# Attention white people: ITS BLACK HISTORY MONTH. Think. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 3, 2016, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036 "2016-02-03T06:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/281 "2016-02-05T16:58:26Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > If the OP hadn’t started off with a dramatic tone, would this thread be 6 pages? (Yeah, I know, but then it wouldn’t be in the Pit). No. But the OP knew what he was doing and framing the OP the way he did he knew the Dope would be outraged, outraged, outraged! The OP is trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/282 "2016-02-05T17:07:02Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Yeah, there are actual racist things in sports to be offended by. The Cleveland Indians mascot is an abomination and the Redskins team name is beyond ridiculous. But, this? Trying to do something to include a burgeoning fan base in China? Nope. I don’t think anyone who was in the arena that night thought the shirts were _actually_ racist (as the Indians and Tedskins, I agree, are). ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/283 "2016-02-05T18:16:01Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think overreactions like this, while unfortunate, are extremely common in politics. It shouldn’t have happened, but things like this are bound to happen from time to time. I’d prefer to err on the side of occasional overreactions then erring on the side of ignoring racism (with the obvious goal of zero errors) – more on that below. I’d prefer zero errors. > [@](#): > > I make my comparison based on history – historically, racism (and other types of bigotry) has caused slavery, mass murder, genocide, etc., on a massive scale. For centuries it was the norm, and man-made catastrophes caused by it were ubiquitous. The “body count” for false accusations of racism is miniscule compared to this, even if you’re just talking about rhetoric. But none of that matters. I’m talking about individual acts. One act doesn’t justify another. And since false accusations destroy credibility and trust, I think they have a far greater impact on delaying the erasure of real racism than you think. > [@](#): > > I believe false accusations of racism are bad, but are no more than a hummingbird compared to the blue-whale of actual racism. I don’t even understand why you feel the need to make a comparison. If they are bad, they are bad. What concerns me is someone who excuses them altogether. Let’s say false accusations of racism are probably not as big a concern. > [@](#): > > Okay. The “defensive” stuff I mean is things like “flinging shit about”, “you guys are the real racists”, “reverse racism”, and the like, any time someone points out something that they have a problem with in regards to racial insensitivity. What if those things are true though? Let people just make their argument, then you respond, etc. If they are full of shit, you’ll show they are full of shit. > [@](#): > > We can go back to the topic of the thread – what’s wrong with what happened? Since lots of people probably don’t know about the Chinese New Year, it’s entirely predictable (and even reasonable, considering the history of racist imagery and monkeys) that many might view monkey t-shirts on the first day of BHM as problematic. It’s entirely reasonable that this viewpoint was addressed, and the shirts were withdrawn. But why were so many in this thread defensive about it? What was unfair about it? That’s one of the effects of false accusations I was talking about. People see so many ridiculous, flimsy claims of racism that when another one comes along they pile on. But I suppose just as I said one shouldn’t call out people as defensive, one shouldn’t pile on this way. (This makes me think back to a poster on this board a while back who literally told me that because he knew my race, he knew me better than I know myself. He has never met me and doesn’t even know my real name, of course, but he knew I was racist, even if I didn’t, because of my own race. That’s not entirely related but it points out the ridiculous crap some people feel entitled to say with a straight face.) > [@](#): > > No problem. Still think you’re way wrong here. 🙂 Racist! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/284 "2016-02-05T18:24:40Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I believe false accusations of racism are bad, but are no more than a hummingbird compared to the blue-whale of actual racism. I would not be so sanguine about false accusations. Do you feel the same way about accusations of child abuse, murder, or other terrible things? Do you think it is better that there are false allegations of racism so that we catch more genuine acts of racism? \* “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”\* You’ve turned this on its head. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/285 "2016-02-05T18:38:53Z")
**Bone** , how come you skipped my response in post #228? > [@Bone](#): > > I would not be so sanguine about false accusations. Do you feel the same way about accusations of child abuse, murder, or other terrible things? Do you think it is better that there are false allegations of racism so that we catch more genuine acts of racism? Absolutely! Do you really feel that false accusations of rape or murder are close to as bad as _actual rape and murder_? It’s hard for me to imagine that anyone feels differently. And false accusations are really bad! I’m against them. But I think they’re actually quite rare, and they sometimes start good and productive conversations – even the fired (and later rehired) guy in **lance** ’s example, Mr. Howard, thought there was a silver lining. > [@](#): > > _“It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”_ You’ve turned this on its head. Saying racist things isn’t (and shouldn’t be) a crime, and this isn’t remotely comparable. We should welcome these discussions, even on the off chance that they’re started by a misunderstanding. Bringing it back to the original topic, _this was a good thing and a good discussion_. Reasonable concerns were had, shared, and addressed. The celebration continued. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/286 "2016-02-05T18:44:05Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I’d prefer zero errors. Me too. Considering that we’re all human, if you had to err on one side, which side would you shoot for? > [@](#): > > But none of that matters. I’m talking about individual acts. One act doesn’t justify another. > > And since false accusations destroy credibility and trust, I think they have a far greater impact on delaying the erasure of real racism than you think. False accusations are bad. I just don’t think they’re very common, and I think, when addressed properly, they can actually _improve_ understanding by all parties (as your example in the DC government did). That was a good thing coming out of a bad thing. > [@](#): > > I don’t even understand why you feel the need to make a comparison. If they are bad, they are bad. What concerns me is someone who excuses them altogether. Let’s say false accusations of racism are probably not as big a concern. > > What if those things are true though? > > Let people just make their argument, then you respond, etc. If they are full of shit, you’ll show they are full of shit. They weren’t true in this case, and in these kinds of threads I find them far more common then actual false accusations of racism. So, if we want to be glib, we could spin this into a discussion of _false accusations of false accusations of racism_. > [@](#): > > That’s one of the effects of false accusations I was talking about. People see so many ridiculous, flimsy claims of racism that when another one comes along they pile on. But I suppose just as I said one shouldn’t call out people as defensive, one shouldn’t pile on this way. > > (This makes me think back to a poster on this board a while back who literally told me that because he knew my race, he knew me better than I know myself. He has never met me and doesn’t even know my real name, of course, but he knew I was racist, even if I didn’t, because of my own race. That’s not entirely related but it points out the ridiculous crap some people feel entitled to say with a straight face.) Again, I think actual false accusations of racism are pretty rare. Let’s bring it back to the original topic – was this a false accusation of racism, or was it a reasonable concern brought to the management, reasonably addressed, and explained with emotion (which ought to be fine, I think)? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/287 "2016-02-05T18:51:54Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Let’s bring it back to the original topic – was this a false accusation of racism, or was it a reasonable concern brought to the management, reasonably addressed, and explained with emotion (which ought to be fine, I think)? Do you think management addressed the accusations because they thought they were reasonable, or because they were coming from one of their star players, upon whose back they make a lot of money, was the one making them and they just want to keep him happy? The latter is much more likely. Let’s put it this way, if you or I had had brought this concern to the team, would they have given a shit? They didn’t respond because they were made aware of a problem, they responded because Cousins’ happiness (while he still wears their uniform) is more important to their bottom line than a t shirt. I say this just to point out that the fact that management responded is not evidence that the accusation was reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/288 "2016-02-05T18:59:24Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Do you think management addressed the accusations because they thought they were reasonable, or because they were coming from one of their star players, upon whose back they make a lot of money, was the one making them and they just want to keep him happy? > > The latter is much more likely. Let’s put it this way, if you or I had had brought this concern to the team, would they have given a shit? They didn’t respond because they were made aware of a problem, they responded because Cousins’ happiness (while he still wears their uniform) is more important to their bottom line than a t shirt. > > I say this just to point out that the fact that management responded is not evidence that the accusation was reasonable. Likely both. It was a reasonable concern. Do you think it wasn’t? I doubt most people in Sacramento (or any US town) know a whole lot about Chinese New Year, so I can imagine that this could cause possible offense and confusion on the first day of Black History Month. Why not continue the celebration with imagery that won’t do this, or present it in a different way? Which is what they did, of course. What’s the problem with what happened? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/289 "2016-02-05T19:04:22Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I say this just to point out that the fact that management responded is not evidence that the accusation was reasonable. There was no accusation. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/290 "2016-02-05T19:14:06Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > **Bone** , how come you skipped my response in post #228? I read it. I didn’t see any questions to respond to and I didn’t note any particular statement that I wanted to add to. I don’t necessarily agree with the characterization, but not enough to raise objection. > [@](#): > > Absolutely! Do you really feel that false accusations of rape or murder are close to as bad as _actual rape and murder_? It’s hard for me to imagine that anyone feels differently. Yes, the false accusations are clearly not as bad as the actual harm. I wouldn’t say that false accusations are a hummingbird…that seems to trivialize them. False accusations can be devastating and life altering. In addition, false accusations make actual instances harder to believe. > [@](#): > > And false accusations are really bad! I’m against them. But I think they’re actually quite rare, and they sometimes start good and productive conversations – even the fired (and later rehired) guy in **lance** ’s example, Mr. Howard, thought there was a silver lining. A silver lining sure, but ultimately a net negative. And I don’t think false accusations of racism are rare at all. Casual accusations of racism are commonplace and it impacts general discourse. > [@](#): > > Bringing it back to the original topic, _this was a good thing and a good discussion_. Reasonable concerns were had, shared, and addressed. The celebration continued. No, I don’t agree. I would have preferred the outcome where someone raised this concern, and society collectively told Cousins to get over himself in the same way if he thought being called a chair was racist. When someone gets all in a hough about using the word “niggardly”, the appropriate response is to tell that person to shut the fuck up. But no, we are at a place where everyone will think twice about that type of action. I shared this story in my house. The response, “that’s fucking stupid, but that’s the world we live in.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/291 "2016-02-05T19:14:55Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There was no accusation. Note the quote that I was quoting and therefore directly responding to (bolding mine) for the reason that I used that word, so not seeing what your attempt is here: > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Let’s bring it back to the original topic – was this a false **accusation** of racism, or was it a reasonable concern brought to the management, reasonably addressed, and explained with emotion (which ought to be fine, I think)? > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Likely both. It was a reasonable concern. Do you think it wasn’t? I doubt most people in Sacramento (or any US town) know a whole lot about Chinese New Year, so I can imagine that this could cause possible offense and confusion on the first day of Black History Month. Why not continue the celebration with imagery that won’t do this, or present it in a different way? Which is what they did, of course. What’s the problem with what happened? I think it wasn’t remotely a reasonable concern. I live in San Francisco, where Chinese culture is pretty prevalent. Chinese New Year is a pretty huge deal. The animal representing that new year is a pretty huge deal. I assure you that the folks in nearby Sacramento, are more than familiar with Chinese New Year. The Chinese market for the NBA is a super huge deal. This is a confluence of huge deals that makes this sort of promotion a no brainer, and by the way, culturally nice to see. And it’s sad when something intended toward cultural inclusiveness is ruined by looking for offense where obviously none was intended. This feigned offense does way more to divide than unite. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/292 "2016-02-05T19:20:45Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Note the quote that I was quoting and therefore directly responding to (bolding mine) for the reason that I used that word, so not seeing what your attempt is here: > > I think it wasn’t remotely a reasonable concern. I live in San Francisco, where Chinese culture is pretty prevalent. Chinese New Year is a pretty huge deal. The animal representing that new year is a pretty huge deal. I assure you that the folks in nearby Sacramento, are more than familiar with Chinese New Year. The Chinese market for the NBA is a super huge deal. This is a confluence of huge deals that makes this sort of promotion a no brainer, and by the way, culturally nice to see. And it’s sad when something intended toward cultural inclusiveness is ruined by looking for offense where obviously none was intended. This feigned offense does way more to divide than unite. How was it ruined? Would a hypothetical Hindu cultural celebration be “ruined” if the swastikas were removed (or downplayed) and/or it was moved to a day other than Holocaust Remembrance Day? I don’t see how a little bit of sensitivity “ruins” something like this. It only seems to divide if one is intent on being divided and avoiding any bit of sensitivity, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/293 "2016-02-05T19:27:27Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I read it. I didn’t see any questions to respond to and I didn’t note any particular statement that I wanted to add to. I don’t necessarily agree with the characterization, but not enough to raise objection. That’s no fun. > [@](#): > > Yes, the false accusations are clearly not as bad as the actual harm. I wouldn’t say that false accusations are a hummingbird…that seems to trivialize them. False accusations can be devastating and life altering. In addition, false accusations make actual instances harder to believe. > > A silver lining sure, but ultimately a net negative. And I don’t think false accusations of racism are rare at all. Casual accusations of racism are commonplace and it impacts general discourse. I think casual accusations of racism are commonplace as well, but I also think _casual racism is commonplace_. That may be the difference in our opinions. Casual accusations can be true, obviously. > [@](#): > > No, I don’t agree. I would have preferred the outcome where someone raised this concern, and society collectively told Cousins to get over himself in the same way if he thought being called a chair was racist. When someone gets all in a hough about using the word “niggardly”, the appropriate response is to tell that person to shut the fuck up. But no, we are at a place where everyone will think twice about that type of action. What if they kept the t-shirts and Cousins was right, and a bunch of fans ended up confused or offended? Why is that a better outcome then being a bit more sensitive while still having the celebration? Again, would it be terrible if a hypothetical Hindu cultural celebration removed (or downplayed) the swastikas and/or moved the celebration to a day other than Holocaust Remembrance Day? Wouldn’t that actually be the most prudent action? > [@](#): > > I shared this story in my house. The response, “that’s fucking stupid, but that’s the world we live in.” I bow to the wisdom of **Bone’s** house. You’ve broken the back of my argument. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/294 "2016-02-05T19:34:08Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > Well, I owe you all an apology for over-reacting to a partial news story. I did more research and they only pulled the t-shirt; they did continue with the rest of the celebration of the Chinese new year, including introducing players in Mandarin and the ribbon dance. Again, my apologies. Some day, I’ll learn to read more before reacting. Thanks **MrDibble** for calling me out and making me stop and think. Reasonableness? In the Pit! It’s the End of Days… Good on you for being reasonable, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/295 "2016-02-05T20:29:39Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What if they kept the t-shirts and Cousins was right, and a bunch of fans ended up confused or offended? Why is that a better outcome then being a bit more sensitive while still having the celebration? Again, would it be terrible if a hypothetical Hindu cultural celebration removed (or downplayed) the swastikas and/or moved the celebration to a day other than Holocaust Remembrance Day? Wouldn’t that actually be the most prudent action? I’m not nearly familiar enough with Hindu cultural references to comment on that part. But in this example, if they kept the shirts and people were offended or confused, tough. It’s a teaching moment. I think that lesson is better than the lesson we have to be hyper sensitive and avoid any possibility of offending people. It’s not like I think monkeys must be on Tshirts. It may have been better to not start out like that, but they did. Backing down to acquiesce to nonsense is worse. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/296 "2016-02-05T20:44:02Z")
FWIW here’s the Daily Show’s take: [http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article58624108.html](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article58624108.html) [QUOTE=iiandyiiii] What if they kept the t-shirts and Cousins was right, and a bunch of fans ended up confused or offended? Why is that a better outcome then being a bit more sensitive while still having the celebration? [/quote] What of the several thousand people that missed out on a cool t-shirt? What about the bunch of people offended by the snub of CNY? What about the people offended by PC run amok? The best outcome if someone really is offended or confused is to explain the reasons behind the t-shirt. Cross cultural understanding is increased, people get monkey t-shirts, it’s win win. If they’re still mad after learning about CNY then fuck em. We shouldn’t have to change to make idiots feel better about themselves. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Again, would it be terrible if a hypothetical Hindu cultural celebration removed (or downplayed) the swastikas and/or moved the celebration to a day other than Holocaust Remembrance Day? Wouldn’t that actually be the most prudent action? Why should Indians change/abandon something that has been part of their culture for two thousand yeas because of some asshole Germans? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/297 "2016-02-05T21:06:10Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > How was it ruined? Would a hypothetical Hindu cultural celebration be “ruined” if the swastikas were removed (or downplayed) and/or it was moved to a day other than Holocaust Remembrance Day? > > I don’t see how a little bit of sensitivity “ruins” something like this. It only seems to divide if one is intent on being divided and avoiding any bit of sensitivity, in my opinion. A little bit of feigned sensitivity to a feigned offense ruins something like this because next time something real comes up, someone will use this pretend outrage as an example of over sensitivity and they will be correct. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/298 "2016-02-05T21:11:02Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > I don’t think anyone who was in the arena that night thought the shirts were _actually_ racist (as the Indians and Tedskins, I agree, are). Apparently we can all repeat this until we’re blue in the face and it’s just easier to hand-wave it away and then stick it in the Ignore bin. It’s much more fun this way. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/299 "2016-02-05T23:47:13Z")
> [@treis](#): > > FWIW here’s the Daily Show’s take: > > [http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article58624108.html](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article58624108.html) > > What of the several thousand people that missed out on a cool t-shirt? > > What about the bunch of people offended by the snub of CNY? > > What about the people offended by PC run amok? > > The best outcome if someone really is offended or confused is to explain the reasons behind the t-shirt. Cross cultural understanding is increased, people get monkey t-shirts, it’s win win. If they’re still mad after learning about CNY then fuck em. We shouldn’t have to change to make idiots feel better about themselves. It’s also a win-win to be sensitive – why not a multi-week long lead up, explaining the CNY, and all the cool animals and stuff, and then a stylized monkey wearing Chinese battle armor defeating the mascots of the Kings’ opponents? It seems nuts to me that it’s _wrong_ to take others feelings into account – a great celebration presented sensitively is not a snub of CNY – it’s a celebration. > [@](#): > > Why should Indians change/abandon something that has been part of their culture for two thousand yeas because of some asshole Germans? How is changing the day of the celebration from the Holocaust Remembrance Day abandoning anything? Or if it has to be that day, how is using other Hindu imagery abandoning anything? Is it really that bad to try and eliminate the chance of giving a Holocaust survivor a heart attack? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036/300 "2016-02-05T23:48:16Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > A little bit of feigned sensitivity to a feigned offense ruins something like this because next time something real comes up, someone will use this pretend outrage as an example of over sensitivity and they will be correct. What if it’s real sensitivity to the potential for real offense? Isn’t it possible that some Jews might be hurt by swastikas displayed on Holocaust Remembrance Day? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-white-people-its-black-history-month-think/745036.md?page=16)