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Originally Posted by GirlySports
But it would miss the point of being true and his upbringing. Remember, he's not American. It was different in Northern Ireland at the time.
I think what a lot of people are missing about Neeson’s comments is the social context of where and when he grew up. The man went through this experience in a place (Ulster) where violent sectarian killings based on the crimes of your ‘group’ had become normalized. From the 70s right through to the late 90s the concept of revenge killings based on immutable characteristics was accepted and endorsed by large sections of his society.
I’m not saying that it makes what he was feeling okay, and Neeson clearly isn’t either, but it does help to explain why his reaction was so violent against Blacks as a group.
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The thread started out saying his thoughts at the time weren't racist and linked to a cbc article that oddly altered his quotes to make him look like he wasn't being racist. His story was about going out looking to act on his thirst for racist vengeance. I guess the disconnect for me is that he only sought help, regretted and apologized for the vengeance and violent thoughts, no mention of apologizing for the racist thoughts. But, whatever, I'm not boycotting his movies, or anything (although his same shtick is getting a bit tiresome). I just see how some people could be offended over how he's handled this whole thing.