Apr 03, 2007Quickie Link: The Education of Terry McMillan --by Keith Boykin
By Kyleovision
It was just a few weeks ago when we learned that author Terry McMillan was suing her ex-husband Jonathan Plummer for $40 million. Now she's in the news again, this time after an interview in New York magazine where she says she's not homophobic. "I'm really getting tired of the fact that people get upset that I use the F-word [Eds.: she means the word 'fag', and she's not usually so coy] to refer to Jonathan... It was the only weapon that I have," she said.
"It offends me that gay men think they are above criticism. If you criticize them, you're automatically a homophobe; I'm starting to think they're heterophobes. I still see betrayal as betrayal. I don't care how long he's been in the closet; I didn't put him in there."
There's a lot to be said about that one statement. First, there's the F-word. As a black woman and as an author, McMillan surely must know that words have impact. Imagine if she had been married to a white man who had called her a "nigger" because it was "the only weapon" he felt he had. I doubt she would be willing to excuse such a slur.
