Last thing I'll comment on: this link. I work for FEMA, which is part of DHS. Back in spring 2019, DHS put out a surge call for volunteers to go help with that crisis. I served in the Peace Corps in one of the countries many migrants hail from, and they have a justifiable claim to asylum by fleeing gang violence, driven by narcotics trafficking. Check out where the murder capital of the world has been the past few years, I lived and worked in one of those cities. I wasn't permitted to go to the border and take part in the surge, because I ended up working on the supplemental funding for the border crisis in my normal gig in DC. Check out Emergency Food and Shelter grants from FEMA. In the budget bill that passed after the furlough (remember that?), it appropriated a few million to places overwhelmed by migrants that I was fortunate enough to analyze. It is a quagmire, and no single entity, president or policy is entirely culpable for it. I got an education on the crisis as part of the surge request, and I got an even bigger one analyzing CBP and DHS data on what happens to these people. It is fucked the fuck up. It's complicated. The historical events driving the current crisis are complex, ugly and span multiple fronts, including our labor policy, drug policy, foreign policy, border policy, all the way down to education and naturalization. It is complex, mind-numbing, soul-crushing and we are talking about the most desperate people that come to our shores. It's a true test of our character as a nation: how do we treat the completely destitute and powerless, especially when our policies and actions have obligated us to take some responsibility for their situation. I would then argue that I know a lot about this crisis, from both living in the places where people emigrate from, to analyzing CBP data, to having colleagues in CBP, and from all the lovely history I gleaned from DHS, Peace Corps and surge briefings, training, etc. I'm well aware of the objectionable actions taken by numerous administrations and God knows, this is an easy buck to pass. Racism permeates this entire issue. It's drenched it. I know this because I've read the descriptions, I've seen how people crossing one border are treated, while people crossing another are treated extremely differently. I know the "most effective policy solution" for this crisis isn't the massive boondoggle we have in enforcement, because I read RAND's report on it. We know how to best enforce these policies, we choose not to do it. I know the most common illegal immigrants are people that overstay a tourist visa, which is the #1 illegal immigrant group worldwide. The bulk of this crisis is political theatre, pure and simple, and again: racism, ethnocentrism and prejudice is what distinguishes our Southern border policies from our Northern. This administration took it from theatre to shit show. Clinton signed the treaty, Bush developed the policy, Obama built and funded the processing centers, and Trump turned it into a humans rights nightmare, and gleefully boasted about it on Twitter. Hell, he agitated these people. He turned it into what it is now. I know that, because I literally watched it happen from multiple perspectives. Trump made a bad situation worse, much worse. I took the border crisis as seriously and personally as a professional could, and I think it will be a source of shame, grief and pain for our country for years to come. I don't profess to know how to resolve anything that complicated, but I do know that the simple solutions have been tried, they failed, or they were not tried before for a reason. The reason Trump's wall is racist, the reason the Muslim ban is racist, the reason that the inhumane treatment of migrants seeking asylum is racist is that it was unacceptable to treat others so harshly, to exclude entire swaths of people for their skin color or religion before Trump. He mocked the disabled. He "pussy-grabbed". His history of discrimination is well documented (see Wikipedia link). We knew that and we elected him anyway and he figures, that people don't care. It's not a deal-breaker. The erection of bans, barriers and bars to separate groups based on religion and skin color is literally the definition of discrimination. Pretending it's not is dishonest and ignorant. It's why he got elected: we were ok with those solutions when he proposed them as a candidate. So, yes...."egregious" is the correct term. They are discriminatory by design, and have been all along. Proposed and developed by someone with a long history of discriminatory behavior. Racist POTUS develops racist policies. It's pretty simple. If you can't trust me, as someone who has seen this shit from the inside out, with no real benefit to influencing your beliefs, then I wish you the best of luck in this brave new world we inhabit. I highly doubt you'll find a more authoritative source with no agenda. I hold out hope that in the coming months, we see a vivid demonstration of how unacceptable this is. We are better than this guy as a nation. We deserve better. And, in light of the history being made, I hope that we, collectively, will stand up and demand it.
Ditto. I probably "know" more white people on here than are in my immediate family and friends combined. As Dixie can attest to, down here you've gotta be able to speak spanish in order to get things done. I've become quite fluent, as being Caucasian I'm a statistical minority in a big way. Texas, at least this area, has become a gigantic melting pot. Of course a large Hispanic and African American crowd, but also a lot of people from Puerto Rico, India, Russia, China and Japan, southern Europe. When people evacuated from Katrina, a lot of them came here and didn't leave. Fortunately they brought their food with them and left their alligators where they belong. I love it. And I agree with you Kampf, this is the only place I can think of where I get shit on for being white. It 's just not like that in the real world. At least, in my world.
Absolutely, if you leave a noose or a burning cross on a black man's property, that is clear intent. Interestingly(?) enough, hanging is still a permissible form of execution in New Hampshire, I think, so I guess somebody needs to know how to properly tie a noose. I think the last official execution by hanging was in Delware in 1996 (a white asshole). I can't imagine anyone choosing that over lethal injection, but I guess the folks sentenced to death weren't always the best decision makers anyway.
I got this PM from someone this morning. When I was around 5 or 6, I was playing at a playground at the apartment complex I lived at with my mom and younger brother. My mom is a first generation Korean immigrant and didn't speak very much English. As a result, I spoke mostly Korean. I saw some older white kids at the playground and said hi, but it came out in Korean. The next thing I know, I'm curled up in a ball on the ground, crying as I'm being hit and kicked while hearing, "Kill the gook!" over and over again. I refused to speak in anything but English since that day. Now, I'm not very smart, but the only reason I could come up with for getting my ass kicked was for simply being me. This event is why I have such a strong reaction to racists, racism and people who defend racists or racist actions. Have I projected this onto all white people? For the most part, yes. And online especially. All I have to do confirm that this is the correct choice is to read the replies of the large majority of white people when someone famous tweets their support for Black Lives Matter or any other group or cause supporting minorities. And I know that I shouldn't. But when the alternative is to be called a slur for simply existing, I choose the safe action over risking being retraumatized by shitty people who want to hurt me because they hate me for something that I can't control. For existing. In fact, there were laws on the books prohibiting interracial marriages before 1968. That was the year that the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriages were unconstitutional. My parents could have been arrested for that, at the very least. I will not apologize for calling out ignorance or indifference and I will not apologize for being frustrated when I don't feel like I'm being heard or understood. It is especially frustrating when people say "I'm not racist because this, that or the other." The questioning of a person's behavior, especially by a minority, somehow causes more outrage than the racist behavior itself. After all, if nobody is racist, then there can't be racism, right? But if that's the case, why is racism still one of America’s biggest problems? Why are people still protesting almost a month after the death of George Floyd? Why are minorities disproportionally affected by nearly every bad thing in society than white people are? If it isn't systemic racism, please tell me so I can stop being so goddamn angry all the time.
You are all over the place here. On one hand you say "you can't understand because you're white", and then you say "frustrated when I don't feel like I'm being understood". There is a huge difference between being talked TO, with the attitude of "you cannot question anything I say because you're white", vs being talked WITH, where we both share our experiences, and get to know each other, as people, and try to empathize. It's not a competition, it's not a "me not you" situation... everyone has experiences they can share with each other, to raise awareness, and to have a discussion that might turn into something meaningful. Empathy is not blind acceptance of anything you say. Likewise, racism is not refusing to take everything you say as truth. Your statement of "Asians can't be racist" is a prime example. Just because you're Asian, and say you can't be a racist, does not make that some universal truth that all Asians cannot be racists, and that cannot and should not be questioned. I never called you a racist, nor did I say all Asians are racists... I said some Asians are most definitely racists. Anything regarding your personal experience? Absolutely take it 100% at face value, as presented, no questions asked. You taking your personal experience and then extrapolating that behaviour to every single person of a particular skin colour? Nope, not happening, and I will call you out on that all day, every day. Because it's absolute bullshit. And I will not pander to you just because of your race. We are not the closest of friends around here, but we're also not a bunch of anonymous morons on Twitter. I challenge you to show even a single case of racism by someone on the board here. I'm not saying there aren't racists on the board, but I'm saying that I think we do a pretty good job of being tolerant of EVERYONE around here... whether you're of a particular race, or a backwoods hick... and if someone did something outright that was disrespectful, never mind racists, to anyone on the board, they'd be gone in a flash. I tend to think that we do a reasonable job of trying to get people to act in a friendly, respectful manner towards each other. We condone laughing WITH people, not AT people. A few people have been sent packing for their behaviour towards others on here... some for being misogynistic, some for being a huge asshole to others. All in all I think that generally speaking we have a reasonable sense for who the people on the board are based on over a decade of hanging out here, and have sent the bad apples packing. Of COURSE racists exist. NOBODY is saying they don't. Just don't make the corollary that because racists exist, everyone is a racist. Never mind the further leap that everyone HERE is a racist, just because of the colour of our skin. I ask that based on our group experience here, you at least give us the benefit of the doubt before judging us. There are, unequivocally, systemic racial issues in the world. All I'm asking is that you show us some respect and don't take your hatred of those systemic issues and then project them onto all of us here on a personal level. If you cannot provide us even that minimal level of respect, then I'll ask you to leave... because above all else, we try and respect people on this board. We talk shit about each other every now and then, but overall, there is always that base level of respect. When that line has been crossed, action has been taken. So yeah, please stick around, and share with us, and respect us until you have reason not to. But if you leave, it will not be because you have a certain skin colour, or were bullied, or can't talk about things... it's because you lack the ability to show us the respect that every person on here deserves.
Here's the thing though. You literally can't understand because this isn't Freaky Friday and switching bodies isn't a thing we can do. Even if we could, you wouldn't have had the same experiences that I have, growing up the way that I did. I wouldn't have the first idea of what it was like growing up like you. Wouldn't you think it would be disrespectful and presumptuous of me to just assume that you grew up the same way that I did? It is absolutely reasonable for me to be frustrated because this completely logical concept seems to be unacceptable to you. That was not my intent. People of color can show prejudice against white people just as white people can do the same. The difference is that white people's prejudices come with systemic power. The modern definition of racism is prejudice with systemic power. When I say that Asians can't be racist towards white people, I'm saying that there isn't any power structure in place for white people to be oppressed by Asian people. For white people, if a minority calls them a cracker, that's wrong and would probably piss them off, but there most likely isn't any lasting damage. White people generally get to make the choice on how the feel about being called a slur. White people in general get have that privilege. From my perspective, if a white person is racist to me, they may as well have been one of those kids kicking the shit out of me when I was child. I don't get to choose if I get to relive the most traumatic event in my lifetime every time someone says something racist to me. When I am out in the world, every white person is one word or action from being one those kids who assaulted me. If you were me, having been attacked on the basis of your race as a child, would you think it unreasonable to keep yourself from harm? Now imagine your childhood attackers shared the same traits as people in power, and you could see that power being abused not only every day, but throughout the history of the country you lived in. And one of the types of people that were abused just happened to be your people. What sort of lessons do you think your parents might teach you when it came to interacting with a certain group of people? What sort of behaviors might you perform just learning on your own? What might you find yourself doing, just out of reflex? How might you feel if those in power told you that you were the one who was actually the problem, because you developed a defense mechanism from being attacked to begin with? To put this into a real world perspective, Philando Castile's girlfriend still had the presence of mind to call the police officer "sir" immediately after the cop murdered her boyfriend in front of their child. I can't even imagine being able to do anything but piss my pants if I was in that situation. Then again, I'm not black, and cops don't kill Koreans with astonishing regularity. Well, as our definition of racism appears to not be the same, I'll bold the parts that were racist to me. This was after I was banned for calling out toytoy for this: I mean, Jheri Curl and smaller noses? Who in their right minds would think this would apply to white people? I will concede that all white people are not racist. However, using the definition above that racism is white prejudice with systemic power, all racists are white people. That being said, with all due respect, I don't know any of you personally. I don't know what it would take to set any of you off. I don't know what a person I don't know is capable of saying to a person like me when they get mad enough. If social media has taught me anything, it's that otherwise normal people can and will say the foulest shit they can imagine if they don't believe there are consequences or are too angry to give a shit. You don't like the idea of me projecting my fear of racist on you because you don't think you're racist. I get it and it's understandable. May I ask why your anger is directed at me for doing something I believe may well keep me alive, instead of at the racists that do racist things? I wouldn't have to do what you find so repugnant if racists didn't exist.
Dude, you can be offended by my joke if you want, and I'll admit it wasn't all that funny, but please don't pretend you didn't know it was a joke. My Asian friends and I used to give each other shit all the time about our races. Not everyone is as sensitive as you, and we don't exist to accomodate you. You want people to listen to your experiences and not make assumptions. I can respect that, so maybe stop inventing my experiences. The person you are writing about sometimes might as well be someone completely different than myself because you have a habit of making up entire swaths of crap that aren''t remotely true or accurate. I'm not even talking about opinions. Things like I'm addicted to meth, or didn't go to college - it's just kind of weird dude. That said while I don't agree with you it's kind of nice to see you write something a lot more civil.
Congratulations on having Asian friends, I guess. I'm not one of them so stop talking to me as if I was. In what world do you think I'd take that as a joke?
Anyone else find it a little odd that we had multiple pages discussing the debunking of the noose claim, but there's been no mention of the debunking of the "we were poisoned by Shake Shack" claim?
I’ll mention it: I would like to know why any cop involved in opening their stupid mouth in that incident hasn’t been fired and publicly disgraced yet.
What happened? Last time I went to that place my wife got so sick she shit her pants in the car on the way home. Great burgers. Not great for the tummy I heard.
Here's the statement from the NYPD police union that kicked it off: https://twitter.com/cbenavidesTV/status/1272739940892319744/photo/1 After an investigation it was revealed that nothing had happened. It was either a deliberate lie by the cops, or some idiot who had a tummy ache and jumped to wild conclusions.
yeah same thing happened to my wife. After an investigation it was revealed that she was lactose intolerant
It was the former, since it turns out the cops weren’t sick at all. So in the end it’s a group of fucksticks who thought lying and putting heat on some fast food workers would somehow take away from the magma-intense heat their feet are being held to for good reason. Fucking pathetic. Lying is hardwired into their DNA. “Just a few bad apples”, right? People go to jail wrongfully every hour because of the lies these cocksuckers spread.
This world. The one we live in. Don't worry, we're most definitely not friends, but if you misunderstood, then sorry. That's as far I'll go though. We don't need to extensively discuss the merits of a stupid one liner from about 3 years ago. You seem to think you've had a hard life, and because of that you're in the right no matter what fucked up shit you say to people, or how you act. I got to tell you though, based on your recollections you haven't had that hard of a life. You go beat up when your 6? Ok, so did I. Who gives a fuck? Try having members of your immediate family die decades earlier than they should. Try getting through a life threatening brain tumor. Try coping with having been raped. Not that terrible things happening to someone entitles them to act like a dirt bag, but other people have problems too, and they're not as small or trivial as you seem to think. You were beat up when you were fucking six? Move on... There are some things I just can't relate to, and this is one of them. God help you when something truly traumatic happens to you. I promise that it will, eventually. You've been luckier than most of us so far. We're not going to see eye to eye on 95% of this topic. I would really emphasize though, try considering other peoples' experiences rather just reliving your own. Nobody who has gone through some serious shit is going to care you got beat up when you were 6.
Just a recent example off the top of my head, we suggested to our babysitter and co-worker that she bring her siblings over to swim with our boys. Said we were gonna get in too if she wanted to bring her swimsuit as well. Her response had us rolling "bitch I'm black you think I can swim? And I know you don't have floaties big enough for my fatass" It's not uncommon among certain co-workers for them to jokingly threaten to call INS on each other (they're legal, but that's the joke). We've had Asian teachers bring chop sticks to pot lucks. Shit is funny. It's the intent that matters though. If someone is an actual racist and says "don't make me call INS on you," then you better fuck him up before I do! But if the dude's a friend and y'all are just ribbing each other and joke about him being safe from the cops and he says don't make me strangle you with your rosary beads, then that's not racist, that shit is funny. Some people just can't take a fucking joke though, and they throw intent out the window in an attempt to find any way to feel justified to themselves in being offended. Here's a midget making jokes about why he's not a Giants fan and other "offensive" jokes. But they aren't offensive. Know why? Because he's not an asshole.
It's as if you know these people personally and have established boundaries on what is and isn't appropriate, and I'm some stranger. I don't see what is so difficult to understand about this. My beef wasn't that people were making good natured jokes. It was being talked to that way by some I find morally reprehensible.
Spoiler: Spoilered for size NASCAR released a good photo of the “garage noose” that people were retarded for mistaking for a noose. https://twitter.com/jeff_gluck/status/1276188964488003584 should also be noted this was the only garage with the super common "garage noose" at the track or at any of the 29 NASCAR racetracks. https://twitter.com/jeff_gluck/status/1276194796357341184 https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/06/25/nascar-completes-investigation-into-no-43-garage-stall-at-talladega/ *Edit to add more quotes and sources