Bullshit.

Bullshit.

#blackmastodon
https://newsone.com/6850753/tourettes-tic-blamed-nword-being-yelled-baftas/

Hoo boy. I have a lot of complicated thoughts and feelings around the BAFTA incident, in part because I have Tourette's (though, thank God, not coprolalia) AND am a lawyer/mediator specializing in disability accommodations (in educational settings). In a nutshell, though:

1. Unless he's a secret racist who shouted the n-word intentionally, the utterance itself truly was an involuntary act for which the speaker should not be blamed. Coprolalia isn't random; it makes people say the MOST transgressive thing possible in the context, which is exactly what happened here. It's troubling to me that some people refuse to accept this reality, which is a form of ableism.

2. The harm to Black people hearing that word nevertheless is extremely real, and the organizers completely fucked up both in how they structured the show and in responding to it afterwards. I understand that the speaker is a Tourette's activist, so I'm guessing both he and the organizers wanted some of the obscenities to be heard by the audience because, yeah, sometimes one person's disability is a little awkward for the people around them, and the people around them need to grow the fuck up and learn to accept it. But that doesn't mean that the harm to hearers can be ignored, especially when racist terms, not just obscene ones, are part of the person's known vocabulary. Disability accommodations require creativity and compromise; that doesn't seem to have happened here, other than a statement given to the audience at the start explaining his disability (which: good, but that approach alone fails to account for the substantial difference between ordinary vulgarities and racist obscenities). And the subsequent rationale that "Look, this is just the nature of Tourette's!" as if disability trumps racism is pitifully inadequate, because it ignores the harm to Black viewers. Tourette's sucks. Racism sucks. Don't minimize either one.

3. BBC has absolutely no excuse for not bleeping out the n-word even if they left in the other vulgarities, and for them to refuse to do so – to treat the n word as if it were no different than "fuck" – shows a profound insensitivity and colonialist mindset, and someone needs to get fired – especially because presumably the same person did bleep out "free Palestine!"

@IveyJanette
I didn't see your post earlier. Thanks for posting.

@IveyJanette
"Should someone with severe, stimulus-triggered coprolalia be placed in high-profile live public events without safeguards?"

Well, yes, given the nature of the film about Toutettes being referenced. Unless the author wants people with embarassing disabilities to be denied their autonomy. "Be placed" is an odd replacement for the more accurate "be allowed to attend".

@IveyJanette Thoughts: What kind of company does he keep that this is the language he’s absorbed? Hostility isn’t excusable, despite neurodivergence. If he can’t avoid cruel outbursts, he might not be suitable for public events where his vile outbursts might hurt people.

@wendinoakland I'm assuming he was invited to this event.

@IveyJanette Well sure. And it’s horrible that others were put at risk so he could attend. I’m not taking a popular position, suggesting that a disability might become a liability as well? But look, people were insulted and inflamed and he was excused for being vile because “neurology”? It is a complex thing, but there’s nothing wrong with being cautious where damage might be done.

@wendinoakland Or because he was the right color?

@msbellows a secret racist?

@IveyJanette Of course! I doubt a Black or Brown man/person with Tourettes would say that.

Bullshit.

#blackmastodon
https://newsone.com/6850753/tourettes-tic-blamed-nword-being-yelled-baftas/

@venitamathias People with Tourette's can be racist too, but I'm positive there were other racists in that audience and they didn't shout out the slur. It's theoretically possible that someone with Tourette's would use their disability as cover to intentionally say something like that, but in my view the chances of that are vanishingly low.

@IveyJanette Thoughts: What kind of company does he keep that this is the language he’s absorbed? Hostility isn’t excusable, despite neurodivergence. If he can’t avoid cruel outbursts, he might not be suitable for public events where his vile outbursts might hurt people.

@IveyJanette

What bothers me the most is the network's approach of "You can't be upset about this, because . . ." It sounds dismissive of how people feel when they hear a racial slur. There needs to be space for that. Feelings are valid. Experiences are valid.

@venitamathias People with Tourette's can be racist too, but I'm positive there were other racists in that audience and they didn't shout out the slur. It's theoretically possible that someone with Tourette's would use their disability as cover to intentionally say something like that, but in my view the chances of that are vanishingly low.

@wendinoakland @IveyJanette One of my friends’ kids has Tourette’s and some of the other kids at school will say swear words or slurs around him because they know he’ll repeat them and they think it’s funny.

@kimlockhartga @IveyJanette If that’s their position they are basically playing a zero-sum game between disability/mental illness and race, which is a bunch of hooey.

@msbellows What is the association with seeing Black men and shouting ni**er? Why that word? Why not Blacks or something else? I have no excuses for the man. None.

@venitamathias I understand how you feel, but you're misunderstanding the nature of the disability. A miswired part of his brain actually identifies the most inappropriate thing to say in a given situation, and blurts it out. The words aren't random; medically, it's called coprolalia, which literally means "shit speaking." Wikipedia explains it correctly:

"Coprolalia encompasses the uncontrollable utterance of words and phrases that are culturally taboo or generally unsuitable for acceptable social use.... Involuntary outbursts, such as racial or ethnic slurs in the company of those most offended by such remarks, can be particularly embarrassing. The phrases uttered by a person with coprolalia do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of the person as they are unconsciously produced."

In other words, a fucked-up part of his brain, over which he has no control, intentionally chose the n-word precisely because it was so offensive.

Yeah, it's a fucked up disability to have.

@msbellows Did his brain pick and choose who would receive slurs? Why not call women bitches and whor*s? Why not call folks with Jewish names dirty Jews/kikes?, etc.