Part of The Wire‘s legacy is how it eloquently depicted how broken systems work against impoverished African-Americans. Admirers of series creator David Simon might say that he has been granted the proverbial “black card” for his efforts. As of September 19, 2016, that card has expired.
Last night, Simon learned that Fox troll Sean Hannity will join Republican candidate Donald Trump in a town hall meeting held in a Cleveland black church. Joking about this is like dynamiting the proverbial fish-filled barrel, owing to their well-documented willful ignorance of African-American issues, but it only took one tweet for Simon to turn himself into the butt of the joke:
Hannity my nigga! If they couldn’t get Ta-Nehisi or Deray to host, then who but you on the pulse of black America? https://t.co/9hW7wpH4Ar
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
Of course, he got blasted on Twitter, because of a very simple yet often violated concept: Don’t jokingly use racial slurs if you’re a white guy. But Simon, stubborn man that he is, decided to die on this hill. Rather than owning up to the awkward quip, he started to tweet through it, defending himself by claiming he was satirizing Hannity’s efforts to connect with black people.
To the hall monitors: Use of N-word (with an A) DIRECTLY mocks the misuse of a white Fox interlocutor to address black issues. I’ll play it.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
@russbengtson Then nothing will. Because it was a direct challenge to the idea that Sean Hannity (or anyone white) can be interlocutor here.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
@bettyb00p00 I don’t honestly agree. Use of the wrong racial vernacular was precise intended metaphor for use of wrong racial interlocutor.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
@williamj Use of inappropriate racial veracular was EXACT metaphor for use of inappropriate racial medium by DT. Gotta stand on context.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
It is my bigoted world view that your use as a conduit for explaining the birther candidate to black Americans is white entitlement defined. https://t.co/uyn2F7qBKs
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
Despite his good intentions, Simon couldn’t even save himself. On Friday night, Oklahomian Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old father of four, was shot and killed by police, despite being unarmed with his hands up. Last night, video of the terrible incident spread through social media, leading Simon to tweet his outrage:
On the scale of unjustifiable police violence, this one appears to rival Walter Scott and surpass even Eric Garland. https://t.co/DV47kcmolh
— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016
Yes, Simon was quick to namedrop Ta-Nehisi Coates and DeRay Mckesson for bonafides, but couldn’t remember Eric Garner’s name.
