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WaPo: A black blues musician has a unique hobby: Befriending white supremacists
- Thread starter Dalek
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The moderates(tm)
crisdecuba
Member
I think people keep coming across it for the first time and are intrigued by the rare approach. They don't realize it's already been posted many times over the years.
Gordon Shumway
Banned
I feel like this story has been popping up on the forum at least twice a year for a while now..anyone else notice that? Shit is weird..
The conservative propaganda machine and their push of the "both sides" narrative is working so well that some liberals are subconsciously being lulled into assisting their effort.
You're not hallucinating it. We did have a thread on this guy last year.
Darryl M R
Member
This story probably makes white people feel better about inviting over their uncle to Thanksgiving that they know is a klan member while they do nothing to check him on his racism. He just haven't met one of those friendly blacks to befriend him yet.
Lmao how long have you been sitting on that one?
Lmao how long have you been sitting on that one?
crisdecuba
Member
I applaud and respect this guy's efforts and I see them as effective for a certain subset of white supremacists. However, I can laud his work *without* proclaiming it should be the path forward for others and *without* thinking this can be effective for the large majority of white supremacists.
Bolded in the OP:
In this case - I can't agree 100%. Trump can certainly be blamed for emboldening racists, and further blamed for not condemning them strongly. He is right on this part:
However - it's been taboo because privileged groups want to ignore systematic racism and believe they're colorblind. The path of action is not to talk down to minorities for not befriending racists, frankly it's not a very efficient solution, even if it's effective in isolation. It's also gross of people to use this example to tone police how minority groups react to their oppression.
HellforLeather
Member
What are Antifa's racist conversion stats?
Y'all are so focused on the optics of this that you'll blast a man for doing whatever he can to end white supremacy, even if it's not his responsibility.
Applauding this guy doesn't mean white people get off scot free. But if it works, why hate on him?
Applauding this guy doesn't mean white people get off scot free. But if it works, why hate on him?
Mammoth Jones
Member
Fucking. Thank. You.
So tired of this bullshit. Ain't my job to go out of my way to be your friend to prove I'm a human being.
PROTIP: You shouldn't have to have a token Black friend to understand Black people are human.
Weird that you guys have similar names with similar objectives.
🤔🤔🤔
People are too incompetent to fix their own racism.
Even when they have easy access to documentaries, books and other learning materials... Those same people still refuse to take advantage of them.
Self-education is too hard.
Jawbreaker
Member
Hey, good on him. If it works, he's doing a great job he doesn't have to be bothered doing. He's clearly a kind individual. It's not the only way to combat racism nor should people feel obligated to do what he does, but I'm not going to shit on anyone for taking this route.
What a gross thing to say. I'd rather have 100 of that guy than even 1 of you.
Gordon Shumway
Banned
Good question. You should ask the guy who claims this guy's way is more effective.
bobbychalkers
Member
If white supremacists come marching down my street, I'd rather have Antifa on standby.
Gordon Shumway
Banned
Heh..
Do you want me to actually quote every person reacting negatively or are you just trying to shame me for using "Y'all"?
You expect people to react in positive manner on something like this?
People already explain why they have issues with it.
Chie Satonaka
Member
I don't know much about Antifa, but I'm pretty sure they're not going out there to win over the hearts and minds of racist, fascist trash.
crisdecuba
Member
It's a rare approach and he's not an Uncle Tom unless you're just choosing to ignore what he's *actually* doing or just redefining Uncle Tom altogether.
Who's blasting him?
People are worried about how his actions could be used for negative outcomes. Shit - I see MLK quotes used ALL THE TIME to decry BLM.
entremet
Member
He keeps doing it. That's probably why. Good for him, but I do hope the takeaway is not that this is the responsibility of the oppressed.
Dude Abides
Banned
He is but unfortunately folks like Hellraizah weaponize him for their own purposes.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
So you're saying you like your black folks docile, conciliatory, and willing to put up with racist white people's bullshit?
HellforLeather
Member
So what do you want to do with these people then? Beating them up doesnt convert them, they go home, lick their wounds and reorganize. What is the long term solution here?
Too bad. You call it gross, but it's real. This guy is getting headlines now, but we've seen this kind of guy before. The man who believes if we lead with outstretched hands, if we turn the other cheek and give comfort to the racist, they'll respond in kind. That mindset has existed literally since slavery.
But last I checked, the world is still racist and black folks are still getting killed. And it has only been through confrontation and activism that anything has changed. Not quiet friendship. Not anything even vaguely resembling acceptance.
You can respect what he does, but I don't. Because at this point he knows what he's being trotted out by the media to do, to shame black people who use our anger and indignation at the state of the world to create change. He knows this, and he signs right up.
crisdecuba
Member
Elaborate and try to persuade me of why you're being dismissive of me here (that's what it came off like to me).
Slime Scholar
Member
It's a shame people have and will twist what Davis has done in order to validate racists, because it's pretty goddamn impressive.
This definitely isn't the only path forward, and it doesn't fall on minorities to educate their oppressors
but he "Uncle Tom" and "magical negro" labels are disgusting and unfair.
This definitely isn't the only path forward, and it doesn't fall on minorities to educate their oppressors
(even though it's abundantly clear they're not going to educate themselves)
crisdecuba
Member
THANK YOU.
Yeah sure, hard to talk to someone when your getting ran over by a Dodge charger, lynched, or beaten by them .
It's fascinating to see into the minds of people on this board and how they think. That's not at all what I'm saying.
But I will always give respect to people that can sort matters out in such a way. The less blood spilled the better.
It I could roll my eyes hard enough for this post they'd fall out of my head
Elegant Weapon
Member
I'm a fan of their nazi punching plus/minus.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
If every black person did this racism would go away forever. Chekmat libburuls.
That guy seems cool. He's working hard at his thing. Let him do him.
But his story does feed into the US media's tendency to use "stories" in place of actual policy and changes. He can do his thing, but he's just one guy, and one guy can't make the systemic racism in the US change for the better.
But his story does feed into the US media's tendency to use "stories" in place of actual policy and changes. He can do his thing, but he's just one guy, and one guy can't make the systemic racism in the US change for the better.
Didn't call him a magical negro, I referenced a trope.
What's disgusting is expecting black people to jump into the fire in order to put it out, and ignore the 3rd degree burns we get along the way.
Befriending racists is not only an unfair thing to expect, not only does it not really work (just ask Dylan Roof's black friend how much his friendship mattered in the end), but it does nothing to address the actual systematic issues that are ACTUALLY the problem.
Frozenprince
Banned
Every time this pops up I feel more insulted. Like. He fuck do you all think people have been doing since emancipation? Sitting around going "aw shucks if only those white folks didn't hate us".
It marginalizes the struggle, pain, and DEATH that people have struggled and fought and bleed to experience for equality.
Ita nothing more than yet another tactic to silence people. And marginalize those that have sacrificed far more than this man for equality because they didn't do it the "right way"
OrangeGrayBlue
Member
I hate the whole colorblind philosophy. You should never have to "forget" or overlook someone's skin color to realize they're a human being. If these guys are befriending him on an "I don't even think of you as black" thing than they're not really reformed racists, they're just current racists who made an exception for what they consider to be "one of the good ones."
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I feel like you can't post a story as "news" when there's already been a documentary about it.
Yep.
HellforLeather
Member
I dont see how someone could interpret this story in this way. This guy aint serving fuckin punch and polishing shoes at their klan meetings. Hes the one with the power in the relationship, hes the one getting these guys to realize their views are fucked and convincing them to hang up their robes.
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