The money quote, IMO, is in the last paragraph of the Alexander apology:
In comedy, timing is everything. And when a group of people are still fighting so hard for understanding, acceptance, dignity and essential rights – the time for some kinds of laughs has not yet come.
It reminded me of the mathematical formula proposed by my old friend John Scalzi in Hints for White People, where X = how long the minority was or has been oppressed and Y = how long they've been mainstream (if they are) and while X/Y > 1, "[i]t’s probably best that you keep your wryly amusing idea to yourself." (Except, obvs, that the Alexander version is more concise.)
And yes, KSD are definitely recognizing that they dropped the ball and trying to make good. The variation-on-a-cliche "I can assure you [the author']s original intent was not to offend" is followed by acknowledgement that, to paraphrase a great American actor, the facts and the evidence say he did. They get it, and we should encourage this behavior.
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Date: 2012-06-04 03:53 pm (UTC)It reminded me of the mathematical formula proposed by my old friend John Scalzi in Hints for White People, where X = how long the minority was or has been oppressed and Y = how long they've been mainstream (if they are) and while X/Y > 1, "[i]t’s probably best that you keep your wryly amusing idea to yourself." (Except, obvs, that the Alexander version is more concise.)
And yes, KSD are definitely recognizing that they dropped the ball and trying to make good. The variation-on-a-cliche "I can assure you [the author']s original intent was not to offend" is followed by acknowledgement that, to paraphrase a great American actor, the facts and the evidence say he did. They get it, and we should encourage this behavior.