March 28, 2024

WWE’s Most Extensive Attempt At Tackling Race

Let’s go back to Raw in 1997.

Remember when the Hart Foundation, Degeneration X and Nation of Domination talked about that uncomfortable elephant that’s always in the room: Race and Racism?

“Attitude” was beginning to infiltrate every aspect of, at the time, WWF programming. DX’s raunchy, sexually suggestive antics pushed the envelope at every turn. The Hart Foundation sickened with the direction of not just the WWF, but the direction America was going in, turned their backs on the country. Pulling off one of the most controversial gimmicks in company history, The Nation pushed the boundaries in a different way than DX. The pro-black, any means necessary approach that the Nation took was a wild sight to see on WWF programming at the time and still would be a wild sight today, considering how black wrestlers have been historically portrayed.

All of these elements came together for one unique segment on October 27, 1997.

The Rock explicitly acknowledging his blackness. Bret Hart talking about systematic racism in the United States. Shawn Michaels talking about the history of black people being oppressed in the U.S. This segment had it all and there’s a lot to unpack.

The prelude to this segment is that the week before on Raw, The Nation’s locker room was trashed with racist remarks graffitied all over the walls. A “Canada Rules” tagging leads people to suspect that The Hart Foundation is involved. However, there’s also a “Malcolm X” tagging with an “X” that looks suspiciously like the DX logo.

The segment opens with The Nation in the ring with Vince McMahon. Farooq asks why there’s racism in the company when just two weeks before McMahon said there wasn’t. McMahon responds “there’s no racism here in the World Wrestling Federation. We don’t allow it under any circumstances and that’s the bottom line.”

Which is funny considering nearly every gimmick that a black or foreign wrestler had up until that point in the company was based on a stereotype. When NOD is shooing Vince out of the ring, off-mic they’re screaming “get his racist ass out of the ring” and “he’s the most racist of them all” to McMahon, which is quite the ad-lib.

Farooq starts talking about the 400 years of slavery and oppression that black people have had to endure and the Tulsa, OK, crowd is booing the hell out of him. Farooq says The Nation are a new breed of black men. They’re not going to take the racism lying down and instead, they’re going to start beating asses.

The Rock says it’s a “black and a white thing” after The Hart Foundation were the ones to supposedly vandalize their locker with racist writings. This is significant because it’s a departure from what The Rock would usually say in his Nation promos, which was “It’s not a black or a white thing. It’s a me kicking your ass thing.” The Rock says he’s dealt with racism and discrimination his entire life and every time he was knocked down he “damn sure popped right back up.” He then goes on to say that he’s going to teach The Hart Foundation what’s it like to deal with racism and discrimination all of your life, but the difference is that when The Rock “knocks your asses down, you won’t get back up.”

Farooq then gives one of the lines of the night: “Hart Foundation, it all started with a boat ride, but it’s gonna end with a black fist right on the side of your white ass.”

He then challenges The Hart Foundation to a match next week.

Hart Foundation comes out and Bret Hart accepts the challenge.

Bret says he comes from a country where there is no racial prejudice (crowd boos). “In Canada, we don’t hate black people, we don’t hate brown people, we don’t hate yellow people. In Canada, we love people for what they are inside and that’s the plain, basic truth.”

Hart continues: “You may kid yourselves, but the United States of America is riddled with racial prejudice and you don’t have to pick an argument with me to get someone to agree.” Hart says Shawn Michaels and his “Boy Toy Hunter Helmsley” are the ones responsible for the vandalism.

DX pops up on the Titantron with Shawn Michaels offended that Hart would blame DX.

Michaels says, “Everybody knows that The Grand Wizard there, Bret Hart, is racist to the core.” HBK isn’t talking about the wrestling manager of the same name, he’s talking about the Klan.

Michaels cites what the Hart Foundation did to The Nation’s locker room as to why he’s calling him racist. “Degeneration X agrees with The Nation that this country was built on the sweat of the brow of a black man and I accept that. And the rest of Degeneration X accepts that, but the Grand Wizard and the rest of his KKK buddies over there don’t believe that.”

HHH says The Hart Foundation’s first choice for outfits were “white sheets and white hoods.” Vince says “oh no” on commentary in the background, which is surprising that was his first time having that reaction considering it was probably the fifth or sixth flagrant thing already said.

HHH drops the major bombshell, claiming that he heard The Hart Foundation use the N-word while they were vandalizing The Nation’s locker room. The Nation rush the stage and beat up The Hart Foundation, bafflingly taking Triple H and Shawn Michaels of all people at face value.

Vince says, “If indeed The Hart Foundation are responsible for this, then they’re getting what they deserve.” It seems that Vince has finally come around to the Nation’s moniker of “any means necessary.” Bret sells a knee injury and limps to the back to end the segment.

The Takeaways

WWE has been iffy and downright awful at times when it comes to having storylines that pertain to race on its programming. For every nuanced, brilliantly executed KofiMania storyline, there are two more storylines that go the way of Triple H/Booker T leading up to WrestleMania XIX.

This 1997 segment straddled the line and pushed the envelope in ways that WWE hasn’t done before or since. The company has hinted at race and racism, but never said it as explicitly as in this segment. That’s not to say that this segment is a perfect beacon of progressiveness. It has its issues such as The Nation still being positioned as heels despite them being the victims of a racist vandalization. Also, they looked like fools at the end for fully believing DX that the Hart Foundation were to blame.

One of the more interesting aspects to look back on is how much we have or haven’t grown. Would the crowd reaction be different or do some things never change?

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