Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman and His Garden of Racial Hatred

Timing is everything. Yesterday, I finally saw the movie American History X. And today I learned that Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman is set to return to his hit show on A&E. Let me tell you how these things became related in my mind...

.

In the 1998 film, American History X, Edward Norton delivers a convincing performance as Derek Vinyard, a neo-nazi skinhead. The plot centers around Derek's redemption and his efforts to prevent his younger brother, Danny, from making the same mistakes and living the same hate. Much of the story is peppered with voice-over narration from Danny's perspective as he tries to write an essay paper about his older brother.

.

Throughout the movie, black and white film sequences feature flashbacks explaining Derek's journey from a suburban white kid to a vengeance-seeking white supremacist. Amazingly enough, the radical Derek went from a soft-spoken kid to a radical racist after subtle seeds planted by his father boomed into full blossom. Once his father was killed by a black man, and Derek was approached by an old-school white supremacist, Derek became a full garden ripe with radical racism.

.

In fact Derek's hate wasn't real. He represented the face of fear and anger as misdirected towards "outside" groups through the barrel of xenophobia.

.

I was drawn to the younger brother's realization that the father's (relatively subtle) dislike for Blacks produced a son who eventually was violent enough to murder. And this is where my fire got lit about Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman.

.

You see, I used to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter. His show was on my list of favorites. I was drawn to Dog's apparent love for justice, his raw grit, and what appeared to be his golden humility.

.

My love affair with Dog ended when he "niggarized" his son's black girlfriend in what was supposed to be a private cell phone conversation - and then went on to comment about how he'd feel if his daughters ever dated black men.

.

After I closed my hanging jaw and marooned Dog on Moron Island, I was determined to never watch the show again. And at the time my decision was a moot point. A&E agreed with the outrage and stopped airing the show.

.

Why was I glad to see the show get flushed? Because Dog represents the kind of sick and irresponsible parenting that produces neo-nazi skinheads like Derek Vinyard in American History X. Dog's mouth-service about justice clearly doesn't extend to the moral justice and integrity it takes to believe that all men were created equal.

.

And that's why I'm joining any efforts to prevent A&E from bringing back the Dog series and presenting Dog like some kind of moral compass for fair justice.

= = = = = = = =

Related Posts: Marooned on Moron Island: Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman

Comments

[rawdawgbuffalo]

just like imus

[Hawa]

@RawDawg: I hear ya. Only difference is, Imus put himself on blast. He was giving what he thought to be very public commentary in his trademark "shock jock" fashion.

But Dog presented himself like an icon of moral justice. I didn't watch his show for the "take downs" although they had entertainment value of their own. I also listened to his commentary about justice and fairness. He wasn't very public about his racism (like Imus). And I'll always respect (not necessarily "like") a person who is up-front about who they are and what they stand for.

[Villager]

Excellent analysis. I enjoyed this post. I am also supporting efforts to keep Duane Chapman off-the-air. Well done...

peace, Villager

[Hawa]

@Villager: I thank you for stopping by... I always feel honored when you breeze through. :-) In a few minutes, I'll run by your site and read about your objection to A&E's decision.

[Yobachi]

I've Watched American History X since the mid-90s; and I have to say you make a great observation about the affect of parental attitudes in helping to create a lot of these bastards; and relating it to Dog.

[j]

I don't know what he said, it wasn't important enough to follow but boycotting works.
It's also important to remember to support the whites who are positive. We spend so much time harping on the negatives as it pertains to them

[Hawa]

@Yobachi: I have two boys, and I conduct my role in their lives with great care because I recognize my responsibility to lay a good foundation with them.

Does that mean I'll be a perfect parent? No. It means I realize that what I teach them is just as important as what I don't.

@J: I agree with you there. I recently had a conversation about the way Blacks lump all Whites into a group labeled "enemy" and scare away like-minded justice-seeking Whites who would otherwise be allies.

[GC]

Duane Chapman is racist but I have to revisit the fact that the conversation was private. He was wrong, but whatever happened to freedom of speech? Not to mention in a private arena? If Oprah was recorded in a private conversation using some derogatory terms to refer to Jews or Asians, would people be crying out to remove her show from the air or would they be tripping all over themselves to make excuses for her? I really don't know. Maybe she'd never work in Chicago again. But I'm leaning more toward the forgiveness.

If Chapman's show was offensive or if discrimination was practiced in hiring the staff of the show, I could see it not being on the air. But I don't even see why his mistake should mean the end of his t.v. career. Besides, what does censoring his show accomplish for the black community? It's not as if a show portraying blacks in a fair and positive light would be placed in that slot.

Before I see Duane Chapman off the air for stupid comments made in a private conversation I would prefer to see a certain person taken off the radio in light of his molestation of little black girls. Duane Chapman ain't got nothing on you know who.

[Hawa]

@GC: Your comment hits upon the reasons why I am very slow to rally against folks to lose a job over an indiscretion.

And while I listed my reasons why I support Yobachi's effort, you hit on some of the reasons I also considered why not give attention to the the Dog issue.

In this case, I opted to speak up, for a combination of personal reasons (I really liked the show and felt the twinge of hurt to realize Dog thought of brown skin as simply "nigger") and for cultural reasons (shouldn't networks try to even give the appearance of racial justice?)

I never really wanted Dog to lose his job. What I wanted was a better solution after he was taken off the air anyway and brought back on a whim. That was a waste of time, and A&E would have done better to just let the show continue running.

It would be nice for once for somebody to stand up and say it's not okay - besides the people who were targets.

As always, I love to see when you stop by! :-)

[Sagacioushillbilly]

Right on. The little prick is a blatant racist bastard. 'thought he was good with the black community. . . ' Stupid fuck. He was just using the words he normally uses to describe people he believes are inferior to himself.

[Hawa]

@Sagacious Hillbilly: I enjoy your blog sooooo much, that it's an honor to see you here. :-)

And here's a secret between us: Although I am a college educated professional, graduated Cum Laude, I had to look up the word "sagacious." Now keep that to yourself. LOL

[MacDaddy]

Very good analysis. The entire episode was terrible. Besides using the n word repeatedly, the next bad thing was for him NOT to apologize to her son's girlfriend personally. Having a lawyer do it smacks of a pre-emptive strike to stave off a lawsuit, which I read his son was considering. Sick.

[MacDaddy]

Maybe he could be a co-host on the Don Imus show.

[Hawa]

@MacDaddy: I appreciate the visit and the comment. "The entire episode was terrible." That about sums it up... I spent about 30 seconds at your blog and I like what I see. In about 30 more seconds I'm gonna run over and do some reading. LOL