You can lose your dignity when you resort to racism. There is no dignity in being racist. Takei serves as a detriment to the LGBT community by resorting to racism in his criticism of Justice Thomas. There is no way you can take his comments out of context.
I don't think his comments were racist.
rac·ism
ˈrāˌsizəm/
noun
- the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
- prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
How does calling him
a clown in blackface make him racist?
Doc, I am currently on his Facebook page, where he has attempted to explain himself.
"A few fans have written wondering whether I intended to utter a racist remark by referring to Justice Thomas as a "clown in blackface."
"Blackface" is a lesser known theatrical term for a white actor who blackens his face to play a black buffoon. In traditional theater lingo, and in my view and intent, that is not racist.
It is instead part of a racist history in this country.
I feel Justice Thomas has abdicated and abandoned his African American heritage by claiming slavery did not strip dignity from human beings. He made a similar remark about the Japanese American internment, of which I am a survivor. A sitting Justice of the Supreme Court ought to know better."
His words, according to that definition from the dictionary, reflected prejudice against Thomas' African American heritage. He only made things worse by presenting the definition of "Blackface" (seen in bold underlined italics). The very portrayal itself is racist. It is a caricature of a black person by a white man. A form of mockery which I find wholly racist.
It was a subtle way of calling Thomas a traitor to his race. That alone is racist. We can parse words all you like, but I'm not the only one who thinks this is racist.