What Do Tracy Morgan, David Tyree and DeSean Jackson Have in Common? Not What You Might Think.

"Nothing is as terrible to see as ignorance in action."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Oh, boy.

Tracy Morgan took to a stage in Tennessee and told the mostly cheering crowd that if his son were gay and effeminate, that he’d “pull out a knife and stab that little ni**er to death.” The resulting firestorm resulted in an awkward GLAAD ‘Apology Tour’ where Mr. Morgan made such heartwarming statements as “I really don’t care who you love, same-sex or not, as long as you have the ability to love” as BriOut yawned.

Tracy Morgan

Former New York Giants wide-receiver David Tyree spoke out against marriage equality in New York State in an online interview with the so-called National Organization for Marriage. In the interview, he states, “If they pass this gay marriage bill... what I know will happen if this does come forth is this will be the beginning of our country sliding toward, it's a strong word, but anarchy.”

No word yet on when anarchy is scheduled to begin, but I hope they serve Mimosa’s.

Another pro-footballer, this time Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson, called a fan a “gay ass faggot” during a Sirius XM radio interview, then followed it with a bizarre martyr-like statement on Twitter ("WANNA BRING ME DOWN BUT IM OK!! THEY TRYIN KNOCC ME OFF BUT IM STILL ON!!"). Eventually he signed his name to an apology obviously written by some hapless PR assistant who surely must’ve thought, “I don’t get paid enough or drink enough to write this crap.”

So what do these guys have in common? It’s not that they are men of color. It’s not even that they are African-American men. They are, but they belong to another group, a group much more germane to our discussion.

They’re all assholes.

Yeah, I said it.

David Tyree

Sandwiched in between, “Your current boss” and “Your butthole,” Urban Dictionary offers the following definition of the word: “Someone being arrogant, rude, obnoxious, or just a total di*khead....”

I’d say that more than applies.

Apparently feeling the need to counter all of the progressive actions and statements by gay and straight men of color on equality this year, these idiots decided to flash their A-hole credentials by showering us with some of the crudest, most malicious and downright illogical assertions we’ve had the displeasure of hearing in quite some time. So utterly stupefying and coming out so quickly after one another, it felt like listening to Rebecca Black’s “Friday” on a loop from Hell.

I was hoping to avoid commenting on all of this. After all, if I had to comment on everything every A-hole in the public eye said or did, I’d never stop talking about Maggie Gallagher. And I desperately want to stop talking about Maggie Gallagher.

But the simple fact of the matter is that just as I’m completely disgusted by their words, I’ve been bothered by some of the reactions to their words. In particular, it annoys me when I hear people say, “…as a person of color, they should know better.”

Really? What makes us so special?

Don’t get me wrong. I understand where this train of thought comes from. As a group, people of color are supposed to know, inside and out, what it feels like to experience prejudice. We are supposed to know that hurling slurs and practicing outright discrimination is wrong and, armed with that knowledge, avoid being the perpetrators of said discrimination.

It’s a wonderful theory. But it doesn’t work in reality. And the reason it doesn’t work is because in every group, and I mean every group, A-holes exist.

People of Color? Yep, we got ‘em.

Women? They’ve got ‘em, too.

GLBT? Have you ever been to a dance club on a Saturday? It’s like a tent revival for A-holes.

I was dating a “man” for the better part of a year when he told me, in my own freakin’ bed, that he was not attracted to me and was never was attracted to me during the entire time we were together. Turns out, dating me was just so that he could feel wanted and desirable and didn’t care one bit what I thought. That guy was a capital “A” A-hole.

DeSean Jackson

But here is my point. Not once during this drama did I think, “But you’re Jewish. You should know better than anyone not to treat people so horribly. Your people know all about what that’s like.”

Of course not. It would be highly unrealistic to think that an individual would somehow filter all of their actions through some sort of prejudice Brita, and downright foolish to think that an individual A-hole would. That’s just not how A-holes operate.

There’s a second, equally disturbing conclusion one could draw in the ‘You Should Know Better’ assertion. If people of color should know better than to commit prejudicial or discriminatory acts, then by default, wouldn’t that suggest that white people don’t know any better than to be total ass-hats?

What would you think if you heard this conversation?

Friend: “Wow. Rick Santorum just compared same sex couples to alcoholics.
BriOut: “Meh, Rick Santorum is white. What do you expect?

That would be a pretty upsetting conversation to hear, would it not? I would never say that because saying that would make me an A-hole.

The Tracy Morgan’s or DeSean Jackson’s of the world don’t think about the prejudice they may have endured, even tangentially. They only think of making themselves feel better when they inflict their prejudices on others. They’re A-hole’s first. That’s not excusing their behavior or even trying to distance them from their people of color identities, and thereby distancing them from the rest of us.

I’m just correctly identifying them by their actions.

And while we may wish things were different, we shouldn’t expect that any one group has figured out a way to de-ass themselves. No one is immune from them. And more to my point, no amount of strife, heartache, oppression or bigotry can rid an entire group of people of their A-hole population.

After all, A-holes are like opinions… everybody’s got some.