by Diane Stacey

Created on: August 25, 2007

There is a lot of heated debate surrounding the firing of Isaiah Washington from Grey's Anatomy. T.R. Knight, while not directly involved in the conversation between his cast members, initiated what seems to be a global feud on the subject of sexual discrimination. In the end, the show's creator decided to reward T.R. Knight and fire Isaiah Washington. While I am not sure how others felt about this, it has really left a bad impression of those responsible for these acts.

It seems to me that the issue most people have against the actor portraying Dr. Preston Burke is merely the fact that a black male was on the speaking end of a remark which part of the community felt was demeaning toward a gay white male. The majority of complaints of this nature seem to come from race related conversations. An example is the recent situation with Don Imus. It is unfortunate that people can't seem to separate those complaints from this issue. I have actually heard people say that if it was a white person talking race, they would have been fired, so let's make an example of this black man. That truly is unfair.

In my experience, one person can't be held accountable for what people perceive as the actions or behavior of an entire group. I feel embarrassed for these people and hope that they will never have to endure the punishment for a group they belong to. I also hope they are never on the judging end against something I was thought to have said.

It would be wonderful if we could come together as a community and rid ourselves of the issues that separate us. Does it really matter that we have differences? It is our differences that make life interesting. Does it matter in a country founded on principles, like freedom of speech, that we condemn someone for what they say?

When I was growing up, we used to use the words "fag" or "faggot" occasionally in conversations. It had nothing to do with sexual preference, but was generally more about someone's behavior. It implied that someone was very different from the norm or that they had said or done something that hurt us. It is hard not to worry about accidentally using one of these words in modern times, only because we are becoming a very judgmental and punishing society.

It is my personal opinion that there were definitely some wrongs created in this whole situation. While I don't condone the use of derogatory terms when speaking to or about others, I also wasn't there to participate in the conversation. It is easy to take things out

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