Look, regardless of whether or not this man was a "racist".
You shouldn't be passing around emails at work that, at the very least, are controversial (and any email including a number of racial slurs would fall under that). I know at any business I worked at passing around extremely controversial political chain letters, dirty jokes, profanity laced emails, etc would all potentially get you in trouble. You especially shouldn't be mass emailing it out to everyone in the office. If it was a "mistake" too bad, he chose to send something on that probably shouldn't have been in a work email in the first place and made a stupid mistake...all of that is his own fault and doesn't excuse his action.
Suspension, sure. Sensitivity training, I think that's rather stupid barring any past indication that the man harbored racist views. I think it was the presentation within the chain letter more so than many of the actual thoughts in it that would lead me to view it as a "racist" thing.
There’s a difference between having an actual discussion on the fact that blacks using the word nigger in regards to each other degrades the negative impact of the word and makes it seem more “acceptable” to use due to the hypocritical nature of it and complaining that you can’t call someone a nigger without being called a racist.
There’s a difference between saying that in general is too quick to blame racism on a cop shooting a black man without a blanket statement that “They”, as if all black people are some unified singular entity, “rob, carjack, and shoot at” us.
Not to mention that a large variety of the email was just stereotypical rants of racists, plain and simple. What do I mean by that? Hateful, factually ignorant statements that don’t make sense to anyone that isn’t just bitching because they feel [x] race is just wrong.
For example
Bitching about Cinco de Mayo. That’s funny, because I don’t see the person simultaneously complaining about St. Patricks Day. Both are not “American” holidays but Holiday’s carried over from other countries by immigrants here. Irish Immigrants are white. Hmm, yep, I always see people celebrating St. Patrick’s day being called “racists”. Wait, I don’t, because it’s a cultural thing and for the majority of America it has became much the same as Cinco de Mayo is…an excuse to get drunk.
Another one, Martin Luther King Jr day. People throw this one out like “OMG, how dare we make a holiday specifically for a black man. We don’t have ANY holidays specifically for a white man”. Oh really? What about “Washington’s Birthday”, or as its more commonly referred to as Presidents day, that primarily is focused around the celebration of Washington (white) and Lincoln (white). “But Zyph, those are our Presidents” you say, “Its different”.
Sure, you’re right, they’re our heads of state. So let’s look at the other federally recognized holidays in this country for one that recognizes a white guy that did something historically relevant but wasn’t some major public official. Oh, there we are. Columbus Day (which mind you in some areas is a celebration of Italian-American culture and heritage. I know I always hear Italians being called racist for that).
Not to mention we have other actual government sponsored Holidays like Thanksgiving (You know, the holiday surrounding the WHITE pilgrims feast). What about Christmas (You know, that Christian holiday)?
Yep, how day they have Martin Luther King Junior day or the non-federally enforced Cinco De Mayo.
And lets look at the ever present “BET = WET” comment.
First off, there’s little true “White” culture. You have German, Italian, English, Scottish, French, Irish, and more variety of “white” culture in America, not to mention just the homogenized “white American” culture. I dare say if you went up to 10 white Americans from different regions of the country and said “Tell me genre of music, type of show, and stereotype of people you’d like to see on a television station focused on white people” you’d get a large amount of varying answers. Going fully off stereotypes large segments of white people like:
Rock Music
Country Music
Pop Music
Rap Music
R&B Music
And variations of those forms. You’d probably get all sorts of a variety of show styles and types. You’d have some wanting it to be “southern”, I’m sure you’d have others wanting it to be “refined and dignified”, I’m sure still others would want a “fresh young” presentation. Etc. This is because you find LARGE populations of white people everywhere in this country, all with extremely varying ethnic backgrounds.
The Black Culture, in general when taking it at stereotypes (and sadly in regards to mass marketing its generally beneficial to a point to take stereotypes into account), is far less segmented than white culture with many of the blacks in this country if they have been here for multiple generations sharing a rather common culture ancestry. The various areas of the country where their population is the largest are generally more centralized places. Doing the same example with music of 10 I’d wager that the majority would be Rap and/or R&B. They’d probably want an urban stylized presentation.
So lets look at this shall we, just with the music.
Rock, Rap, R&B, Country, and Pop = There is a station that does (or well did) this. MTV. On top of now Fuze and others. The White Audience is extremely diverse, and because its so diverse it can ALSO easily pick up pieces of minority audiences as well. Because of that marketing wise its stupid to call it a “white” channel.
Rap and R&B = Generally the only music massively played on BET. They fit a niche, and that niche watches it. It does pick up some minority appeal but generally to those seeking out that niche rather than just general over all appeal. As such, since it has a specific base, marketing wise its smart to target them.
People say a “WET” channel would be “racist” generally more based on the attitudes and things people would want on there, not on the general basis. Its always a theoretical argument, because it will never happen….not because its not PC (A “Network for Men” was hardly PC) but because marketing wise its stupid.
Continuing
White Pride day? Again, what is “white culture”? There is no stereotyped “white” culture like there is black. Take the stereotypical “White culture” of the south into California or Washington or New England area and see if they identify it as “White” or “Southern”? And are you saying people don’t celebrate “Southern Pride”? Some do call it racist, but not everyone, just like some call people celebrating black pride racist.
It then finally goes on to say everyone is racist. No, they’re not. Everyone may be prejudice in certain ways due to stereotypes, but not everyone is racist. Not everyone hates or dislikes other races simply for the fact they’re that race.
The letter is idiocy. It’s a couple of legitimate views in the midst of racist and ignorant rantings which uses the few legitimate views to hopefully be the hook that allows one to give it enough credence for the emotional pleas to tug on them.
All of which fails to address the main thing about this. The majority of people that bitch about not being able to do “white pride” are at least in some way racists, because they’ll never actually say what “white pride” is because if they had to it’d show their true roots. Because there is no real “white culture”. Part of being such a large majority, with such a VAST variation of backgrounds, means that the “culture” is incredibly skewed. Surfer bum white guy is different than simple Midwestern white guy is different than redneck southern white guy is different than WASP north eastern white guy is different than brash in your face New York white guy etc. Minority cultures, generally of similar heritage and background, generally have an easier time having a defined group culture.
That’s why you’re not usually having difficulty having Italian Pride, or Irish pride, or German pride, or English pride, or Swedish pride, or whatever else. Those are generally smaller segments of “whites” and as such have more easily definable and recognized “cultures” than “whites” as a whole. “Whites” as a whole don’t have a real defined culture, and generally the only ones that strongly routinely push for such are the types that view “white” culture is thinking that blacks, Hispanics, and Asians and niggers, spics, and chinks who are out to took our job and hold us down.
Could any of you in this thread bitching and moaning about “white” pride not being allowed and “white culture” not being allowed please point out specifics of what “white” culture is? And its “just people being white” then Presidents day, Columbus day, Thanksgiving, MTV, the NRA, and any other thing that is predominantly white counters your point because they’re “just people being white” too.
