Posts
Most Americans are familiar living in a land with pervasive racism; some may want to deny it exists, others might want to live in the dream that it’s just a dirty secret of the past, but deep down we all know this is a racist, classist society. WWE throughout its history and many incarnations is no different. In fact, the insular, closed off to outsiders nature of the business may in part contribute to the problem of racism. Most wrestling fans know that the WWE has never really had a ‘black’ champion, for example. Yes, The Rock is indeed half black, but this is a fact the WWE and The Rock himself have gone to GREAT lengths to keep out of the conversation, harping on his ‘Samoan Heritage’ and only really mentioning his father, Rocky Johnson, when they roll out their cavalcade of tokens for Black History Month. In fact, according to Ahmad Johnson, the first African-American IC champ in the long history of the title, The Rock himself denied his black heritage, telling members of DX that ‘his mom slept with a white dude’ and that was how he was conceived. Now one doesn’t have to stretch the imagination too far if they grew up in America to understand the type of climate that could exist where a young black man might very well want to deny his heritage, knowing how many of these racist devils will treat them otherwise, and it is absolutely a testament to the atmosphere backstage and throughout the WWE that a young black man would feel the need to behave this way.
Speaking of Ahmad Johnson, lets review one of the many stories of racism he has had to tell about his tenure in the WWE. The Intercontinental title has a long and colorful history in the WWE, created in 1979 and bestowed upon Pat Patterson. The term “intercontinental” in the title originally referred to North and South America, but In 1985, the belt design changed, the centerplate now centered on the Atlantic Ocean, in a map including western Africa and Europe. It took nearly 20 years, however, for an African-American to win the IC title, when, on June 23, 1996, Ahmad Johnson defeated Goldust, making history of a sort. While normally this should have been cause for celebration, the historic moment was tarnished when, after the show was over, Johnson went out to the parking lot the talent used and discovered his car had been keyed, and not in some random maybe it’s unrelated manner, but with the words ‘Congratulations, nigger!’ carved into his vehicle. A witness eventually came forward to Johnson, who claimed that they saw none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin doing the deed, but nothing publicly ever came of it. Ahmad has also stated that soon after that incident, he discovered a toy monkey that had been ‘lynched’ hanging in his locker.
Stone Cold is no stranger to racism charges, as his ex-wife Debbie has stated on multiple occasions that in between being drunk and beating her, Austin also would fly off the handle and demand she change the television channel whenever ‘blacks’ were on his TV. More recently, in discussing the Titus O’Neill incident, SCSA described Titus as ‘shuckin and jivin’, words that might not seem like much to white ears, but carry a weight of hatred and bigotry to any person of color who has suffered in the climate of racism that is America.
There are countless incidents of racist behavior backstage in the WWE and other promotions; from Cody Barbierri telling Alberto Del Rio to bus his tray because he is Mexican (and getting the taste slapped out of his mouth for it), to Vince McMahon telling Carlito to ‘spic it up’ for him, to Ric Flair calling Teddy Long a nigger to his face, Bill De Mott telling Osmund Cherry to ‘go back to Africa’, the constant racism and homophobia of the Ultimate Warrior ( a hateful man who in death WWE has canonized), Michael Hayes (clearly feeling suicidal) telling Mark Henry he is ‘more of a nigger than you are’ (and not only getting promoted, but put in the WWE HOF this year), Triple H constantly calling Latino wrestlers ‘bumblebees’ (a simpsons reference, but isn’t everything?) and even the lovable legend, Andre the Giant calling Bad News Brown a nigger on bus ride (and being invited to step outside and settle the matter like men) and also calling Kamala a nigger so many times the ‘giant Ugandan’ pulled a gun on him, leading to an apology and allegedly a life long friendship (I would make friends to the guy with the gun, too). And how about Road Warrior Hawk, who allegedly said ‘fuck you, nigger’ to 2 Cold Scorpio after a rib, leading to the two brawling, and Scorpio feeling the need to carry a shank from that point on, ‘just in case’. And of course, Hulk Hogan, a guy who exemplified the comfort level some white cats feel when they are ‘among their own’ to throw the nigger word around and let their true selves shine, or fester, depending on your point of view.
Why are all these people so comfortable to be racist pricks, though? A climate, pervasive and from the top down, that exists in an organization that completely fails to recognize and promote talent of color. A history of racism from the top all the way across the board. For fucks sake, lets look at some of the gimmicks WWE has run in the not too distant past:
Exhibit A: Cryme Tyme
Speaking of Ahmad Johnson, lets review one of the many stories of racism he has had to tell about his tenure in the WWE. The Intercontinental title has a long and colorful history in the WWE, created in 1979 and bestowed upon Pat Patterson. The term “intercontinental” in the title originally referred to North and South America, but In 1985, the belt design changed, the centerplate now centered on the Atlantic Ocean, in a map including western Africa and Europe. It took nearly 20 years, however, for an African-American to win the IC title, when, on June 23, 1996, Ahmad Johnson defeated Goldust, making history of a sort. While normally this should have been cause for celebration, the historic moment was tarnished when, after the show was over, Johnson went out to the parking lot the talent used and discovered his car had been keyed, and not in some random maybe it’s unrelated manner, but with the words ‘Congratulations, nigger!’ carved into his vehicle. A witness eventually came forward to Johnson, who claimed that they saw none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin doing the deed, but nothing publicly ever came of it. Ahmad has also stated that soon after that incident, he discovered a toy monkey that had been ‘lynched’ hanging in his locker.
Stone Cold is no stranger to racism charges, as his ex-wife Debbie has stated on multiple occasions that in between being drunk and beating her, Austin also would fly off the handle and demand she change the television channel whenever ‘blacks’ were on his TV. More recently, in discussing the Titus O’Neill incident, SCSA described Titus as ‘shuckin and jivin’, words that might not seem like much to white ears, but carry a weight of hatred and bigotry to any person of color who has suffered in the climate of racism that is America.
There are countless incidents of racist behavior backstage in the WWE and other promotions; from Cody Barbierri telling Alberto Del Rio to bus his tray because he is Mexican (and getting the taste slapped out of his mouth for it), to Vince McMahon telling Carlito to ‘spic it up’ for him, to Ric Flair calling Teddy Long a nigger to his face, Bill De Mott telling Osmund Cherry to ‘go back to Africa’, the constant racism and homophobia of the Ultimate Warrior ( a hateful man who in death WWE has canonized), Michael Hayes (clearly feeling suicidal) telling Mark Henry he is ‘more of a nigger than you are’ (and not only getting promoted, but put in the WWE HOF this year), Triple H constantly calling Latino wrestlers ‘bumblebees’ (a simpsons reference, but isn’t everything?) and even the lovable legend, Andre the Giant calling Bad News Brown a nigger on bus ride (and being invited to step outside and settle the matter like men) and also calling Kamala a nigger so many times the ‘giant Ugandan’ pulled a gun on him, leading to an apology and allegedly a life long friendship (I would make friends to the guy with the gun, too). And how about Road Warrior Hawk, who allegedly said ‘fuck you, nigger’ to 2 Cold Scorpio after a rib, leading to the two brawling, and Scorpio feeling the need to carry a shank from that point on, ‘just in case’. And of course, Hulk Hogan, a guy who exemplified the comfort level some white cats feel when they are ‘among their own’ to throw the nigger word around and let their true selves shine, or fester, depending on your point of view.
Why are all these people so comfortable to be racist pricks, though? A climate, pervasive and from the top down, that exists in an organization that completely fails to recognize and promote talent of color. A history of racism from the top all the way across the board. For fucks sake, lets look at some of the gimmicks WWE has run in the not too distant past:
Exhibit A: Cryme Tyme
JTG is quoted as saying “I definitely experienced some racism in WWE, and no I don’t think they do a good enough job when the majority of the African American wrestlers are pigeonholed into being the angry black guys, shuckin and jivin or rapping and singing…”
Exhibit B: One Man Gang becomes Akeem the African Dream
nuff said.
Exhibit C: Kamala and Kim Chee:
ugh.
Exhibit D: Vince:
Racism in the WWE is nothing new. Racism in America is nothing new. Racism is not going away any time soon, but that doesn’t mean we should give up the fight. What can we do? Support athletes and entertainers of color by talking them up and social media, buying their merch, and showing the money guys, who may be white and hate black, but love green, that there is a market out here hungry for stars that represent ALL of us, stars that children of color can look up to and aspire to become, stars who aren’t tokens or stereotyped as thugs, rappers, or criminal tap dancers, but SUPERSTARS. Support groups like Titus4Champ.com that are working to support minority athletes. But most of all, tell these racist fucks NO MORE. Show them we support TALENT not racism.
Take a stand, and be better than the business we all love has been. We deserve better, wrestling deserves better, our children deserve better, and the future deserves better. Let me know your thoughts on twitter @Dante_Oblivion
