This tweet bugs me. I’m having trouble articulating why, but maybe one of you will be able to better explain it.
This tweet is fucked up for a couple of reasons:
1. He is using “cocaine addicted” in a pejorative manner, making it appear that she deserved to die because of her addiction. People don’t chose to be addicted to things, and people who are addicted to things are not lesser human beings because of it. Someone with an addiction still deserves respect and dignity. Addiction is a disease not a choice.
2. Whitney Houston was not just a “cocaine addicted musician”. She was a cultural icon who fought her way to the top of a very racist very sexist music business. Her accomplishments are many, and she deserves to be remembered for them.
3. It’s not Houston’s fault she died, nor is it her fault that the news media will cover her death more so than Syria. This tweet is insulting Houston to make a point about the US news media. He should be insulting the media or the American public for not caring about Syria, not Houston.
4. You can care about the death of a major cultural icon, AND Syria at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive.
(Source: saturniinae, via sunneinsplendour)
