University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker will lead Donovan Edwards and the football team on a tour of the The Zekelman Holocaust Center
October 27th, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^
Maybe Donovan has a class with this girl:
October 27th, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^
I'm not comparing the two situations But when Julian Edelman responded to DeSean Jackson.. His Proposal was education not hate or for DeSean Jackson to be banned/ Suspended.. That's how it should be done.
October 27th, 2022 at 1:25 PM ^
Maybe also tell them the story of Raoul Wallenberg and let them know what it means to represent the University of Michigan.
October 27th, 2022 at 1:26 PM ^
Thank the Lord.
October 27th, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
There's a disappointing amount of antisemitism on this board.
There's also an uplifting amount of folks not tolerating antisemitism on this board.
To the latter, thank you.
October 27th, 2022 at 1:59 PM ^
Doesn’t the amount of downvotes those posts get tell you there is not. Believing there is more is what you’re doing.
October 27th, 2022 at 2:30 PM ^
Downvotes on people spewing stupid takes does not make them disappear. Was that not the entire idea of the comment you replied to?
October 27th, 2022 at 1:55 PM ^
I saw this post before the ones below and thought that’s nice.
October 27th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^
This is good to hear.
Also, I'm happy these threads exist so I can exercise the troll cave feature of the MGoBlog extension.
October 27th, 2022 at 2:05 PM ^
Regardless of what you think about the tweet, the "glitch" or what have you, this is an educational opportunity for everyone. White, Black, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist. Everyone has something to learn and gain from that trip.
There is a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT of anti-Semitic misinformation going every which way in this world. Its been this way for thousands of years and its not going away anytime soon. In fact, with social media being the cancer that it is, this is probably going to get worse before it gets better. Doesn't make any of it right, but that's just the way this screwed up world is.
I hope everyone who goes can take everything they see and learn to heart. That event is a permanent stain on the history of humanity, and like all other genocides, show just how low we as a species can sink. And we're certainly not immune from doing it again.
October 27th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
Don't forget the worst haters of them all. The anti-dentites
October 27th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
Yes, Mgoblog is the paragon as to how people should act.
the way you people crucify the actions of others is nauseating
October 27th, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Maybe using "you people" isn't the best phrasing in this thread...
Edit: or ever, really
October 27th, 2022 at 4:56 PM ^
Or "crucify," but now we're probably inducing more nausea.
October 28th, 2022 at 7:01 AM ^
the people on mgoblog aren't people?
October 27th, 2022 at 2:38 PM ^
Jordan Acker's response to this is the correct response. The true epitome of leaders and best. DE should take notes so that when he's not 19 anymore he can handle his shit like Acker just did.
Unfortunately for those who want to move on from this and get on with the football, some things are bigger than football. Most things, in fact, are bigger than football. This is now a Thing and the team is going to have to deal with it. Harbaugh will likely field questions about it in pressers. You're going to have to deal with this real world problem interrupting your entertainment for a sec because it all matters. How DE, the team, the university, and the public respond to this kind of behavior matters.
Little we do as fans actually impacts anything, but I wholeheartedly believe that how the masses react and respond to hate, even hate that isn't super clear-cut or looks different from what you deem as serious, matters immensely. Acker taking the team to to Zekelman will give a great example of what happens when we let hate speech slide because we were too concerned about our entertainment.
October 27th, 2022 at 5:39 PM ^
Not sure what is taught these days in high schools, but as a '81 HS grad, we definitely talked and read a fair amount about the holocaust, starting in 8th grade social studies but later in HS as part of World History. I think it helped that just about every family had someone still living who had served in WWII, in many cases the European Theater. We could have more conversation at home. While I don't recall seeing a speech in person by a survivor from the camps, I do remember in history class watching interviews of people who told their story and how they were the only one of their family who did not perish. Hopefully, after the tour, the media can share more on the story in an educational way.
If there were one photo I'd show someone about what does EVIL look like on Earth, it's the German soldier holding the rifle in Ukraine (around 1941/42) getting ready to shoot a mother in the back of the head while she holds her child, with the body eventually falling into a deep pit (that part was not photoed). That's why it's shocking to see still today people with Ye's opinions.
I think Donovan and his teammates have learned a lifelong lesson. It even made national news. No - I don't think this will distract the team. They by all appearances look to be very close and connected outfit who should put a beating on MSU (after the earlier MSU success). This team has learned from 2020 and the locker-room factions and desperately wants to win. This game may end up like the 44-10 route in 2019 that was too close for my liking until we blocked a punt to start the 4th and scored a TD to go up 34-10.
October 27th, 2022 at 5:41 PM ^
Seriously, fuck Donovan Edwards, fuck Kanye West, and fuck the horse both of them rode in on. They're both assholes (OK, three if you include the horse)..
Donovan Edwards was BOTH ignorant of Kanye West's antisemitic statements that caused such a big stir, and particularly ignorant of the content of this tweet? He knows darn well what's going on.
Ridiculous. It's complete bullshit.
He should be removed from the team. Bigger issues are at stake than whether a football team wins or loses Saturday night. There should be zero tolerance for this kind of BS.
The fact that the school is willing to hold this guy's hand, take him on a little trip, and call it 'problem solved' is something I find both abhorrent and disgusting.
That the university - my alma mater - said, 'Aw, the poor kid made a mistake' and let it go is insupportable.
October 27th, 2022 at 5:56 PM ^
Are you going to be ok?
October 27th, 2022 at 9:42 PM ^
Ok, that's a pretty emotional take. Which, I partially understand, as no place in the world lives in my nightmares more than Auschwitz. But I'd argue that you're belittling the importance of museums like this by calling it a 'little trip.' By that same reasoning, would visiting a death camp be a 'little trip'? Anne Frank's house?
If he comes out of this 'little trip' and still thinks the same way, then I agree that he can eat rocks for all I care. Based on my own personal experience with Auschwitz, I don't think that will be the case. Experiences like that live with you for your lifetime.
October 28th, 2022 at 12:56 AM ^
You're right, my response is an emotional response.
I think it ought to be.
The university should be ashamed of putting football and money ahead of what's right. That this kid will show up and play Saturday is horrifying.
Maybe if Edwards doesn't play they lose some football games. But if they play him, something far more important is lost: the university's integrity.
Anti-semitism is certainly no mystery to Donovan Edwards, who attended high school on the same street as Holocaust museum. In fact, the museum is a place he passes every time he goes from West Bloomfield to Ann Arbor - it's only a few hundred feet from the expressway entrance.
West Bloomfield is a suburb with a significant Jewish population. Edwards went to school with plenty of Jewish classmates. He understood exactly what that Kanye West post was about. To think that he did not perfectly understand the anti-semitic tropes that Kanye West posted simply isn't credible.
Did you look at the thing that was re-tweeted? It was out and out crazy, Hitler style anti-semitism! Only an idiot could mistake if for anything else.
So, for Donovan Edwards, yes, it's a little trip, and in my opinion the university's response is inappropriate. This kid should not be representing the University of Michigan on the field.
There was an opinion piece in the New York Times today that reminded me that Jewish people make up less than 2.4% of the population of the US. However, over 50% of hate crimes in the US are anti-semitic.
Where do the excuses for this kind of intolerance end? The university takes no stand other than a field trip? Sorry. It's wrong. There should be substantial consequences for the player.
Harbaugh was quoted as saying that he's thrilled the team will have this learning experience. Tell you what, he's more thrilled that Donovan Edwards gets to play.
October 28th, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
I like your passion, I agree with your principle and I admire your fierce resolve. With that said, I have spent the past dozen years working with young Black men in South Central LA who are the first in their families to attend college. Among these men, there are some strong, related feelings: (1) The constant negative images and stereotypes in the media place a heavy and very unhelpful burden on their mental health and ability to persevere. (2) Their communities have been exploited by the powers that be. This leads to some strong conspiratorial thinking about white people, the government, the CIA. They also tend to think of Jewish people as a subset of white people, no less to blame for the exploitation. And then when some of their local heroes in the music or entertainment industry complain about exploitation at the hands of entertainment industry executives, agents, lawyers, etc., then those individuals get made the face of White exploitation, and very unfortunately, there seems to be a track record of scapegoating "Jewish" entertainment executives as the primary exploiters.
If Ye's tweet had been purely anti-White with no Jewish aspect, I think I would have just understood it as a voiced objection to exploitation. Once the Jewish aspect gets interjected, I have this visceral revulsion. I'm not sure Black fans of Ye have the same visceral revulsion. My guess from my experiences with the young men I work with is that the point they would be hearing is "our community is being exploited by the powerful White majority and I'm speaking up against that and won't shy away from it." The point for them would be this protest against the White majority, not to create pernicious hatred toward a vulnerable religious minority.
What does this mean for the appropriate punishment of DE for a retweet that he claims was a glitch (a claim the University can express skepticism of but can't disprove)? I'm not sure, but the context of the speaker as being a member of an oppressed racial minority using political speech to speak out about exploitation of his racial community seems relevant.
I'm more comfortable in this context with the current response. From having kids Donovan's age, I do not minimize the mental anguish this must be causing him. I believe he is likely devastated and freaking out that he will be cancelled and has just screwed up his whole life. An overreaction? Sure. That's what his age group specializes in.
Let's have mercy and try to build a bridge here.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
I might feel slightly differently, were it not for the fact that West Bloomfield is an upscale, wealthy suburb, and Donovan Edwards is not an underprivileged kid from South Central LA. Quite the opposite - he's had all the advantages.
How about showing mercy and support to the Jewish victims of fifty-some percent of hate crimes in the United States, by strongly condemning this nonsense in deeds as well as words?
Are the victims of this hate so undeserving of mercy? Or do they not count for much?
Who ranks higher on the 'deserving mercy' scale - the hater or the person who's the object of the irrational hate?
October 28th, 2022 at 3:11 PM ^
Good points. I think the victims of this hate are worth more mercy. I'm just not convinced that there isn't still more mercy to go around. Also, as a trial attorney who's been obsessed with convincing people for the past thirty years, I'm not convinced that the best way to show support is unqualified condemnation (and absence of understanding, mercy, bridge-building or calibration with the goal of better ensuring effective persuasion and not simply pushing someone else back into a defensive position). But again, the big point: You seem like a very good and principled person and the Jewish victims of hate deserve and get my mercy and support. Thanks for the good posts.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:18 PM ^
I was a trial attorney for 15 years (civil and criminal cases), but left my law practice to become a composer (of music) in 1991. You get one life, I like the arts more, though I have nothing but respect for my former colleagues, and I do maintain my license to practice.
You are also clearly a principled person. My criticism isn't in the least bit directed at you, I'm upset with the university for doing so little to make it clear that this kind of conduct won't be tolerated.
BTW, I think I edited my post to add that last bit while you were posting. If I'd known you responded I wouldn't have edited it.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:25 PM ^
Good for you. I wish you luck and satisfaction with the music career. My son is looking to make a career in songwriting. I didn't see your edited last paragraph until I hit send. Good question about the double standard. This gets into a moral dilemma/abstract thought experiment which might feel like intellectualizing a situation that demands moral clarity and not abstraction, so I will just say I think the double standard can be problematic and pernicious and certainly it serves a political speaker ill to derail his point about exploitation by bringing in a separate, unnecessary and completely unsympathetic element.
October 28th, 2022 at 5:39 PM ^
Thanks Holmdel. It has been a terrific career, and I've loved every minute of my 31 years in it. I've been very lucky, indeed, and wouldn't change a thing if I could.
My specialty is scoring to picture. I've guest lectured on the topic at UM's music school several times, but I've also guest lectured on music production as it relates to music rights at University of Detroit Law School.
We also have something else in common:
My son is in the music business as an artist and producer, though on a different end of the biz than I am. He's earned a fistful of awards and was signed to one of the majors as an artist and in publishing. If you're in LA (?), no doubt you know plenty of folks in the biz, so any advice I'd have for your son would probably be superfluous, and perhaps not even relevant to what he wants to do.
However, if there's anything at all I might be able offer to a young person needing info about how to actually make a living in music, please let me know. I'm all about that.
I more or less insisted that my son get a degree in music, and when he graduated from UM's School of Music, he moved to LA. He got his first job interview (and the job) when he sent in a resume for a production position for a famous band, and the folks doing the hiring saw that UM Music School BFA on the resume. They told him that separated him from the rest of the pack. UM mattered for him, as it has mattered for me (and my wife and kids) throughout our lives.
However disappointed I might be from time to time with their decision making on a particular matter, I still love the school. Go Blue!
Best wishes for your son's future success!
October 28th, 2022 at 6:10 PM ^
How cool that you specialize in scoring for film! I do live in LA, but I am open to any advice you might have. My son is a senior (at Dartmouth), independently released his first album in January (on Spotify, etc.) but is at square one in terms of developing a network in the business. What year did your son graduate U of M? My email is [email protected] if you'd like to continue this conversation privately. Go Blue!!
October 28th, 2022 at 6:27 PM ^
I'll email you.
October 28th, 2022 at 7:48 PM ^
I’m just here to tell you that i appreciate this conversation and you both gave me more to think about.
October 27th, 2022 at 6:56 PM ^
Last month I went to Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps, and spent a week at an apartment in the Jewish quarter in Krakow, and was at a memorial for the Katyn massacre, and went to an incredible and depressing and sobering and very educational World War II museum in Gdansk. I "knew" the facts before I went. But standing alone in one of the gas chambers, and next to an oven, and next to several of the cattle cars transporting 100's of thousands of Jews to their death, it sinks home in a very different way. We can all "know" that racism is wrong. But without tasting and experiencing it and feeling it, you haven't really learned it.
Hope that everyone on the team, not just Donovan Edwards, learns this.
October 27th, 2022 at 9:45 PM ^
The nightmare that haunts me the most is my memory of standing in the gas chambers. Even if you didn't know what had happened there, I'm convinced it would fill you with dread regardless. 'Omnipresent despair' was how one of my tourmates described it after words.
October 27th, 2022 at 10:11 PM ^
I also went to Poland last year myself. And visited Auschwitz, Birkenau, and the Jewish Quarter in Krakow, plus the Katyn monument. And I wholeheartedly agree with your post. Auschwitz and Birkenau are, especially, incredibly profound.