The fallout from a Tourette syndrome advocate blurting the N-word during a presentation by two Black actors at a British entertainment awards ceremony should generate more compassion — for both sides, said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who suffers from the condition.
A day after movie subject John Davidson shouted the racial slur while actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan were on stage at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, Williams said the circumstances were very complex, and that the way to turn down the heat is with more understanding.
“It is fair to ask him why that word, and he should provide an answer,” said Williams, who has been open about the challenges he has faced over the condition.
“You have to have care and compassion for John Davidson. It’s not something you can control.”
Williams said the involuntary outbursts, commonly called tics, can be affected by stress or environment, and while there are ways to ease the outbursts, completely controlling them is a struggle.
If anybody should be blamed for the controversy, it should be BAFTA organizers, Williams said. The ceremony is shown in Britain on a two-hour delay, plenty of time to edit out offensive language, which was not done.
Williams said there might have been a more sinister motive.
“I’m concerned that the reason they weren’t more sensitive is so they could get the publicity,” Williams said. “I don’t think that’s exercising compassion.”
Davidson is the subject of a British film, “I Swear,” which documents Davidson’s life with Tourette syndrome.
Ceremony organizers had warned audience members about the possibility of Tourette outbursts, and later apologized for Davidson’s comments.
Davidson himself later apologized for his comments, and said he voluntarily left the auditorium after his outbursts.
“I am, and always have been, deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning,” Davidson, 54, said in his statement. “I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”
Davidson, who also cursed loudly during the ceremony, offered no explanation about why he used the N-word.
There’s a lot of gray here,” Williams said. “Sometimes that gray is a bright red, and BAFTA was a bright red moment.”
Williams said he, too, had used the N-word during tics, and was also at a loss to explain himself.
”This has nothing to do with acceptability,” he said. “I know the word causes harm.”
Williams, 49, said he was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome 30 years ago.