August 31, 2015, in a Good Morning America interview, Hulk Hogan called for forgiveness from his fans after being wiped from the WWE Hall of Fame and essentially all of the federation's history over his use of the N-word directed towards his daughter's boyfriend. The WWE superstar insisted he was wrong for his use of the word and pins some of the blame on the environment he up, South Tampa. According to him, the word was thrown around so much between him and his friends he hadn't considered the power behind it. But this raises the question, is the Hulkster truly remorseful for saying the word or for being caught? He's admitted to using it frequently through his youth as it was commonplace in his group of friends. Now that using the word has caused serious consequences for him and effectively erased his entire legacy in the WWE record books, he is suddenly appalled by racist rhetoric. I would like to forgive Thunder Lips. I would love to. His message of saying your prayers, eating your vitamins, and being the best American you can be for your country resonates with me as a black young man. I learned from Hollywood Hogan that even in a country that shows disregard for people that look like me and my family and my friends, I should still try to make my country right to keep language like this out the mouths of people that have no business using it. Now faced with one of my heroes asking me for forgiveness for a seemingly unforgivable act, we all have to ask ourselves a serious question.
Do we continue to let Hulkamania run wild?
I feel that if he was truly remorseful, he wouldn't make excuses. He would own up, and properly apologize. He was obviously using the word in a hurtful way, and to put in up on such a public place like twitter even proves he was trying to humiliate the boy. That's not something we should turn a blind eye, too. But knowing America, we surely will.
ReplyDeleteNever was a fan of WWE, couldn't get past the fact it was all fake - however, unlike legitimate theatre, talent is not necessary to smash a break-away chair into your friend's back (especially when he knows exactly what's coming and how to react). Anyway, Hogan's colors truly came to shine when under "pressure" about his daughter's boyfriend he decided to bust out a derogatory term with so much pain attached to it for reasons unknown to me (why would his friends and him use that word so loosely in the first place? That really says something about who he was growing up and who he is now).
ReplyDeleteJack Higgins, 6th period
It's cute how white people think that a tear filled apology and an admittance that using a term that directly relates back to the most massive act of genocide in American history is wrong. Reminds me of when Paula Deen was called out as a racist and had her TV show yanked (she made a very tearful television and internet apology). It's hard to act all high and mighty once the rug gets pulled out from under you and you get called out. There are no excuses for racism, this isn't 1870 anymore, dropping N-Words isn't a casual oopsies we can make and then apologize for and have a clean slate.
ReplyDelete--Zoe Roberts (3rd Period)
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