OT: Noose found at UM Hospital...Not actually a noose.
Wanted to post this since it was a topic of discussion several weeks ago. Looks like the most logical answer was the right answer.
Worth posting because there's often a lot of hand-wringing and "oh, the racism everywhere" when one of these stories comes out and almost no interest from the same people in what actually happened when the investigation is complete.
Good news all around.
They taught the MOVE bombing and the assassination of Fred Hampton in High School? I doubt it.
Yes, it has. People are hit with info on a daily basis that confirms their worldview, then disappears sticking only as another data point that enforces their beliefs. Meanwhile, life goes on and it appears that the data points weren't actually what they are appear, but because the boring conclusion doesn't fit the worldview being projected, it doesn't register.
I'm not looking at this as a solo event, I'm looking at it as part of a very clear pattern that has emerged over the last 4-5 years:
A. Event happens that is deemed racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, etc.
B. Widely reported via media and social media as evidence of "rising hate"
C. Denunciations by various public figures
D. Time passes
E. Hoax, mistake, no conclusion, person who doesn't fit the narrative projected (i.e. the bomb threats called into various Jewish centers that were the work of an Israeli Jewish person and a black progressive journalist) or very rarely, actual racist. Guess which one is the only one that gets any follow-up?
Nevermind. I'm out.
God help this country.
There are a lot of racist people in the Country. The President is racist, and has allowed overtly racist rhetoric to become mainstream by way of him using it, and defending people who do. This has created a kind of rational displacement, wherein many people cannot tell the difference between what is racist and what is not, because certain things that are patently racist are being defended by powerful people, wherein 10 years ago they would have been derided.
So, yes, some people are on "high-alert" as to racism, with very good reason.
Thank you for clearly and incisively articulating this.
This is actually ludicrous.
25-30 years ago, Barbara Jordan, a black civil rights icon championed sane immigration policies for the benefit of the United States during the Clinton Administration. Her views today would be considered xenophobic, nativist and racist.
The goal posts are constantly shifting to accommodate more and more speech as hate speech.
Donald Trump is a buffoon, but trying to argue he's the catalyst here is ridiculous. The idea of being on alert for racism really started accelerating after - in my opinion - Trayvon Martin's unfortunate death.
" The goal posts are constantly shifting to accommodate more and more speech as hate speech. "
N0.
The goal posts are constantly shifting to accommodate more and more people as equal humans deserving of respect.
We've always been at war with Eastasia!
Edited.
"Anyone who was legitimately concerned by this I sympathize for because their thinking has clearly been altered toward delusion by the current information age."
Wow... all I can say.
This comes literally 1 day after a certain someone told US citizens elected to office to essentially "go back to the sh*t-holes from where they come". But no, there's no racism in this country. None whatsoever. No swastikas appearing expontentially more in schools and parks. No videos of people calling cops or criticizing those that speak another language. And definitely no public figures fueling the fire. We all must be crazy to believe those things exist.
Also, just to remind you, the University of Michigan is an organization that represents ALL diversities, ALL people, and is OPEN-MINDED to ALL beliefs. Just in case you need a reminder of the team you are cheering for each Saturday this fall. The team, that according to you, is delusioned.
Please highlight those in this thread who have stated racism doesn't exist.
He literally provided the quote he was responding to in the post.
Taken directly from his post (emphasis mine):
"This comes literally 1 day after a certain someone told US citizens elected to office to essentially "go back to the sh*t-holes from where they come". But no, there's no racism in this country. None whatsoever."
Again, no one is saying it doesn't exist. Did I misread that portion of his post?
Except that wasn't even close to what was literally and actually said.
Uh, hate crimes have increased by 280 percent since 2016. There have been several legitimate noose-related incidents (and a couple fake ones). It’s not unreasonable to conclude that what looks like a noose may well be a noose.
Whenever it reads "may have been" there's an equal chance it may NOT have been. Sadly, too many people aren't interested in the facts, what so ever, only in a story that will support and fuel their agenda.
FFS.... can we just assume the next random item IS NOT indended to be a: hateful, hurtful, intimidating, inflamatory, etc, etc, etc???
" Whenever it reads "may have been" there's an equal chance it may NOT have been. "
Lets not engage in false balance.
Whenever it reads "may have been" there's a chance it may NOT have been.
Lets not pretend like it's 50/50 between real and false hate crimes.
didn't mean to chap your ass..... i wasn't speaking specifically of hate crimes, just noting that "may have been" also means "may NOT have been".
"may have been" also means "may NOT have been" - but it doesn't mean there are equal odds.
correct, nor does it mean there are not.
may you have a great day.
There was a recent study which suggests most reported "hate crimes" today are hoaxes. Unfortunately, there are many people today who, despite the mountain of evidence otherwise, believe racism is everywhere, and eagerly fall for these hoaxes. Legit hate crimes are pretty rare today.
Where exactly do you get your data to arrive at your ordering of likely outcomes? Because there is also very clearly also a segment of the population who has no problem jumping to the best possible conclusion that most things that are reported as hate crimes really aren’t.
The guy who finds Trumps tweets mildly offensive and blames the Libyan civil war on Hilary Clinton thinks other people’s thinking has clearly been altered toward delusion by the current information age. Good to know.
The guy who finds Trumps tweets mildly offensive and blames the Libyan civil war on Hilary Clinton thinks other people’s thinking has clearly been altered toward delusion by the current information age. Good to know.
Which is why we wait to make judgments until we know the facts.
we certainly should, although that's often not the case
On point 2: there is a huge difference between being concerned about finding what looks like a noose, and blasting an email to an entire organization stating as a fact that a hate crime has been committed and self-aggrandizing to show what a progressive hero you are in the era of Trump (see Runge’s email).
Furthermore, if you look at that last thread on the topic, anyone that even questioned the possibility that this wasn’t a noose was ripped apart and shamed. Who turned out to be correct?
On #3 I’m actually surprised his/her social media history wasn’t combed through for anything resembling insensitivity so that the U could claim they caught a racist.
No it's how you present. A few of us talked about the larger issues rather than condemning an incident still under investigation and mostly escaped okay.
The guy who said the noose might not have been racist also added that just because someone brandishes a Confederate flag does not make them Racist. Hard to say what people were negging for on that one.
My first response is to think that Marschall Runge is a bit of a buffoon, but then we can imagine what kind of pressures hes facing..
I mean the original thread, which I avoided at the time, yikes...it turns out all the slightly unhinged crazy activist types I went to college with somehow found their way here.
Our society is devolving into a contest of who can be the biggest victim. Many of the things people whine about these days are pretty damn demeaning to those who have and do experience actual racism, sexual assault, etc.
Also who can "support" the supposed victim the quickest and loudest.
This board has its fair share of those that love to do just that.
I saw a meme once that was a bat signal but in the center it said "virtue." I found it hilarious, but I haven't been able to find another one like it since then. And I'm too lazy to do photoshop.
Thank you XM!
Well said. In the age of social media, someone, somewhere IS offended by literally anything and now they have a conduit from which to complain.
The social media thing is a very good point. Something goes "viral" (I'll abstain from making examples) and the next thing you know, people assume that this one outlying incident is a trend or a norm.
It is the trend or the norm.
I do agree with you that there is an issue with essentially even the discussion of race being labeled as "racism," that is certainly happening, and it is self-defeating, because now it is becoming very difficult to distinguish between the two.
So:
Overt use of racist rhetoric or actions on the rise - True
False or inaccurate descriptions of words or actions as "racism" on the rise - True
Is it actually on the rise? Or is it simply more visible because of social media (where every idiot has a voice) and because it's such a hot topic right now?
I'm not being argumentative, I'm genuinely not sure. Either one seems plausible.
I find it hard to believe it's "On the rise", but, with that being said, I think you have a point about social media. There has always been racists. Some have been brought out due to radio, television, or newspapers. Now, with the ability to shoot video on a mobile device, it's being posted more often, giving the illusion of rising racism. Do I believe there have always been a lot of racist people? Oh yes. However, I don't think it's on the rise.
i would say that "more racist acts occurring" and "many racist acts have been occurring and the majority of people just didn't know" are about equally disconcerting.
I blame Alcaida
Your Arabic to Cyrillic to Latin transliteration software is malfunctioning again.
A little help
that hurts....that really hurts.....
how was that?
So this coming on the heels of the EMU case where there were protest sit-ins (for which people got arrested!) for a fabricated racial incident:
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/04/23/emu-ra…
Or the other national news story out of UM where the girl said a guy threatened to set her on fire (which was also fabricated):
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/12/21/cops-u-m-stu…
Racism exists. I don't see why people feel the need to fabricate stuff to "prove" that.
(controversial comment incoming...)
Because the demand for racism has out-stripped the supply of racism
That's absolute fucking bullshit.
I guarantee that for every 'viral' incident we hear about (c.f., dozens of black people this past year alone videotaping footage of white people threatening to call the cops on them for selling lemonade, BBQing in a park, camping) there are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar incidents that you don't hear about for various reasons, some of which include not having the time/energy to navigate the emotional labor of speaking out and enduring the spectrum of reactions it'll garner.
Truth. My kids are on a pretty diverse travel soccer team. Every single Black family has a story about being stopped by the cops because they "fit a description," often on the way to/from a soccer game.
It also blows my mind that people are downvoting comments like yours. I mean, talk about not wanting to face reality.
Well, the description was that they're soccer players who are infamous for flopping to sell fake injuries on the pitch, so no racism there! /s
That sucks that your kids' friends' parents have to put up with that, and that they're uniformly used to it. If people wanna say that Jussie Smollett is a shithead for faking a hate crime, then I don't disagree; fuck that guy. Still, on the whole I'm a lot less outraged about his nontroversy than I am over the several everyday incidents where shit actually happened - to say nothing about the imbalance in awareness between these two things.
Still, on the whole I'm a lot less outraged about his nontroversy than I am over the several everyday incidents where shit actually happened
exactly. i wish more peoples' reaction to this news was "oh good! i'm relieved there's not a racist asshole!" rather than "i told you so!"