ICYMI, Part X
I wasn’t surprised to find that earlier Karl had surmised a story that was part of his column. Karl is many things I can respect, but there are times when I have to say, if we were in the same room and he said this shit around me, we’d have problems:
“You had me believing that Redd Foxx was Martin Luther King Jr for years.”
“Oh, son. That doesn’t make me racist. I respect both those men.”
“It makes you racist that you can’t or won’t tell them apart.”
“I can tell them apart just fine. One of them’s funny, the other not so much…”
***
That’s a quote from his most recent edition at a publication that frankly encourages things like open bigotry and the not so subtle “white take” on American culture. I’m not a fucking fan and the sad part is I used to work extensively with those people and seeing the quality of editing hasn’t changed, I’m glad I don’t work with them anymore. But Karl, I really like Karl if I haven’t made that clear.
I’ve been tasked many times, also growing up in the South, with overlooking innately/blatant racist comments from people that I considered loose acquaintances/best friends, basically rednecks who didn’t know any better because of their upbringing, etc.
But let me just say, maybe to Karl directly as I did to the kids I grew up around in SC Kentucky:
“If you were around me and said that shit, I’d knock you the fuck out! No questions. One and done. Watch your mouth, motherfucker.”
As a shining example of someone with a relatively large vocabulary who makes polarizing statements quite regularly, I can overlook many things. But I am firmly against the perpetuation of discrimination in all forms and that’s when I tend to threaten people without regard to the fallout of legal consequences.
In a forthcoming review that centers around the contributions of a reputed Japanese Nationalist Yukio Mishima, I had to confront my current stance on matters of promoting work from people whose political affiliation or global perspectives do not align with my own. I had to go back to a time when I was very young and only really cared about getting fucked up in a small town with nothing to do but smoke meth/weed, eat ecstasy, fuck randoms, fight in parking lots/ wooded paths behind the bowling alley, shoplift and drink Zimas (tinged with Cherry Jolly Ranchers) to understand that I don’t necessarily overlook these type of offenses, but am watchful of how I react in the moment from fear of further incarceration.
I’d previously suggested to LL that Karl write a column for sub[JUNC]tivo, because Karl is one of my favorite writers and has been for a very long time. I used to write reviews for this alpha-aggro group called Epic Rites Press and that’s where I first ran across his work, during a time that I still worshipped brass knuckles, LSD, and the sexual escapades of my past were bragging rights as opposed to regretful mistakes of the present. I often tell LL I’m lucky I never caught a STD, and she agrees whole-heartedly.
“But I don’t know about Karl publishing some of that stuff on the site. He can be a little offensive sometimes.”
I try to remind myself I was a huge fan of Howard Stern in my youth; that my (adopted) dad would tune in every morning on the way to school…
KK: In the end this is the conversation that needs to occur. Because there is enough of this American population who think that racism should be applauded and these people are the ones who put trump and his ilk in office. It's these people who become ice agents. I do think with comedic writing whether it's a black or white comedian, that making jokes about the absurdity of racism straddles a very thin line between showing the ridiculousness of it and adding to it. I don't like offending you and I'm sorry for it. I'm tackling stuff that may be a few feet out of my comfort zone but I tend to write to organize my thoughts.
Karl Koweski is a displaced Region Rat now living in rural Alabama. He writes when his pen allows it. He’s a husband to a lovely wife and father to some fantastic kids. He collects pop culture ephemera. On most days he prefers Flash Gordon to Luke Skywalker and Neil Diamond to Elvis Presley.
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