Transparency Tuesday: I like watching bigots backpedal on their own bigotry

I have to admit something.

I like watching bigots backpedal on their own bigotry. I shouldn't, but I do.

Few things give me more woke-ass pleasure than watching those who feel empowered by the current geopolitical climate be held accountable for their hateful speech and actions.

I don't know if it is the cumulation of "micro-aggressions" people of color, women, the LGBTQ community face everyday that makes these seemingly small victories feel like justice or if it is the blood of my ancestors who never saw justice running through the veins of this rape victim's great great-grand baby, but I perk up every single time marginalized people receive some form of justice.

Sorry, not sorry.

Here are a few recent examples:

NPR

Last February, couple Jose "Joe" Torres and Kayla Norton were sentenced to very lengthy prison sentences for their part of literally terrorizing an African American family simply having a birthday party in a park in Georgia. Apparently, Jose and Kayla were part of what prosecutors called a gang named "Respect the Flag" and went on an alcohol-fueled racist sprees in various counties in Georgia.

Before sentencing, Kayla, a weepy mess while sitting next to Jose, also crying, addressed the family she and Jose terrorized saying, "But I want you all to know that that is not me. That is not me." It is interesting to note that at the time of the attack, cellphone footage reveals it was Kayla who retrieved Jose's gun from their truck, where he pointed it at this family, including various children. Both were sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Daily Mail

What about the Oregon man, Frederick Sorrell, who last year chased an African American couple for 20 blocks, attempting to hit their car while shouting 'take off that f*****g burka', 'this is America', and 'go back to your f*****g country.'? This man, when apprehended, actually breaks down into real tears in court. Like real tears y'all. Sorrell in court said “I never tried to run into them. I was just going to work. I never tried to follow them. I never tried to make contact with them after the fact...”. Sorrell, who is a convicted rapist, among other things, was charged with Hate crimes.

NY Post

What about New York Fire Department EMS Timothy Dluhos, who fired off countless bigoted tweets back in 2013 under the Twitter handle Bad Lieutenant. However, when confronted by news outlets for his very bold online anti-Semitism, misogyny, bigotry, and racism, Timothy bawled like a little kid who dropped his ice cream. “My life is ruined. Oh, my God,” Dluhos wailed, reports the NYPost. “I’m so sorry.”

AOL

How about Connecticut's own Alexander Downing who verbally assaulted a family on a Texas beach, following the intervention of the family's patriarch when Timothy refused to stop harassing two women beach goers. Timothy then turned his harassment on the family, including 2 and 4 year old children, screaming "You're a f****** Muslim, motherf*****. You will never ever, ever, stop me, my Christianity, from rising above your Sharia law. Your Sharia law don't mean s*** to me." and "Trump will stop you." But after being arrested for his behavior, Alexander couldn't even make it through his mugshot without unloading the tears.

TheRoot

Or how about Christopher Cantwell, who is a self proclaimed Neo Nazi. Following the Charlottesville violence, Cantwell discovered that there has been a warrant issued for his arrest. Rather than face up to it like the bold racist he is, he breaks down in a tearful mess, even after admitting on camera to being apart of the brutality that occurred when white nationalists protests met with the peaceful demonstration there. "I know we talk a lot of s--t on the internet, but...applied for a permit months ago for this...“We are trying to make this peaceful. We are trying to be law-abiding...and our enemies will not stop."

We all remember Keaton Jones, whose viral video crying after being bullied at school broke our hearts and caused many a person, mostly Black celebrities, to show support, both on socially and monetarily, to him. Remember the backlash when people discovered that Keaton's mother, Kimberly Jones, was a proud racist who posted on her social things like this:

The Independent

Jones claimed the photos and posts were meant to be "ironic". But the only irony here is that poor Keaton, who should have never been bullied, was raised by an online, and racist, bully. Needless to say, much of that support mentioned earlier was rapidly withdrawn.

The Independent

How could we forget Peter Cvjetanovic, who last year became the unofficial angry face of the tiki torch rally in Charlottesville, where White Nationalists descended upon UVA to protest the removal of the Confederate Robert E. Lee statue there. Cyjetanovic was in numerous photos, including the one above, that went viral. However, when interviewed by local news, Cyjetanovic did more backflips than the entire U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team away from the notion that the group he was marching with a hate group, saying "I am not the angry man you seen in the video" and "No, I'm not a white supremacist", despite identifying his ties with supremacy groups only moments later.

USAToday

And what about Roseanne Barr, now shamed comedian who got her own show's reboot cancelled because of her racist tweet. Rather than owning up to her racism, because, facts are, she's been racist, she blames the entire episode (pun intended) on Ambien (to which Ambien rapidly responded that their drug causes a lot of things, but racism is not one of them). One racist tweet (that wasn't even funny), now deleted, cost her not only her reboot, but also the removal of the syndicated shows as well, meaning Roseanne a'int getting no coin from any ABC affiliated networks. Hell, you cannot even stream it on Hulu anymore.

I could go on, but I feel like we have enough examples to prove one thing: racism is wrong. And every one of these people knows it. If they didn't, they would not have attempted to do the moonwalk away from their own actions. Whether it was blaming a substance, trying to explain away, or tearfully pleading, each and every person here and the countless other stories of racists being held accountable know (or found out) that their behavior, and ultimately their beliefs, in white supremacy and bigotry, have real world consequences.

I doubt that I am I the only one who is noticing a trend of people being caught in their foolishness and rather than own up to their own beliefs, choose to turn on the excuses or even the water works. In  fact, I think you too feel the way I do, whether you have suffered these indignities yourself or are an observer and an ally to those who have, each one of these is like a small flag planted, saying while justice is sometimes slow, and some times absent, sometimes, justice gets it right.

I say all of this to say this; be who you are. If you are a flaming racist or bigot, be who you are. Don't get upset when you're caught and attempt to backpedal on your racism just because you got caught. Be who you are. Don't apologize. Because you aren't sorry, at least not in the way you should be. You don't feel repentant, you feel exposed. And rather than crying because you knew your behavior was wrong and that you shouldn't have acted this way, you are crying because you got caught, simple as that.

But if you are like me, and so many others, who are against the spread of hatred in this country that we all love, I urge you to keep the conversation moving forward. Racism, bigotry, and the like are based on nothing more than ignorance, and the more we educate ourselves and each other in peaceful, civil and transparent conversations, the sooner we will make America truly great.