Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
People say stupid things all the time.
Comedians do it and think they are funny. Even when upon occasion, they are not. Such as when a video of Shane Gillis—recently selected as a cast member on NBC’s Saturday Night Live—was seen making bigoted comments about Asians. Gillis copped a quick apology via Twitter that in reality was no apology saying that he was a comedian who as pushing boundaries.
Fat chance. His comments were moronic and exploitative, not humorous.
Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur turned Democratic presidential candidate–and the only Asian-American in the race–said on CNN’s State of Nation, "I've experienced a lot of anti-Asian racism throughout my upbringing. And it hurts.”
Yang also took to Twitter speaking directly to Gillis. "Shane — I prefer comedy that makes people think and doesn't take cheap shots. But I'm happy to sit down and talk with you if you'd like." Yang also wrote, "We would benefit from being more forgiving rather than punitive."
Yang took the high road, and in doing so, he is rising above the issue rather than wallowing in it. He would be in his rights to ask for NBC to fire Gillis for such remarks, but he did not. Nevertheless, NBC fired Gillis.
Note that too often we expect those who have experienced bigotry to slough it off. We do it because we don’t see it as a “big problem” or because we think they must show they are better than the wrongdoers. Such an attitude only fosters more bigotry because those that traffic in hate speech know they can get away with it.
Recently mega-superstar Taylor Swift talked on CBS Sunday Morning about her experience of being wronged: “To forgive, you must release your resentment for the right reasons.” You must release your resentment because you see that you can repair your relationship.”
Swift has been disrespected right from the start of her career when Kanye West leaped on stage when she received her first Grammy. Years later a radio personality groped her while she posed for a selfie with him. She sued for damages of one dollar and won. None of this has hurt Ms. Swift's career; her newest album, her seventh, is the top-selling album of the year to date.
Not forgive and forget
In an essay for the New York Times, philosopher Scott Hershovitz of the University of Michigan, writes, “Some people think that moving on is forgiving. But Ms. Swift is right to insist that there’s a difference. To forgive, you must release your resentment for the right reasons. You must release your resentment because you see that you can repair your relationship.”
Taylor Swift, according to Hershovitz, “believes that forgiveness is for those ‘who have enriched your life and made it better.'” By that measure, Swift says, “If something’s toxic and it’s only ever really been that, what are you going to do? Just move on.”
Hershovitz argues that “Swift is saying: Hold on to your resentment; just don’t let it hold on to you. Don’t let it consume you. Put it in perspective, and then … shake it off.”
Moving on is what Andrew Yang is doing, but doing so with an open heart.
Yang tweeted, "I took the time to watch and listen to Shane's work. He does not strike me as malignant or evil. He strikes me as a still-forming comedian from central Pennsylvania who made some terrible and insensitive jokes and comments." Gillis for his part is going to take up Yang’s offer to meet face-to-face.
Andrew Yang and others who find themselves the objects of racial targeting reveal something that bigots will never have—grace. Grace is the virtue to open the door to mercy and forgiveness. When you have grace–the catalyst for the greater good–you have what it takes to act upon the better angels of your nature.
