"End Racism" Removed from Superbowl Stadium End Zones--so as not to 'offend' President Trump

[ozso]

The "radical liberalism" I see looks a lot like the "radical liberalism" of MLK Jr.

-CryptoLutheran (I've actually read and listened to MLK beyond "I Have a Dream")

What some key points of radical liberalism being objected to that Dr. King taught in favor of?

Or put another way what issues would MLK be in disagreement with when it comes to Candace Owens, John McWhorter, Glenn Loury and Colman Hughes?

 

[ozso]

We agree on that. I have been fortunate to travel to many parts of the world, and I found one unfortunate thing common everywhere: racism and discrimination exist across all races, cultures, and societies. No single race is inherently more tolerant or more racist than another.

Historically, conservatives Americans have advocated against discriminatory practices. However, today they seek to move beyond this legacy. This shift is not because they believe racism no longer exists, but because they feel that in some segments of American society, blame is disproportionately placed on Caucasians. Some American societal perspectives, particularly among some educated elites at universities, suggest that many of the world's problems, oppression, and injustices over the past 1000 years have been caused by Europeans. This viewpoint also includes the belief that Caucasians are inherently racist. However, this perspective often does not address racism present in other cultures and races. As a result many conservative see fight against racism is a attack on white.

A few years ago I had to attend a mandatory workshop on equality. There was an outline we were taken through, that concluded white middle aged men deeply oppress everyone else. It was a systemic way of proving white supremecy. It might have been that Critical Race Theory thing.

Whatever the case, I was definitely in the bad person category.

 

[MrMoe]

Doesn’t look like we’re ever going to find out, huh?

How do you know we're not there already?

 

[MrMoe]

It'll look like when someone finds out that there used to be a civil rights movement and they are puzzled about why it happened. Maybe not in my grandchildren's time. But maybe the great grandchildren.

Strange, I would have thought that not knowing why something important happened would be a bad thing. I'm sure you're aware of the saying about those who don't learn from history.

Thankfully it's black history month in America, and the civil rights movement and why it happened is no doubt being taught in schools all across the US.

 

[Deborah1$]

Ok so in your opinion what percentage of the American population do you think these people in the pictures represent? And out of all the people you know how many of them are racists?

I have absolutely no idea and neither do you. My purpose is admitting they exist period instead of pretending no one in the country could possibly be racist. I know racists of all colors, black, white and brown. Thank God, most of the people in my orbit are ordinary, everyday people who want to live their lives in peace. I don't dwell on racism though because that's pointless and it scars your heart. I dwell on trying to live like Christ.

 

[Bradskii]

Strange, I would have thought that not knowing why something important happened would be a bad thing. I'm sure you're aware of the saying about those who don't learn from history.

I'm not suggesting that not knowing would be a good thing. But if you had people that hadn't been taught about it then being puzzled by why a civil rights movement was needed would be a good thing. It would be like being finding out that many years ago red headed people were severely disadvantaged for no other reason than they had red hair. It wouldn't make sense.

And you might be surprised how soon matters like these are lost in the past. From here: Infographic: Half of American Adults Cannot Name a Concentration Camp

'Of 1,000 Americans questioned, almost half (48 percent) could not name a single concentration camp. Between those aged 18-29, this number rose to a worrying 26 percent in Germany and Hungary, however. Around a quarter of all adults in the United Kingdom, France and Romania was also not able to name a concentration camp, with more than half of Romanian young adults unable to do so.'

 

[Bradskii]

Oh, no, we have elevated satire out of the theatre and have placed it, front-and-center at the Helm of our Ship of State, don’t you know?

This is now a problem. Satire is effectively dead in the US. There's nothing that you could satirise that would could be seen as being satirical. It would come across as standard reportage. I mean, even a couple of years ago you could have had an SNL sketch about Trump wanting to clear out Gaza and build a resort there. Alec Baldwin saying 'we'll have the world people living there. And the people from Gaza? Well, they can go to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12 different places where they'll be happy.'

Hey, wry smiles all around. And one of your friends might have said 'Hey, don't laugh too hard. You know what the guy is like'. Then there'd be a momentary pause while everyone thought for a moment. Then everyone would laugh again and you'd say that no, there are some things too monstrously ridiculous, even for him.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Looking at the page you link to, it says regarding the "racist comments":

Rodney Henry, former personal assistant to Tom Benson, filed a lawsuit accusing the New Orleans Saints and Gayle Benson of racism and violations of federal labor laws. The lawsuit claimed that Gayle Benson had treated him with disrespect because of his race. An NFL arbitrator ruled in favor of Henry and against the Saints on the labor complaint, awarding him overtime pay, a contractual payout for his dismissal, and attorney's fees; however, the same arbitrator ruled against Henry on the claims of racism.

Now, maybe the arbitrator was wrong in their judgment. But if you're going to assert that, you need to offer some evidence of this, preferably more evidence than "this guy who's suing her said she made racist comments".

I poked around some of the source articles cited by the wikipedia page and, as best as I can tell, what the arbitrator ruled against was his claim that he was fired from his job because of Gayle Benson's racism. The Saints claimed to have eliminated the position altogether. I didn't see anything claiming that the arbitrator ruled that she never made the comments.

I'm not sure what the mention of her defending the Catholic Church has to do with racism.

Just speaking to her qualities as a person.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

I do believe the league and the owners, were always free to do what they wanted to do with regards to slogans and such public displays of their social-values.
It’s just odd that they decided this change, now, at the end of the Season, (not that they can’t) it’s their monopoly to play with, after all.

Had they waited until next season, people wouldn’t be speculating over the decision and they’ve “Streisanded” themselves.

Has the owner made a statement about it?

 

[MrMoe]

I'm not suggesting that not knowing would be a good thing. But if you had people that hadn't been taught about it then being puzzled by why a civil rights movement was needed would be a good thing. It would be like being finding out that many years ago red headed people were severely disadvantaged for no other reason than they had red hair. It wouldn't make sense.

The problem with your scenario is that it's not realistic. For your scenario to happen we would have to eliminate racism 100% and that just isn't possible. Humans are by nature inherently tribalistic, and racism is just a form of extreme tribalism. The only place your scenario would be possible is in heaven.

Saying "end racism" is the equivalent of saying "end people doing bad things" or "end crime". People have been doing bad things and committing crimes pretty much since people have existed. All you can realistically do is try to minimize it's harm as much as possible.

And red heads are still disadvantaged to this day, further proving you cannot eliminate it 100%.

Discrimination against people with red hair - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"While discrimination against people with red hair has occurred for thousands of years and in many countries, in modern times it has been described as particularly acute in the United Kingdom, where there have been calls to designate red hair a protected characteristic covered by hate crime legislation."

And you might be surprised how soon matters like these are lost in the past. From here: Infographic: Half of American Adults Cannot Name a Concentration Camp

'Of 1,000 Americans questioned, almost half (48 percent) could not name a single concentration camp. Between those aged 18-29, this number rose to a worrying 26 percent in Germany and Hungary, however. Around a quarter of all adults in the United Kingdom, France and Romania was also not able to name a concentration camp, with more than half of Romanian young adults unable to do so.'

Personally I would be more concerned if people didn't know why those concentration camps were there in the first place than being unable to remember a specific name.

 

[Bradskii]

The problem with your scenario is that it's not realistic. For your scenario to happen we would have to eliminate racism 100% and that just isn't possible.

I agree. For the reasons you gave. But I look back at the situation regarding race and sexual equality and homosexuality when I was growing up. It was horrendous. And I was part of the problem. I was racist to a degree that I don't like admitting to now. I was misogynistic and homophobic. I'm embarrassed by the person I used to be. But society changed. And I did as well.

Now my kids are adults and they are the type of people I can look up to. Tolerant, sympathetic, inclusive. And their kids will be better again. Society is heading in the right direction. Look at any poll regarding social problems and you see that the younger the generation, the less of a problem they have with equality.

But you're right. The fear of 'the other' is inbuilt. We'll probably never get rid of that instinct completely. But...if we are aware of it, if we can explain to our children and our grandchildren that it's an automatic response from the distant past, that we can't be blamed for it, but if we know it's there we can counter it.

What we don't want are people in positions where they can influence others with talk of 'other people', not like us. People who will eat our pets and poison our blood. We've made so much progress over the last 50 years. We don't want to start going backwards.

 

[BNR32FAN]

I have absolutely no idea and neither do you. My purpose is admitting they exist period instead of pretending no one in the country could possibly be racist. I know racists of all colors, black, white and brown. Thank God, most of the people in my orbit are ordinary, everyday people who want to live their lives in peace. I don't dwell on racism though because that's pointless and it scars your heart. I dwell on trying to live like Christ.

No you’re exaggerating my statement beyond what was obviously intended is what you’re doing. When someone says that racism is dead in America, common sense automatically implies that the person is not saying that there isn’t a single racist in the entire country. It’s like if I were to say that river dancing is dead in America, obviously the intention of the statement is that river dancing rarely occurs in America and you’re not going to encounter a lot of people river dancing on a daily basis. It wouldn’t mean that nobody in the entire country ever river dances.

 

[Deborah1$]

No you’re exaggerating my statement beyond what was obviously intended is what you’re doing. When someone says that racism is dead in America, common sense automatically implies that the person is not saying that there isn’t a single racist in the entire country. It’s like if I were to say that river dancing is dead in America, obviously the intention of the statement is that river dancing rarely occurs in America and you’re not going to encounter a lot of people river dancing on a daily basis. It wouldn’t mean that nobody in the entire country ever river dances

I concede your point in a tiny way, but you make it seem like it is incredibly rare to the point of non-existence and it is not. Given how very many still experience it, now, it is not rare. Just because you personally haven't experienced it or probably don't know of anyone who has experienced it, doesn't mean that many others aren't experiencing it to a point. I'm getting off this subject because I'm tired of talking about a subject I don't like.

 

[Deborah1$]

I agree. For the reasons you gave. But I look back at the situation regarding race and sexual equality and homosexuality when I was growing up. It was horrendous. And I was part of the problem. I was racist to a degree that I don't like admitting to now. I was misogynistic and homophobic. I'm embarrassed by the person I used to be. But society changed. And I did as well.

Now my kids are adults and they are the type of people I can look up to. Tolerant, sympathetic, inclusive. And their kids will be better again. Society is heading in the right direction. Look at any poll regarding social problems and you see that the younger the generation, the less of a problem they have with equality.

But you're right. The fear of 'the other' is inbuilt. We'll probably never get rid of that instinct completely. But...if we are aware of it, if we can explain to our children and our grandchildren that it's an automatic response from the distant past, that we can't be blamed for it, but if we know it's there we can counter it.

What we don't want are people in positions where they can influence others with talk of 'other people', not like us. People who will eat our pets and poison our blood. We've made so much progress over the last 50 years. We don't want to start going backwards.

Beautiful response.

 

[FAITH-IN-HIM]

This is one instance where it's the right that wants to move forward, and the left that wants to keep going backwards and have a perpetual 1970s race war going.

How can progress be made without addressing the problem? As mentioned in my previous post, racism and discrimination exist in every society. How can we move forward without tackling these issues that have affected our entire society? While significant progress has been made since the days of Jim Crow, discrimination still occurs in various parts of our society today.

 

[ozso]

How can progress be made without addressing the problem? As mentioned in my previous post, racism and discrimination exist in every society. How can we move forward without tackling these issues that have affected our entire society? While significant progress has been made since the days of Jim Crow, discrimination still occurs in various parts of our society today.

Constantly bringing up racism isn't going to make it go away. It just perpetuates it.

 

[Always in His Presence]

What a wonderful Pro Life ad! Good to see the message.

 

[FAITH-IN-HIM]

A few years ago I had to attend a mandatory workshop on equality. There was an outline we were taken through, that concluded white middle aged men deeply oppress everyone else. It was a systemic way of proving white supremecy. It might have been that Critical Race Theory thing.

Whatever the case, I was definitely in the bad person category.

This is precisely why many conservatives, particularly white conservatives, perceive measures to address racism as personal attacks. Additionally, many people in America overlook racism in other races or cultures.

Despite this, racism and discrimination still exist in our society. Ignoring these issues and failing to take action will not resolve the problem.

 

[Laodicean60]

How can progress be made without addressing the problem?

I can say a lot of progress has been made in my lifetime.

As mentioned in my previous post, racism and discrimination exist in every society.

And no matter how many signs we put up, a racist will always be a racist. The non-racist doesn't need to see it they are preaching to the choir.

discrimination still occurs in various parts of our society today.

Reminds me of the mantras "War on Drugs" or "War on terror" As we've seen we are chasing an everlasting carrot because there will always be drugs and terrorism along with racism in the world. I honestly wish the racism toward whites would stop.

 

[FAITH-IN-HIM]

Constantly bringing up racism isn't going to make it go away. It just perpetuates it.

Both sides acknowledge the existence of racism. If conservatives believe that the methods proposed by the left to address racism will not result in significant changes, then they should propose solutions that they believe will have a meaningful impact.

However, ignoring the issue or criticizing the left for discussing racism is not an appropriate approach. This only demonstrates that conservatives have no interest in addressing racism but rather use the topic to their advantage.