Duane "Dog" Chapman, the star of the cable reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter", was caught this week using the N-word in a recorded conversation with his son he thought was private.His son, Tucker Chapman, had already made a deal with National Enquirer to get a recording of his dad using the N-word so they could have some fun trying to ruin is career.
I've seen two episodes of this A&E reality show. Dog and his fellow tattooed low-lifes spend their time finding people of similar character to their own who happen to be jumping bail and bringing them in to face justice. It's pretty hard to tell the difference between the scumbags on either side of the law in this series.
Of course, the cry of racism was raised because of the use of the N-word, which was supposedly declared dead and symbolically buried in a ceremony a few months ago by civil rights activists. The symbolism was to help take the power of the word away and free the oppressed blacks in America.
I guess some people didn't get the memo on the N-word being dead and having no power, because the uproar over Dog's use of the word has forced A&E to halt production of his show.
Personally, I never use the word and find it completely disgusting that other people do use it without even thinking about it and the power it has to demean fellow humans who have been created in the image of God.
However, I also believe in free speech and free enterprise. Dog should be able to use the word if he wants, whether publicly or privately, and A&E should have the power to cancel his show if they don't want to be associated with it.
I really can't understand how fans of the show could be offended, considering how low their standards have to be to watch this piece of crap. Nevertheless, viewers can express their indignation by switching the channel, thereby withdrawing their support of the show and it's sponsors, who will move on to greener pastures.
What alarms me the most is how our culture views people in the public eye. Once they find out you're human and have prejudices, foibles, dark secrets, or ill-manners, they demand that your career be ruined on the spot and that your dark stain on humanity be removed in perpetuity.
Yeah, we have racists, like Dog, Michael Richards, and Mel Gibson. We have drug addicts like Robert Kennedy Jr, Rush Limbaugh, and Robin Williams. We have sex addicts like Larry Craig, Bill Clinton, and PeeWee Herman. The world is full of people who have some dark weakness that they have or have not given into to some degree or another.
The stature of the person shouldn't be determined by their own dark weakness, since sin and weakness is a universal fault, rather it should be determined by how they correct the wrong course they are on. Accepting the truth of our fallen nature and dealing with it are the measure of the man or woman.
Dealing with it in this case doesn't mean running to the "Reverend" Al Sharpton for absolution. Al Sharpton represents the African race as much as I represent the white race. Dog needs to confront his own dark, sinful nature by seeking an audience with God, not an audience with some impotent, sinful human like Sharpton.
This should be seen as an opportunity to see what Dog, the man, is made of. We already know he's human, now let's see how he handles the truth of his weak nature.
