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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
It was edgy and still happening. How acceptable it was is up for debate, but it was a lot more common than you guys seem to realise.
Even if only some of it got Kodak momented.
Take home Aesop for today: be careful what gets posted on Facebook (or wherever), because the thing that was hilariously subversive one night 40-years ago may come back to haunt you after you've forgotten you'd even done it, and the times have moved on left the old you (with a terrible nickname) in the dust.
Edited by Euodiachloris on Feb 2nd 2019 at 8:14:54 PM
I always find it very amusing when people try to put so much distance between the '80s US and South African culture of the time... when it wasn't the US refusing to sell films, TV, Scripture Union bumf, weapons, under-the-table deals and so, so much else besides.
Because of the century-long links between various States and the Boer states. Not to mention the links between the Dutch-English Yankee states and the Cape Colony. But, hey.
I can reminisce about, e.g. Robotech with those my age from the States. But, nobody in the UK knows what that was. The UK didn't dub its TV series into Afrikaans (the SABC did do some dubs — and desperately hoped not to get caught; even with joint projects like Shaka Zulu). But, Remington Steele, Airwolf, Chips, Chicago Blues, Cagney and Lacey... whatever. Tune in to the radio at the right time to get the English track.
Edited by Euodiachloris on Feb 2nd 2019 at 8:42:35 PM
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Look, my question is this: do you have any examples of American pop culture from the 80’s - and I’m talking contemporary, mind you, not just something from a couple decades prior that could have been shrugged off as “well, that’s how it was back then” - that used blackface and were seen as acceptable?
Re: dumb nicknames, my forum handle is a nickname I got in high school. Now, I'd argue that mine is pretty cool, but I recall other kids ending up with nicknames like "Onion Lad", "Wang," and "Buzzkill." Since people don't normally choose their own nicknames, it seems strange to hold this against Northam directly.
Edited by BlueNinja0 on Feb 2nd 2019 at 12:52:47 PM
That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - SilaswAnd what makes you think that tolerating a man who wore either a KKK uniform or blackface is in any way good for the Democratic Party?
Y'know those African-Americans who got Northam elected? I don't think they'd appreciate it if we tolerated such things.
There are no benefits strategically or morally to tolerating such a past.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangI feel like three's a distinction between "We should hold our people to a higher standard than the GOP" and "One transgression from over 30 years ago means you should be morally and politically excommunicated."
Again, depending if nothing worse comes to light, and also how he even deals with this. And it doesn't seem like he's dealing with it particularly well.
Edited by LSBK on Feb 2nd 2019 at 3:03:11 AM
Again, depending if nothing worse comes to light, and also how he even deals with this. And it doesn't seem like he's dealing with it particularly well.
He wore the uniform of a hate group that has murdered thousands if not tens of thousands of people, that is not a transgression I see any reason to forgive.
Redemption is earned and he has done absolutely nothing to earn that, he literally only apologized because people learned about it.
I do not see anything unreasonable about holding elected officials to a high standard.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangGood thing I didn't say anything about holding officials to high standards being wrong.
You seem to be starting from a place that I naturally wouldn't, namely, that it makes sense for him to bring this up himself in the first place and not doing so is conclusive proof of anything one way or the other.
Edited by LSBK on Feb 2nd 2019 at 3:11:07 AM
> he literally only apologized because people learned about it.
Well yeah,he was never going drawn attention to it because of criticism that would naturally follow,but someone digging for dirt found it anyway,i honestly think they've had knowledge of this photo for a awhile now and were waiting to release it for maximum damage,mission accomplished for them
have a listen and have a link to my discord serverThere is absolutely no evidence that this is true, and I have to say it's rather telling that you'd rather formulate conspiracy theories about the people who found it instead of hold Northam responsible for his actions as an adult.
This is wrong on several levels.
By calling it "one mistake" you are rather egregiously downplaying the severity of the actions in question, denigrating an entire race and wearing the uniform of a murderous hate group are not minor mistakes and treating them as if they were is highly questionable.
Furthermore, I did not, in fact, say that he is beyond redemption. Simply that he has displayed zero effort to actually redeem himself.
If you want to see a racist who actually redeemed himself look at Robert Byrd.
He was a member of the Klan who later grew past his racism, he did not do that through pretending that it never existed. But rather publicly acknowledging it, apologizing, and working to redeem himself.
That's why his passing was mourned by the NAACP while Northam is being asked to resign by the same organization, because unlike Byrd he has done nothing to redeem himself.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 2nd 2019 at 4:30:36 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangI mean, I'm not going to comment on whether Robert Byrd was sincere or not but he kind of had to acknowledge his past because it was so well-established and out in the open. Again, I'm not saying his remorse and improvement were false, but the comparison only works on a superficial level.
Anyway, my perspective on this kind of thing is: "Huh, that's bad, he was probably pretty racist then. Oh, it was over 30 years ago, been can and do change considerably in that time, so I'm not going to assume he's the same person as then. What's his actual record like?"
That being said, again, it doesn't sound like he's handling the situation well, which could be indicative of things itself.
Edited by LSBK on Feb 2nd 2019 at 3:34:14 AM
> There is absolutely no evidence that this is true, and I have to say it's rather telling that you'd rather formulate conspiracy theories about the people who found it instead of hold Northam responsible for his actions as an adult.
The people who found it had every reason to publicise such damning evidence because of damage it can do the democratic party,and your right no evidence has appeared to suggest they had advanced knowledge of the photo,but if they did wouldn't be implausible
have a listen and have a link to my discord serverHonestly I think if he resigns or not should be up to the Virginia black caucus, if he wants to show that he’s grown beyond the racism shown there then willingly submitting himself to the desicion of a group of African Americans seems like the best way to do it.
My question would be this, how could he not know? This thign was in his yearbook, so he put it there, if he honestly can’t remember having chosen to punish a racist photo in his medical yearbook than he must have been up to so much racist shit that it slipped though the cracks.
Dressing up as the KKK isn’t going to be something you forget you did unless you’re very racist, either he knew and it was an old shame or he had forgotten because it was that small a thing to him.
Edited by Silasw on Feb 2nd 2019 at 9:38:59 AM
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranOnce again, you're making an assumption that isn't actually supported by evidence.
Maybe they did it because they wanted to hurt the Democratic Party, or maybe they did it because they wanted people to know that he was involved in something horribly racist.
Their motives are the absolute worst thing to focus on.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Feb 2nd 2019 at 4:37:56 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangAlso, regardless of everything else I've said, I don't think it matters whether this was brought to attention by Republicans or if they're shamelessly trying to use it for politics.
That Republicans are giant hypocrites shouldn't have a barring on Democrats doing the right thing. I might not agree necessarily that him resigning is the right thing, but that shouldn't be a factor in it either way.
x4
I like that idea.
Edited by megaeliz on Feb 2nd 2019 at 4:46:58 AM

Northam is taking questions from reporters. He is asked how he accounts for the nickname “coonman” when he was at VMI. He said he does not know motive of friends in calling him that.
Ah, but of course that was completely normal in the 80's and it would terribly unfair for us to judge him for that. <rolls eyes>
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang