An Anxious Mind in a Beautiful World

Thank goodness, we don't have a character limit here. No one Black should be subjected to an n-word slur if it can be prevented. And this situation is especially heinous because it was a multifold preventable violation...

For those who don't know, a nominee with Tourette's had an outburst stemming from that condition while both MBJ and Delroy Lindo were presenting. He yelled out the n-word loudly. Alan Cumming later did an absolutely terrible but sadly common variety of apology wherein he used the phrase "if anyone was offended" and thanked the audience for being patient and understanding about this condition. So, here we are at a two-fold teachable moment. Please, watch this video explaining Tourette's first (because TBH I ended up down a rabbit hole of hyperfixation learning about it) :

I think the key part of this video is her explaining that it is neurons misfiring. In other words, that man could not stop that from happening any more than you could just choose to stop blinking or breathing. The condition is literally about blurting out the worst things at the worst possible situations. Like call of the void without the choice to steer you vocal cords away. There was an anecdote about a Black person with this condition terrified of yelling "I have a gun!" around cops, which would make it more likely for those neurons to fire that way....It is socially debilitating and dangerous. ALL THAT SAID... As a disabled person who has worked with disabled people for a good chunk of my life... I KNOW both alternative accommodations and assistive devices exist. BAFTA did not provide either. For example, if you are a deaf person who is trying to watch Bad Bunny's halftime show, you can/should have easy access to... ASL interpreter, Celimar Rivera:

Because Tourette's outbursts harms in multiple ways, (both the person with it and those unwittingly harmed by the words blurted out...) ...An alternative sound-proof space option for him to remain on the premises, free from fear of his tics coming at the expense of his and others' sense of safety and humanity, and *still be present for the show*, -should have been provided (they procure them easily for pageants, for example). Since it happened, BAFTA should have had a script prepared just in case, with a proper apology DIRECTLY at those affected, Black people who were present and especially Jordan and Lindo, with zero waffling and a proper scrolling card explaining both the condition and where to read up/donate. And finally, there is NO REASON it should have aired on TV with a two-hour delay. I have mentioned the discourse being horrific... The aspects that are most disgusting to me are those touting ableism, while using this incident to basically puppeteer a disabled man's expression of that to be racist and silence Black people hurt by that (the way outright nazis are piggybacking off people shouting "ABLEIST!" so they can attach their "YEAH SHUT UP!! YOU FUCKING! [insert racist slur here]...") Also, the wilful ignorance about the condition stubbornly pushing intent, even when explained that that is NOT what is happening. Again. The entire nature of the condition is that you blurt out the absolutely worst possible thing and it is NEURONS misfiring, meaning you don't get to hold it in or choose not to say it. In the end, both BAFTA and the BBC failed spectacularly for both racism and ableism (in not being prepared nor having accommodations and compounding it by re airing it). But, like I said teachable moment. *smh* If Nazis have your back? STOP and ask yourself if you're the baddies, instead of the savior from ableism. If you're insisting that a named neurological condition is voluntary?? Again ask yourself, if you're the baddies.