Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
Nope. I was discussing the concept of "ignorance is no excuse." Someone else mentioned it earlier in the thread, and as it's something that I have often questioned, I took this opportunity to raise the issue.
In both events, the one I mentioned from last month and the one being discussed in this thread, ignorance was used as a defence - thus, my "in" for raising the issue I wanted to discuss.
My post was meant to move the discussion beyond the "he's a stupid fathead" that was prevalent in this thread.
Until we're able to emotionally detach ourselves from topics such as these, and be able to treat the discussion itself in a trivial manner, the process of moving forward is a pipe dream. Take two people conversing about the weather as an example. Both can clearly have their own opinions about whether the day is too hot or too cold, with neither person getting bent out of shape. However, in all our years of claiming "racial progress" we still can't talk about the real issues behind an action, without outlandish hyperbole and conjecture.
To me, the real issue isn't whether or not he said something bad, or if he should have said it at all... The real issue is whether or not a guy who grew up in a State with an overall Chinese population ratio of 0.5% was even responsible for knowing that he wasn't supposed to say it.
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He's an adult, he doesn't live under a rock. Either he's a f'in idiot or he's racist, or both. Either way he deserves to be raked over the coals. He shouldn't be branded and sent off into exile, but he should certainly be deserves the public beating he's taking, especially with his past actions showing a complete lack of giving a damn about anything.
The 'I didn't know' excuse only gets you so far, which is why your example wasn't applicable to the discussion. You compared an incredibly obscure law that there is no reasonable expectation of awareness of to the use of a word that is widely known to be highly racist. Those situations aren't remotely comparable. Allowing people to cop out of things with the 'whoops, I didn't know' story is advocating for stupidity.