Racism in the News

[Edward64]

I do think the Roseanne Barr issue thread-jacked the Random Thoughts thread so I am creating a separate one for our discussion. I didn't see another thread dedicated to these news stories.

Just like anything else, I know discussions can get heated but most of us are okay arguing and then agreeing to disagree. Hopefully we will learn something from different points of view and be able to empathize more.

I do understand this is an especially sensitive topic so I'm fine if the Mods prefer to remove it.

[NobodyHere]

Is this thread about the Trump rally in Nashville right now?

[Edward64]

Did a quick look and didn't see anything that was racist? Lots of lies and misdirection though.

[bhlloy]

It's especially relevant that the Roseanne story comes out on the same day that we find out 4600 people died in Puerto Rico, likely many that were preventable after the fact if we'd given a shit about it.

But yeah, this is absolutely orgasmic for CNN. The Puerto Rico story doesn't even make their front page. Go figure.

[Ksyrup]

I find this to be interesting in the context of it coming from a comedian. I think people like Roseanne don't understand or appreciate the difference between their act and participating in political commentary on social media. In some sense, I can understand from their perspective that there's a blurring of lines when they are used to saying whatever they want and not only "getting away with it," but it's what made them famous.

What she said was not part of a comedy routine, it wasn't particularly funny (nor was it really intended to be, as it was more of a political shot than a joke), and it obviously crossed very bright lines. But comedians use racial stereotypes all the time in their routines. Obviously, Don Rickles would have a hard time existing today, but you've got examples like Lisa Lampanellli who are active right now as well. I just think this is an example of an aging comedy veteran saying what she thinks in the context of a joke and being oblivious to the firestorm she was creating. Not that she wasn't wrong, but I can see how it happened.

What really interests me are the seemingly random ways we decide who gets burned and who gets a pass. Gilbert Gottfried makes a tsunami joke and he can no longer be the voice of an advertising duck. Ice T lives in this dual world of actor and musician where he's screaming MFer every 3 seconds and he's doing lemonade stand commercials for Geico.

[BBT]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

It's especially relevant that the Roseanne story comes out on the same day that we find out 4600 people died in Puerto Rico, likely many that were preventable after the fact if we'd given a shit about it.

But yeah, this is absolutely orgasmic for CNN. The Puerto Rico story doesn't even make their front page. Go figure.

So very true

[Edward64]

I wonder why/whats going on here?

2 in one week (that was captured on video). Full story missing but wonder if this has always happened or just a result of Trump?

Racist Driver Berates Asian-American Family: 'Go Back To Your Country, B***h' | HuffPost

[JPhillips]

Hola China?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Hola China?

Yeah, I saw that. She was obviously spouting whatever.

Couldn't see much of the guy in the passenger side, wonder what he was thinking.

[Marc Vaughan]

I had to rent a house while mine was being repaired after Irma and after asking a neighbor to stop his dog from attempting to attack mine though MY fence at the rental (for some reason he always let his dog loose in the neighborhood in the evening) ....I was told to 'go back to where I came from' ...

From that day onward he was forever dubbed 'Racist Bob' when I mentioned him ... and yes, before anyone asks he was a proud Trump supporter.

[Edward64]

Awfully un-neighborly of him.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Awfully un-neighborly of him.

After 2 years of owning a dog as an adult, most dog owners are jerks when it comes to keeping their dog under control.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I wonder why/whats going on here?

2 in one week (that was captured on video). Full story missing but wonder if this has always happened or just a result of Trump?

Racist Driver Berates Asian-American Family: 'Go Back To Your Country, B***h' | HuffPost

A little of A, a little of B. Stuff like this has always happened, but Trump makes them much more frequent and emboldens some of the more cowardly racists to be more overt about their beliefs.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

After 2 years of owning a dog as an adult, most dog owners are jerks when it comes to keeping their dog under control.

TBF I don't see this. I'm a dog owner and there are a bunch of dog owners in my subdivision (maybe its because its a subdivision?). For the most part we are all nice.

Most of the time it's "who didn't clean up after their dog". We did have one jerk who refused to keep dog on leash (and invisible fence working) but that was an exception.

Once every 1-2 weeks, there's a picture post on FB about seeing someone's dog running loose and the neighborhood quickly resolves that.

[Izulde]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/28/us/ch...dnapping-intl/

Then there's weird shit like this (about a week or two old, but just saw it)

[molson]

Originally Posted by Edward64

TBF I don't see this. I'm a dog owner and there are a bunch of dog owners in my subdivision (maybe its because its a subdivision?). For the most part we are all nice.

Most of the time it's "who didn't clean up after their dog". We did have one jerk who refused to keep dog on leash (and invisible fence working) but that was an exception.

Once every 1-2 weeks, there's a picture post on FB about seeing someone's dog running loose and the neighborhood quickly resolves that.

I feel like this can vary wildly on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. I lived in a small house in a nice neighborhood, I was charged by off-leash dogs all the time while I was walking my dog. I started carrying pepper spray after I got bit. Then I moved to a bigger house in a much worse neighborhood in the same city, and I've had zero dog issues. One or two dogs are off leash in their yard but they just sit there as we walk by. I walked my dog twice a day for 30-45 minutes each time for 2 years at both locations and the difference is ridiculous.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Izulde

A little of A, a little of B. Stuff like this has always happened, but Trump makes them much more frequent and emboldens some of the more cowardly racists to be more overt about their beliefs.

And add in the liberal media jumping on any story that has a whiff of racism and splashing it al over the place.
There have always been incidents like these, but with the availability of information to everyone at anytime, these things are pushed to the front a lot easier.

Im not sure people have been that emboldened by Trump. I feel like people are getting tired of the PC culture getting shoved down their throats, and their actions are an extreme response.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Izulde

A little of A, a little of B. Stuff like this has always happened, but Trump makes them much more frequent and emboldens some of the more cowardly racists to be more overt about their beliefs.

Well also as more and more folks have cell phones with decent video capabilities, and social media is more and more ubiquitous, it makes it easy to share this sort of nonsense that had already been happening.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by tarcone

And add in the liberal media jumping on any story that has a whiff of racism and splashing it al over the place.
There have always been incidents like these, but with the availability of information to everyone at anytime, these things are pushed to the front a lot easier.

Im not sure people have been that emboldened by Trump. I feel like people are getting tired of the PC culture getting shoved down their throats, and their actions are an extreme response.

PC was 20 years ago. It's SJW culture that occasionally goes overboard (mostly Tumblrinas that have a little awareness of a few things and take it in completely wrong directions, often with false interpretations and misinformation. Which is a shame, because SJWs and feminists in and of themselves have done a lot of important work in raising awareness and highlighting important issues. It's the fringe elements of those movements that are extreme and mistaken for the majority of the groups due to their vocal nature, thereby tarring the movements with an unwarranted broad brush.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Izulde

PC was 20 years ago. It's SJW culture that occasionally goes overboard (mostly Tumblrinas that have a little awareness of a few things and take it in completely wrong directions, often with false interpretations and misinformation. Which is a shame, because SJWs and feminists in and of themselves have done a lot of important work in raising awareness and highlighting important issues. It's the fringe elements of those movements that are extreme and mistaken for the majority of the groups due to their vocal nature, thereby tarring the movements with an unwarranted broad brush.

The same thing can be said about these people getting caught doing racist things. A whole group is being painted with the same brush as these racist fools.
I think what you are saying could be said about you when you say that it is Trumps fault. Its Trump that takes the fall with people when iut is the fringe element that causes the issues. These people have always been out there, and as IS said about phones and social media, it comes to the fore front.

It goes both ways. Cant be one or the other.

[Edward64]

Interesting.

The article calls it "racist". I'm not sure, if it is its kinda tame by today's standards I guess.

Einstein's diaries contain shocking details of his racism | Fox News

The diaries were written between October 1922 and March 1923. In one entry Einstein wrote that the “Chinese don’t sit on benches while eating but squat like Europeans do when they relieve themselves out in the leafy woods. All this occurs quietly and demurely. Even the children are spiritless and look obtuse.”

Speaking about the “abundance of offspring” and the “fecundity” of the Chinese, he continued: “It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary.

Einstein also derided the people of Ceylon, which is now known as Sri Lanka. In Ceylon, he wrote, the locals “live in great filth and considerable stench at ground level,” before adding they “do little, and need little. The simple economic cycle of life.”

Einstein also gave his thoughts on Japanese people, who he viewed in a more positive light, calling them "unostentatious, decent, altogether very appealing.” However, he also wrote the “intellectual needs of this nation seem to be weaker than their artistic ones – natural disposition?”

"Entries... contain passages that reveal Einstein's stereotyping of members of various nations and raise questions about his attitudes on race," a description of the book reads.
:
:
“I think a lot of comments strike us as pretty unpleasant – what he says about the Chinese in particular," Rosenkranz told The Guardian. “They’re kind of in contrast to the public image of the great humanitarian icon. I think it’s quite a shock to read those and contrast them with his more public statements. They’re more off guard, he didn’t intend them for publication.”

[Edward64]

Starting to feel sorry for Roseanne.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/25/enter...iew/index.html

Barr appeared to be sobbing as she told Boteach she has black children in her family and she "can't let 'em say these things about that, after 30 years of my putting my family and my health and my livelihood at risk to stand up for people."

"I'm a lot of things, a loud mouth and all that stuff," she said emotionally. "But I'm not stupid for God's sake. I never would have wittingly called any black person, [I would never had said] they are a monkey."

Roseanne says she 'begged' ABC to save her show

Barr stressed that her saying she was on Ambien at the time she tweeted was an explanation, not an excuse.

"There's no excuse. I don't excuse it," she said. "It's an explanation. I was impaired you know."

She also told Boteach, "I horribly regret it."

[JPhillips]

Her twitter feed is full of garbage, but right now, towards the top is a retweet of this ironic gem:

For @TheJuanWilliams to defend Peter Fonda and say it was a poorly worded tweet is inexcusable. @FoxNews to fire him!

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Starting to feel sorry for Roseanne.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/25/enter...iew/index.html

I think she got what she deserved.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I think she got what she deserved.

Yeah probably.

I did have a colleague that took ambien and went to sleep on a flight. When he landed, people were telling him he was talking and socializing with them and he had no recollection.

[miami_fan]

This is probably better placed here than in the MLB thread. Which is it?

Insensitive comments?

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...nts/739585002/

Racial charged comments?

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/06/27...rged-comments/

Or Racist comments?

https://nypost.com/2018/06/27/tigers...r-racist-rant/

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Yeah probably.

I did have a colleague that took ambien and went to sleep on a flight. When he landed, people were telling him he was talking and socializing with them and he had no recollection.

I also have an experience of blacking out after taking Ambien and then apparently socializing and even playing chess.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

This is probably better placed here than in the MLB thread. Which is it?

Insensitive comments?

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...nts/739585002/

Racial charged comments?

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/06/27...rged-comments/

Or Racist comments?

https://nypost.com/2018/06/27/tigers...r-racist-rant/

Seems to be some irresponsible reporting going on. While it could have been racial, I see nothing other than speculation. Going from insensitive to full blown racist rant with no report of what the comments actually was seems more than a stretch.

It may turn out that it was racial, but let the evidence come out before casting judgment.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I also have an experience of blacking out after taking Ambien and then apparently socializing and even playing chess.

So I guess I can easily believe Roseanne saying she took ambien and didn't mean to say those things.

But she is a big girl with lots of money. And she is a Trump supporter.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Seems to be some irresponsible reporting going on. While it could have been racial, I see nothing other than speculation. Going from insensitive to full blown racist rant with no report of what the comments actually was seems more than a stretch.

It may turn out that it was racial, but let the evidence come out before casting judgment.

True. On the other hand, the Tigers have the evidence and they laid down their judgement. The Tigers GM specifically made a point of not saying whether it was racial or sexual. And they said that is the last thing they are going to say about the matter. So I guess all we are going to get is speculation from here now on. I honestly think they did Bosio a favor to be honest in the end by not saying anything.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Edward64

So I guess I can easily believe Roseanne saying she took ambien and didn't mean to say those things.

But she is a big girl with lots of money. And she is a Trump supporter.

What about the other dozen or so times she said stuff?

I'm sure Ambien can mess with memory but I don't think it turns you into something you're not.

[JPhillips]

Yeah, look at her twitter feed. The whole thing is a cesspool.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Edward64

So I guess I can easily believe Roseanne saying she took ambien and didn't mean to say those things.

But she is a big girl with lots of money. And she is a Trump supporter.

If this is what it does to her she obviously takes it a helluva lot and has for oh, the last 30+ years.

I'd be more apt to giver her a pass if this was an isolated incident, but she has pushed the envelope for her entire career and having a twitter account just allows her to put her foot in her mouth to a wider audience now.

[Julio Riddols]

Based on personal experience working front desk at a hotel in the rural part of Western NC, Trump being president HAS made bigoted rhetoric more frequent. I hear it in gas stations around town, I heard it on my lunch breaks when I worked at the flooring plant last winter too.. How a "straight white man" is gonna fix shit. I kept my mouth shut at the time as hard as it was to do so, since I had to work with these people. Since his election, I've checked in way more loudmouths who openly brag about how Trump is on their side and he's gonna get rid of the "towelheads" and the "wetbacks". At the time he became president we had a few white workers here that took that as an opportunity to start shit with our housekeepers (mexican housekeepers) talking about Trump like he was right outside with a bus waiting to take them back across the border. They called my boss a sand nigger to his face after he fired them despite the fact that he had hired all of them when they really needed work and had also given them financial assistance when they needed it which they never repaid. If there were enough black people around I am sure I would hear more about them too. My black neighbor who had to move away was always talking about how much he dealt with on a daily basis in town and how it took all his forgiveness sometimes to not retaliate.

It isn't all the media's doing. Places like where I live are cesspools of ignorance and Fox News fed hysteria and the things I hear make me physically ill sometimes because it is all so bigoted and ridiculous.

Followers of leaders draw power and take cues from that leadership, and when the leadership is a pompous ass with no decorum who lies for his own benefit, you can bet his followers are right behind him going "Yeah, fuck you, fuck you and fuck you too" to anyone who even tries to engage them.

I bet if you were able to poll the locals here and get the answer of what they really think deep in their hearts, you'd find close to 50% of them would totally love to go back to the days of lynchings and segregated everything.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

What about the other dozen or so times she said stuff?

I'm sure Ambien can mess with memory but I don't think it turns you into something you're not.

I actually didn't know about the other stuff (never was a Roseanne fan) just the last incident which is when she was referring to the ambien. I've didn't hear of other incidents with her but I can believe it.

I would agree, if she has a history of saying this stuff and she has been taking ambien, she can't blame all/most of it on ambien. (Just stop taking it and find another way to sleep)

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Based on personal experience working front desk at a hotel in the rural part of Western NC, Trump being president HAS made bigoted rhetoric more frequent. I hear it in gas stations around town, I heard it on my lunch breaks when I worked at the flooring plant last winter too.. How a "straight white man" is gonna fix shit. I kept my mouth shut at the time as hard as it was to do so, since I had to work with these people. Since his election, I've checked in way more loudmouths who openly brag about how Trump is on their side and he's gonna get rid of the "towelheads" and the "wetbacks". At the time he became president we had a few white workers here that took that as an opportunity to start shit with our housekeepers (mexican housekeepers) talking about Trump like he was right outside with a bus waiting to take them back across the border. They called my boss a sand nigger to his face after he fired them despite the fact that he had hired all of them when they really needed work and had also given them financial assistance when they needed it which they never repaid. If there were enough black people around I am sure I would hear more about them too. My black neighbor who had to move away was always talking about how much he dealt with on a daily basis in town and how it took all his forgiveness sometimes to not retaliate.

It isn't all the media's doing. Places like where I live are cesspools of ignorance and Fox News fed hysteria and the things I hear make me physically ill sometimes because it is all so bigoted and ridiculous.

Followers of leaders draw power and take cues from that leadership, and when the leadership is a pompous ass with no decorum who lies for his own benefit, you can bet his followers are right behind him going "Yeah, fuck you, fuck you and fuck you too" to anyone who even tries to engage them.

I bet if you were able to poll the locals here and get the answer of what they really think deep in their hearts, you'd find close to 50% of them would totally love to go back to the days of lynchings and segregated everything.

This is the lynching segregated NC that carried (I dont know the right word, but they voted him) Obama in both elections, right?

I mean granted you are in the backwood mountain most rural piece of the state, but still lets not forget recent history.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

This is the lynching segregated NC that carried (I dont know the right word, but they voted him) Obama in both elections, right?

I mean granted you are in the backwood mountain most rural piece of the state, but still lets not forget recent history.

Are you saying he didn't actually experience this?

[Warhammer]

Trump was created as a backlash of the last 20 or so years. The media narrative has been about building up minorities. If you questioned whether a minority is good at a position, you were labeled a racist. EDIT: regardless of their performance at their position.

In this past election, you have a narcissist that declares he is running for office. He has never been in politics before, and he says whatever is on his mind. You have people that have felt muzzled and that no one had been listening to them for the previous 10-15 years flock to him. He is saying whatever comes to mind regardless of consequence. His opponents are life long politicians who have delivered on very few, if any, of the promises that were made to these voters. They turn to the outsider for a few reasons, he has not lied to them yet, and they feel they can trust him because he will say what is on his mind.

In the run up to the election, a Clinton presidency was presented as a foregone conclusion. How big was the landslide going to be? Instead, Trump wins. Immediately, demonstrations break out. Allegations that the election was rigged. This dominates the news for months. The voters who elected Trump become concerned that this victory is going to be taken away from them. The media (actual news media, but also including celebrities here) talks about how stupid and ignorant 50% of the country is for voting for him, including those who voted for him because he was the lesser of two evils.

With all this going on, we're surprised that these people are going to speak their minds? Unfortunately, many of these people that felt they did not have a voice are racist and blame many of the evils today on minorities.

[CarterNMA]

White People Are Cowards

Don't know much about The Root or Michael Harriot but is this some racism in the news?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

This is probably better placed here than in the MLB thread. Which is it?

Insensitive comments?

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...nts/739585002/

Racial charged comments?

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/06/27...rged-comments/

Or Racist comments?

https://nypost.com/2018/06/27/tigers...r-racist-rant/

Bosio has given his side of the story.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ach/742383002/

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Are you saying he didn't actually experience this?

No. Im sure Julio heard those things. Im also sure I can work in certain other areas in NC and hear African Americans disparage whites or Mexicans. or hear Mexicans ridicule whomever.


He happens to live in the heart of yokel...if you have ever watched the show moonshiners those NC boys are 20 minutes from him, Of course there is backwoods ignornant speech there. Im just saying its tough to swallow that 50% want to go back to segregationalist south when its a state that twice elected a black President.


Remember NC is/was a swing state. Much different than SC where I'm convinced they'd vote for the ghost of Hitler so long as you put an elephant beside his name, in most counties....

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

Trump was created as a backlash of the last 20 or so years. The media narrative has been about building up minorities. If you questioned whether a minority is good at a position, you were labeled a racist. EDIT: regardless of their performance at their position.

In this past election, you have a narcissist that declares he is running for office. He has never been in politics before, and he says whatever is on his mind. You have people that have felt muzzled and that no one had been listening to them for the previous 10-15 years flock to him. He is saying whatever comes to mind regardless of consequence. His opponents are life long politicians who have delivered on very few, if any, of the promises that were made to these voters. They turn to the outsider for a few reasons, he has not lied to them yet, and they feel they can trust him because he will say what is on his mind.

In the run up to the election, a Clinton presidency was presented as a foregone conclusion. How big was the landslide going to be? Instead, Trump wins. Immediately, demonstrations break out. Allegations that the election was rigged. This dominates the news for months. The voters who elected Trump become concerned that this victory is going to be taken away from them. The media (actual news media, but also including celebrities here) talks about how stupid and ignorant 50% of the country is for voting for him, including those who voted for him because he was the lesser of two evils.

With all this going on, we're surprised that these people are going to speak their minds? Unfortunately, many of these people that felt they did not have a voice are racist and blame many of the evils today on minorities.

I agree with this for the most part

The one quibble I have is with the narrative. Based on my personal experience, I think it a bit unfair to say that whites (or non minorities) are upset about the “building up of minorities” narrative. At least this is where I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. The narrative that is bothersome is that negative coverage towards whiteness (or non-minorities).

Also, at some point we may need to have a discussion about how we define minorities and non- minorities as the demographics continue to change.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

No. Im sure Julio heard those things. Im also sure I can work in certain other areas in NC and hear African Americans disparage whites or Mexicans. or hear Mexicans ridicule whomever.


He happens to live in the heart of yokel...if you have ever watched the show moonshiners those NC boys are 20 minutes from him, Of course there is backwoods ignornant speech there. Im just saying its tough to swallow that 50% want to go back to segregationalist south when its a state that twice elected a black President.


Remember NC is/was a swing state. Much different than SC where I'm convinced they'd vote for the ghost of Hitler so long as you put an elephant beside his name, in most counties....

Julio seems to be indicating, though, that the racist talk has increased. It's possible, of course, that he just moved there and doesn't really know, but I suspect he has been there long enough to see what changes have happened in the place from under Obama to what it is now. Considering that, it seems to me anyway, he is saying that since Trump's victory and rhetoric he has seen more overt racism in his neck of the woods, which would appear to be potentially relevant.

[Julio Riddols]

Yeah, it really is the location I think. Asheville is less than an hour away and is one of the more liberal places I have been, but here in Bryson the roads go back deep into these woods and the people are mostly long term, firmly entrenched lifers in a small town in rural, southern america.

It might not be more prevalent, but it has become more brazen really. I think before it would be whispers here and there, but it was generally under the surface. Those people who used to whisper with their buddies in the back are just talking louder now and less afraid than they were before. They are, by definition, emboldened by Trump. With that as my basis, I'd have to guess that anyone who is cut from the same cloth anywhere in America is likely to exhibit the same behavior. It might be a fairly small minority of people, but their voices have gotten louder since the election and I'd say that they are at least part of the crowd from which the added tension is originating.

I'd expect the same kind of emboldened talk from a minority of liberals if they were the ones in power, but it would just be a different type of bigotry - Part of that is due to social media, part of it is immaturity, part of it is a genuine hatred for the people who oppose their belief system. The only difference, I think, is that the democratic leadership in that situation would likely be the first to condemn the acts of their brethren as divisive and not an acceptable way to bring this country back from the brink it seems to be resting on. Trumps administration almost seems to revel in it.

This is just an extremely divided country right now and I don't think it'll heal without a tremendous voter turnout that swings the presidency, the house and the senate heavily blue for maybe half a century. I just don't think there are enough Republican candidates out there who want to bring their party back toward the middle to bring about a change if their party remains the majority.

We're divided among so many lines too.. Race, gender, income and age to name a few. This is almost certainly being aided by online presences from Russia and any other country that is interested in a weaker U.S. - They know how to sew seeds of division and we basically want to kill each other right now, leaving those countries to laugh at us chasing our tails while it all falls down around us.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

This is probably better placed here than in the MLB thread. Which is it?

Insensitive comments?

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...nts/739585002/

Racial charged comments?

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/06/27...rged-comments/

Or Racist comments?

https://nypost.com/2018/06/27/tigers...r-racist-rant/

According to Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang at The Athletic (paywall):

Sources: Chris Bosio was fired for directing a racial slur at a clubhouse attendant – The Athletic

Bosio called the attendant, who is African-American, a “monkey,” according to four team sources. The remark was directed toward the young man, who was collecting towels from the coaches’ room at the time, during a post-game gripe session in which Bosio was lamenting about a pitcher.

During this exchange, Bosio made a derogatory comment about one of the Tigers pitchers and then gestured toward the attendant before adding, “like this monkey here,” the sources said.

And the whole "Spider Monkey" defense..

Stumpf told The Detroit Free Press Thursday night that he was not aware of that nickname. All four sources who spoke to The Athletic disputed Bosio’s account.

So it seems like NBC and the NYPost were correct after all.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I agree with this for the most part

The one quibble I have is with the narrative. Based on my personal experience, I think it a bit unfair to say that whites (or non minorities) are upset about the “building up of minorities” narrative. At least this is where I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. The narrative that is bothersome is that negative coverage towards whiteness (or non-minorities).

Also, at some point we may need to have a discussion about how we define minorities and non- minorities as the demographics continue to change.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/29/us/ra...ric/index.html

Damn I am getting old. The George Allen controversy feels like it was more than just twelve years ago. The article does navigate some of the things that discussed in this thread.

[Edward64]

This was in the news recently. There may be additional context but, as I read it, I don't see this as a racial issue.

I live in a subdivision in suburbia. We have a neighborhood watch and posted signs of non-solicitation. Its a relatively peaceful neighborhood but there have been car break-in's, vandalism etc.

Our subdivision FB has numerous posts about calling 911 for folks soliciting. African Americans, white, school kids, sometimes a religious parent & child, students wanting to sell something to help them do sometime etc. (admittedly, the only exception I've seen are girl scouts selling cookies).

Our HOA has said its is okay to call 911 and there's not been any feedback from the sheriff not to do so.

I can easily imagine a neighbor calling 911 on the woman if she was wandering around the neighborhood and it wouldn't be about race.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...cement-n889276

#WhileBlack: Calling police on black people become teachable moments for law enforcement
:
A black state lawmaker from Oregon up for re-election was knocking on doors in her Portland-area district this week when someone called 911 on her.

It all ended amicably — the lawmaker, state Rep. Janelle Bynum, even took a smiling selfie with the sheriff's deputy who responded and received an apology from the woman who called 911 — but the incident just added to a growing list of the police being called on black people doing ordinary, nonthreatening things.

While the incidents have provoked outrage among African-Americans, they have also proven frustrating for police, who warn that calling 911 and tying up officers on frivolous calls may take them away from more serious situations.

What happened to Bynum "just took it over the top for me — you can't even go door to door without having police called," said Clarence Cox III, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, or Noble, which advocates for justice in policing.

[Julio Riddols]

Yeah, I doubt this was an incident that was racially driven, at least in that context. Racists don't strike me as an apologetic people. It'll still get lumped into the pile, which sucks. It's not productive to give your opponent any ground to stand on when you're arguing your side of something.

It's a problem I see with every movement really, there are always some fringe people who just want to make everything a controversy instead of thinking about the way it looks when you're the one who is flipping out over something so minor or made up that it becomes a detriment to the cause you are supposedly trying to support. Feminism, MeToo, Occupy Wall Street, and on and on ad nauseum.. All these ideas are ruined by people who join the movement with a misguided thought that they can make a difference by just finding something to get mad about and then screaming as loud as possible. Meanwhile there is a real message out there getting dragged through the mud behind a runaway dumb truck.

[Edward64]

Turns out it wasn't racism or racial bias and the cop's body camera helped. Sad situation for the kid but good for the cop that was exonerated.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/23/us/at...boy/index.html

A police department in Georgia says it is investigating the circumstances that led an officer to forcefully restrain a young boy.

Video of the encounter spread through social media, drawing allegations of excessive force. On Monday, as furor over the video grew, Athens-Clarke County Police released the officer's body camera footage and a statement regarding the incident.

Chief R. Scott Freeman has ordered an internal affairs investigation, the statement said, and the Athens-Clarke County attorney is reviewing the incident because a juvenile is involved.

The woman who posted the original video on Facebook did not return CNN's emails or Facebook messages attempting to reach her. Her video prompted allegations of racial bias because the officer is white and the boy is black. But the body camera footage offers additional context: the raw emotional reaction of a child witnessing a parent's arrest.

[cuervo72]

Let's combine racism with guns!

A new father was fatally shot after confronting a man who hurled the n-word at his friend, police say - The Washington Post