C’Mon Man!

First of all, I guess I should apologize for the title of this piece.  With all woke propriety, it should be “C’mon Person.”  Then, again, C’mon Man!

I’m as liberal as the next guy even if the next guy is Bernie Sanders. However, I’ll now probably be criticized by other liberals for that last sentence. They’ll complain that I should have said “as liberal as the next guy or gal.”

I tend to take the extreme position on appropriate language. “Inappropriate” words and images, it seems to me, are like cockroaches. They gather strength while in the darkness. It’s when you expose them to the light that they can be overcome. The great comedian, Lenny Bruce, had a famous routine where he simply repeated “inappropriate” words over and over again. The point was that, after a while, they lost their power. 

I understand that the Lenny Bruce position is unrealistic.  But, we are going in precisely the opposite direction.  We are investing more and more words and images with more and more damaging power.

Recently, two such cases illustrate this problem.

First, of course, is that horrible human being, Dr. Seuss.  Some of his books are being removed from children’s view because of what are considered their racist stereotypes. Really? Where is the evidence that kids have been turned into racists by reading “If I Ran The Zoo”? What is the evil that must be excised from that book? In one portion, a white boy is depicted standing on the heads of three Asian men, and, in another, two men from Africa are shirtless, shoeless and wearing grass skirts while holding an exotic animal. My God, how did we ever survive? 

In 2016, President Obama said, “Theodor Seuss Geisel – or Dr. Seuss – used his incredible talent to instill in his most impressionable readers universal values we all hold dear.” President Obama, not surprisingly, was right. The basic theme of the Dr. Seuss books is to celebrate differences, not to condemn them. Yet, the reading of those books by those who object to them is as superficial as a Trump campaign speech. It was Dr. Seuss who said, “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” C’mon Man!

If that example doesn’t move you, how about this one? It seems that a Chicago sportscaster, Mark Giangreco has been suspended from the job he has held for 27 years, and faces likely termination. Mr. Giangreco is a fixture in the Chicago sports scene, reportedly the highest paid local sportscaster in the country. He should be lauded just for hanging in there with the Cubs for this long. But, no.  He’s now on his way out. Why? What heinous act did Mr. Giangreco do to warrant this punishment? Well, a few weeks ago, while joking about a potential DIY show that could be produced, Giangreco said that one of his fellow broadcasters, a Cheryl Burton, “could play the ditzy combative interior designer.”  That’s right. That’s it. Even after reading what he said, do you know what he did wrong? Here it is: he used the adjective, “ditzy” in describing the make-believe role that a woman would play in a hypothetical, never-to-be-real scenario. C’mon Man!

[Aside – I can’ t help but wonder whether there is an underlying economic reason behind these two examples. Money, of course rules everything. The Dr. Seuss books that are being removed by the publisher are not its biggest sellers.  I have to wonder whether “Green Eggs and Ham” would be removed if it had similar references. “Green Eggs and Ham” after all – isn’t that title offensive to vegetarians? And Mr. Giangreco? Well, as I said, he apparently is the highest paid local sportscaster in the country. What a convenient way his termination will be now to dump that expense. But, those are just my speculations. Let’s get back to the point.] 

As a lawyer, the worst thing you can do when arguing a case is to overstate it. Your overstatement will be jumped on by the opposition and your underlying valid premise will soon be forgotten. I can’t help but think that we who want to see racism and sexism eliminated are now overstating our case. It’s not helping. Dr. Seuss and Mark Giangreco? C’mon Man!

I do not intend these thoughts to be linked with those screaming about the evils of “the cancel culture.” There are plenty of good reasons to “cancel” some people on the basis of what they have said or done. Mitch McConnel and O.J. (not sure who’s worse) come to mind. And, I am also certainly not saying that we ignore racism and sexism. Quite to the contrary. I am saying that if we want to eliminate those horrors, we have to marshal our arguments and pursue our goals with rationality and effectiveness. There are hundreds of perfectly good ways to do this. There are thousands of compelling examples to use that evidence the truly racist and sexist attitudes that permeate our culture. But, “If I Ran the Zoo” and “ditzy”? We need to be more careful and more creative.  As Dr. Seuss also wrote, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.”