Author |
Message |
Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 9:27 am
I agree with Sinbad on that also.
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Holly
Member
06-19-2005
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 9:32 am
I didn't get that either, Huk. And I didn't hear him refer to lynching as someone stated.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 9:37 am
This is the lynching reference...
quote:Richards retorted: "Shut up! Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your a--."
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Holly
Member
06-19-2005
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 9:55 am
Mocha, I still don't get the fork reference. Honestly. I've never heard anything like that before related to lynching, a disgustingly, horrifying, and heartbreaking thing.
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Zachsmom
Member
07-13-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 9:58 am
Hmmm... How can I put this... I really wish this thread was not contaminated with this filth. It should be in a thread called 'ignorance and hate'. This thread for Black History. Richards is not history, he's ignorance and hate.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:04 am
I think it was clear that that statement referred to the practice of lynching. To lynch someone does not only imply hanging. From Webster's: lynch -- to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:06 am
I could be wrong, but I took the fork reference to mean a pitchfork.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:12 am
Whichever way, he SAID that "50 years ago" we'd have had a pitchfork in your upside down ass. We = white Your upside down ass = black In any case, it was reprehensible, and I don't think you have to stretch very far to see the connection with lynching -- or the CLIMATE that allowed lynching. I for one will not be defending a word he said, nor trying to make sense of it. -------------------- ETA -- Zachsmom, I completely agree with you. I was thinking the same thing, as I contributed to the thread ...
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:14 am
This is still a part of our history Zmom, good and bad. It need to be discussed.
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Adven
Member
02-06-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:16 am
I think there can be a difference between a racist and someone who, when lashing out and wanting to hurt, makes a racist comment. Again, I have no idea what Richards thinks and am not defending him, but have seen many people when they "lose it" try to come up with the most hateful language they can in order to vent and strike back. It's certainly unacceptable behavior and Richards, rightly, should be ashamed. I just don't think this one incident necessarily makes him a racist.
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Adven
Member
02-06-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:19 am
I agree it should be discussed. Racism is one of those "elephant in the room" issues that people avoid, except superficially, for fear of putting their foot in their mouth. Finding a racist today is like finding a Nazi in Germany after World War II. You know there are tons of them out there, but no one's going to admit to it.
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Zachsmom
Member
07-13-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:22 am
Mocha, so M.Richards is part of your history? I really don't think so. Is it part of everyday life? yep. But M.Richards is NOT part of your/our history. I really enjoy this thread, and I have learned a lot. What has been stated is not history with regards to Richarads, it's ignorance and hate.
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Holly
Member
06-19-2005
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:26 am
Adven, Sinbad did last night. And I posted about it because his honesty is so rare. And I think it's what we need so it can stop being an elephant in the living room.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:31 am
Sure he is part of history. Anything that has already happened is part of history. I do appreciate why you think it is unfortunate that the subject needs to be discussed in that I wish racism didn't exist. However, it does and when it is seen it warrants discussion.
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Babyruth
Member
07-19-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:33 am
Richards invoked the past treatment of blacks by whites when he said, "fifty years ago we would have...(done racially motivated violence to you)", and kept using the n-slur. If what he's talking about isn't a part of black history, what is?
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:38 am
Yes, it is history, indeed ... unfortunate...but history, all the same.
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Adven
Member
02-06-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:44 am
I agree, Holly. I saw Dave Chappelle interviewed a while back and he said very much the same sort of thing. It is still such a touchy issue that I think many white people either avoid the subject altogether or just parrot the safe PC line because they fear an opinion will be judged as ignorant or even racist.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:44 am
michael richards' tyrant became a moment of black history the minute he opened his mouth. we (as a nation) are still discussing this. it still hurts the people's feelings (black, white, races of all colors). it shows that there is still racism in people's minds, no matter what form it takes to bring it out.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 10:56 am
Zmom I'm talking racism in general. And Adven I see no difference.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 11:05 am
Without bringing race into it, has anyone here ever said or done something in a moment of anger, that they clearly did not mean and later greatly regretted?
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Adven
Member
02-06-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 11:08 am
Sorry, I don't believe that the worst thing a person says - or the best thing, for that matter - defines them, particularly when the definition is a one or two word label. We've all done things that we deeply regret and are ashamed of. We bear responsibility for them but I don't believe they should necessarily define who we are.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 11:16 am
Jimmer, yes, I have done and said things I later regretted. I have also done and said things that I probably should have regretted but didn't.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 11:19 am
Adven I would have to disagree. When you are spouting off racial slurs it does define who you are -- a racist. His saying I am not a racist is right up there with Richard Nixon saying "I am not a crook"
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 11:21 am
Yes Jimmer I've called someone a dumb azz or a mf that maybe once I've regretted. But we're talking racism here, not talking about calling someone a mf. Apples and oranges yet again.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 11:23 am
Whether the comments were said in a moment of anger doesn't take away from the fact the words were formed in his brain and came out of his mouth. The question I have is how do those words form in the mind of someone who doesn't believe them? He can intellectually know that such thinking is immoral but emotionally he must have some belief in his words to have them come out of his mouth at a time of anger. The only exceptions I can think of are if people are being malicious they sometimes say things that their opponent is sensitive to, just to upset them, whether they believe it or not (e.g. saying to a slim girl who thinks she's fat "you're so fat") and that sometimes you repeat things that are repeatedly said to you (e.g. if a parent always admonished you in a particular way for doing something wrong, those words might come out of your mouth when admonishing your own children, however spiteful the words). I can't see either of those really applying to what Richards' said. I find it hard to believe anything other than that's what he feels deep down, whether he's learnt to (usually) control those feelings or not. (Same with Mel Gibson.)
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