The 1975 debut episode of The Jeffersons was called “A Friend in Need,” and in it, Tom Willis offered a bit of white logic. After a confrontation with the sitcom’s black protagonist George Jefferson, Tom, a successful white book editor, told his black wife Helen that although the N-word wasn’t completely banished from his thoughts, he’d never been tempted to use it, not even during their most-heated arguments.
“You see, honey, we can’t stop crazy thoughts from popping into our heads,” he explained. “Nobody can. But what matters is not what passes across our minds. It’s how we live our lives together.”
I thought about Tom’s white logic while listening this week to Robert Ortiz’s apology for a viral drunken rant in which he twice called Lyft driver Shawn Pepas Lettman the N-word.
Related: Insufferable gay Trump supporter hurls racial slurs at Lyft driver, refuses to leave vehicle
How about we take this to the next level?
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“At the end of the day, my actions were unjustifiable,” Ortiz told New York City TV station WPIX. “I was drinking. A lot of the stuff that I said I didn’t even remember until the next day.”
“That’s not how I was raised to treat people. I grew up in the projects, so I just wanna make sure that people understand that I’m not racist,” Ortiz continued, before taking another dig at Lettman, whom he accused of being homophobic and racist against Latinos in his rant for refusing his request to turn on the radio.
Said he: “I’m Puerto Rican. I’m from the Bronx. I’m gay. Like, we know discrimination. You smell it in the air. You just know when someone’s uncomfortable with you. The only thing that I can say is that I’m sorry.”
Please. A pity-party apology with excuses and shade is not a sincere one, just damage control.
And if you have to insist you’re not racist, you probably are.
People who aren’t racist don’t have to protest that they aren’t because their actions don’t render them suspect. They’re the ones who don’t make race the crux of everything, from lousy customer service to their sexual attraction.
The Ortiz vs. Lettman stand-off went down in Brooklyn last August during a Lyft ride. Ortiz delivered a 16-minute tirade directed at 911, Lyft customer service, and Lettman, after the latter refused to play music in his car. Lettman filmed the rant and earlier this month posted it on YouTube, where it went viral. As a result, Ortiz’s employer fired him and Lyft banned him for life.
Only then did Ortiz apologize, first in a YouTube video he posted on October 13 and then in the WPIX interview.
Unfortunately for Ortiz, he’s already shown us who he is, and in my Maya Angelou way, I believed him the first time.
He may think he’s special, but he’s not. We’ve encountered his brand of entitled gayness before, as recently as August when Chris Donohoe threw a hissy fit in Las Vegas over a hotel’s reaction to his skimpy swimwear. They backtrack when they’re called out. They blame it on poor communication. They blame it on Ambien. They blame it on the a a a a a alcohol.
Related: Can someone please school gay Speedo activist Chris Donohoe on white privilege?
They blame everything but their own darkness. Ortiz says he was wasted. The “I was drunk” defense wouldn’t hold up in a court of law, and it won’t hold up in the court of public opinion. It’s too late to deny you’re racist when you’ve been caught on camera proving that you are.
People get angry. People get drunk. People get angry and drunk. But they don’t all turn into nasty, narcissists spewing hateful, racist language.
I’ve had guys hurl drunken N-word rants at me and offer morning-after apologies. Whether or not I accept them doesn’t change what they said. It doesn’t alter the fact that somewhere inside the apologist, a raging racist lurks, just waiting for booze and/or rage to let him out.
I’m done. I’m tired of excuses and lame justifications for unacceptable behavior: “I was young.” “I was drunk.” “I was on Ambien.” “It’s just my preference.” If Ortiz has learned anything from the discrimination he supposedly knows so well that he can smell it in the air, it shouldn’t have been so easy for him to dish it out.
Naturally, there are those (mostly white, presumably) who think his apology is sufficient, and we should all move on. Why do we have to always go on about racism anyway, right? Well, if you don’t want us to go on about it, don’t keep making it an issue.
If you’re not racist, don’t make everything about race. Don’t drop racial language and then try to play innocent when people react. Go ahead and complain about the Lyft driver who refuses your musical request. Date whom you want to date. Sleep with whom you want to wake up next to–or send packing before sunrise. Just leave race out of it. If you shut up about it, we will, too.
But those who claim not to be racist are always the first ones to allude to race, whether it’s in a drunken tirade, a social-media pronouncement, or a Grindr profile. Plenty of people manage to get through life without being privately or publicly branded “racist.” If you don’t want to be accused, stop fondling smoking guns?
The bad behavior and the excuses will continue, because this is the America that President Donald Trump is supposed to be making great again, and Tom Willis’s white logic has largely gone out of style. Offenders might lose their jobs, as Ortiz lost his gig at the urgent health care facility CityMD. But they still can have a shot at the Presidency, or a seat on the Supreme Court.
It’s interesting that Ortiz identified himself as a Trump supporter on camera. Even in his alleged drunken haze, he was cunning enough to name-drop Trump because he probably knew that if the video Lettman was shooting went viral, the President might see it and count Ortiz among the “very fine people” who thinks he walks on water. Flattery will get you everywhere with Trump.
If the mea culpa thing doesn’t work out, maybe Ortiz should give Trump a call. Or Kanye West. He can tell them how wonderful they are. Ortiz’s narcissism may have gotten him fired from his last job, but theirs could very well lead to his next one.
Related: Insufferable gay Trump supporter who went on racist rant against Lyft driver fired from his job
Juanjo
Mr. Ortiz – you are not helping yourself. You were drunk and as the saying goes – in vino veritas. You are sorry but not that you did this but that you were caught and punished for doing so. Claiming that because you are Puerto Rican and/or gay so you aren’t really like that is a joke. Plenty of folks who are discriminated against for one reason or another are happy to be just as bigoted towards others. You are trying to explain away your behavior rather than confronting your own behavior, admitting it and apologizing for it without excuses.
Apolodorus
Clapping standing ovation dude!
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Sorry, Ortiz was totally out of control and said some dumbass things. However I refuse to follow the “the poor driver” parade.
He is in the service business. Tips make up a significant part of his income. Turning on or changing a radio station is certainly not a big ask. There have been countless incidents of Lyft and Uber drivers exhibiting blatent homophobia. Kicking Gays out of their cars, refusing service etc. The driver picked Ortiz and friends at a Gay club. Ortiz states he could sense homophobia in Letterman’s attitude. As someone who experienced that crap first hand when an Uber driver refused service when my kinda sorta flamboyant friend said we were going to a Gay club and the driver refused, saying it was a “dangerous area” (middle of NYC).
Ortiz went way into Dbag area, but I ain’t accepting the crap the author of this thread wrote. There is a extremely high likelihood this whole incident was rooted in homophobia. The right wing nut bags are hating on the Gays and very quickly destroying the gains we have made in the last 20 years due to Trump’s kowtowing to the evangical anti-Gay obsession. I err on the side of caution and will show support for the Gay in this incident.
theafricanwiththemouth
Rant Rant Rant,
Bottom line, what we have on visual is an A to the SS HOLE!! a blatant one, spouting racist and even to an extent, homophobic words.
So you can assume all you want for his defense, and try as much as possible to find fault in the driver, but just as you believe the incidence could have been born our of homophobia, it could also very well, NOT have been!!
This Ortiz guy, going by the 16 minute idiot rage he went on + maybe some alcohol for fuel, is the kinda person who may easily go off on anybody for whatever reason (not just a homophobic one).
Also, yes, POOR FUKING DRIVER!! Thats what he is for being able to patiently sit through 16 minutes of harassment from that embarrassing, nasty individual.
PS: The same driver you’re accusing of possible homophobia is reportedly trying to help quell the storm haunting Mr Ortiz. I think an actually homophobic fella would kick back and enjoy the show.
Anyway, call it what you want to.
ulimarquez
Lol, it would be nice if your statement about tipping were true, in reality about 5-10% of riders tip their rideshare drivers. Before you make assumptions I am a rideshare driver with Lyft with a 4.99 rating and nearly 2000 rides. If you want proof I’ll send it your way via a screenshot of my profile.
I have had people ask to turn the radio to max the ac to max and a lot of other shit that’s obnoxious, I have helped load groceries and luggage and so much more and sometimes I don’t even get a thank you. Good for you if you do tip workers in the service industry but just be mindful that not everyone is as generous as you.
The amount of entitled gays and straights I get that don’t tip is staggering.
Vince
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS. Good observation. Not to mention the driver is probably from some crappy african nation where homophobia is the norm. Sometimes things aren’t always black and white.
Vince
@ulimarquez. Yeah, I hear ya bud and congrads on your high rating. I’ve also driven for uber/lyft and never again. You see the worst side of human nature. The real degenerates. People that before would be just taking the bus. It’s amazing where you’ll pick someone up and they’ll abuse you by cranking up the music up while littering your car and of coarse no tip. This on a $6-$7 ride. To do it you really have to have thick skin. I’ve had many fantasies of taking a detour with some of them and kicking the shit out of their self perceived entitlement.
spacecadet
@playswellwithothers: you have absolutely none, zero, evidence that this incident is rooted in homophobia. The only thing you have is evidence of the guy you call being a “Dbag” saying and doing “Dbag” things. For all you know, the driver could be gay himself. So maybe don’t assume.
@Vince: you’re just a racist idiot.
Cacti
“If you’re not racist, don’t make everything about race”
So that confirms what i thought for a long time: SJWs and lot of people on the left are as much racist as people on the right.
Bob LaBlah
Queerty, it seems too hard to believe you can’t find a black person who has started some type of business and report on something positive for once. These types of articles are getting a bit sickening. I see no story here. Uber, Lyft and regular taxi cab drivers are what they are. A degree in philosophy or rocket science isn’t required for that type of work. If the driver has a problem driving Miss Daisy or Miss Thing around then I suggest you simply get out and hail a regular yellow taxi who will GLADLY accept the fare and get you to where your going without a word having to be exchanged.
Polaro
What this proved is the guy should not drink so much and act like a fool. People blasted out of their minds say crazy and sometimes horrible things – we’ve all seen it and a lot of you have done it. Should you lose your job too?
When you drive at night you know you are going to be driving drunk people; that is part of the service. Drunk people can be a handful. The driver did not manage the encounter in the best way either. Don’t poke drunks.
This behavior should get Robert banned from Lyft, and that is the extent of what I think is appropriate.
As things I am currently worried about, this is not one of them.
Go vote.