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?

AGAIN, we DON'T CARE if there was 'no intent'. The....IMPACT...is....the....same, regardless.

How many different ways do we black people have to word it for you to understand?

It’s a scary thought that you are trying to educate anyone, when you don’t even understand that Tourette’s tics are completely involuntary and unintentional.

It’s entirely different.

Im actually staggered at the belief that saying words you can’t control, not directed at anyone and with no meaning, is the same as physically harming someone.

If Tourette’s sufferers apologied for every time they said something people don’t like, they’d apologise thousands of times a day. Why should they live that life just because some people choose to be ignorant, self centered and professionally offended?

No he did not apologise.

This is an apology:

" I want to sincerely apologise for my actions and the for fact that I have hurt and insulted people. I deeply regret this."

He would have been better keeping his mouth shut then issuing a non apology that was all about himmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

JD is also an innocent man who’s done nothing wrong.

If he’d have shouted “umbrella”, he wouldn’t have Tourette’s.

I have every empathy for people with Tourettes, you however, have ZERO empathy for black people with intergenerational racial trauma, and that, is shameful.

I don’t think the people supporting JD are racist or bigoted, or that they need educating. If course intent matters. If someone has no control over their words, as with Tourette’s there is no intent to cause offence, so no reason to take offence. Why do the feelings of one cohort of society take precedence over that of another ?

Then Stan Collymore has said this in a tweet

If John had shouted it as I'm on a stage and wasn't told beforehand that he was there, I'd be embarrassed, go back stage, ask what happened, be told why, what and when then gone and found him, give him a hug, laughed and said "fuck all to worry about, how are you pal?".

If I'd have been on the stage and known he was there and he shouted it out, I'd have said " we've got the amazing John Davidson in the house, I've seen both documentaries as a young man, will watch what I hear is and incredible film and look forward to a beer with him during the after party. Disability and Tourettes isn't a crime, go to Tourettes Action UK to teach yourself about John's world".

No, he absolutely should not be apologising for his disability. I think the meaning of ‘involuntary’ is lost on a few posters. If he apologised for every offensive tic he’d be doing nothing else. In fact in a scene from his earlier documentary when he tic-ed in a shop he did seem extremely embarrassed and was apologise to those in the shop. That was nearly 20 years ago.

To the unpleasant ableist fuckers on this thread away and educate yourself and look up coprolalia
while you’re at it.

Oh do tone down the melodramatics. It’s just embarrassing.

But do tell where I said this or anything like it. Please. Go ahead. I’m dying to have my “true colours” shown to me

The BBC didn’t broadcast the n-word, it broadcast a sound which we know from others in the hall was someone shouting the n-word. It never, ever, would knowingly have done so. It takes that word incredibly seriously, as indeed you would hope.

And yet they could have express the above sentiments in their statement, but didn't...

I have every empathy for people with Tourettes

Do you?

Is that empathy here with us on the thread?

I am sure that some posters will be happy to know that JD has spent several nights in the cells due to his disability.

It must make them warm and fussy inside.

As I have already posted it doesn't take much to see both sides of this and empathise/sympathise with all of the parties concerned.

You can only imagine how people would twist things if he did apologise. “He’s said he’s sorry, so that must prove that he had control over his outburst because nobody would apologise and accept responsibility for something that was completely out of their control”.

This is a man who was spurned by his own parents because of his condition, attempted suicide, has been beaten to within an inch of his life and arrested as a result of his outbursts.

As I said on the other thread, you can have sympathy for both the actors and for John Davidson. It is not an either/or.

I don’t think anyone has zero empathy for black people and their experience. The question here is whether a disabled person should apologise for someone taking offence at a facet of their disability, over which they have no control.

Completely agree. He should have left the room. He may not have control over what he says but in this circumstance he had control over where he said it. He/his wife must have anticipated as 2 black men where being introduced onto the stage that there was a good chance he would shout out something racist.

But you're speaking for yourself here, you're not all black people. I already posted Theirry Mabonga's statement. And Stan Collymore is strongly defending John. Plenty of black tourettes sufferers on X are posting, as well as complaining that their views are being overlooked.

Some posters won't be happy until he's kissing toes and begging for forgiveness.

Clearly sleep will be lost tonight.

With respect no its not.

I’m sorry for what you have gone through, I fully support you calling out racists and bigoted people. There really is no place for that in society

but I would also say that you need to open your mind & understand what Tourettes is & how John had zero control over what he said. There was zero intent to be racist.

the poor man is being dragged all over the internet. What do you gain from doing this?

He didn’t “call” anyone that word - his disability showed a horrific symptom of which tortures him every day, and it came out in the most horrific way, like it does on a daily basis.

Only an ableist half wit wouldnt understand that

So what I’m taking from this thread is that black people are expected to just smile & go on their way when they are on the receiving end of racial slurs shouted at them by strangers?

That it’s not legitimate for them to be hurt? That, in fact, their distress and anger is itself discriminatory and self-indulgent?

That it’s unreasonable for them to expect these slurs not to be broadcast - knowingly, and by choice - to millions of people?

That if a black woman, say, an ordinary black woman, not a famous woman, just someone on her way to Tesco perhaps, was to be shouted at this way in the street by a stranger with Tourette’s, and subsequently was to feel too humiliated and afraid to leave her home, that would be her being selfish - & she’d need to ‘educate herself’?

I feel sorry for this man. I don’t think he was intentionally racist. (I have not seen his apology so cannot comment on it.) His life must have been very difficult. But that absolutely does not mean we should pretend that black people have to accept, & not object to, or be hurt by, racial insults from strangers.

I smell the normalisation of racial insults here. The requirement that black people ‘put up and shut up’. ‘Unreasonable to complain.’ ‘What a fuss.’

It’s really repulsive - and yes, I think too many pp above are shockingly, appallingly, shamefully dismissive of the reality of race discrimination.

Ironically, I suspect the people pushing this line are really not helping this particular man by enlisting him in this cause. Maybe he doesn’t actually want to be the public face of the ‘It’s ok to shout insults at black people ’ movement? Maybe he’s not actually a racist who thinks black people need to put up and shut up? Maybe think about that just a bit?