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?

This.

The BBC are responsible for this. Same as that talentless 'music artist' Vylan who made awful anti-semetic remarks at Glastonbury last year. The BBC let those comments be aired. They could have edited them out, and they didn't. Same with this.

As has been said, there are no winners here. I feel sorry for the 2 gentleman the racist slur was aimed at, but I also feel sorry for the man who shouted the racist slurs, as he clearly couldn't help it.

I have learned quite a lot about tourettes on this thread, and I hope others have too. Thanks to everyone who has given information about it.

Nobody’s saying he should be confined to his house.

But he had apparently shouted multiple offensive things before this incident. At what point does it turn from him doing it involuntarily to him choosing to sit there and know he will be shouting these things?

If someone had a stoma bag that started leaking in a packed theatre, would you say “oh it’s their disability, it’s not their fault, let them stay”, while disrupting others? Or would you expect them to excuse themselves and clean the mess?

Wow. You are denying every black person their own experience of racism.

The very nature of an accident is that it happens without intent/control. You still apologise.

Well that’s the most offensive thing on this thread so far, and it’s a crowded field.

People with Tourettes understand only too well that they are being offensive, the problem is that they have no power at all to stop it. None. Like a paraplegic can’t just get up and walk, a blind person can’t just see, and a deaf person can’t just hear. What is it you’re not understanding about that?

But what they DO have control over is whether they allow themselves to stay in that situation. He was well aware he was being offensive. So why did he stay in the room to cause offence?

All the posters stridently lecturing others about their lack of empathy for someone's disability should reflect that their, in most cases, absolute lack of empathy for how it must feel for any black person to have the worst possible slur shouted at them when on stage in an awards ceremony - at a point when they can have had no idea who was shouting it or why - is not a good look, at all. What happened to intersectionality? One person's genuine suffering shouldn't mean we brush off that of others and demand they ignore their own hurt.

You do know it actually happened whether it had been edited out of the broadcast or not? An apology was also added in to the tv version to give context and that should have been the end of it. John Davidson has to live with this condition every day and the film (and documentary) demonstrates how the shame manifests, but now he has this media shitshow to contend with too thanks mostly to those commenting without fully understanding Tourette Syndrome (or even having seen the film!).

Tourette’s causes you to shout out the worst things. I seen a few programmes about it and sufferers calling police pigs, saying I’ve got a gun and so on. Shouting 9/11 was great in America. They can’t help it.

Wow. You clearly don’t know much about racial trauma then. Time to educate yourself.

But it’s perfectly okay to be ableist? ALL prejudices are equally wrong and ALL people regardless of colour should bloody well educate themselves on disabilities before passing judgment. Fucking pissed off with ableism being classed as acceptable.

Exactly. Apparently they should just be quiet and pretend it’s all fine.

He had every right to be there. You have heard of making reasonable adjustments for disabilities yes?

Perhaps you need to watch the film and find out how hard life is for Tourette’s sufferers.

I feel really sorry for him - the ENTIRE point of the film is that he cannot help it. It’s such a shame this is overshadowing the success of the film. It’s such a should have been edited out or if this could have been foreseen, maybe he could have sat in the green room instead?

That's the sad part about it - the very film that was celebrated and now it is embroiled in this. The film was about the shame of living with it.

There you go, intentionally misunderstanding my point. If someone is physically abusive but mentally incapable of stopping themselves from abusing then they would be at least accompanied by a guardian. But hey, it’s just black people. Now that IS backwards.

No that would not be appropriate.

No Black person should be criticised for not making allowances for Tourette’s. Just as Tourette’s is involuntary, so too are many Black people's reactions to racial slurs.

And a reasonable adjustment in this case would be a separate area he could excuse himself to should this type of thing occur. It isn’t a reasonable adjustment to impact everyone else in the room. The point of a reasonable adjustment is that they are reasonable. Do you genuinely think it is reasonable to make people of colour endure racist abuse?

I doubt it would have spread as far and wide as it has today if it had been edited. Don't you think?

I have sympathy for Michael and Delroy hearing that and the hideous memes created by racists (with glee) because of it. I also have sympathy for John, who is being torn apart online for a disability.

The two things are not exclusive.

I’ve been pissed off about racism for over 50 years and that won’t stop because you’re calling me names, which means you’re losing the argument.

Actually, it would be classed as a reasonable adjustment.

My understanding is that John did remove himself after his tic. He apparently left at that point.

You mean his actions that he could not control if he tried?

One of my children has Tourette’s and finds it impossible not to shout shit fuck fuck fuck shit shit fuuuuuuck in quiet bookshops 🤷‍♀️

If you asked her to apologise we would be having a conversation.