst form of bullying I remember (in school) had to do with physical disabilities and mental conditions. I remember one poor little girl who had been ravaged by polio. The only way she could walk was with the support of heavy steel braces – she was teased at every recess because she could not run. The same little girl is now a mother of two and occasionally is asked to provide inspirational speeches in Palo Alto schools. The other group pf kids who were bullied all of the time were the people who attended “special education”. I bet the treatment of kids with learning disabilities (or even conditions like autism) is a huge problem in Davis but it gets no attention at all. Please expand the view of bullying to all of its forms. SAH
No, I’m with you, Sah. My commentary was intended to be directed squarely on the shoulders of the adult community here rather than singling out the youth.
Let me add, I agree on the bullying of people with disabilities as well. Very good point.
No, I’m with you, Sah. My commentary was intended to be directed squarely on the shoulders of the adult community here rather than singling out the youth.
Let me add, I agree on the bullying of people with disabilities as well. Very good point.
No, I’m with you, Sah. My commentary was intended to be directed squarely on the shoulders of the adult community here rather than singling out the youth.
Let me add, I agree on the bullying of people with disabilities as well. Very good point.
No, I’m with you, Sah. My commentary was intended to be directed squarely on the shoulders of the adult community here rather than singling out the youth.
Let me add, I agree on the bullying of people with disabilities as well. Very good point.
Thanks for the explanation!
SAH
Thanks for the explanation!
SAH
Thanks for the explanation!
SAH
Thanks for the explanation!
SAH