Why is the word "Lynch" a hate crime?

[14ers]

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009674606

Bill Lumpkin - AHN
Orlando, FL (AHN) - Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghham has been suspended for two weeks for her on-air remarks that young golfers should "lynch Woods in a back alley."
Tilghman light-heartedly made the comments to analyst Nick Faldo during the PGA season-opening event during the Mercedes-Benz Championship.


The Golf Channel reacted on Wednesday after the Rev. Al Sharpton called for Tilghman's firing and other NCAAP leaders reacted as well.

Adora Obi Nweze, a president of the Florida State Conference, a unit of the NAACP, told the Orlando Sentinel that's Tilghham's comments were similar to those of Don Imus, who was fired by CBS after comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Nweze said, "I don't know anybody who uses that word (lynch) commonly, or at all, for that matter."

How is this similar to Imus's Nappy headed Hos comment? The word Lynch does have a defintion, and Nweze must re-educate himself that there are times where the use of word Lynch would be correct.


"lynch Woods in a back alley." is the correct use of the word Lynch, and has nothing to do with Tiger woods being Black.

Def:

Main Entry:lynch

Pronunciation:\ˈlinch\

Function:transitive verb

Etymology:lynch law

Date:1836

: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction
— lynch·er noun

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's a crime since Tilghham is white.

[Easy Mac]

i use the word lynch often.

Example:

David Lynch is fucking crazy.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

It's a crime since Tilghham is white.

and Woods is black.

[highfiveoh]

I'll bite. Who said the word "Lynch" is a hate crime?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by highfiveoh

I'll bite. Who said the word "Lynch" is a hate crime?

Al Sharpton

[rjolley]

Unfortunately, in the history of the United States, lynching of Black men and women occurred frequently. At a minimum, it's an extremely insensitive comment to make, especially in the wake of the noose incidents that have occurred over the past months. Here's a website with some information on lynching. I'm sure there's more. (hxxp://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.04.x.html#b)

Being gramatically correct does not make it correct to say. Some will say people are being too sensitive. However, using that term in that context is wrong. She could have made her point by saying the players should tie Woods up and kidnap him. To say he should be lynched conveys an image of hatred and racism.

There's just better ways to say Woods is the best player today and other players need ways beyond golf to stop him.

[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.

[highfiveoh]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Al Sharpton

Is there a link that quotes him saying this?

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

It's a crime since Tilghham is white.

A crime? No. Incredibly stupid? You bet.

[oliegirl]

I agree that it was inappropriate. I'm just flabbergasted that someone would be stupid enough to say that on air.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Oilers9911

It has nothing to do with her being white.

Horseshit.

[rjolley]

Normally, I'd agree with you, Jon. It would be a big deal in the Black community, but wouldn't get as much media attention. Now, with the Jena, LA incident and the others that followed, I think anyone who makes that remark on air will be singled out for it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Before her suspension was announced, Sharpton spoke earlier on CNN's "Prime News" and continued to push for her firing, saying he wanted to meet with Golf Channel because the comments were "an insult to all blacks."

"Lynching is not murder in general, it's not assault in general," Sharpton said. "It's a specific racial term that this women should be held accountable for. What she said is racist. Whether she's a racist ... is immaterial. She's a broadcaster. The channel has to be accountable to the public."

I'm sure all the outlaws who were hung back in the old west will be happy to know that Idiot Al is here to defend their honor.

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Horseshit.

Ahhh the poor persecuted white folk, always being picked on. You're a smart guy Jon, but if you can't see why what she said is offensive then there is just no more to say.

[Anthony]

poor choice of words, but c'mon, this is golf we're talking about. i don't think she was using that as her opportunity to talk about her supposed "racist" views. but it was a bad choice of words. funny thing is, Woods is as far from a black man as you can get. he speaks whiter than a politician and makes more money than most CEOs.

just one of these days, i wish someone in that girl's position would just say "i apologize - but only to Woods. if any one else was offended by my comments - that i didn't intend to be offensive - they should chalk it up to a case of misunderstanding and a result of the perils of speaking on live tv, where there are no 'do-overs'". i'm getting tired of people having to apologize when they make non-threatening or non-blatantly racist comments. you will know when people are making overtly racist comments. trying to lynch someone because they said something live and working without a safety net, that's just grandstanding and asking for an apology just for the sake of it.

but yes, it was a poor choice of words. we're going to get to the point where everyone on tv is a talking mannequin, or a puppet, force fed their lines. i wouldn't be suprised to see robots doing commentary. i would not want to be a commentator or have anything to do with being on tv (talk shows, sports programming, etc). to be in a situation where you constantly have to monitor and filter what you say? we all have free speech, and to have to curb that so as not to "offend" someone, no thanks. not worth it. i'll stick to being home and making all the racist and insentive comments i want in the company of like-minded people. this isn't a good time to be in the public eye.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

and Woods is black.

He's actually only 1/4 black. I wonder if this would be OK if he was 1/8. What's the cutoff when someone is still considered "black"?

[Dr. Sak]

Can seriously say that if Tilghham said...

"Phil Mickelson should be lynched"

it would've caused the same uproar? Would Sharpton go running to Phil's aid?

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Oilers9911

Ahhh the poor persecuted white folk, always being picked on. You're a smart guy Jon, but if you can't see why what she said is offensive then there is just no more to say.

I don't think Jon is saying what she said wasn't offensive - at least I hope he isn't - but I took his comment as his disagreement that the anchor being white had nothing to do with it.

and IMHO, it had everything to do with her being white.

Also, FWIW, Al Sharpton is a gasbag - who f'ing cares what he has to say?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Oilers9911

... if you can't see why what she said is offensive then there is just no more to say.

Offensive? Only if someone was desperately looking for something to be offended about. And only a complete idiot would ignore the context of the comment. Unfortunately, Sharpton qualifies on both counts.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

I don't think Jon is saying what she said wasn't offensive - at least I hope he isn't - but I took his comment as his disagreement that the anchor being white had nothing to do with it.

and IMHO, it had everything to do with her being white.

Also, FWIW, Al Sharpton is a gasbag - who f'ing cares what he has to say?

Agreed. The fact that she was white has a lot to do with this. If she were black, it'd probably be a non story.

It was a poor choice of words and probably a stupid thing to say.

I don't think it was a "hate crime." And, yes, Al Sharpton is a gassbag. Idiot Al, indeed.

[johnnyshaka]

Also, if Tilghham herself were black, would it have brought on this much attention?

[JonInMiddleGA]

The irony here, of course, is that virtually no one on earth would have been aware of the remark at all except for the whining. She's on the friggin' Golf Channel for cryin' out loud, roughly the same number of viewers as QVC at 4 am.

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

I don't think Jon is saying what she said wasn't offensive - at least I hope he isn't - but I took his comment as his disagreement that the anchor being white had nothing to do with it.

and IMHO, it had everything to do with her being white.

Also, FWIW, Al Sharpton is a gasbag - who f'ing cares what he has to say?

Well yes, Sharpton is a gas bag, no doubt about that. I guess in the truest sense yes it is a big deal because she is white...but it WAS white people lynching black people in the past.

[rjolley]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

poor choice of words, but c'mon, this is golf we're talking about. i don't think she was using that as her opportunity to talk about her supposed "racist" views. but it was a bad choice of words. funny thing is, Woods is as far from a black man as you can get. he speaks whiter than a politician and makes more money than most CEOs.

just one of these days, i wish someone in that girl's position would just say "i apologize - but only to Woods. if any one else was offended by my comments - that i didn't intend to be offensive - they should chalk it up to a case of misunderstanding and a result of the perils of speaking on live tv, where there are no 'do-overs'". i'm getting tired of people having to apologize when they make non-threatening or non-blatantly racist comments. you will know when people are making overtly racist comments. trying to lynch someone because they said something live and working without a safety net, that's just grandstanding and asking for an apology just for the sake of it.

but yes, it was a poor choice of words. we're going to get to the point where everyone on tv is a talking mannequin, or a puppet, force fed their lines. i wouldn't be suprised to see robots doing commentary. i would not want to be a commentator or have anything to do with being on tv (talk shows, sports programming, etc). to be in a situation where you constantly have to monitor and filter what you say? we all have free speech, and to have to curb that so as not to "offend" someone, no thanks. not worth it. i'll stick to being home and making all the racist and insentive comments i want in the company of like-minded people. this isn't a good time to be in the public eye.

Hmmm, that's funny, Woods is far from being a Black man because he's articulate and makes a lot of money? Michael Jordan does the same. Is he far from a Black man? How about Senator Obama?

As for the rest, yes, it's a poor choice of words. However, to say people shouldn't be offended is pretty self-centered. Just because you don't understand it doesn't invalidate others views. And yes, there's free speech, but with that comes the right for peeple to not like what's said and respond.

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The irony here, of course, is that virtually no one on earth would have been aware of the remark at all except for the whining. She's on the friggin' Golf Channel for cryin' out loud, roughly the same number of viewers as QVC at 4 am.

The number of people that hear the comment when it was made has no bearing on how stupid it was to say it.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The irony here, of course, is that virtually no one on earth would have been aware of the remark at all except for the whining. She's on the friggin' Golf Channel for cryin' out loud, roughly the same number of viewers as QVC at 4 am.

People LOVE to get fired up about stuff like this. You can almost hear the glee in their voices.

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?

[14ers]

LOL, I think Tiger Woods should be mad as hell. Afterall, she was calling him a Horse Thief, and we all know there is nothing lower than a Horse Thief!

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by molson

People LOVE to get fired up about stuff like this. You can almost hear the glee in their voices.

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?

She chose the wrong word to use and I don't think she meant anything at all by it, and to want her fired for it is too much. She has apologized for it and it should be left at that. But it was a stupid thing to say and while Al and his crew do love to blow things like this up more than it should be, if someone out there WAS honestly offended and upset by what she said that is their right.

[DanGarion]

I can guaranfuckingtee you that more white people were lynched in the USA then black people. Since it was common practice in in the Wild West.

[Aylmar]

Originally Posted by Oilers9911

The number of people that hear the comment when it was made has no bearing on how stupid it was to say it.

I still don't understand why it was so stupid to say the word lynch. The definition of the word doesn't involve the race of the victim. Should she have said crucify perhaps? Since crucifixion wasn't very popular in American history, would that have been alright to say? What about flog to death? Some mention of yardarms, perhaps? Is there a word or phrase that is better than the alternatives to get her meant-as-a-joke meaning across? If you're talking about a mob (or group) of people taking someone out and eliminating him, can you use a more appropriate word than "lynch"?

That's it, no joking on TV. Think of the children!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by dangarion

I can guaranfuckingtee you that more white people were lynched in the USA then black people. Since it was common practice in in the Wild West.

I can guaranfuckingtee you that no one was lynched in the US for just being white.

[Young Drachma]

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

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Aylmar

I still don't understand why it was so stupid to say the word lynch. The definition of the word doesn't involve the race of the victim. Should she have said crucify perhaps? Since crucifixion wasn't very popular in American history, would that have been alright to say? What about flog to death? Some mention of yardarms, perhaps? Is there a word or phrase that is better than the alternatives to get her meant-as-a-joke meaning across? If you're talking about a mob (or group) of people taking someone out and eliminating him, can you use a more appropriate word than "lynch"?

That's it, no joking on TV. Think of the children!

No, the definition of the word doesn't involve race, but the meaning of the word can, and, apparently, does for some folks.

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

[molson]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

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

The more you beat kids over the head with stuff long past the point it's necessary, the more backlash there will be once they can think for themselves. (I don't think my school taught ANY history except the holocaust from grade 6-8. Apparently, nothing else ever happened in the world. By the end of it, no one cared anymore)

Everyone "gets it". Everyone knows about lynching and it's role in US history. Not all of us agree in this constant villianization of people who mispeak. It's tiring.

[Aylmar]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I can guaranfuckingtee you that no one was lynched in the US for just being white.

Probably not...you also had to be a Republican. Or a Tory...or seen as a Tory sympathizer....

[Passacaglia]

Luckily, whenever we say "lynch" in the werewolf forum, it doesn't count. Turns out, all this time, SkyDog was just covering our asses on that one.

[Drake]

I wonder if John Lynch ever feels uncomfortable in the Broncos' locker room.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Luckily, whenever we say "lynch" in the werewolf forum, it doesn't count. Turns out, all this time, SkyDog was just covering our asses on that one.

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

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I can guaranfuckingtee you that no one was lynched in the US for just being white.

Actually I don't believe that. But it's unfortunate that because of idiots in the past the entire white public has to be blamed. I wasn't there I didn't do it and I feel no guilt for what people did in history.

[Passacaglia]

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.

Or sanction. Worked for me.

[DanGarion]

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.

I'm sure if the ratio of a certain race to whites that "mug" people is higher then someone would find offense to that as well...

[molson]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Is it that hard to try to avoid using insensitive word choice around people who might be offended by it?

Isn't that just human decency?

Who says she didn't try? She apologised. She mispoke. If she says it again next week maybe it's worthy of a thread.

The list of "banned" words grows every year - sometimes it's difficult to keep track.

They're just words for gods sake - all these kind of discussions do is add more hate and bigotry throughout the English language. It's getting easier and easier to be offensive if that's what one WANTS to do, because they have a huge vocabulary now to utilize. But this lady clearly didn't mean ANYTHING by her comment.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Is it that hard to try to avoid using insensitive word choice around people who might be offended by it?

Isn't that just human decency?

Please provide a list for insensitive words or groups of words, I'll get right on passing that list out to the entire US public, all 260+ million of them. Please make sure you include all regional references that could also be considered insensitive as well as those that may be only insensitive to one person.

Thanks.

[Lathum]

How come no one has ever been suspend for saying " he abused him on that play"

I think domestic violence is a far bigger issue in this country then some people who got hanged centuries ago.

[stevew]

At least the commentator didn't say something about the rest of the pros taking Tiger out for fried chicken and collar'd greens, and then lynching him in the back alley.




Really poor choice of words by the commentator however. Especially since there were so many other words that would have worked.

[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.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by molson

The more you beat kids over the head with stuff long past the point it's necessary, the more backlash there will be once they can think for themselves. (I don't think my school taught ANY history except the holocaust from grade 6-8. Apparently, nothing else ever happened in the world. By the end of it, no one cared anymore)

Everyone "gets it". Everyone knows about lynching and it's role in US history. Not all of us agree in this constant villianization of people who mispeak. It's tiring.

That's not really what I meant. I think that if people respected each other more and respected the fact that we not just came from different pasts and different paths to get here; but that we're in the same boat now and need to make it flat or we'll sink collectively, would be a lot better.

But between the diversity police, the people who want to act like nothing in the past and that it "doesn't matter anymore" and the folks who are bitter and want people to redress the "effects" of the past by "giving them" something there is more than enough blame and silliness to go around.

I don't think schools would fix it, to be honest. But the one thing I was saying that if people were taught a more complete version of history, these sorts of things wouldn't come up, because they're understand and appreciate the facts behind it.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Listen, I'm not talking about the PGA channel lady at all. She mispoke and apologized. It's pretty obvious that there's nothing there.

I'm more responding to the feeling I get from a lot of the posts here saying "it's my right to say whatever I want, regardless of how that will make people feel or make me look to people." Yes, you have that right. That doesn't mean you have to be an asshole about it.

And give me a break about a list of all offensive words to everyone in the country. Just use a little common sense.

But the problem with that is that not everyone knows what YOU consider offensive. Would I use the word lynch? Probably not, but it's not because I would think someone would consider it offensive, it just wouldn't be my choice of word, it's not a normal word in my vocabulary.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

"it's my right to say whatever I want, regardless of how that will make people feel or make me look to people."

You mean like Sharpton raising hell about this when even Woods himself wasn't bothered by it?