PSU fan writes nasty letter to player telling him to cut his dreads
October 7th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
OUTRAGE! BRING THESE BIGOTED MONSTERS BEFORE US!
Or, everyone collectively shrug and chalk it up to the ramblings of an old brain from a bygone era.
October 7th, 2019 at 11:47 PM ^
Right. People with this mindset - a bigoted mindset - exist.
Problem is there are quite a few of them. They're not too easy to ignore completely.
I don't know what causes this with age. There is more than 1 guy who I know who has entered their 40s, and is now morphing into a bigot before my eyes in recent years. It depresses me.
October 8th, 2019 at 7:01 AM ^
Thanks for the shot at guys in their 40’s. I am in that group now, but I always kind of thought my generation was one of the first to be mostly open minded.
Get your point though. Close minded and short sighted is no way to go through life.
October 8th, 2019 at 9:54 AM ^
I'm in my 40s too. I wasn't trying to take a shot at folk in that age group. But I DO think that's an age range where people are more susceptible to change.
There's interesting research out there as regards the "U-Shaped Happiness Curve." Basically, after controlling for all various other factors, people tend to decrease in terms of their happiness from their high school years into their 40s, and then their happiness tends to go back up from age 50 and beyond.
And intuitively that feels right to me. I sort of feel a big part of getting older through the 30s and 40s is getting through that "natural downturn" --- get through that and you'll emerge on the other side as an enjoyable person to be around. But the folk who harden up during that "natural downturn" of the 30s and 40s become the "get off my lawn" older folk.
October 8th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
I know people in the same age group that are changing into that also. They engage in whataboutism and different kind of mental gymnastics to insulate themselves from admitting it, but get a few drinks in them and ..... oh it's like that, is it?
October 8th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
Most generations think that they're more enlightened than the previous ones. Two or three generations before yours, they fought for women's suffrage. Before that they fought to eliminate slavery. Before that they fought to end religious persecution. And so on. The baby boomers and/or Gen X don't even come close to the first to be "open-minded."
October 8th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
closed-minded is not age-related. i promise you this guy was a bigoted dickhead long, long, LONG before he ever saw tattoos and dreads.
October 8th, 2019 at 11:43 AM ^
I've generally found that they were always close-minded but still cared a small bit what others thought publicly. But seemingly everyone who hits their early 40's sorta accepts they are what they are, and then it turns up to 11.
I've largely sworn off facebook because a bunch of people I knew growing up began posting a TON of shitty/racist memes and it just wasn't worth it anymore.
October 8th, 2019 at 12:02 PM ^
One possibility I've read about is the calcification of the brain. The plasticity of our brains, and the thought processes they generate, degrades as junk piles up in the gray matter. It seems to reflect in our attitudes and inflexibility as we age.
October 8th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
Hint--they were probably always this way--they are just more likely to be showing their bigotry now.
I can't imagine what could be going on in our country at the moment that might encourage them or indicate to them that bigotry is OK.
October 8th, 2019 at 3:30 PM ^
I think it's human nature to dislike what you don't understand. As people age and begin to be forced to deal with people of newer generations there will be differences in culture that becomes more difficult to relate to as you get older because newer generations grew up in a different world, a different culture, and under different rules and values. I see this as a HS teacher all the time. Teachers complain about how kids dress, what they listen to for music, etc. I think this is human nature, but your cognitive brain should kick in and prevent your natural human judgemental-ness to go this far and realize these kids are no different than you were. Just like they grew up in a different culture, you did too and we're different than your parents generation.
October 7th, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
I agree but sometimes its difficult to let stupid stuff like this slide without getting pissed. I imagine similar things like this will happen 50 years from now. Hopefully I'm not the old idiot writing the letter. lol
October 8th, 2019 at 12:46 AM ^
Yeah by “bygone” era... you mean 2019?
This letter is real and the guy has a history of writing fucked up shit.
“Petersen has a history of writing similar letters to newspapers in Pennsylvania, including criticizing people with tattoos, saying they should only be on people in prison or “drug gangs,”; saying that educating children about Muslim holidays is offensive to 9/11 victims and survivors; and that babies and young children should not be allowed in public if they make noise.”
^thats just the summary... Yeesh
Sounds exactly like uber 2019 r___ wing America https://heavy.com/sports/2019/10/dave-petersen-penn-state/
October 8th, 2019 at 4:48 AM ^
No politics dummy.
October 8th, 2019 at 9:53 PM ^
The "no politics" rule only applies to conservatives around here.
October 9th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
Ain’t that the truth Blue. I was banned by Ace on twitter last year during the Kavanaugh nonsense for daring to NOT believe all woman. I didn’t say anything remotely offensive or mean spirited, just that I never believe anyone without evidence. I just laughed it off and reminded myself that this is how the left thinks. Very Borg like, especially since I have generally voted dem since I was able to vote.
October 8th, 2019 at 9:46 AM ^
After reading that article my take is that Dave Petersen needs to stop writing letters. This guy went off about Islam and 9/11 after the newspaper printed an article about a Muslim holiday in the "Mini Page" which is a kids section.
October 8th, 2019 at 10:46 AM ^
So in your opinion it sounds like Peterson is doing too much.
October 8th, 2019 at 11:16 AM ^
Too much letter writing, that is for sure. The guy needs a new hobby. Perhaps he could spend more time with his grand kids, but in addition to tattoos, dreadlocks and Muslims he also hates "rugrats" so maybe that isn't such a great idea after all.
October 8th, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
I think we'd all be better off if he stays as far away from his grandkids as possible
October 8th, 2019 at 1:11 AM ^
Larry, are you a minority?
If not...STFU and stop telling people how they should feel.
Anyone can have an opinion, anyone can ask questions...but unless you are of a race that has to deal with shit like this because of the color of your skin or in this case your natural hairstyle...sit this one out.
October 8th, 2019 at 2:33 AM ^
Tolerance is the key. Tolerance for dreads... Tolerance for idiots. I'll take Larry's view over yours every time. Maybe you're the one who should sit this one out.
October 8th, 2019 at 6:34 AM ^
As a minority who has had dreads. In my opinion, in this instance the dude who wrote this is a bitch for telling someone what to do. At the same time, when I got my first professional interview, I chopped my dreads and have never had them since. They don't look professional and I discourage my boys from wearing them. Im not a bigot and just because someone is conservative in their values does not make them one either. So in summary, this guy is a dumb bitch and MBA2 is a white dude who grew up in the burbs and likes projecting to make himself feel good and needs to shut the fuck up.
October 8th, 2019 at 9:21 AM ^
Bro, I get it...I always kept a low fade or ceasar, BUT if keeping dreads wasn't looked upon so negatively or wasn't considered unprofessional, would you have cut them? (Same thing happened with cornrows in the early 90s) My brother in law did the same...he had dreads from middle school until he got his Master's, and when he started applying for jobs that required security clearances, he cut them.
Ultimately the problem isn't the dreads or the cornrows or the tattoos. It's an older generation that never agreed with the decisions and styles and trends (or music) of the next generation (like every generation in the history of humanity I'm sure)
He's an idiot, but if he's allowed to be an idiot in quiet, then an opportunity is lost for millions of people to let him know how ignorant he really is.
October 8th, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
Eli, based in your post it seems you m that you agree with the PSU fan. "Unprofessional" vs "professional" is based in opinion usually perpetuated by the majority group and rarely is related to being able to do your job. Firemen/ women need to be clean cut for equipment to function. There's nothing about locks or long hair in general that prevents someone from working in an office except bigoted-backed "professionalism".
October 8th, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
Dreads "don't look professional?" Disagree. FWIW, am from Ensom City, St. Catherine, JA. Was convinced otherwise when working at Booz, Allen in the early 2000s; perspective has changed since.
Really depends on how you chose to grow them/how you style them. Nazarite Vow (those who have taken a vow to forego using a razor)/Nyabinghi/Twelve Tribes types? In a word, okay. That's a really tough sell. Those who we refer to as fashion dreads, however? Nope. Plenty of styles that meet the standards of professionalism.
October 8th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
So I guess you missed the sentence about tolernance.
This is going to sound odd in today's day and age (/s) but it's entirely possible for a white dude to have an opinion without people attacking that person for the color of their skin or their age or their residence.
Unless of course that chip you're carrying on your shoulder entitles you to be just as racist to others as you perceive people have been racist to you.
Ironic, huh?
October 8th, 2019 at 8:09 AM ^
Isn’t it kind of racist to claim that people of certain races can’t possibly understand or experience any of this stuff based on their skin color?
October 8th, 2019 at 8:20 AM ^
One word, NO!
October 8th, 2019 at 8:34 AM ^
Ok, I’ll just sit back down and take notes! No further questions your honor!
October 8th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
I submitted 2 appplications to Michigan.
One I marked the box for white non Hispanic.
The other I marked the box for African American.
My white application wasnt accepted. My African American application was (this was the days when student IDs had no picture... essentially a maize colored credit card).
I dare you to say that I haven't been discriminated against. I dare you to marginalize my experience. Come at me bro!!!
October 8th, 2019 at 11:16 AM ^
to say that someone can't have an opinion or should just shut up about a subject based on race is entirely racist. It's basically the definition of racist.
Because you are <insert skin color here> your voice/opinion/freedom/right to vote/personal safety/etc. doesn't matter nearly as much or is less important or is removed or shouted down. Knocking anyone down a peg or two, for any reason, based purely on race is racist.
That being said, I don't think most white people can "possibly understand or experience any of this stuff" that minorities go through regularly, so you'd be speaking out of your ass on a topic you truly know nothing about and being quite disrespectful.
October 8th, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
You don't need to be a minority to have empathy or understand that everyone's experience is different. Further, such an angry, close minded response suggests that if you were not a minority, you yourself would be a good candidate to be a white bigot.
October 8th, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
You don't need to be a minority to have empathy or understand that everyone's experience is different. Further, such an angry, close minded response suggests that if you were not a minority, you yourself would be a good candidate to be a white bigot.
October 8th, 2019 at 2:08 AM ^
A bygone era? That's laughable.
October 8th, 2019 at 5:39 AM ^
Excuse me - as an old brain from a bygone era I can tell you that we put up with a ton of shit about our hair as well.
Cut it, grow it, braid it, dye it - there is nothing more superficial.
October 8th, 2019 at 6:57 AM ^
Then I wonder why Dave is making such a big deal about it? Hmm....
October 8th, 2019 at 8:04 AM ^
That would be waaaaay too smart but not woke enough! We MUST signal our wokeness!
October 8th, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
Yeah, just ignore when fans send overtly racist hate mail to players. Just let it go. Good strategy, Mr. White Guy.
October 8th, 2019 at 1:13 PM ^
Has nothing to do with IGNORING IT... has everything to do with NOT GIVING THEM AN AUDIENCE!
October 8th, 2019 at 2:12 PM ^
After some thought, I decided I don't want to be in this conversation.
October 7th, 2019 at 10:54 PM ^
Could be legit. Or could be a "false flag" troll attempt from like Pitt or somebody.
Either way, the PC Police will be all over this.
October 8th, 2019 at 6:04 AM ^
Thanks Alex Jones
October 8th, 2019 at 7:44 AM ^
Only thing Alex Jones ever said that makes me think he might be on to something is when I see people write letters like this and the connection between that and fluoride in the water...
October 8th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
The PC police? Really? I'd say the vast majority of rational people would find this letter outrageous and unacceptable. Sure, there's not much we can do about a random letter but to make a comment about the PC Police is an unnecessary dig at people who, you know, actually care that people are treated well. God forbid....
October 7th, 2019 at 10:56 PM ^
this seems like a fake
OR
it should be written with a feather pen, because it's from some ancient fog-brained idiot
October 7th, 2019 at 10:56 PM ^
A heavy burden, representing all those Penn Staters from the past. Heaven forbid someone were to tarnish their image of Penn State football
October 7th, 2019 at 11:38 PM ^
-zing-
October 8th, 2019 at 8:45 AM ^
Well said. And this guy is worried about a hair style.