General News Liam Neeson's "racist" remark

I do think racism plays a part in a lot of things and never really gets mentioned. It’s being pointed out more now, and needs to be. But even in the way crimes are reported in the media. A POC commits a crime (even non violent) and all we see if mug shot after mug shot after mug shot, a POC murdered by a police officer unjustly or vigilante and all we is photos of the victim that is trying to paint them in a stereotypical light as if they belong to some gang even if they are honor students who lead the church choir while the cop is pictured in full uniform... white man murders his whole family (daughters and wife) so he can run off with his mistress and we see pictures of him in polo shirts or with his family smiling, or white man rapes girl behind dumpster and we see school pictures... these have racist roots. They are set up to steer a perception on how to view POC compared to white people!

Racism and the word racist isn’t like just one thing. It’s a scale (kinda). It’s all bad, dangerous and hurtful. But a lot of people make racist comments, have racist views, etc. and don’t realize it. Because they aren’t out looking for a black man to kill. They think that means they aren’t racist... a functioning alcoholic is an addict, the same as a someone addicted to heroine is an addict. The way they appear what they can do, how they can blend in, how it affects the people around them can be drastically different. But they are both still addicts.

 

What has that got to do with Liam's statement about wanting to kill a random black person? The problem I have with you is that you see a POC as less of a human being when compared to a white person and that is the reason why you don't want to associate with black people.

The fact of the matter is that you couldn't care less if Liam had killed a black person because as you have said in the past you think black people are ignorant, illiterate and just generally bad people. You think that black people raised by white people are better and that's the only reason why you tolerate your black brother.

 

He asked why I defend people accused of racism. That's why.

I've literally never said this. I'm pretty sure I've told you this before, I live in a 60% black city, it's literally impossible not to associate with black people here so of course I interact with them.

Since you apparently need some sort of validation of my non-hatred of black people, and you won't allow me to use my brother or my black childhood best friend as examples, I have a good and recent story for you.

I have a friend in his early 20's who recently graduated from our university and moved across the country, for a technology related job with a $130,000 starting salary. He's black with two black parents, came from poverty, and he's even from Jamaica like you. He's also bisexual (we were friends before I knew I wasn't straight though and surprisingly we never hooked up). I used to party and go clubbing with him, hang out at his place to drink and chill etc. for about two years until he graduated.

I assumed he would be the happiest dude ever making that huge amount of cash right after college. I was wrong. He called me a few weeks ago telling me in a completely calm and unemotional way, that he was going to kill himself soon because he doesn't feel like he has friends anymore now that he moved and he thinks the rest of adulthood will be empty and pointless, and despite making a ton of cash he regrets his choice of career and wishes he majored in music/guitar instead. He's not the type of person to casually say that, he really was going to kill himself.

I talked him out of it. The next day he went to a gun range and shot guns. He called me again and told me how easy and natural pulling the trigger was and how easy it would be to kill himself and just die with his new gun. I talked him out of it again. Stuff like this continued for a few days. Eventually after probably 20 total hours of conversation with me he said he was starting to feel more hopeful, and even went to see a psychologist, and then a psychiatrist. Now he's trying some anti-depressant pills and volunteering at a hospital as a music therapist for kids which is something I suggested to him to give his life purpose and not feel so empty anymore.

He doesn't talk to anyone from college except me, or anyone at his new job. Just me. So when you say I wouldn't care if someone killed a black person, that's already been proven false, because I could have essentially killed a black person myself if I wanted to with no consequences just by telling him to do it or not helping him when he needed support to feel better. I literally saved his life by myself.

So why would I do that if I supposedly hate black people so much? He's everything you said I dislike - a foreign, poor, black guy raised by black parents. Yet he was one of the people I hung out with most voluntarily.

 

I don't need your validation however you have made some extremely horrible statements about black people in previous posts that have really been hurtful for me as a person of colour. I won't get into an argument with you about it because I know what I have read and those threads have been taken down by the administrators on here.

As you have pointed out I live in Jamaica; it is said we have the most churches per square mile than any other country in the world. Since I was a child I have been bombarded with constant messages from my parents, my teachers, my peers and almost everyone around me that I am no good, worthless and deserve to die. Despite this I have always been a happy person and I always have many friends but there have been many times I've wanted to kill myself because of the careless statements of homophobic persons around me.

I have many homophobic friends who think gay people should just die but despite their homophobia they are amazing people. Some of these people I've been friends with since childhood and we've grown up together and they are amazing people despite their negative views towards gay people. A few of them have probably figured out that I'm gay but we never talk about the issue of me never having a girlfriend since I left high school. The fact is that careless words still hurt and when you make blanket statements about an entire ethnicity or someone of a particular orientation it really hurts and that could have a lasting impact on someone at a vulnerable stage in their life.