The Controversy is back!
After a water pipe break destroyed my apartment on January 30th...it was renovated and I moved back in on February 13th. But while I sat in my bedroom four and a half days later on February 18th...because of a faulty repair by reconstruction contractors...the same water pipe exploded...and for the second time in less than three weeks, my apartment looked like a war zone. All that...coupled with some health issues...have prevented me for several weeks from writing any commentaries. But today...I'm back.
There have been a lot of issues that I've wanted to write about - to talk about - over these last couple of months, but there is one topic that sticks in my mind, which was timely then, timely today and will unfortunately be timely tomorrow and for probably years to come.
We need to stop labeling people. In an interview with ESPN...what Michael Sam did on Sunday, February 9th, 2014...by "coming out" and announcing that he is gay...was courageous and admirable. The All-American defensive end from the University of Missouri...and the Associated Press' SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year...will undoubtedly be drafted in May...and will become the first openly gay player in the history of the National Football League. But the 24-year old Michael Sam is not a homosexual football player...not a homosexual man. Michael Sam is a football player. Michael Sam is a man.
I am so sick and tired of people who think they have to describe a person by placing an identifying adjective before the individual's name. Would anyone ever classify Peyton Manning as a heterosexual football player...or as a heterosexual man? Of course not.
Jason Collins of the Brooklyn Nets is the National Basketball Association's first openly gay player...and the first openly gay, male athlete to play in a major professional sport in the United States. The 35-year old center divulged his homosexuality at the conclusion of the 2012-2013 NBA season. Collins told reporters earlier this year that "My message to other athletes is to be yourself. Be your true authentic self...and never be afraid to be your authentic self."
It's been a number of years since many stars of the entertainment industry began revealing to the world that they were gay. It was April 14th, 1997
when Ellen DeGeneres became the first show business celebrity to candidly speak out about her sexual orientation. Ellen told Time magazine, "Yep, I'm Gay." And those three words...accompanying Ellen's photograph on the cover of Time... opened the doors for other gay entertainers - and other gay people - to disclose their secret.
On August 16th, 2008, Ellen married Portia de Rossi. Yet when Ellen's name is mentioned on TV...or in a conversation anywhere...I never hear anyone say, "Ellen DeGeneres, that lesbian comedienne. That gay talk show host." She's Ellen DeGeneres - one of the most talented...one of the funniest...and one of the most philanthropic personalities on television. There are few people who can equal her generosity. To say that Ellen DeGeneres is special...would be an understatement.
Neil Patrick Harris is a first class performer...and I've been a fan since first watching him as Doogie Howser when Neil was only 16 years old. Now, at age 40, Neil's skills as an actor and as - what used to be called - "a song and dance man" are outstanding. There aren't many entertainers who reach Neil Patrick Harris' caliber of talent.
With his personal life, Neil is very public about his marriage to David Burtka. And when Neil and David became fathers to their fraternal twins - daughter, Harper and son, Gideon - the couple were embraced and applauded in the same way as any straight pair who were blessed with the birth of children. As such, today nobody in the press categorizes Neil Patrick Harris as "that gay actor who has two kids."
When walking a red carpet at a Hollywood event...Tom Hanks isn't noted by an announcer or commentator to be "that straight, Oscar winning actor, Tom Hanks." He's introduced as Academy Award winning actor, Tom Hanks. And that's the way it should be. Because that's the way it is.
To label an individual by their sexual orientation, their race, their religion, their ethnic heritage or for any other reason is disgraceful.
As a young boy growing up in the sixties...and even as a teenager in the seventies...I distinctly remember the now legendary Academy Award winner Sidney Poitier being depicted as "that black actor"...or "that Negro actor." Later, the term "African-American" came in to play.
But now...actors such as Morgan Freeman, Will Smith and Denzel Washington are never referred to as "those black actors." They are actors. They may be described as Oscar winning actors, but never are they characterized by their race.
The one and only Oprah Winfrey is never tagged as "that Emmy Award winning, black talk show host. That Academy Award winning, black actress." She's just...Oprah. Tops and one of the best of everything...Oprah.
Unlike members of the entertainment industry...unfortunately there are people from other walks of life who don't support human rights...and who are not even tolerant when it comes to accepting gay people...or black people...as being completely and totally equal...in every sense of the words...as straight and white people.
As a Jew...I always took offense when an individual in the public eye was identified as "that Jewish" whatever.
Unfortunately, antisemitism, racism and homophobia are still felt in America today. Recently, I heard a commentator on television categorize Michael Sam as "the black, gay football player." He was twice labeled in one sentence. But why? Why must Michael Sam be specified as "gay" or "black?"
I had hoped that after our country elected Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2008...and then again in 2012, I would not ever hear people being described as black or African-American. But I was in a store last week where I told a customer service representative that I needed to speak to Sharon. Apparently the store employed two women with the name Sharon. The clerk asked me, "Which Sharon?" I said, "I didn't know there's more than one." The clerk's next question was, "Is she black?" Why must some people describe another person by the color of their skin? Note that the clerk didn't ask me if Sharon is white. After all, I learned later that one Sharon at the store is in fact Caucasian. The clerk could have asked me if Sharon has blonde hair or if she is a brunette...or there are a number of other ways to describe her other than to ask about her skin color.
From the first day a child enters a nursery school or kindergarten...all the way through high school and college...students of all races, all faiths, all ethnic heritages...whether they are straight, gay or bi-sexual...rich or poor... need to know they are equal to others...and to never think they are being labeled because of the color of their skin, their religious beliefs, where in the world their family originally came from, how much money their parents make, or who they want to love or make love to. If a child, teenager or young adult is treated with equality...and does not sit in a classroom anxious, nervous and filled with worry about what others may be thinking about them...but instead focusing and concentrating on their education...they will learn more...and be more successful with their studies. We, as Americans, need to educate each other so that nobody uses offensive, inappropriate language. We need not label Michael Sam as a gay football player...and certainly not...as a black, gay football player. We need not label anyone in a way that is objectionable or distasteful. We need to treat everyone the same way...without labeling them.
It disturbs me that some people use religion and theological arguments when they disagree with controversial issues. From abortion to homosexuality...certain individuals will toss religion in to the ring as their means of defense...to debate another person that he or she is wrong. All Americans have freedoms, which some people don't want to accept. Thankfully, a pregnant woman in the United States has the right to give birth to a baby...or to abort a fetus. And two gay men...or two gay women...have the right to love each other, have sex with each other, and in 17 states plus the District of Columbia can marry each other...so gays should have all the same rights and freedoms that straight Americans have. And nobody...nobody in our country should label someone because of who they are...or what they believe in.
It makes me wonder why so many Americans...who claim to be religious and decent human beings...and who say their hearts are loaded with love for God and for people across this great country and around the world...are, in reality, heartless towards a particular person because of unjustifiable reasons. Sadly, the human heart cannot talk. If it could, no heart would label others with words of prejudice and bigotry. In 2013, in a survey by iHeartRadio, Ellen DeGeneres was named "The Most Likable Woman in Hollywood." There isn't a Monday through Friday that goes by that I don't watch Ellen...and that one hour each weekday is by far one of the best hours of my day. Ellen signs off each of her shows with the words, "Be kind to one another." It's a shame not everybody is.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
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