Front Page  »  

Creston Rodeo clown apologizes

September 19, 2012

OPINION By MIKE HAYHURST

Thanks to the Founders and defenders of our great nation, we are afforded our free speech rights. With those rights comes responsibility.

At the Creston Classic Rodeo on Sept. 15, I irresponsibly told a joke that many people found offensive and I apologize.

This was a joke I read in 2010 and chose to recycle it during this election season. I simply substituted Ann Romney’s name where the original joke used Sarah Palin’s name.

While no apology will satisfy everyone, I hope those of you in the Creston area with whom I have had a 15 plus year relationship will accept mine. I wish all of you much future success with the Creston Classic Rodeo.

Mike Hayhurst was the rodeo clown at the Creston rodeo in September.

 


Loading...
Subjects:         
Related:


36 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Here’s an idea, Mr. Hayhurst. Take your comedy act and a megaphone on the road, down to, say, Compton or South Central, LA and see how funny African-Americans find that joke and any others you’re hiding up your sleeves. For those of you excusing his “humor” and telling the rest of us to “get over it,” you obviously have absolutely no clue about this country’s long and horrible history of denigrating and devaluing African-Americans. (Yes, Cindy, I know it’s only slightly worse than joking about blondes or catholics.)


Gee, what could possibly by offensive about a joke about a rich, privileged white woman being offered 5000 times more ($250,000 ÷ $50) to pose for Playboy than the First Lady of the United States being offered to pose for National Geographic? According to Hayhurst’s twisted, bigotted, klannish sense of humor, it’s funny to picture Michelle Obama (a graduate of Harvard Law) being right back in the bush country of Africa, where her ancestors were before being captured and shipped over to America to endure untold horrors as slaves.


Well, guess what, clown-man? She’s not going anywhere because her husband is going to kick Romney’s arrogant arse on November 6th. In the mean time, if there’s any justice, you will get fired from your job as an administrator in the Barstow Charter Schools. Your racist remark has now been blasted over every PA in the country, including Barstow’s, so you’ve lost all credibility as being able to oversee the education of children, especially African-American children. You messed with the bull, now you get the horns, clown man.


0

So what your really saying is that some folks are “entitled” get even or to hate people like Hayhurst because of a this country’s long and horrible history of denigrating and devaluing African-Americans?. Your an idiot.


0

I wouldn’t expect someone who can’t distinguish between “your” and “you’re” to be able to distinguish between an inexcusably racist insult to the First Lady and an actual joke that everyone, even she, could laugh at. No self-respecting black person could possibly find that insult funny. Let me explain why so even a dog can understand: when a black person is made the butt of the joke, the joke is always racist, unless it is told by a black person. Period. If you don’t understand why, then you’re (note the correct spelling) an even bigger racist/idiot than Hayhurst.


0

Ana, I am so glad that there are people out there who understand the bigger issue here. Thank you for adding to the points of my previous comments.


I told my husband last night how upset I was about this unfortunate event and he thought that I was making a big deal out of nothing. He didn’t like the assault on women nature of the joke but couldn’t understand how it was a racist joke. Now let me make it clear that our marriage is a good one but our polictical views are on opposite sides of the spectrum. I had to explain to him the racist implication of the joke before he could understand what I was upset about. I am dissapointed that he didn’t get that message from the time the incident was publicized, but he does unfortunately spend a lot of time watching Fox news. That fact is also dissapointing to me but I have long ago given up that battle.


My point is that there are probably decent moral people out there who think this joke was despicable because of the attack on women but have no idea how it offends those of us who abhore racism. Thank you for explaining that so well to those who don’t readily see it. There is also the disrespect the joke represents to our President and his family. I so clearly remember the claim that democrats were not patriots during the years of President Bush. I always felt that no matter how I felt about his politics, demeanor or decisions, that he deserved my respect as the President of our country. I never would have supported a denegrating joke aimed at his family.


I don’t usually make comments like I have regarding this incident but I just can’t let it go. It is a symptom of a much larger problem in our country that deserves attention.


0

SLO MOM: Thanks for the positive feedback. Good luck dealing with your Fox-loving hubby’s disappointment on Nov. 6th.


MR. HOLLY: Racist comments (like Hayhurst’s) and racist actions towards black people for the past four centuries in this country might have something to do with the animosity that residents of Compton and South Central LA feel toward white people. An estimated 4,000 or so black people were hanged by white people between 1865 and 1965. Jokes like Hayhurst’s aren’t helping race relations in this country.


PASOPARENT5: You’re over the joke already because you were never offended or saddened by its racist implications. It is very sad that a portion of our country still finds such jokes humorous. If you had any black friends you might understand. As it is, I am not over it, because Hayhurst did not disavow the joke, he merely apologized to the people it may have offended. He still thinks it’s funny. Do you? He is a school administrator; he is charged with overseeing the education of hundreds or thousands of children, some of them African-American. His joke reveals him to be a racist. A racist is unfit to be in charge of a school or school system. You sympathize with a racist, not with the people who are offended and outraged by his racist joke. So what does that make you? The only thing I fear is that racists and racist-sympathizers like you will delay us further from making Dr. King’s “Dream” a reality. We still have a long way to go, as evidenced by your comments.


0

Well gee, Im sorry there Mz. Snow white spell checker. unfortunately I didn’t get a education like you did, but dont have to make disparaging comments directed at those with a lesser education do you?. Ever think it was because I cause I grew up in the place you say all those bad folks live and Mr. clown should go to get his arse kicked. Gotta ask ,why is it SLO Co has a population of African Americans of only 1%? You all hypocrite “nimbys” or something?


0

doggin: I have never encountered a person who is fundamentally deficient in his/her understanding of basic spelling and grammar rules who isn’t also deficient in his/her understanding of complex issues, such as racism. Attributing your lack of education to the place where you grew up is a copout. Abe Lincoln (a great Republican president) grew up in a log cabin and regularly walked many miles to borrow a single book to educate himself. If you had not ended your initial comment to me with the hilariously ironic sentence “Your an idiot,” I might have cut you some slack. As it is, you gotthe verbal smack-down that you deserved for attacking me and defending that racist whack-clown.


Similarly, you ended your last post by asking “. . . why is it SLO Co has a population of African Americans of only 1%? You all hypocrite “nimbys” or something?” Yes, doggin, more African-Americans would move to our county if there were more red-neck racists here and fewer highly-educated, liberal-minded citizens working to make Dr. King’s dream a reality. Please look up the term “non-sequitur” and educate yourself.


0

You think that someone who misspelled on the internet can not tell what racism is?


“An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. ”


I can’t spell, but knew it for a racist joke as soon as I heard “national geographic”.


Also the internet has has especial gifts reserved for grammar nazi’s.


0

There’s a reason I wrote “basic spelling and grammar rules” and not just “spelling rules.” Glad that you judged the clown’s joke to be racist. Why not expend your energy denouncing his racist joke rather than attacking my rebuttal of comments by a racist sympathizer like doggin? BTW, it is not an ad hominem to call into question a person’s credibility on an issue if that person cannot construct a sentence without making a basic mistake. My criticisms of doggin are fair game. There are no valid excuses for an American adult who cannot write in Standard American English. Someone who cannot (like doggin) has no business calling someone who can (like me) an “idiot.” Care to elaborate on the “especial gifts reserved for grammar nazi’s”? At the risk of making your kettle boil over, “especial” is not an English word, and “nazi’s” does not need an apostrophe. Now get over your own insecurities about spelling and post something that actually focuses on denouncing racism.


0

Ana-Joke or no joke I would not advise you, if you are white, on going to Compton or South Los Angeles for any occasion. The mere fact is that your chances of being killed are very high. For those of you that don’t believe this, I would challenge you to drive thru a housing project after night without becoming a victim of a crime. Now this is not a joke although I will be called a racist for telling the truth and not a joke.


0

You’re not a racist, Mr. Holly. You’re speaking the TRUTH. Grammar Snob Ana is acting like a racist for implying that it’s not OK for a white person to tell such a joke but it would be OK if the joke-teller were black. What a hypocrite! Ana sounds like an indignant white liberal who has probably never even set foot in Compton after dark….or the south side of Chicago…or Detroit…or Cincinnati.


Five days ago, a rodeo clown told a JOKE. It was in poor taste and he apologized. It’s OVER. I don’t hear the supposed “victims” of the joke, Ann Romney or Michelle Obama, going on…and on…and on about it.


Ana suggests sending the clown to Compton. Other commenters have said to throw him in the ring with a few bulls. Still others have urged the community to try to get him fired from his full-time school position.


The retalitory “let’s-storm-the-castle-with-my-pitchfork” mob mentality of Ana and others is ridiculous. Mr. Hayhurst apologized. He won’t be at the Creston Rodeo again.


Anadiplosis: a rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one line to begin the next… This example of anadiplosis perfectly describes Ana’s vindictive mindset:


” Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.” –Yoda :)


Stop being so fearful, Ana. Accept the clown’s apology and move on with your angry little life.


0

Why are you attacking Ana? What are you afraid of?


Truth? It’s racism the moment national geographic was mentioned.

I grew up in Chicago, even black people telling that joke would be beaten for saying that.


0

Thank you, kettle! I didn’t read your post until after I replied to your previous post. No offense intended.


0

The “joke” went kinda like this: “Playboy is offering Ann Romney $250,000 to pose in the magazine and the White House is upset about it because National Geographic only offered Michelle Obama $50 to pose for them. “


“This was a joke I read in 2010 and chose to recycle it during this election season. I simply substituted Ann Romney’s name where the original joke used Sarah Palin’s name.”


The fact that you “recycled” this bigoted, mysogynistic crap is appalling especially to the women you named……would you like your wife’s, daughter’s, granddaughter’s name to be used like this? Frankly, your apology was no apology at all but you knew that when you ended with: “While no apology will satisfy everyone….”


“Thanks to the Founders and defenders of our great nation, we are afforded our free speech rights. With those rights comes responsibility.”………yes it does and no time like the present for you to actually walk the walk since you feel free to talk the talk…..time will tell I suppose.


thecat


0

Mike,

Thanks for the update on an old joke. Sorry you felt pressured to apoligize for something funny.

We thought the fact that you did not need to feel politicaiiy correct was a plus for us. Keep up the funny stuff.


0

It really was not funny. Just distasteful and insulting. Please stop disguising racism and bigotry under the guise of humor. Any comment like that based on someone’s ethnicity is disgusting. Those of us who care are just not getting over this. It is a symptom of what is really wrong with one segment of our population that seems very comfortable making crass jokes like this. It only makes you look very shallow. Really think about it…would Jesus have approved of such tasteless humor??? I think not!


0

It was a old racist joke and anyone who thought it was funny is also a racist.


Yes America has freedom of speech, yes we do. Does not make the joke any less Racist.


0

This joke/comment was extremely offensive and deserves to be talked about. If you take a look at the people of Victorville where this man lives, the majority if not the entirety of comments in their newspaper support this clown guy. What a shame for those people to feel that a comment like that should go undisputed. It deserves to be talked about and it is pretty unfortunate that this rodeo event may unfairly represent the people of San Luis Obispo county in the eyes of many who read about it.


What is really sad is that I think that this may very well represent the views of many bigoted and racist people out there. They may be the same people who actually still believe that our President was not born in this country.


To think that rodeo organizers allowed continued degrading comments to occur beyond this tasteless joke is beyond comprehension.


Those of us who are blessed to live this beautiful county should not be misrepresented by the comments of such a jerk. I don’t want this event to be just swept under the rug. It is a clear indication of the snarky tasteless statements of many bigots out there who don’t have the decency to keep their disgusting thoughts contained in their bigoted little minds!


Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/09/19/2232875/no-place-for-bigoted-remarks.html#storylink=cpy


0

How is this being “swept under the rug”???? The clown apologized. The rodeo board apologized. The clown won’t be returning to Creston in the future. What more do you want? What on earth can this clown do to satisfy your taste for revenge?


0

Nope…I just equate “get over it” with “sweep it under the rug”. Silly me!!


An apology from the offending parties does not excuse the apparent bigotry in our society. It IS worth discussion and maybe some eyes being opened to the true intent of this “funny” ????? joke. Not funny in many people’s opinion and why not discuss it? Seems worthy of discussion to me…


And it’s not revenge on the guilty parties (although they were distasteful) and I did state that apologies were made. It is a much bigger picture that you seem to fail to see!


0

“What on earth can this clown do to satisfy your taste for revenge?”


Not sharing his “joke’s” with other peoples children would be a start.


Or as we say on the internet he can just STFU.


0

Mike, You can tell me all the sexist, blond and/or French jokes that you like. If it’s funny, I can guarantee you that I’m going to laugh and repeat it to someone else who is going to laugh . I guess I don’t have a problem with it and am not offended because I LIKE MYSELF and if the joke is funny, then it’s funny.


BTW, I was raised Catholic and I laugh my butt off at Catholic jokes too, so does my family when I pass the jokes on at gatherings. I guess, we all ( my French, Catholic, blond family) like our selves.


I guess since we don’t know who feels bad about themselves, it’s not a good idea to tell a joke over PA system.


0

Here’s a joke Cindy: you need to be shot in the HEAD ! HAHAHAHAHA !


That’s hilarious ! She’s DEAD ! How FUNNY !


0

WHAT ? You one celled wonders don’t get the HUMOR in black comedy ?


guess not….


it was a stretch. You vote suicidal Republican, but I guess I was expecting too much..


Stupidity only goes so far.


0

Only a non-gun owning liberal could make a post like that. If a NRA member “joked” about shooting someone in the head, the outcry would be overwhelming.


0

It is unfortunate. One of these days we will get a clown that has BaIIs. Someone who will tell these press idiots that – IT’S A JOKE – GET OVER IT! Being P.C. IS BS. If anyone out there can’t take a joke. Move to Russia or China where there are no jokes and nobody is laughing! For now, LOL Bite Me!


0

Well, this is a step.


The question remains: does Hayhurst realize just why this ‘joke’ was offensive to so many ?

He admits that he was irresponsible. Not quite sure if that translates to ‘wrong’ in his thinking…but willing to give some benefit of doubt because his brief statement does indicate some contrition.


Hopefully, Mr. Hayhurst can learn from this. Maybe we all can.


0

Don’t know what was said but I am curious about the expectation of a clown to be P.C. If that’s the way it is these days, then clown is a worthy add to a resume for public office.


0

It’s not a matter of being PC…..it’s a matter of being respective to the wife of our current President whether you like them or not. The fact that that has to be explained to anyone is mind-boggling. I’m just happy to know that this individual lives in Barstow and not here on the Central Coast and that he won’t work here again……..good riddance to bad rubbish.


0

Well said!!


0

If the joke compared Michelle and Ann, being in playboy and who has the better boob’s, that would be “not PC”

But the joke had “national geographic”, that made it Racist.


No one expects clown’s to be PC. Does anyone expect clowns to be racist’s?


racist clown


0

Freedom of speech? Hastily written newspaper story? Walking through BS all of one’s life is a choice, but don’t think the rest of us are going to buy into it. I have a couple of jokes I want to tell about racist rodeo clowns, etc. but y’all can’t be too sensitive ‘cause they make reference to inbreeding and bestiality, still got yer laughing hat on?


0
1 2