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Originally Posted by PepsiFree
So the issue is, and will continue to be, how much longer do we sit and accept casual bigotry (in relation to this event: racism), because it's "just a joke" or "not hurting anyone" when in fact all our acceptance of it does is normalise ####ty people and their ####ty behaviour.
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What do you mean by accept? In law?
And who gets to decide which groups people can't make negative comments or jokes about? A lot of people get deeply offended when the flag is defaced. Should it be illegal? Some are wounded when the Catholic Church, or the military, or police officers, or rednecks, or Christians are insulted.
Who decides which groups can be insulted and which can't? The courts? The president of the United States? You?
Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
The solution is to condemn even hints of dumb bigotry. Jokes, asides, you're grandpa's crazy ramblings. Why let any of it slide? You're not helping anyone by doing so. Prove as a society we can fix the problem instead of just making jokes while we pretend it's fixed.
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I recently watched a couple celebrity roasts on Netflix. Foul, offensive bigotry from start to finish. Should that kind of shock humour be prohibited by law? Or should the comedians who take part simply be shamed into stopping?
The ACLU has defended Communists, Nazis, African Americans, the right to abortion, the right to burn flags, and the right to burn crosses. Some people see those actions as principled and consistent. Others don't. That disagreement represents a pretty fundamental difference in worldview - that between liberal and illiberal.
Liberal ideals have seen us make tremendous progress. Abandoning those ideals is, in my opinion, the surest way to put that progress in jeopardy.