Press Release on Gary Dolphin Suspension

[FRANAMANIAC]

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that think that way. Hell, to some extent I do. I'm more concerned with teaching my kids to not be offended by other people's thoughts. It seems the harder this world tries to become more sensitive to others thoughts, the more sensitive people get. Imagine 50 years ago a black person concerning himself with "unintentional bias " and "unintended meaning".

Of course 50 years ago, a black person's more immediate worries would probably be the constant state of fear of physical violence they had in some locations, like the old south.

But the thing about unintentional bias and unintended meaning is that people have studied these things, and realize that these kind of small things lay the foundation for larger, systemic, institutional racism. It kind of normalizes it.

Sure, I dont think Gary said anything mean here, but he should be aware that it does have some bad context. I dont think it warranted a suspension.

But if in the future somone does maliciously call someone an ape, etc. They could point to times wehre people said it and it was okay, and use that as justification for their racism. Small things normalize big things. At least thats what I've learned in my personal observations about power structures.

 

[PCHawk]

Sure. It's my belief as I said earlier in the thread, that most things dont exist in a vacuum.

So with Dolph being suspended, thats bound to raise some discussion from the start. A logical flow for the discussion would be

1. Why was he suspended?
(because he made a comment that was deemed racially insensitive)
2. What was the comment?
(plays audio from post game)
3. Person X "that doesnt sound racist/insensitive to me"
4. Person Y "sounds like it to me"
5. Discussion about points of agreement and disagreement.

Considering that race is involved, its highly unlikely that that discussion wouldnt take on political tones.

I agree. This is a discussion about why he was suspended. It's impossible to discuss this topic in any other way. Rob, what did you expect? 30 comments saying "well darn, that's too bad" and "I'm glad he is learning his lesson"?

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

F that.

A word has never hurt anyone in human history.

It's your PERCEPTION of spoken word that "hurts" you, and if the INTENT of the person who spoke it doesn't match up with your PERCEPTION, then there's no guilt to be placed anywhere, and definitely no apology required.

If you said "Hi Fryowa, how are you today?" and I was hurt by it would you feel bad? F no you wouldn't. It's the INTENT behind words, not your PERCEPTION that counts.

But nice try bringing your social justice to the room and trying to beat us up with it. You paid way too much for that liberal arts degree, friendo.

Soooooo...'m just going to sit here and wait for your weak-ass shaming attempt (I'll help you out, though...I'm generally not shameable and I ain't apologizing). Let's hear what you've got to say, Dr. Phil.

What a fucking tool you are to come here and demand that people learn to apologize for "hurt" that they didn't cause.

If something I said legitimately hurt you, and you were telling me that in good faith, yes I would probably apologize and try to think of ways I could improve and avoid more situations like that going forward.

But your use of "Hi how are you" as a possible offensive comment is a pretty big straw-man.

I don't hold any ill will against you man, calm down.

You sound like you legitimately hate me because i'm.... checks notes... tolerant?

 

[HaydenHawk56]

Politics is almost a certain in this case. Obviously, they were looking for anything to get rid of Gary. He was walking on egg shells. In the current political climate, the term "King Kong" is being turned around to imply ape being used to describe a black person. When, in reality, he was using it to describe a powerful and dominate player on the court. Size, not color.

#FREEGARYDOLPHIN

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

Politics is almost a certain in this case. Obviously, they were looking for anything to get rid of Gary. He was walking on egg shells. In the current political climate, the term "King Kong" is being turned around to imply ape being used to describe a black person. When, in reality, he was using it to describe a powerful and dominate player on the court. Size, not color.

#FREEGARYDOLPHIN

Agreed. Suspension was not warranted. This is an administration hit job.

 

[PCHawk]

Of course 50 years ago, a black person's more immediate worries would probably be the constant state of fear of physical violence they had in some locations, like the old south.

But the thing about unintentional bias and unintended meaning is that people have studied these things, and realize that these kind of small things lay the foundation for larger, systemic, institutional racism. It kind of normalizes it.

Sure, I dont think Gary said anything mean here, but he should be aware that it does have some bad context. I dont think it warranted a suspension.

But if in the future somone does maliciously call someone an ape, etc. They could point to times wehre people said it and it was okay, and use that as justification for their racism. Small things normalize big things. At least thats what I've learned in my personal observations about power structures.

So you agree that society is going in the right direction. My thing is that now people are trying to overcorrect problems. Fighting slavery and racism is a battle that can be won. Fighting unintentional meaning and unintentional bias can't be won. People can make up whatever they want and people have to conform to it? There are way too many people in the world for that to work.

 

[DJL]

I think a suspension is a little overboard, prob should have just had him apologize and move on, and is probably coming from a place of the U wanting Dolph gone and trying to save face (admin politics).

But the "double-standard" you speak of exists because of historical context... what Dolph said was racially insensitive whether it was malicious or not.

I hope you aren't serious. The only thing that makes it racist is white people who are finding something racist about it. Announcers say "he's a monster on the boards" all the time; that's exactly what he meant and anyone with half a brain knows that. To find anything racist about that comment is just looking for trouble where there is none. People really need to get a life. Why don't we ask the player himself whether he thought the comment was racist or a complement? I bet I know the answer.

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

So you agree that society is going in the right direction. My thing is that now people are trying to overcorrect problems. Fighting slavery and racism is a battle that can be won. Fighting unintentional meaning and unintentional bias can't be won. People can make up whatever they want and people have to conform to it? There are way too many people in the world for that to work.

I think that if we look at a graph of say 1940-2019, yes society in general has trended upward. But I also dont think society moves on a straight line, so to say. I think there are peaks and valleys along the way.

Personally, I dont think "PC Culture" (not my word) is an overcorrection, its more of a response as we learn more about how these systems work.

And as for your ideas that those are unwinnable battles, that comes down to personal opinion more than anything, but I understand where you're coming from.

 

[ShockHawk22]

So is tonight’s game still going to be a blackout?

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

I hope you aren't serious. The only thing that makes it racist is white people who are finding something racist about it. Announcers say "he's a monster on the boards" all the time; that's exactly what he meant and anyone with half a brain knows that. To find anything racist about that comment is just looking for trouble where there is none. People really need to get a life. Why don't we ask the player himself whether he thought the comment was racist or a complement? I bet I know the answer.

I never said it was racist, I said it was insensitive. There's a spectrum of how bad something is, the world isnt black and white, there are shades of gray.

And as far as what the Maryland player thinks, that really isnt within the context of the debate. It adds one more opinion to it, but he doesnt outweigh everyone else.

 

[RobHowe]

Sure. It's my belief as I said earlier in the thread, that most things dont exist in a vacuum.

So with Dolph being suspended, thats bound to raise some discussion from the start. A logical flow for the discussion would be

1. Why was he suspended?
(because he made a comment that was deemed racially insensitive)
2. What was the comment?
(plays audio from post game)
3. Person X "that doesnt sound racist/insensitive to me"
4. Person Y "sounds like it to me"
5. Discussion about points of agreement and disagreement.

Considering that race is involved, its highly unlikely that that discussion wouldnt take on political tones.

Can the discussion take place without the people talking about the topic being couched lbeing liberal or conservative?

And I’m not picking on you? I’m talking to everybody one here.

 

[Fryowa]

Where the hell did you come up with that?

If something I said legitimately hurt you, and you were telling me that in good faith, yes I would probably apologize and try to think of ways I could improve and avoid more situations like that going forward.

But your use of "Hi how are you" as a possible offensive comment is a pretty big straw-man.

I don't hold any ill will against you man, calm down.

Bullshit AGAIN!!!

If Dolph said it as a compliment to the guy being a beast of a basketball player, then it's exactly the same as my example.

You're entire sham of a premise is the straw man here!

Goddammit man, people like you are just so insufferable to listen to and deal with. You make fucked up nonsensical arguments, and then when anyone disagrees with them you turn tail, yell "RACIST!" or "BULLIER!" and try to flip it on the other person.

I'm only 38 so I haven't lived a long full life like a lot of people here, but I'm pretty confident when I say that you'd be better off in all aspects of your life if you get rid of your pathetic, fake-victim view of the world and see things for what they are. Stop looking for someone to blame because ther's no one there.

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

So is tonight’s game still going to be a blackout?

What connotations does a blackout entail? Are we being insensitive to people who have lost power?

 

[HaydenHawk56]

So is tonight’s game still going to be a blackout?

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

Can the discussion take place without the people talking about the topic being couched lbeing liberal or conservative?

And I’m not picking on you? I’m talking to everybody one here.

You're probably right. It was a little untactful of me to bring the word conservative into it.

 

[PCHawk]

If something I said legitimately hurt you, and you were telling me that in good faith, yes I would probably apologize and try to think of ways I could improve and avoid more situations like that going forward.

But your use of "Hi how are you" as a possible offensive comment is a pretty big straw-man.

I don't hold any ill will against you man, calm down.

You sound like you legitimately hate me because i'm.... checks notes... tolerant?

But you can never control how overly sensitive someone is. If one person seriously got offended by you saying "how are you" would you truly quit saying that to others, knowing full well that fryowa had an oversensitive problem? Or would you say "sorry you're so sensitive man" and go on living your life.

Now clearly the King Kong thing is one ring higher on the insensitivingy ladder than "hi how are you", but the point remains. When is saying something that can be contrived as insensitive a you problem or a their problem? There is a lot of grey area there.

I think if someone can be offended by what Gary said because they know King Kong is closer to an ape than anything else and black people can be called apes, it's a you problem. There isnt enough time in the day to try to conform to those standards. Why would I even want to? That said, I'm a nice guy so I would say "sorry man" and laugh at them behind their back later.

 

[FRANAMANIAC]

Bullshit AGAIN!!!

If Dolph said it as a compliment to the guy being a beast of a basketball player, then it's exactly the same as my example.

You're entire sham of a premise is the straw man here!

Goddammit man, people like you are just so insufferable to listen to and deal with. You make fucked up nonsensical arguments, and then when anyone disagrees with them you turn tail, yell "RACIST!" or "BULLIER!" and try to flip it on the other person.

I'm only 38 so I haven't lived a long full life like a lot of people here, but I'm pretty confident when I say that you'd be better off in all aspects of your life if you get rid of your pathetic, fake-victim view of the world and see things for what they are. Stop looking for someone to blame because ther's no one there.

Nowhere in this whole conversation have I yelled, lost my cool, or called someone a racist or bullier. The only time I made a comment even close to that was when you started personally attacking me.

 

[SonofaSailor]

I find it very...interesting...that basketball season comes around and Gary has all these problems...and yet the football program makes a point to give him an award...

Sure seems to me like the basketball program and admin are not on Gary's side. A bit of throwing stones from inside a glass house I think.

Is Gary the best play by play person? Absolutely not, but this is ridiculous.

 

[Fryowa]

Nowhere in this whole conversation have I yelled, lost my cool, or called someone a racist or bullier. The only time I made a comment even close to that was when you started personally attacking me.

I’m talking about your SJW ilk in general. You knew that, but yet you still deflect and avoid the point.

 

[DJL]

I never said it was racist, I said it was insensitive. There's a spectrum of how bad something is, the world isnt black and white, there are shades of gray.

And as far as what the Maryland player thinks, that really isnt within the context of the debate. It adds one more opinion to it, but he doesnt outweigh everyone else.

It was meant as a compliment. I'm not sure how it could possibly be insensitive. I would like to know who reported it, and what their motives were. I have asked people I know of all races including women who hadn't heard about the story and I haven't found anyone yet who thinks "that was racist" or "that was insensitive" The conversation has been more "sounds like that guy is a beast on the boards".
My point is, we've gone way too far with this one. I don't think he has anything to apologize for. He used a movie reference about a big strong monster to describe a guy who had a great game rebounding. But this world is full of fake outrage these days, so I expect nothing less.