Tourette’s/BAFTAs offensive language

[Lochroy]

I wasn’t watching, I’ve just read the article on BBC news. I will admit I know little of Tourette’s and therefore posting to understand.

The tics agree involuntary, and often use offensive language. But what I’m struggling to get my head around is excusing use of the N word because it was caused by the disability when it was (seemingly) only directed at black people?

Also presumably it’s learned vocab so children don’t have swear words as tics? How does this develop?

He used the N word several times according to some who attended .
His actions ( despite being unintentional ) caused distress

He made the right decision to leave

Sure, they could’ve bleeped it out.

But then the two Black men on stage would still have heard it, wouldn’t they.
Sadly, I don’t think that’s the first time they’ve heard it.
Or the last.
I suspect they’ve been subjected to racist people and racist behaviour and racist language their entire lives.

There’s a number of people on this thread who’d do well to put down their phones and watch the bloody film.

I actually agree with this. A better way of handling it would be to have a ticker that flashed up on screen saying there is a person in audience with Tourettes. It's about offering explanations not apologies

I haven’t RTFT but the BBC said their team, who were in a van outside producing the programme, didn’t hear it, otherwise they would have edited it.I don’t know if that would have been the right thing to do.

He didn’t use the word several times. You don’t seem to get its involuntary, he has no control over it

I’ll reply to this post but it’s meant for all the posters saying the same thing: I have never once apologized for having had a fit. Why would I? It’s not like I choose to have them (and many times I don’t even know they’re coming more than two or three seconds before they start). I have at various times expressed thanks for help and understanding shown, and I have apologized for (variously) things broken as I fell, scratches on people as I fitted and they were helping, having bitten someone once. Why wouldn’t I? I hurt them, I broke their property. Wasn’t my fault, I didn’t even know I did it. But it was my doing - my epilepsy is a burden I have to bear, not anyone else. They all have their own things they have to deal with.

I’ll reiterate: there’s a difference between taking responsibility for something and apologizing for it. You apologize for something you chose to do or could reasonably have been expected to foresee would happen. It was your fault, your mistake. You take responsibility for ALL actions which are yours, whether chosen or not, foreseeable or not, your fault or not. There’s a huge difference.

Having a disability is not a ‘mistake’ fgs….

If being offended is a choice then isn't it ok to say people with Tourettes are just rude and ignorant? If they dont like it it's their choice. If a minority person doesn't like the N word that's their choice. If a man calls you a fat thick bitch it's your problem for not liking it.

They weren't being abused.

Your ignorance is astonishing.

And it’s abhorrent that they’ve no doubt heard it used with intent and vitriol. But they’ll also have heard it used (and possibly used it themselves) inoffensively among their peers. The word is exactly the same, it’s the context that matters. The context here is clear.

No one is asking you to like it. They are asking you to be a grown up and be tolerant as you might expect tolerance from others in other situations.

The person with Tourettes is not 'to blame'. This is the point. He is distressed by the situation as much if not more than that those who don't like the words.

Most people with Tourette’s will have the same range of positive and negative attributes as anyone else including the capacity for racism. Some will hold racist views and some will not, just like the rest of society. 'May' is therefore the correct term. Unless there is credible research showing that something in a Tourette’s brain makes it impossible to hold racist beliefs, you are on shaky ground stating otherwise.

As I said two thing can be true - a slur can unintentional and still cause real harm to the Black person who hears it. The weight of the impact is not erased because someone didn't mean it. it's offensive to expect that Black people accept that harm to spare others discomfort.

Why?

Why is not on other who can HELP being offended, to get over it?

John can’t help it.

He is trying to educate people that Tourette’s is a horrific life sentence that people have to live with - why should he scurry off because of it?

All of which is nothing to do with John Davidson

They are reclaiming it when they do that and it’s an entirely different context

not comparable at all - you are being ignorant

it’s not for anyone to decide how it’s received only those people themselves and certainly not by white people

I feel so sorry for John. He wasn't shouting at the presenters, he was shouting out loud, there is a difference. He couldn't help it, just like people cant help yawning, sneezing or burping.

I appreciate that it is horrible for people to hear, and he has stated that he is mortified, but what do people want him to apologise for, being disabled in public?

And how would you feel if you had several fits a day in public and got abuse for having fits?

Also, you say you break things and yes I would apologise too - but Tourette’s is about words. We CHOOSE to be hurt by words.

Understanding disabilities is everyone’s responsibility, not just the sufferer

Because everybody knows that the word is associated with black people. So, if a person with tourettes sees a black person, it could unfortunately trigger them to tic that word. Same as if they saw a woman they might say bitch or slut, even if they don't think that. It's just association.

Gosh I feel so sorry for anyone dealing with Tourette’s reading this thread, and reading the media. People are so ill informed. That film ‘I Swear’ was one of the most heartbreaking and thought provoking pieces of work I’ve ever seen. The thought that this poor man left the ceremony mortified and embarrassed over something he can’t control…. He isn’t racist, he had involuntary tics that screamed out inappropriate words that he doesn’t actually believe, that is the nature of the illness. He did not want to say these things but can not help it. So sad for him and I hope he’s doing ok. People need to educate themselves!

A white man shouting out N is the context

only they can say how they feel in the moment

Well you know what the word is so of course he does too. The word is used in music and films - most people have heard the word even if they know not to use it. Do you think becuase he has Tourette’s he shouldn’t listen to Jay-Z?

Well that would be factually incorrect wouldn’t it. “Being offended is a choice” isn’t quite the same when you’re telling big fat porkies