Drummer says sorry for 'dumb' mistake
by Andrew Trendell | Photos by WENN
The Roots' drummer Questlove has apologised for controversial comments he made this week on Instagram, which many considered to be offensive and racist.
The band are currently on tour in Japan, where the legendary sticksman posted an Instagram photo of a children's ride-on train. The post has since been deleted, but as OhNoTheyDidn't reports, he replaced the 'Ls' for 'Rs' in his text, posting in a message to his manager: "Hey @dawnenglehart is it racist for me to write the Sour Tlain? #chipanesedownunder2013."
Englehart, an Asian herself, replied: "Nah you’re in The Loots. You’re … Arrowed."
A string of angry reactions followed, before Questlove took to his official Facebook page to post:
ok. addressing the elephant in the room on christmas
unfortunately, i’ve offended my asian brothers & sisters with an IG post which i made during my recent tour of japan. in that post, i likened a japanese department store employee’s vocal intonation to that of a (church) deacon speaking in tongues. clearly, i didn’t intend to offend anyone (asian or otherwise), clearly, i *thought* that comparison was funny-cute
… and clearly i thought wrong.
in hindsight, it’s easy to see how my post was yet another example of the ugly, american flipping yet another ugly/racially/culturally insensitive script. so, let me make this abundantly clear….
THE ISH THAT I SAID WAS DUMB (PERIOD).
And no, it wasn’t Duck Dynasty/Phil Robertson mean spirited-xenophobic dumb (but the last time i checked, sleep was still the cousin of death)
—look. i’m a human being and dumber yet, i’m a public figure. if you’re lucky enough to be either of the aforementioned, then not only should one stay clear of saying or writing hurtful things, one should actively work against feeling comfortable, thinking hurtful thoughts. given that black culture consistently finds itself at the butt end of so many offensive “outsider” jokes, I should be way, way more sensitive (after all, who’s zooming who). I for one, should never allow my cultural bias to take precedence over my “examined life” (clunkers be damned). i know the whole kinder and gentler thing reeks of a self serving political correctness, but eff it, it’s “all me”.
so, here i am once again, publicly coming to terms with some more of my stupid “say, say, say” ish. allow me to ask for forgiveness and understanding from anyone that i’ve offended. I will be better in 2014 (i promise)
-thank you.
-akt
