Not all the gays are hating on faggot-flinging Isaiah Washington.
Sappho-journo Jasmyn Cannick – one of the leading voice in the fight against Shirley Q. Liquor – started a petition to save the former Grey’s Anatomy star, seen here receiving an NAACP Image award.
According to Cannick, Washington’s firing smacks of racism. And she wants ABC to right their wrongs.
Page Six reports:
[Cannick] said she’s infuriated ABC booted Washington from the show’s upcoming fourth season for calling Knight a “faggot” during a scuffle on the set and believes it smacks of racism. So she’s launched a petition – which had 1,233 signatures as of last night – to get the actor his job back.
The petition says Washington’s firing “further adds to a disturbing new trend at ABC wherein minority actors have been dismissed at an alarming rate over the past two years. Blacks, including . . . Star Jones (‘The View’), Harold Perrineau (‘Lost’), Alfre Woodard, Mehcad Brooks and Page Kennedy (‘Desperate Housewives’) have been let go . . . One must ask themselves, what is going on? . . . While we don’t approve of [Washington’s] use of the F-word at the Golden Globes, Washington has since apologized and gone on to perform community service by way of a public service announcement for the very organizations that have been orchestrating his dismissal. But it seems it wasn’t enough.”
Alright, we suppose it seems a bit suspicious that all those black actors have been dismissed, but it Cannick’s trying to turn Washington’s firing into something bigger than it already is.
Those other ABC firings aside, however, we agree with her comments on Washington’s attempts to change his anti-gay ways. ABC, GLAAD and gay media put him through the wringer only to turn their back on him. So, will we be signing Cannick’s petition? Probably not.
We will, however, encourage you to read Cannick’s thought-provoking blog.
nycstudman
She’s ridiculous playing the race angle, but I agree with her point that Washington did everything except wear a hair shirt flagellate himself. How much humiliation do we want people to go through before we forgive them?
Qjersey
Ah Jasmyne, so clueless.
So Isaiah Washington gets dismissed…after a long history of being an ass. Instead of crying “racism” Jasmyne should be crying “equal treatment” to get the non-black actors who misbehave and act like arrogants jerks fired.
BTW Jasmyne, Alfre and Mehcah got dropped from Desperate Housewives because their storyline SUCKED…crying racism over that is such a stretch.
Alexa
Racists come in all colors, and Ms Cannick is a prime example. She deliberately forgets that Isaiah Washington not only used a gay slur twice, but physically attacked another actor. It takes more than a couple of weeks of therapy and a few PSAs to overcome that (though it’s a good start).
As for the others she mentioned, can anyone really be taken seriously who defends Star Jones? As for Lost, is she serious? Does she even watch the show? Does she know how many white actors have left? And how many minorities are still on the show in major roles? Oh except they’re not black, they’re Asian and Hispanic, but she doesn’t care about that. If she wants to complain about Lost, she should complain about the lack of gay characters on the show.
Graywolf48
Screw her. Washington’s gone and that’s how it should be. He has a history of rude and violent behavior. Black, white or whatever, he should have been fired. Assaulting a co-worker at any job will result in termination. I’m also tired of the professional victim crap played by so many Afro-Americans. The idea that a black person can’t be a racist is ridiculous. I see black faces all over my TV screen 24/7, but there are very few gay characters portrayed. And I suppose the NAACP is only concerned with bigotry against “Colored People”, whereas bigotry against other folks is acceptable, even rewarded.
Then there’s the story of all those Black Baptist Ministers who promote hate and intolerance towards gay folks, and don’t want their hate speech curtailed by any hate crimes law. I suppose it all comes down to whose ox is being gored? I learned a long time ago not to depend on the Afro-American community to be concerned about my human or civil rights. I mean after all, they’ve got that market cornered and want to keep it all to themselves.
Bryan
Isaiah was rightly fired for being an asshole. Would he have been fired if he was white? hard to say, really. Don Imus, a much larger money-making personality, was fired for being an asshole too.
nycstudman
agreed that she’s a publicity-seeking blowhard who loves to play the race card.
hisurfer
Cannick didn’t play any “race card” that I can see. She regularly writes about quite a wide range of issues, involving all color and gender combinations. This time all Cannick did was ask “what’s going on?”
And for asking the question she gets attacked.
Some of you might want to check your own biases.
BillieXX
Graywolf:
Afro-Americans…….Mmmmmm. Haven’t heard that phrase in sometime. But that’s cool because it’s clear from your rant where you stand. As for Cannick, she is simply doing what happens all the time in American politics: you support the folk you think have your best interests at heart. Cannick has written before how she does not trust they white gay/lesbian community when it comes to her rights as a black woman. Also she does believe in Washington’s apology.
peace
tothemax
Graywolf, your comment is so incredibly stupid that I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with the NAACP. Yes, they have a mandate to fight discrimination against those silly coloreds, but that doesn’t mean the individuals involved don’t care about the discrimination of other minorities. But you know what? other minorities don’t need the NAACP to stand up for them. We have more than enough groups to fight for our rights, I think. Yes, there are black ministers that preach hate, but sadly, a lot of gay people do too. To dismis an entire race because of the actions of some members of that race is, quite frankly, racist.
Being both black and gay, I am sick to death of this constant battle between minority groups for SUPER DUPER NUMBER ONE MINORITY. Just because gays are discriminated against in no way diminishes the discrimination against African Americans or Jews or Asians or whomever! Discrimination is discrimination; hatred is hatred. You would think that maybe, just maybe, members of those minorities – who know only too well what it feels like to be ignored, to be marginalized, to be hated simply because they exist – you would think that they of all people would understand why it would be wrong to sumarilly dismiss an entire class of people. But no! Sometimes – often even – people are just selfish assholes who only think of themselves.
nycstudman
Not playing hte race card? NOT PLAYING THE RACE CARD? WTF am I missing here? She’s complaining that homophobes and no-talents are being singled out because of their race, and that’s not playing the race card?
Call me a racist, but I’m getting a little tired of these black “pundits” continually complaning about black “invisibility” in the media. Blacks represent 12% of the nation’s popuation, and I think that’s far lower than the %age in various entertainment media.
And anyway, who’s counting? Isn’t THAT “tokenism”?
hisurfer
Read the article a few more times, without the anger. She notes that a number of minorities have been let go in the past few years, and asks why. It is a legitimate question. It deserves an answer. Maybe it’s due to racism, maybe it’s due to random fluctuation. Asking the question is not tokenism, palying the race card, or complaining. It is asking a question.
That is what the fuck you are missing.
dbb
Come on womyn, get a life…Washington should have been fired a long time ago, but ABC wimped out and did it at the end of the season. If this had been the other way around and TJ Knight had used a word to describe Washington’s race he certianly would have been fired faster then you could have said white on rice.
Gregg
Turning this into a race issue is ridiculous and belittles REAL race issues. This woman is a jerk.
Plus, we don’t know that Isaiah was fired BECAUSE of the “fag” comments. I’m thinking that was just one (or two) of his asshole behaviors on the set.
nycstudman
no, hisurfer, she wasn’t “asking the question.” She was making a statement that Washington was being singled out BECAUSE of his race. That’s playing the race card.
BillieXX
Yeah NYC, she plays the race card but your comments are not shining examples of racial free zones either.
tothemax
Nycstudman, I find it troubling that you have no problem being called a racist.
hisurfer
Direct from Cannick’s blog:
“While no one will come right out and say it, Isaiah’s dismissal from “Grey’s Anatomy†has everything to do with the media’s portrayal of him as this angry Black man who can’t get along with anyone and hates gay people. It has everything to do with an altercation that most of America didn’t witness (have you seen a YouTube.com clip because I haven’t?). It has to do with a group of people who think that they have the right to be judge and jury over Isaiah Washington’s fate simply because they are gay.
…
At the end of the day, Isaiah has done more for the gay community than T.R. Knight has done in or out of the closet and it’s not just the gay community either. Isaiah has been extremely supportive of the issue of HIV/AIDS in the African American community not just with his time but with his checkbook as well. How many heterosexual Black actors can we say that about?”
She makes strong statements that you may or may not agree with it. If not, argue against what she says. I don’t see how it’s ridiculous – this whole Isaiah thing doesn’t add up for me either, so I’m looking for alternate explanations also. Race is a legitimate factor to examine, especially in light of television’s piss-poor history.
And side to Alexa: Read the fucking blog before you say things like Cannick doesn’t care about Latinas or Asians. It will only take a few seconds for you to find examples where she does argue on their behalf.
robert
When push comes to shove, Jasymine puts ‘race’ ahead of ‘gay.’ She is a racist, and of the worst variety…those that don’t recognize they are, because they think “only white men can be racists.” Like that Avenue Q song “Everybody’s Racist,” we cannot get past race as long as certain groups hold themselves out as ‘not racist’ while discriminating against others (notably, in the $54 million pants lawsuit, its black vs. asian).
For her to say that Isaiah Washington has done anything positive at all regarding the gay community, while putting down TR Knight (who courageously had to ‘come out’ due to Isaiah’s epithet) is just a prime example of being a race hypocrite of the worst degree.
robert
No. 8 hisurfer says:
Cannick didn’t play any “race card†that I can see. She regularly writes about quite a wide range of issues, involving all color and gender combinations. This time all Cannick did was ask “what’s going on?â€
And for asking the question she gets attacked.
Some of you might want to check your own biases.
Posted: Jun 19, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Hisurfer: have you seen THIS Jasmyne Cannick comment?
She tells the New York Post, “Isaiah has done more for the gay and lesbian community than T.R. Knight did in or out of the closet.
http://www.pr-inside.com/washington-lauded-by-gay-activist-r157784.htm
Queerty didn’t go far enough. Can it be any more clear that Jasymne is for Isaiah because he’s black, and against TJ because he’s white…all the while ignoring that Isaiah is the one using homophobic slurs and attacking people?
Sounds like a trifecta of racism, bigotry, and enabler mentality to me.
robert
No. 9 BillieXX says:
Graywolf:
Afro-Americans…….Mmmmmm. Haven’t heard that phrase in sometime. But that’s cool because it’s clear from your rant where you stand. As for Cannick, she is simply doing what happens all the time in American politics: you support the folk you think have your best interests at heart. Cannick has written before how she does not trust they white gay/lesbian community when it comes to her rights as a black woman. Also she does believe in Washington’s apology.
peace
Posted: Jun 19, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Ok, so you ‘told it like it is.’ Jasmyne Cannick doesn’t trust the ‘white’ gay/lesbian community because they ‘don’t have her best interests as a black woman at heart.’
But did it ever occur to you to think reflexively? That the white gay/lesbian community doesn’t trust Jasymine because she doesn’t have their best interests at heart, either? Jasmyne would have been brave to do the right thing and not support and enable Isaiah’s bad behavior. Instead she made her bed based on the color of one’s skin, not the content of their character.
robert
No. 12 hisurfer says:
Read the article a few more times, without the anger. She notes that a number of minorities have been let go in the past few years, and asks why. It is a legitimate question. It deserves an answer. Maybe it’s due to racism, maybe it’s due to random fluctuation. Asking the question is not tokenism, palying the race card, or complaining. It is asking a question.
That is what the fuck you are missing.
Posted: Jun 19, 2007 at 7:03 pm
What you’re missing is you’re so full of yourself, putting yourself and Jasymine on a pedestal, that you fail to see that she and Isaiah are flawed characters, and have made themselves lightning rods for negative publicity. No one asked Isaiah to beat up people or call them names.
As for the anger: did it ever occur to you that the anger exists because ‘for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction’ and that Jasymine could have chosen to do the right thing…judge people by their character…but instead she chose to play the race card. For example, did she bring any statistics to show that African-Americans were fired at higher rates? Or did she simply pick and choose all the black people…total four…she could think of that were recently fired from a high-profile media role? What, no mention of Don Imus? An throwing in “Rosie” seems a misanthropic jab at gay men. In other words, black first, wymen second, screw gay white men, who cares…
Let me ask you this…Did TR Knight call Isaiah Washington the ‘n’ word? If he did, Al Sharpton would be calling for his firing, right? Thought so.
Ok, so what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Oh wait, I forgot, some people have ‘special’ rights that aren’t available to everyone. Sounds like separate and unequal to me.
So, the real question is…are you going to have an open mind with open dialogue, or simply declare one’s actions sacrosanct and above criticism, due to one’s skin color? Ultimately my comments aren’t to ‘win’ a war of words, but to get other people to open up, to realize that, as the Chinese say, it’s not about right and wrong, but what % right or wrong you are. So…can you give some ground (which will lead to healing) or resort to name-calling and self-justification?
BillieXX
Robert,
I was just paraphrasing Cannick’s world view. I wasn’t making a commentary about it (I can if you wish). As for your point, she would say she has looked into Washington’s character and doesn’t find him homophobiac. Granted that is hard to take but she is convinced of it.
BillieXX
Because it’s the week-end I want to add some more fuel to this fire. Washington reached out and spoke to Keith Boykin. Here is Boykin’s take on all of this:
http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2007/06/22/exclusive_isaia#more
hisurfer
Robert:the irony of your post is, you slam me and then demand that I ‘keep an open mind’ – and yet the only point I’ve made is that we should be listen and respond to Cannick’s comments. I haven’t even commented on the actual altercation, partly because I don’t have a tv and had never even heard of Isaiah or Knight or that other guy one of them shoved before this all happened. As in: I don’t have an opinion, because there are too many unknowns for me to defend one, and I’m saying let’s learn more rather than call others racist.
So – tell me how my mind isn’t open on this?