‘William Chang & Wale’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

This one is from the “Are you kidding me?” department.  Mary Washington College The University of Mary Washington invites Wale to perform as part of Homecoming.  Wale is Wale and uses some language perhaps inappropriate for those who are below the age of ten.  The President of the University issues apologies for those offended.

Really? I mean, I do understand that Mary Washington college is down in Fredericksburg, where you’re a lot closer to Baptist country than up here, but the university is apologizing because a performing artist’s act contains profanity?  Do they apologize before showing movies on campus that contain the F-word?  Do they apologize before inviting comedians to perform on campus who perform blue?

The language puritanism that exists in this country, when swearing is a celebrated and decorated artform here, is always astonishing.  Sure, I get noise complaints, and having been near an outdoor Wale concert before, I can attest that their thumping bass was nearly enough to shake RFK apart, but you hire a performer like Wale, or a metal band, or any of the other musical acts who use profanity as embellishment, and you have to know what you’re getting.  This is just silliness. Apologize, sure, but only for the volume, not for the content.

Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.