The BYU volleyball story...

[Loyal Coug1]

Sounds like a fun thread to which to add.

Something that often gets lost in the conversations about racism is the manner in which it is expressed, felt, etc. While I'd go so far as to say that the US is one of the least racist nations overall, like any report card there are areas that get an "A" and areas that get a "C" or worse. A mother's concern about her black son getting pulled over and (potentially worse) while driving is an example where we would not get an "A". Probably not even a "C" in some parts of the country, and we are not that far removed from routine "D" and "F" grades in some places. Any of you who have black friends (or whose kids have black friends) know the DWB (driving while black) issues and the speech that is drilled into every black kid by their elders when they get their driver's license.

Having said that, another category could be profiling. While we don't rate an "A" there in a lot of cases, we are far ahead of most places that I have been. I could give examples if you like.

Overt racism...chanting the N word being an example...is different from institutional racism (redlining mortgages, for example). We've got a long way to go, but we've made a lot of uneven progress in this area.

Ultimately what most (not all, but my anecdotal guess is over 80%) people here in SoCal seem to agree upon, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they reside, is that the key is to attempt to provide equal opportunity. That is hard to do when the schools are not equal in different areas. It is also hard to do when both parents have to work and at least one ends up with evening working hours, which is more common in some areas than others. Those same sorts of job options/conditions also act to limit parent involvement in the school system. None of that is surprising, or a great revelation, but it does hamper the "opportunity" side of the equation. We've made progress in that area...after school day care (including study halls), breakfast and lunch, ESL classes, etc. We've even had school districts move back to providing school bus service (which had about vanished here 15 years ago). It is clear that there is not a "one size fits all" answer, and sometimes it feels like 2 steps forward and 1 or 2 steps back, but people of good will continue to try for positive momentum.

I can't let this all go without commenting on the racism experienced by Central Americans as they cross Mexico, attempting to get to the US. While some tell me that this does not count as racism because the ethnicities are in some cases similar, I don't know what else to call it. I am surprised that we have not been able to fix the temporary work visa situation; it seems to have become the new 3rd rail of US politics, in place of social security. Why the Bracero program was dropped and nothing took its place is beyond my understanding. Whether you agree that we need & want immigrants or not, it is clear that as long as a system permits illegal immigrants, it increases the chances that they will be taken advantage of by almost every link in the chain that pulled them here.

OK, more red meat for the mildly unhinged to use. Still, a major issue, and people of good will ought to be able to continue to make positive progress.

cr8z - Why would you come on this board and post a well thought out, intelligent commentary like this? Are you on drugs? Have a conscience? Or a degree from WSU? Something must be wrong with you. You need to find a site that isn't filled with hate-filled freaks.

This site has become a s#1+ show of crap. During my multi-year exile thanks to Hood, I have watched this place degrade itself terribly. How about all of you right wing freaks just either go away or STFU. I went to WSU (and graduated) in the early 80's. And yeah my hair was long. Hated to have to cut it to join the real world. You guys disgust me. WTF is wrong with all of you?

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

Having people who are conservative/ right/ etc lumped in with the Proud Boys and Oath keepers because they voted for the same person isn't the path either. In fact, that is how you radicalize people, which makes you wonder if that's why its being done in the first place.

Woke Ed has a chronic case of Tee Dee Es.

He can't help himself for allowing that to control his life.

Very sad.

 

[CougEd]

Woke Ed has a chronic case of Tee Dee Es.

He can't help himself for allowing that to control his life.

Very sad.

What controls my life? And you use the woke card like some use the race card . Maybe the woke card is your race card hmmm

 

[cr8zyncalif]

Remember that night well. I was prepping for a colonoscopy. Might sound like a joke is there, but nope.

Kurt, that is almost the ideal straight line that is truly straight. Even though there may not be a joke there, there is definitely the start of a story.

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

Well you can even be Kenyon and become a president. Not sure an Italian would ever have been questioned whether or not they are a US citizen, especially by someone who would become President after Obama.

To be honest your metric doesn't hold water. That is our aspiration, be better that Pakistan, Russia and other repressive countries?
Yes, you are correct, the US is the least racist country and most accepting country in the world. Other countries aren't working off the document our Fathers of our country drew up.

Am I looking for perfection? Nope, I am looking for a path moving that way. And having people like the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys etc sucking on the tit of the ex president isn't the path.

You and your lefty friends compare the US to some hypothetical utopian country. So yes, you look for perfection. You should compare us to other countries instead...but that would destroy your narrative which you cynically and dishonestly use to leverage more votes from the misinformed.

The US is the least racist country on earth. The only other countries that come close are the other English speaking Christian-based countries.

PS The Duke player lied to get some attention and street cred for the leftist fools.

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

cr8z - Why would you come on this board and post a well thought out, intelligent commentary like this? Are you on drugs? Have a conscience? Or a degree from WSU? Something must be wrong with you. You need to find a site that isn't filled with hate-filled freaks.

This site has become a s#1+ show of crap. During my multi-year exile thanks to Hood, I have watched this place degrade itself terribly. How about all of you right wing freaks just either go away or STFU. I went to WSU (and graduated) in the early 80's. And yeah my hair was long. Hated to have to cut it to join the real world. You guys disgust me. WTF is wrong with all of you?

Okay Boomer...

 

[roses04]

I don’t know much about this other than what I have read in the media. However this event was televised, plus I am sure there a camera crew for scout purposes. So I would like to you can breakdown film and determine the truth.

 

[WillieThePimp]

You made an intentional effort to vilify an entire region. So if it wasn't 500,000 people - go ahead and quantify how many are racists. It must be a huge percentage if you go out of your way to use the racist moniker so casually.

You've also failed to provide any details of this alleged act 40 years ago.

Just who has been emotionally hijacked is the real question as opposed to presenting facts.

Do your friends/family who live in the inland northwest know you think so poorly of their (alleged) racist community?

So do you disagree with the reputation of north Idaho being attractive to white nationalists?

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

 

[spongeandshoot]

cr8z - Why would you come on this board and post a well thought out, intelligent commentary like this? Are you on drugs? Have a conscience? Or a degree from WSU? Something must be wrong with you. You need to find a site that isn't filled with hate-filled freaks.

This site has become a s#1+ show of crap. During my multi-year exile thanks to Hood, I have watched this place degrade itself terribly. How about all of you right wing freaks just either go away or STFU. I went to WSU (and graduated) in the early 80's. And yeah my hair was long. Hated to have to cut it to join the real world. You guys disgust me. WTF is wrong with all of you?

so only people who voted for Biden are welcome here?

Seems rational.

Plenty of left wing freaks here too.

 

[Observer11]

So do you disagree with the reputation of north Idaho being attractive to white nationalists?

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

It's public record that white nationalist groups are in Idaho. In 2016, the SPLC estimated there were approximately 3000 active members in the entire country. Others believe it is as high as 500,000.

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/exactly-how-many-white-supremacists-are-there-in-america/

Therefore, is your assertion that N. Idaho, Spokane, the Spokane Valley shelter every single white supremcist resides in the 509 and 208 area code? Including your family apparently. As an aside, as a committed anti-racist, you should disavow those associations immediately.

Please quantify your assertion and describe those events 40 years ago that support what you posted when you claimed N. Idaho, Spokane Valley and Spokane (including the Spokane Club) are racist.

 

[Observer11]

You and your lefty friends compare the US to some hypothetical utopian country. So yes, you look for perfection. You should compare us to other countries instead...but that would destroy your narrative which you cynically and dishonestly use to leverage more votes from the misinformed.

The US is the least racist country on earth. The only other countries that come close are the other English speaking Christian-based countries.

PS The Duke player lied to get some attention and street cred for the leftist fools.

Are you in the 509/208?

I only ask because we need to be precise as to whether there are 499,999 or 500,000 white supremacists.

it's worth social credit.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

You and your lefty friends compare the US to some hypothetical utopian country. So yes, you look for perfection. You should compare us to other countries instead...but that would destroy your narrative which you cynically and dishonestly use to leverage more votes from the misinformed.

The US is the least racist country on earth. The only other countries that come close are the other English speaking Christian-based countries.

PS The Duke player lied to get some attention and street cred for the leftist fools.

FWIW....being the "least racist" is like saying that your sh!t sandwich is less runny than someone else's sh!t sandwich. Doesn't mean it's good. Our country has made tremendous strides since the end of the Civil War but it's always been an uneven journey. There are many laws and policies that have been instituted over the years with the express purpose of harming minorities. There are ingrained biases in our system that will take many more years to grind out of the system.

Hell, there was an article last month where a black couple's home was appraised at $472,000 but was re-appraised at $750,000 once it was whitewashed with all evidence of black ownership was removed. That's obviously an extreme case but the truth is that despite all of our strides in terms of diversity, there has been a recent trend where things have been backsliding and a lot of people are looking to implement new policies to limit the ability of minorities to vote and have influence. For all the bragging about "we had a black president" proving that we aren't racist, I spent 8 years watching my white co-workers hate the fact that we had a black man leading our country. Many of them refused to acknowledge him as "their president".

I would argue that the inherent racism in our country is the only reason that Donald Trump was able to become President. He took the angst and anger created by having a black man as President, combined with xenophobia against minorities from south of the border and made it ok to be angry at the way that things are changing. As mentioned above, well established programs that provided legal ways for migrant workers to be employed were eliminated and we now have extra illegal immigration because of dumb laws and not because anything else has changed. FWIW, Americans are generally too lazy and unmotivated to work in apple orchards. For those that are asking, "if America is so racist, why are brown and black people moving here?"...the answer is that even though they will be treated terribly and considered 2nd class citizens (at best), it's better than the hard economic realities of where they live. They don't come to our country because it's a non-racist utopia, they just know that starvation is a less desirable outcome.

 

[CougPatrol]

So do you disagree with the reputation of north Idaho being attractive to white nationalists?

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

FWIW....being the "least racist" is like saying that your sh!t sandwich is less runny than someone else's sh!t sandwich. Doesn't mean it's good.

There's truth in this statement, obviously; but it's meaningful that a Nation like ours which has been in existence for less than 300 years is miles ahead of any other civilization in our global history.

All of us have different social/political hot buttons that we feel need to be emphasized. For me, I bring up this point up because I love America, and it frustrates me to no end to hear people tear it down without any historical context of how far we've come in such a short historical period of time. My God, look at where we are today vs. 1922. vs. 1950 vs. 1980.

The fact that any person of color from any religion (including atheists) with any sexual or gender identity can integrate into American society better than they can in every other society in the world means a Hell of a lot. Of course we still have miles to go in this regard if we are to provide true equality of opportunity across the board, but todays woke social trends are flying counter to that goal. It's dividing our Nation by forcing people back into defined social, racial, and sexual groups.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

As a follow-up, I will say that part of the problem today is that liberals and minorities are pressing so hard to prove their wokeness and "leveling the playing field" that they are alienating the people that they are trying to convince to change. Hollywood in particular is ramming diversity and acceptance into shows where it doesn't need to be done and it's kind of an a$$hole move. There was no need to add a story into the new Thor movie about the Kronan species making babies by two male Kronans hanging out in a lava pit. What is the point of there being male and female Kronans if it isn't for mating? It was dumb pro-gay propaganda that brought nothing to the story overall. The payoff for the story was that Korg mated with a guy named Dwayne as the punchline. I'm not sure if the Rock was asked about the joke...but it didn't work for me and the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

Whitewashing has been called out as terrible because it is, but the brownwashing that Hollywood is doing today is often just as annoying and insulting. Taking a show like the Witcher that is based on northern European fairy tales and changing almost every character in the show into a minority, gay or whatever other group that is perceived as oppressed was jarring. A few changes? Sure....but when you are taking a "universe" with well established canon and history and blowing it up for nothing other than appearances, you risk ruining the show.

So, for all the fact that we need to be less racist, liberals and Hollywood are only hurting themselves at times with how they try to change hearts and minds by being overly manipulative and disingenuous themselves.

 

[Cougsocal]

Can we put aside the name calling and the political predispositions aside, and look at the facts.

The issue was reported during the game, the alleged slurs were reported to have occurred at one end of the court only, while serving. The player involved mention it to a fellow player, who brought to the attention of the coach's attention. They brought it to BYU official attention. A cop was then stationed a behind the Duke bench between the student section and elicited help from the student section president. A perp was identified, he denied making the comment. The cop after talking to him believing the perp had "special needs." Looking a video, post match, the cop indicated the perp wasn't present during the first episode, and seemed disinterested during the second. He was the person initially banned and then reinstated.

Not to second guess the cop and BYU officials, but if someone is being allegedly heckled with racial slurs while serving at one end of the court only, shouldn't you station yourself or ushers behind the servers at the allegedly offending end rather than behind the bench. Honestly, while great for protecting the security of the bench, all you are going to hear is the roar from the students, not a slur uttered half gym away. I am left to wonder whether all the specifics were passed on down the chain of command, it doesn't seem like it.

Bottomline: this wasn't a vague and general allegation made post game, it was immediate and specific.

Source: Deseret News.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

FWIW....being the "least racist" is like saying that your sh!t sandwich is less runny than someone else's sh!t sandwich. Doesn't mean it's good. Our country has made tremendous strides since the end of the Civil War but it's always been an uneven journey. There are many laws and policies that have been instituted over the years with the express purpose of harming minorities. There are ingrained biases in our system that will take many more years to grind out of the system.

Hell, there was an article last month where a black couple's home was appraised at $472,000 but was re-appraised at $750,000 once it was whitewashed with all evidence of black ownership was removed. That's obviously an extreme case but the truth is that despite all of our strides in terms of diversity, there has been a recent trend where things have been backsliding and a lot of people are looking to implement new policies to limit the ability of minorities to vote and have influence. For all the bragging about "we had a black president" proving that we aren't racist, I spent 8 years watching my white co-workers hate the fact that we had a black man leading our country. Many of them refused to acknowledge him as "their president".

I would argue that the inherent racism in our country is the only reason that Donald Trump was able to become President. He took the angst and anger created by having a black man as President, combined with xenophobia against minorities from south of the border and made it ok to be angry at the way that things are changing. As mentioned above, well established programs that provided legal ways for migrant workers to be employed were eliminated and we now have extra illegal immigration because of dumb laws and not because anything else has changed. FWIW, Americans are generally too lazy and unmotivated to work in apple orchards. For those that are asking, "if America is so racist, why are brown and black people moving here?"...the answer is that even though they will be treated terribly and considered 2nd class citizens (at best), it's better than the hard economic realities of where they live. They don't come to our country because it's a non-racist utopia, they just know that starvation is a less desirable outcome.

You could argue that, but it would be incredibly ignorant.

I think illegal immigration is an issue in this country, for multiple reasons, but according to you that makes me xenophobic. I've thought that since I've been old enough to have an opinion on such things, which is about 30 years. I grew up where migrant workers are the backbone of the agricultural labor force, I went to school with their kids. Its an issue, not because "dirty Mexicans are stealing jobs" or "importing crime", but because it subverts a system that is set up to help them as well as protect society as a whole. Allowing illegals to work without a proper visa empowers companies to continue to exploit them, THIS SHOULD BE FRONT AND CENTER FOR LIBERALS, but its not because guess what - illegals can't vote and White people like cheap groceries. But I digress...

The point I was going to make was that most people vote left or right with very little variance, regardless of who is put in front of them. What has stood out over the past 4 or 5 elections is that there has been ZERO appeal to the middle or to the other side, candidates now only appeal to what they think is their base, spouting inflammatory rhetoric ("rapists and murderers", "deplorables", etc) to stoke the angry mob and keep the focus off the fact that they're all lying, stealing, corrupt pieces of shit.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

There's truth in this statement, obviously; but it's meaningful that a Nation like ours which has been in existence for less than 300 years is miles ahead of any other civilization in our global history.

All of us have different social/political hot buttons that we feel need to be emphasized. For me, I bring up this point up because I love America, and it frustrates me to no end to hear people tear it down without any historical context of how far we've come in such a short historical period of time. My God, look at where we are today vs. 1922. vs. 1950 vs. 1980.

The fact that any person of color from any religion (including atheists) with any sexual or gender identity can integrate into American society better than they can in every other society in the world means a Hell of a lot. Of course we still have miles to go in this regard if we are to provide true equality of opportunity across the board, but todays woke social trends are flying counter to that goal. It's dividing our Nation by forcing people back into defined social, racial, and sexual groups.

"Nah, fck America and fck you. Go back to N Idaho you white hood wearing c**t." - Williethepimp *probably

 

[CougInSpain]

"Nah, fck America and fck you. Go back to N Idaho you white hood wearing c**t." - Williethepimp *probably

Sounds about right.

 

[WillieThePimp]

"Nah, fck America and fck you. Go back to N Idaho you white hood wearing c**t." - Williethepimp *probably

Let’s get a couple of things straight here;
1. The only people saying fck America are the ones that still endorse Trump after he led an insurrection
2. I never said anything of the sort about racism in the NW - all I’m saying is I have witnessed it while living in the NW (and elsewhere for that matter) and it is out there and alive and well regardless of whether anyone wants to bury their head in the sand.

Bit if you want to stoop to the depths of observer11 and make sh*t up - knock yourself out. He has a hard-on for me because I laughed at his idiocy and gullibility in regard to ivermectin.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Sounds about right.

The brains of Spain fall mainly down the (toilet) drain.

 

[Observer11]

Let’s get a couple of things straight here;
1. The only people saying fck America are the ones that still endorse Trump after he led an insurrection
2. I never said anything of the sort about racism in the NW - all I’m saying is I have witnessed it while living in the NW (and elsewhere for that matter) and it is out there and alive and well regardless of whether anyone wants to bury their head in the sand.

Bit if you want to stoop to the depths of observer11 and make sh*t up - knock yourself out. He has a hard-on for me because I laughed at his idiocy and gullibility in regard to ivermectin.

Go ahead and cite what I made up in this thread.

And also go ahead and cite my stance on personal health choices too while you're at it.

 

[WillieThePimp]

Go ahead and cite what I made up.

That was fast - not only do you have a hard-on for me you are a stalker to boot.

If you lack the intellectual honesty to admit it or the cognitive ability to grasp how you’ve twisted my words you are a bigger moron then I previously believed.

 

[CougInSpain]

The brains of Spain fall mainly down the (toilet) drain.

I can't believe you're a Coug. I mean, what a disgrace you are and the massive heaping pile of shame you bring to Coug Nation. Do you and 96 "Rusty-Rudder" yourselves to sleep at night?

 

[Observer11]

That was fast - not only do you have a hard-on for me you are a stalker to boot.

If you lack the intellectual honesty to admit it or the cognitive ability to grasp how you’ve twisted my words you are a bigger moron then I previously believed.

You twisted your own words just fine by yourself. Yet can't seem to recall any specifics, quantity or facts on what apparently are numerous racist incidents 40 years ago. It's not my cognitive abilities that should be in question.

Psychologists call that 'projecting'.

Go ahead and get to citing.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

You could argue that, but it would be incredibly ignorant.

I think illegal immigration is an issue in this country, for multiple reasons, but according to you that makes me xenophobic. I've thought that since I've been old enough to have an opinion on such things, which is about 30 years. I grew up where migrant workers are the backbone of the agricultural labor force, I went to school with their kids. Its an issue, not because "dirty Mexicans are stealing jobs" or "importing crime", but because it subverts a system that is set up to help them as well as protect society as a whole. Allowing illegals to work without a proper visa empowers companies to continue to exploit them, THIS SHOULD BE FRONT AND CENTER FOR LIBERALS, but its not because guess what - illegals can't vote and White people like cheap groceries. But I digress...

The point I was going to make was that most people vote left or right with very little variance, regardless of who is put in front of them. What has stood out over the past 4 or 5 elections is that there has been ZERO appeal to the middle or to the other side, candidates now only appeal to what they think is their base, spouting inflammatory rhetoric ("rapists and murderers", "deplorables", etc) to stoke the angry mob and keep the focus off the fact that they're all lying, stealing, corrupt pieces of shit.

I agree 100% that a huge problem is that there is little interest from either party in really helping regular folks. Both parties are guilty of that without a doubt.

And I don't disagree that liberals are absolutely guilty of worrying about what gets them votes rather than actually trying to fix the immigration problem. FWIW, I can one up you on the migrant workers.....I worked in apple orchards in north central Washington when I was a kid. Getting back to immigration, while Trump is not wrong that we need to strengthen security along our southern border, his moronic wall was a dumb idea that should never have been promoted. His infatuation with creating monuments to himself is boundless and it's sad to me that people bought into it. Illegal immigrants are able to surpass the wall easily. "Show me a 30' wall and I'll show you a homemade 32' ladder".

 

[WillieThePimp]

You twisted your own words just fine by yourself. Yet can't seem to recall any specifics, quantity or facts on what apparently are numerous racist incidents 40 years ago. It's not my cognitive abilities that should be in question.

Psychologists call that 'projecting'.

Go ahead and get to citing.

Anyone with a braincell can go back and read my post then yours and clearly see your nonsense.

And I have to give details on something from 40 years ago? Just because you demand it? GFY.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Anyone with a braincell can go back and read my post then yours and clearly see your nonsense.

And I have to give details on something from 40 years ago? Just because you demand it? GFY.

You can see the issue, right? Your story is as credible as the Duke player's? Because people can, and do, just randomly say shit for... idk, attention?

Also, I know the narrative and language have changed, but don't get it twisted: witnessing someone be a mouth-breathing bigot is not the same as witnessing or being subjected to "racism" as most of us understand it. Which in itself is an issue, because "racism" has become a catch-all to describe any perceived injustice where any POC is involved. That is not to say any of that doesn't exist - it does - but constantly referring to everything as "racism" dilutes the message and makes it harder to convince non-POC that there is a real problem.

 

[Observer11]

Anyone with a braincell can go back and read my post then yours and clearly see your nonsense.

And I have to give details on something from 40 years ago? Just because you demand it? GFY.

Yes they can. Those with braincells, for sure. Yes, they can indeed.

And what would prompt a person to specifically label an entire region racist based on an alleged personal anecdote in which they refuse to provide any context or details.

Brain cells, absolutely.

By the way, your gross generalizations and stereotypes would go better with a ruby red backdrop and a couple marines in the background.

Unity.

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

I agree 100% that a huge problem is that there is little interest from either party in really helping regular folks. Both parties are guilty of that without a doubt.

And I don't disagree that liberals are absolutely guilty of worrying about what gets them votes rather than actually trying to fix the immigration problem. FWIW, I can one up you on the migrant workers.....I worked in apple orchards in north central Washington when I was a kid. Getting back to immigration, while Trump is not wrong that we need to strengthen security along our southern border, his moronic wall was a dumb idea that should never have been promoted. His infatuation with creating monuments to himself is boundless and it's sad to me that people bought into it. Illegal immigrants are able to surpass the wall easily. "Show me a 30' wall and I'll show you a homemade 32' ladder".

Do you have doors to enter and exit your home? Do you lock them?

Why? Anyone who wants to get in and rob you can easily get in your home with the doors locked.

Show me your wooden 1.5 inch thick door and I'll show you a homemade device that can easily defeat it.

 

[SaveFerris]

As a follow-up, I will say that part of the problem today is that liberals and minorities are pressing so hard to prove their wokeness and "leveling the playing field" that they are alienating the people that they are trying to convince to change. Hollywood in particular is ramming diversity and acceptance into shows where it doesn't need to be done and it's kind of an a$$hole move. There was no need to add a story into the new Thor movie about the Kronan species making babies by two male Kronans hanging out in a lava pit. What is the point of there being male and female Kronans if it isn't for mating? It was dumb pro-gay propaganda that brought nothing to the story overall. The payoff for the story was that Korg mated with a guy named Dwayne as the punchline. I'm not sure if the Rock was asked about the joke...but it didn't work for me and the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

Whitewashing has been called out as terrible because it is, but the brownwashing that Hollywood is doing today is often just as annoying and insulting. Taking a show like the Witcher that is based on northern European fairy tales and changing almost every character in the show into a minority, gay or whatever other group that is perceived as oppressed was jarring. A few changes? Sure....but when you are taking a "universe" with well established canon and history and blowing it up for nothing other than appearances, you risk ruining the show.

So, for all the fact that we need to be less racist, liberals and Hollywood are only hurting themselves at times with how they try to change hearts and minds by being overly manipulative and disingenuous themselves.

I don't disagree with your examples probably going too far but there are obviously a lot in the other direction as well. Years ago, my wife and I went to see 'The Hunger Games' with my kids. One of the characters I enjoyed the most was 'Rue'. After the movie I brought it up and my daughter told me people on social media were upset because the actor who played 'Rue' was black. I couldn't believe it, but "people" had read her as white and were disappointed. More recently, some backlash over Disney's 'Little Mermaid' being voiced by a black actor. Race matters.

Now, someone of color playing a Corleone in 'The God Father' IMO goes (way) too far. Then again, were either Brando or James Caan Sicilian or even Italian? One of the best "switches" IMO was Morgan Freeman in 'Shawshank Redemption'. Was the original vision for the character someone of color? Doubtful, but I don't think there was any significant uproar whatsoever about Freeman playing "Red". I think most would agree he was wonderful in the role. If that came out today?

Tom Hanks recently said he wouldn't have played the gay character in 'Philadelphia' if the movie was done today. That's unfortunate because I thought he was wonderful in that role as well. I don't know this for a fact, but I would assume the gay community would agree.

So how far do you go? Where's the line? Part of art is about testing boundaries. Making people actually think beyond their cozy little world and the boxes we put people in. At least, that's how I think about it.

 

[How_did_this_happen?]

I don't disagree with your examples probably going too far but there are obviously a lot in the other direction as well. Years ago, my wife and I went to see 'The Hunger Games' with my kids. One of the characters I enjoyed the most was 'Rue'. After the movie I brought it up and my daughter told me people on social media were upset because the actor who played 'Rue' was black. I couldn't believe it, but people read her as white. More recently, some backlash over Disney's 'Little Mermaid' being voiced by a black actor. Race matters.

Now, someone of color playing a Corleone in 'The God Father' IMO goes (way) too far. Then again, were either Brando or James Caan Sicilian or even Italian? One of the best "switches" IMO was Morgan Freeman in 'Shawshank Redemption'. Was the original vision for the character someone of color? Doubtful, but I don't think there was any significant uproar whatsoever about Freeman playing "Red". I think most would agree he was wonderful in the role. If that came out today?

Tom Hanks recently said he wouldn't have played the gay character in 'Philadelphia' if the movie was done today. That's unfortunate because I thought he was wonderful in that role as well. I don't know this for a fact, but I would assume the gay community would agree.

So how far do you go? Where's the line? Part of art is about testing boundaries. Making people actually think beyond their cozy little world and the boxes we put people in. At least, that's how I think about it.

It's not the job of Hollywood or big business or government to make people think beyond their cozy little world and the boxes we put people in. That's arrogant. Only God had that right via religious text and teaching.

The arrogant woke left is far worse than the Moral Majority, that they despised, in their heyday. It isn't even close. Kind of ironic.

 

[Observer11]

I don't disagree with your examples probably going too far but there are obviously a lot in the other direction as well. Years ago, my wife and I went to see 'The Hunger Games' with my kids. One of the characters I enjoyed the most was 'Rue'. After the movie I brought it up and my daughter told me people on social media were upset because the actor who played 'Rue' was black. I couldn't believe it, but "people" had read her as white and were disappointed. More recently, some backlash over Disney's 'Little Mermaid' being voiced by a black actor. Race matters.

Now, someone of color playing a Corleone in 'The God Father' IMO goes (way) too far. Then again, were either Brando or James Caan Sicilian or even Italian? One of the best "switches" IMO was Morgan Freeman in 'Shawshank Redemption'. Was the original vision for the character someone of color? Doubtful, but I don't think there was any significant uproar whatsoever about Freeman playing "Red". I think most would agree he was wonderful in the role. If that came out today?

Tom Hanks recently said he wouldn't have played the gay character in 'Philadelphia' if the movie was done today. That's unfortunate because I thought he was wonderful in that role as well. I don't know this for a fact, but I would assume the gay community would agree.

So how far do you go? Where's the line? Part of art is about testing boundaries. Making people actually think beyond their cozy little world and the boxes we put people in. At least, that's how I think about it.

The biggest 'switch' was Hamilton in which almost all those racist founding fathers were played by POC.

Because the founding fathers were RACISTS!!

(caps for emphasis on those sellouts playing RACISTS!!!)

I bet a couple of the actors were gay, too.

 

[SaveFerris]

It's not the job of Hollywood or big business or government to make people think beyond their cozy little world and the boxes we put people in. That's arrogant. Only God had that right via religious text and teaching.

The arrogant woke left is far worse than the Moral Majority, that they despised, in their heyday. It isn't even close. Kind of ironic.

Next

 

[SaveFerris]

The biggest 'switch' was Hamilton in which almost all those racist founding fathers were played by POC.

Because the founding fathers were RACISTS!!

(caps for emphasis on those sellouts playing RACISTS!!!)

I bet a couple of the actors were gay, too.

You seriously didn’t enjoy Freeman’s performance in ‘Shawshank’? Was that “woke” casting? Ha!

 

[Observer11]

You seriously didn’t enjoy Freeman’s performance in ‘Shawshank’? Was that “woke” casting? Ha!

I wasn’t in the room where that happened. The room where that happened.

 

[SaveFerris]

I wasn’t in the room where that happened. The room where that happened.

Sure, so tell me your thoughts on Picasso?

 

[MRICoug]

This thread reminds me how limited we are in our understanding of race relations in our own back yard. Willie may tick people off, but he is not at all wrong in stating our own area has plenty of racist activity. Hayden, the attempted bombing of the MLK parade in Spokane? Hell if you really want to have a good time wear a BLM mask (you don’t need to join, just wear one in public) and watch the reactions from people you thought you knew. Honestly the younger people were, the more overall tolerant they were, but eye opening none the less. Folks thinking it is not around because they don’t witness it are only fooling themselves. It may be a minority of people but they exist in all geographic areas of our country, some areas more than others. Oddly wearing a BLM mask in Pullman was mostly ok, in Colfax you were looked at like you were going to start a riot. People are weird.

 

[CougPatrol]

This thread reminds me how limited we are in our understanding of race relations in our own back yard. Willie may tick people off, but he is not at all wrong in stating our own area has plenty of racist activity. Hayden, the attempted bombing of the MLK parade in Spokane? Hell if you really want to have a good time wear a BLM mask (you don’t need to join, just wear one in public) and watch the reactions from people you thought you knew. Honestly the younger people were, the more overall tolerant they were, but eye opening none the less. Folks thinking it is not around because they don’t witness it are only fooling themselves. It may be a minority of people but they exist in all geographic areas of our country, some areas more than others. Oddly wearing a BLM mask in Pullman was mostly ok, in Colfax you were looked at like you were going to start a riot. People are weird.

BLM is a divisive, corrupt organization. Reactions to seeing that acronym are mostly political, largely stemming from the nationwide 2020 rioting following George Floyd’s murder.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

BLM is a divisive, corrupt organization. Reactions to seeing that acronym are mostly political, largely stemming from the nationwide 2020 rioting following George Floyd’s murder.

I don't doubt that BLM has its issues but the truth is that people hated BLM the first moment the phrase was used. Also, I've been around long enough to know that 90% of the opinions about BLM are based on hate of the idea rather than any actual corruption in the organization. They undoubtedly have their issues and I'm sure because people are involved, someone is doing something bad, but that doesn't mean that the whole organization or purpose is bad. I'm frequently told that we shouldn't categorize all cops as bad, cowardly or corrupt just because some of them are bad, cowardly or corrupt.

When the kneejerk reaction to "Black Lives Matter" was for white people to start yelling, "All Lives Matter!" or "Blue Lives Matter!".....you know that you aren't dealing with a rational response but instead a purely emotional one.

FWIW.....you did prove MRI's point...so there is that. Based on your perceptions, you would instantly judge a person based on that mask. To be fair, when I see someone wearing a "Trump 2024" mask, I automatically think negative things about them too. We all discriminate and judge in our own ways.

 

[MRICoug]

BLM is a divisive, corrupt organization. Reactions to seeing that acronym are mostly political, largely stemming from the nationwide 2020 rioting following George Floyd’s murder.

I think this statement in and of itself is exactly proof of what I am saying.