Unless you live under a rock or have somehow managed to live life free of social media, you have probably heard by now that, eight years ago, Hulk Hogan went on a racist rant and dropped the N-bomb a bunch of times. Initially, I was shocked. My dad and I loved Hulk Hogan when I was growing up, and I’m pretty sure I was the only little girl on my block who had a Hulk Hogan action figure.
Once my initial shock wore off, though, I was actually surprised by the extent to which I do not care. I mean, c’mon … is it really that unbelievable? Am I supposed to be like, “Oh my goodness! Some old dude from the South is a closet racist? This is such appalling and unusual news!” I’m sorry, but I can’t get my black girl panties in a bunch over this. After the loss of Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and others whose deaths seem to be motivated by race, after the actions of Dylann Roof in June, I have to be honest … I’d rather know someone is a racist than have them conceal it.
The beauty of knowing that someone is a dirty lowlife racist is you know where they stand. Now that I know Hulk Hogan loves the N-bomb, I can make sure I never support anything he sells or endorses. My future kids will never know the joys of making a Hulk Hogan action figure go on a date with Barbie. And now that I think about it, even that was a slap in the face to the Hulk, because I definitely had his action figure dating my black Barbie dolls. Take that, racism!
I, for one, encourage all racists to speak up. Let us know who you are, stand up for your beliefs. If every racist just turned on a camera and said all of the filth that lives in their janky little hearts and made it available for all to see, I think the world would be a better place. Why? Well, I don’t know how engrossed in Twitter you are, but people who have been outraged by the antics of racists have done a great job of exploiting those hateful people and even getting some of them fired from their jobs. Racist and unemployed? Good luck with that.
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And of course this Hulk Hogan drama sparked the debate over who is and is not allowed to say the N-word. I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say that the people who are whining about not having the privilege of being able to say the N-word are probably the ones who shouldn’t say it. It’s a big world out there, a world full of people who still knock folks out for saying that word in their presence. Everybody has the right to say whatever they want … and they also have the right to deal with the consequences. And for folks who would argue that there is never an excuse for violence, maybe you should find a time machine and travel back in history to tell that to the folks who popularized the use of the N-word in the first place. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t black people.
Despite it being really weird for me to think of the WWE without Hulk Hogan, I’m proud of them for slamming his racist statements. Let this be a lesson to all closet racists who like to drop the N-bomb: Freedom of speech isn’t free.
RedEye special contributor Nikki Lynette, a Chicago native, is an indie recording artist whose music appears on MTV, VH1, Showtime and more.