“It is a racist thing.”

 

Say It Ain’t So, Morgan Freeman?

 

Your Pity Party Doesn’t Serve Tea?

 

By POOR WILLIAM

No Sir! Poor William never thought he would be writing this article. Having penned a couple of positive posts about Morgan Freeman, the actor, not the newly self-appointed political activist, I am loath to write this, but write I must.

For the sake of full disclosure, I worked as a bartender at Morgan Freeman’s Madidi restaurant until last year and my wife managed the restaurant for almost two years, resigning her position last spring. I am a devoted fan of Freeman’s acting skills, philanthropy, and his previously made comments to Mike Wallace, in response to Wallace’s question about how to end racism, in which Freeman stated, “Stop talking about it!”

The bone I would like to pick with Freeman has to do with his labeling the Tea Party and its adherents as racist. Poor William will not address President Obama’s or the Tea Party’s platforms or beliefs, as they are irrelevant to this conversation. I am merely responding to Freeman’s inconsistencies and race-baiting politics of discord.

Pssst! Have you heard? Morgan Freeman, having learned little or possibly having learned much from his divisive and derogatory comments about mule-headed farmers, which were made leading up to his business partner’s run for Governor of the Great (and sometimes not great) State of Mississippi, has “spoken” again.

This time, Freeman accused the Tea Party, who he said controlled the Republican Party, as being racist, simply because it would like to defeat Obama at the polls in the next presidential election. This conversation occurred between Freeman and Piers Morgan on his CNN television show.

Freeman: The Tea Party’s stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term. What’s, what does that, what underlines that? Screw the country. We’re going to do whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.”

Piers Morgan: But is that necessarily a racist thing? Wouldn’t they say that about any Democrat?

Freeman: It is a racist thing! They are not gonna get rid of Obama either [like they couldn’t Bill Clinton] (Poor William didn’t realize Bill Clinton was black?). They are shooting themselves in the head.

Piers Morgan: Does it unnerve you that the Tea Party are gaining such traction?

Freeman: Yes!

Piers Morgan: Why?

Freeman: Well, it just shows the weak, dark underside of America. We are supposed to be better than that. We really are! (So are you Mr. Freeman; you are supposed to be better than this!) That’s why all those people were in tears when Obama was elected president. Ah, look at what we are—this is America. Then it just sort of started turning because these people (white folks?) surfaced, like stirring up muddy water (somebody is boiling the water Mr. Freeman and it ain’t the Tea Party?).

Full interview aired at 9pmET/PT on CNN, September 23, 2011.

Fair-minded and truth-loving readers, so help me, I have searched and searched for the “stated” policy that Freeman refers to as being part of the Tea Party plank, and I can’t locate it. Could Freeman be speaking ex cathedra in his self-appointed role as “The Great Oz” of race-baiting politics?

As we say in the Deep South, “What a crying-ass shame” that Freeman’s twilight years and his previously-thought-of good sense have devolved into what many people will remember him for: A castigating attack based on zero empirical evidence on a group of folks who happen to disagree with President Obama’s view on how best to run a country floundering in life-choking debt and discord.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic Party have recently expressed frustration with Obama’s governance; does that make them racist? Not likely!

So, is everyone who doesn’t want Obama elected to a second term as President of the United States to be labeled a racist?

The politics of race baiting have already silenced a slew of Americans from speaking out against many things they are troubled about, due to a fear of being labeled racist. As a result of accusations of racism by prominent African-Americans and not-so-prominent African-Americans, the national come-let-us-reason-together dialogue has increasingly become muted. What a shame.

Freeman’s divisive politics and recent, denigrating and vilifying comments will further divide America. This is not Freeman’s first racist foray into slandering a whole group of people with vituperative comments based on obviously off-the cuff, mired-in-fiction elocutions.

The well-liked and most excellent movie star and financial investor in the Mississippi Delta reportedly made the following comment during the early days of his business partner’s attempt to be elected to the highest office in Mississippi–excluding the noble-but-unstable office of head football coach at one of our state’s major universities–even Bulldogs and Rebels get along off the field:

“Reform in Mississippi is hard because the base stock of this state is a mule-headed bunch of farmers. Those farmers have ruled the roost for so long because this is an agricultural state.”

Also, Freeman sent out a fundraising letter for his friend and business partner stating, “Holding on to the old politics of race, class and region has starved Mississippi for too long.”

It appears Freeman is the sole possessor of the right to paint folks with a broad brush while accusing those who don’t use his brush of the same thing. The base stock of this state is NOT a bunch of mule-headed farmers.

Now, do we have some farmers today and were there many white folks back in the day who “held” Mississippi back? Sure! Have egregious acts of racism been committed in the past in Mississippi? Absolutely! Have some white folks given Mississippi a “shiner” in the eyes of the nation and the world? No damn doubt! BUT…

Is it fair to paint all white folks, all farmers, all Mississippians or any group of people with differing views of one’s own with Freeman’s horse-feather brush? HELL NO! Morgan, stop it! Please?

Morgan, you have a bevy of God-given and constitutionally-protected rights allowing you to spout whatever you feel led to share, but please don’t disparage everyone who happens to disagree with you politically, ideologically, philosophically, and pragmatically by referring to them as being mule-headed or racist.

Freeman has pulled out the Johnny Cochran trump card now, and this is what I and many other fans will remember him for: a poor legacy for a once-great man, who in the past appeared to be about racial reconciliation, not race-hating-and-baiting politics. What a crying-ass shame! PW

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