Why is the word "Lynch" a hate crime?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Sharpton is another perfect example of someone who acts like an asshole.

Glad we can agree on that!

[NoMyths]

What was dumb was her speaking on national TV about murdering someone, assuming that her audience would understand it was meant as an absurd joke. Unfortunately for her, this is not an assumption that should be made about a medium that reaches so many people. Joking about killing someone runs the risk of someone not getting that it's a joke, especially when you use language that hearkens back to a much grimmer time.

The fact it was in her vocabulary probably speaks more to recent coverage of lynching as a hate crime than it does to her Old West roots.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm glad that I could be here for this month's "Polarize FOFC" day.

[AENeuman]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

This thread exposes the need for a better education system in the United States.

Exactly. Without knowing the reasons behind lynching, post Civil War, it is understandable why many of the comments here have gone to the relativism card.

After the Civil War lynching provided a way, through fear and lack of justice, to prevent the newly granted freedoms of Black people.

A white person saying this talented, rich and powerful Black golfer needs to be lynched is something bigger than just a word.

That being said, since when do we really listen to what women have to say?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by AENeuman

Exactly. Without knowing the reasons behind lynching, post Civil War, it is understandable why many of the comments here have gone to the relativism card.

After the Civil War lynching provided a way, through fear and lack of justice, to prevent the newly granted freedoms of Black people.

A white person saying this talented, rich and powerful Black golfer needs to be lynched is something bigger than just a word.

That being said, since when do we really listen to what women have to say?

The guy's not even black!

[Bonegavel]

I like how her named is spelled wrong in the story.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

If she had just said "they should dismember Tiger Woods" instead of lynch none of this would have happened. Hope she's learned something.

I think she should have said "they should molest him like a choir boy". Now that would have been funny!

[14ers]

The real origin of Lynching.

William Lynch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Captain William Lynch (1742 – 1820) of Pittsylvania County, Virginia practiced lynching circa 1780. It is believed that lynching and Lynch law are named after him. He is not the William Lynch who allegedly made the William Lynch Speech in 1712, as the date on this apocryphal speech precedes Lynch's birth by thirty years. William Lynch is the undisputed author of Lynch's Law according to the compact sent to the Virginia Legislature on September 22, 1782.

[edit] Lynch's Law

In the late 18th century, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, was troubled by criminals who could not be dealt with by the courts, which were too distant. This led to an agreement to punish such criminals without due process of law. Both the practice and the punishment came to be called lynch law after Captain William Lynch, who drew up a compact on September 22, 1780, with a group of his neighbors. Arguing that Pittsylvania had "sustained great and intolerable losses by a set of lawless men ... that ... have hitherto escaped the civil power with impunity," they agreed to respond to reports of criminality in their neighborhood by "repair[ing] immediately to the person or persons suspected ... and if they will not desist from their evil practices, we will inflict such corporeal punishment on him or them, as to us shall seem adequate to the crime committed or the damage sustained." Originally, Lynch Law and lynching was not associated with hanging, but called for 39 lashes, and other less severe punishments were also used. William Lynch died in 1820, and the inscription on his grave notes that "he followed virtue as his truest guide."^{[citation needed]}

[hhiipp]

Even if they're hungry and you're at the park with extra KFC and some freshly cut melon?

[rkmsuf]

wait, Colonel Sanders was white?

[hhiipp]

And if that wasn't suprising enough, he wasn't even really a Colonel! Blasphemy!

[Neon_Chaos]

Tiger woods is some part asian.



REPRUZENT!

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by AENeuman

Exactly. Without knowing the reasons behind lynching, post Civil War, it is understandable why many of the comments here have gone to the relativism card.

After the Civil War lynching provided a way, through fear and lack of justice, to prevent the newly granted freedoms of Black people.

A white person saying this talented, rich and powerful Black golfer needs to be lynched is something bigger than just a word.

That being said, since when do we really listen to what women have to say?

Perfectly stated AE.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Tiger woods is some part asian.



REPRUZENT!

So you're saying she should have said they need to firebomb him... or maybe Mai Lai his ass.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

So you're saying she should have said they need to firebomb him... or maybe Mai Lai his ass.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Oilers9911

When you think back in history to what the word lynch means in the black community then yes it is offensive and she should have been suspended. If this was in regards to a Jewish athlete and she had said, they should take him out and gas him, would that be right? It has nothing to do with her being white. It has everything to do with her saying something stupid.

Didn't this or something very similar to this already happen?

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

A better word would have been "mug" maybe? Or "jump"? "Take him out"?

Personally, I prefer "Go all Tonya Harding on his ass."

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Personally, I prefer "Go all Tonya Harding on his ass."

Perfect!

[lynchjm24]

Fucking Lynch

[SteveMax58]

I say we lynch jim.

[Noop]

*Looks at thread and notices the usual players* *leaves*

[stevew]

This thread has certainly gone the WrongWay.

[Schmidty]

The only thing I got out of this thread is that the canadians are more predictable than the average partisan american. (obligatory Schmidty canadian shot)

Oh, and the chick said something unwise. Nothing racist, just unwise. She should have known that america only sees things in black and white, and that everything you say on-air is scrutenized with hungry eyes ready to pounce, even if you didn't mean it to come out a certain way.

I don't think America is becoming more sensitive and advanced, I think America is becoming more censored, afraid, and self-hating.

[Schmidty]

Dola.

I just (3 hours ago) talked to my wife about this, and she thinks it actually was racist. I respect her opinion, so I will be considering this while I sit here, play old records and play Chessmaster X.

[SteveMax58]

I all seriousness...things like this serve to further divide people by race and/or ethnicities. There are a handful of obvious words that, no matter the context, are inappropriate and/or derogatory in nature. Beyond that, unless you feel this woman is an outright racist, words like "lynch" should not be used to further divide people and make everybody aware that there are atrocities which involved that particular word at some point in human history (albeit more recent than others).

It only serves to make people of all races/ethnicities more aware of the fact that they are different, and must use different language when interacting with certain people of certain ethnical backgrounds. This further propagates discomfort & uncertainty when interacting, which leads to people staying with "their own kind" ...out of fear/uncertainty/laziness etc. in trying to make sure they dont offend somebody accidentally.

There is no excuse for complete ignorance to some words, but there is a line people must draw at some point in terms of what words "should" invoke offensive reactions...and which should not.

Otherwise we essentially will continue to divide ourselves by more and more percieved "differences". And on the whole...the more different people see other people, the less likely they are to associate with each other. The less people associate with each other, the less they actually know about each other. The less they know about each other, the more percieved differences they project on each other. Rinse and repeat.

[JimboJ]

I don't think I've ever heard the word "lynch" used other than in the context of lynchings of blacks. Otherwise, don't most people use the word "hang"? When someone commits suicide, they don't "lynch themselves". When someone is given the death penalty, its not "death by lynching".

I'm not big on political correctness, but I don't see how you can interpret this as anything other than a racial slur, whether she was joking or not.

[CU Tiger]

Here is where it starts and ends with me.

"Me and Kelly are dear friends. I have known here for 10 years, this is a non-issue."

How can I be offended by what someone says about you, if you yourself arent offended?

I quite honestly think you have a case of someone being too book smart. She wanted tto say/mean jump/mug/beat him, but her nerd side used the approprriate techical term lynch. I think her comment is more the product of journalism school than racism.

There are a million point/counter-point arguments but again to me it ends with the "attacked" he didnt issue the same statement to Fuzzy, whose commenst were much more dripping with with hate, and disdain. This is a comment made by a friend of his, probably not the BEST choice of words, but not enough to fire her over either.

Originally Posted by Oilers9911

When you think back in history to what the word lynch means in the black community then yes it is offensive and she should have been suspended. If this was in regards to a Jewish athlete and she had said, they should take him out and gas him, would that be right? It has nothing to do with her being white. It has everything to do with her saying something stupid.

Do you listen to Jim Rome?
This was his EXACT quote no less than 20 times yesterday...it was annoying as hell.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JimboJ

I don't think I've ever heard the word "lynch" used other than in the context of lynchings of blacks. Otherwise, don't most people use the word "hang"? When someone commits suicide, they don't "lynch themselves". When someone is given the death penalty, its not "death by lynching".

I'm not big on political correctness, but I don't see how you can interpret this as anything other than a racial slur, whether she was joking or not.

You cant "lynch yourself", by definition a lynch is an assault by a group on an individual. Whether hanging, a rope or death is involved, a group beat down is a lynching.

[spleen1015]

Tiger took no offense, so everyone else STFU.

[JW]

How does calling for the figurative lynching of anyone who says anything stupid actually help anything in America? Do the activists think calling for her head on a platter actually helps? Does it make America a better place or a more divided place? You can bet most people hear about this story and think, "Oh, no, here we go again," and move on with their lives.

I suspect that in America in a few years we will have hate speech laws to match hate crime laws. Some Western countries are already moving in that direciton. Then it will get really interesting.

[molson]

Originally Posted by SteveMax58

I all seriousness...things like this serve to further divide people by race and/or ethnicities. There are a handful of obvious words that, no matter the context, are inappropriate and/or derogatory in nature. Beyond that, unless you feel this woman is an outright racist, words like "lynch" should not be used to further divide people and make everybody aware that there are atrocities which involved that particular word at some point in human history (albeit more recent than others).

It only serves to make people of all races/ethnicities more aware of the fact that they are different, and must use different language when interacting with certain people of certain ethnical backgrounds. This further propagates discomfort & uncertainty when interacting, which leads to people staying with "their own kind" ...out of fear/uncertainty/laziness etc. in trying to make sure they dont offend somebody accidentally.

There is no excuse for complete ignorance to some words, but there is a line people must draw at some point in terms of what words "should" invoke offensive reactions...and which should not.

Otherwise we essentially will continue to divide ourselves by more and more percieved "differences". And on the whole...the more different people see other people, the less likely they are to associate with each other. The less people associate with each other, the less they actually know about each other. The less they know about each other, the more percieved differences they project on each other. Rinse and repeat.

Great post. I don't at all get the motivation of people who go after people who misspeak in this way. It's disturbing - they're absolutely trying to make the world a more divided place, which in some cases (Sharpton, etc.), keeps them relevant and keeps the money rolling in.

People who say what she said is "racist" simply don't know what the word means.

[molson]

Originally Posted by dangarion

The guy's not even black!

I love how this point is completely ignored in all this, especially with the Jim Rome/Oilers9911 metaphor about using the word "gas" towards a jew.

Tiger Words is not black!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

If she had just said "they should dismember Tiger Woods" instead of lynch none of this would have happened. Hope she's learned something.

Dismembering for the masses!

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by molson

Why can't you just say, "mug", or jump", or "Take him out". Surely, more people play WW than watch the golf network.

Gold

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by molson

She should have just used a different word. But unless someone can show there's some kind of background of racism here, who the hell cares? What do people want now, to take her out back and shoot her?

I didn't think this got the credit deserved so a nice nod to that last line

SI

[sterlingice]

You know, I use the term lynch from time to time since, hell, you gotta mix your "killin" words from time to time for variety or else you just sound like you have a bunch of verbal crutches like that "you know" I start a lot of posts with. I never had really associated it with being a racist word- it just never crossed my mind. In my head, I always had associated it with the wild west.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Noop

*Looks at thread and notices the usual players* *leaves*

Why do I think that Noop was the smartest person in this thread...

SI

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by JimboJ

I don't think I've ever heard the word "lynch" used other than in the context of lynchings of blacks. Otherwise, don't most people use the word "hang"? When someone commits suicide, they don't "lynch themselves". When someone is given the death penalty, its not "death by lynching".

I'm not big on political correctness, but I don't see how you can interpret this as anything other than a racial slur, whether she was joking or not.

This is exactly why we have to be careful with persecuting people on words & context that arent obviously intended to be offensive. While I know the term has been associated with racial hate crimes...the term's common meaning to me, is closer to 14ers quoted definition which is "to have a group exact their percieved justice onto another individual or group". I have heard the term used in the past...and this definition is how I have always heard it used.

It isnt that I'm not aware of the way the term has been linked in the past...it's just that the term is not a word indicative of race...and not being constantly focused on race(as people like Sharpton would like us all to be), it doesnt otherwise strike me as offensive without some more relevant context. To me, if we cant take words for what they mean, and people for what they intend, then we might as well stop talking as somebody will inevitably be offended by it.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by SteveMax58

I all seriousness...things like this serve to further divide people by race and/or ethnicities. There are a handful of obvious words that, no matter the context, are inappropriate and/or derogatory in nature. Beyond that, unless you feel this woman is an outright racist, words like "lynch" should not be used to further divide people and make everybody aware that there are atrocities which involved that particular word at some point in human history (albeit more recent than others).

It only serves to make people of all races/ethnicities more aware of the fact that they are different, and must use different language when interacting with certain people of certain ethnical backgrounds. This further propagates discomfort & uncertainty when interacting, which leads to people staying with "their own kind" ...out of fear/uncertainty/laziness etc. in trying to make sure they dont offend somebody accidentally.

There is no excuse for complete ignorance to some words, but there is a line people must draw at some point in terms of what words "should" invoke offensive reactions...and which should not.

Otherwise we essentially will continue to divide ourselves by more and more percieved "differences". And on the whole...the more different people see other people, the less likely they are to associate with each other. The less people associate with each other, the less they actually know about each other. The less they know about each other, the more percieved differences they project on each other. Rinse and repeat.

Great post

SI

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

I doubt she meant the statement in a racially insensitive way. Although to downplay that word's connotation and history is as wrong as the people who are calling for her head on a platter. It seems with these issues the common reaction is one extreme or the other. In my opinion she should have been reprimanded by her superiors, kindly educated on the context of that word, and that's that. She apologized, seemingly made a mistake in words, and Tiger wasn't offended, so the Al Sharpton's of the world are just seeking self publicity.

[molson]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I didn't think this got the credit deserved so a nice nod to that last line

SI

I debated for about 30 seconds whether or not just to use the lynching terminology there.

[clintl]

Originally Posted by molson

Tiger Words is not black!

What is he, then? Is Barack Obama not black, either?

Woods has an African-American father and a Thai mother. He is just as "black" as Obama.

She deserved to be suspended, and Woods was gracious in accepting the apology. And Sharpton should accept the suspension and apology, and move on.

[molson]

Originally Posted by clintl

What is he, then? Is Barack Obama not black, either?

Woods has an African-American father and a Thai mother. He is just as "black" as Obama.

His Father was half black. So Woods is 1/4 black, but is also Chinese, Thai, Native American, and Dutch. He actually doesn't consider himself an African-American - though the rest of society does for some reason.

Calling anyone with darker skin "black" is a throwback to slavery times - why do we still insist on doing it?

Obama is half-black, but I believe considers himself an "African American" (and if he didn't, society surely would). That's his choice.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I never had really associated it with being a racist word- it just never crossed my mind. In my head, I always had associated it with the wild west.

x2

[JW]

Once Tiger called himself Cablinasian to denote his mixed ancestry. I've also seen him refer to himself as both black and Asian.

And, no, the lady should not have been suspended. Unless she had a history of making stupid comments.

[14ers]

How about the word "looting"?

IF refering to a black athlete would the word "Looting" be a hate crime?

[larrymcg421]

Lots of silliness in this thread on both sides.

Lynching doesn't have to have a racial connotation, but it certainly was used that way in her statement and it's ridiculous to pretend otherwise. Now, I don't think her comment was racist. If you see it in the proper context (which the media has done a poor job of portraying), then she was actually trying to give Tiger Woods a compliment, in her own stupid way.

[JW]

Originally Posted by 14ers

How about the word "looting"?

IF refering to a black athlete would the word "Looting" be a hate crime?

And don't call a black political candidate "articulate."

Now I could look at Romney and say he really dresses well and looks sharp all the time and is really articulate and no one would think anything negative about it. Say the same about Obama and some people would try to see it as a racial slur.

Lynching doesn't have to have a racial connotation, but it certainly was used that way in her statement and it's ridiculous to pretend otherwise.

How do you know she used it in a racially-directed manner, larrymcg421? Was she really trying to say the white guys should lynch the black guy? I don't think that is apparent at all.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JW

And don't call a black political candidate "articulate."

I probably wouldn't ever call Obama "articulate", but I don't get why I can't call a black football player "articulate" (when that's rare trait for a football player, black or white).

[molson]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Why do I think that Noop was the smartest person in this thread...

SI

Obviously he thinks so....No other way to explain posting in a thread where he has nothing to add other than snobbishly putting everyone down.