The man did not “accidently” say a word. At all.
Where are we getting that rap lyrics were what was on the player’s iPad?
According the article to words in question are an “unspecified term”.
“I accept your resignation” is how gentlemen get fired.
It is also how people freely choose to resign from their jobs, but it is not exclusive to that group.
Cancel culture as a concept is stupid to begin with. This is just the latest example of irrational thinking.
Whether it was the coach pre-emptively resigning or something that the athletics department or university administration was going to do anyway, again, how is this “cancel culture”? There was no public hue and cry, no ‘canceling’ by ticket holders or students, or anything of the sort.
If people are going to say this was some kind of pre-emptive self-canceling, the term has lost what little meaning it had to begin with.
I’m casting the side-eye to the term “cancel culture.” It generally comes with a slew of positions and beliefs that I find problematic.
I’m assuming Oklahoma is a right-to-work state, like Texas. Employers can dismiss employees for a number of reasons, save those which are protected classes (gender, race, etc).
We know Gundy resigned, which meant that he did one of a few things:
- He realized that this was going to blow up into a big HR issue, which could potentially dig up other instances of bad behavior.
- He’s worked at ou many years and he was close to retirement, so he figured he would avoid the hassle and just hang it up.
- He realized working in a field populated by majority Black men, and it would be weaponized by opposing teams. “You want to go to ou and be called an n-word by the coach?”
- He may have had the trust of student athletes in that immediate room, but anyone who overheard it just knows some White dude dropped an n-bomb. So that would create problems on campus.
Oklahoma had a pretty disgusting incident a few years ago where a fraternity was thrown off campus for singing a song peppered with the n-word. This situation has the potential to become a campus controversy. Honestly, I think this was a wise decision. It’s yet another example of how it’s virtually never a good idea to say that word, ever.
I’ve read that tweet three time and nowhere do I see rap lyrics mentioned, Am I blind?
I don’t think it’s clear from the tweet but from Gundy’s letter and another comment I saw from an insider to the program, it was indeed that word, and it’s been hypothesized he was quoting a rap lyric. However, I suspect it’s equally likely it was a chat comment or something.
On some media channels with comment sections, I think the rap thing is getting traction with all the “well why is it ok for rappers to use it?” I think we have copious evidence that unless you are in fact a rapper, you’re well advised to steer clear.
It also wouldn’t surprise me if they offered him an early retirement or some type of golden parachute to walk away without making a stink about it. He saves face by saying “I messed up”, they don’t have to fire him and deal with a potential legal battle over it etc.
I don’t see it either. I wonder what I read? I’ll have to look around a bit more.
ETA, I think when I googled it, I saw something about ‘rap lyrics’ in the google results but it was just from one of the comments. When I tried to C&P the relevant section, I started with the sentence mentioning the iPad and a distracted player, but realized it was a picture, not text and just linked to the entire thing.
Had it been text that I could have copied I would have caught it.
So…nevermind, I guess. At best, right now, it’s just a rumor. Might be true, but I don’t think it’s in any official statements yet.
How on earth would you know that?
I think resigning over this alone is a little extreme, at least IMHO but whatever, it is what it is. It’s a very offensive word. I say that as a White Anglo Saxon Protestant who has been called a “cracker” and “snowflake” by aboriginal people in my own country, plus had “white privilege” yelled at me when I wouldn’t give a panhandler money. All racist comments, IMHO.
How does this resignation help fight racism?
If you don’t see this as a part of the cancel culture, then you’re just being pedantic.
He wasn’t “cancelled”-he resigned because he thought it was the proper thing to do.
It is stupid and it absolutely is symptomatic of the current censorious climate.
He didn’t use a racial slur, he merely spoke a word out loud. And whether he was fired or felt he had to resign is rather beside the point. If he felt the only socially acceptable option open to him was resignation then it is no better than an enforced sacking.
The use/mention distinction is something that any mature human being can grasp and should be able to make allowances for. Next step is someone mis-hearing a slur and getting people fired, can’t be too far off.
Might want to check the unresolved rule we have here that might make doing that exact thing a warnable offense.
People have pre-emptively ‘resigned’ ahead of scandal since before any of us were born.
If that is symptomatic of the “current censorious climate” or “part of the cancel culture” then the ‘current’ cancel culture climate has been around for decades/centuries. I’m a bit young to remember all of it but I do remember when it was derided as PC. And SJW as a term is apparently passe now. I’m waiting to see what the new term du jour will be when this, too, passes.
Whether or not things should extend that far is something to take up with our ancestors.
I’,m reading this thread while listening to the Dixie Chicks and eating Freedom Fries.
That may be so, but if that unresolved rule cannot make allowance for the use/mention distinction then it is a bad rule.