How can a racist frat-boy rehabilitate himself?

[Little_Nemo]

@chappachula

Actually, when I posted the OP, I was thinking about the public image side,more than personal improvement.

Okay, I’m the one who misread it then. But in my defense “You do some honest soul-searching, and resolve to change yourself into a decent human being.” seemed to be more in line with my interpretation.

I have to admit I wouldn’t have a lot of respect for somebody who was more concerned about his public image than his personal improvement. This hypothetical frat-boy has no problem with being a racist; he just doesn’t want other people to think he’s a racist. That’s not self-improvement. That’s just trying to avoid the consequences for your actions.

[Little_Nemo]

@control-z

I think all that shunning and ostracizing those with racist views does is teach them that they’re not allowed to talk about their unpopular viewpoints. Whether that meets the goal of the shunners is debatable, are the racists really changed or do they just learn to shut up?

Eliminating racism is the ideal. But while we’re working on that, shaming racists into silence is a worthy goal in its own right.

[wonky]

@control-z

I think all that shunning and ostracizing those with racist views does is teach them that they’re not allowed to talk about their unpopular viewpoints. Whether that meets the goal of the shunners is debatable, are the racists really changed or do they just learn to shut up?

I think racism is one of those things that really likes reinforcement from like-minded individuals. Make people work harder to get the reinforcement and lots of people won’t bother

[stillownedbysetters]

As a mom and brand new grandma, I hate to think that any young man’s life is ‘over’ at the age of 19. What he did was heinous and inexcusable, but it wasn’t murder or rape and there is an excellent chance that he can learn from this very public airing of his tighty whities and evolve.

Problem is, where does a 19 year old expellee go? Right back home, which is no doubt where the mindset he expressed regarding his black brethren came from in the first place. There is, in fact, a certain element out there that would reward him for it.

The best thing to do is get him far away from mama and daddy - the Peace Corps is a great idea, maybe even the army (although it has its own problems with racism), or send him to school in France where black and white mingle comfortably. I agree that he should disappear from social media for a while. People will move along and in a couple of years, a 19 year old boy will not only act different, he’ll look different.

Hopefully someone intelligent will get a hold of him and set him on the right path.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@silenus

Cite?

My self is my cite.

[iiandyiiii]

@stillownedbysetters

or send him to school in France where black and white mingle comfortably.

According to my wife (a black woman who attended university in France), this is decidedly not the case.

[stillownedbysetters]

@iiandyiiii

According to my wife (a black woman who attended university in France), this is decidedly not the case.

Then I stand corrected. I was relying on hearsay. It’s very possible I got the country wrong.

[msmith537]

I don’t really have much to add, other than I’m really glad they didn’t have cell phone cameras and social media back during my fraternity days.

[iiandyiiii]

@stillownedbysetters

Then I stand corrected. I was relying on hearsay. It’s very possible I got the country wrong.

It’s also possible that you heard right, but different people have different experiences.

[MrDibble]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

Killing people is wrong.

Naah, suicide is just fine. I’m all for people having the right to off themselves if they see fit.

[Urbanredneck]

Just enroll in another college, keep your head down, and deny any involvement if it comes up. The world is a big place and people will move on and forget.

Heck who knows. Their might be another 9/11 incident which will dominate the news for months.

[Aspidistra]

@iiandyiiii

According to my wife (a black woman who attended university in France), this is decidedly not the case.

I wonder where is the best country to go to experience black and white people mixing on equal terms day to day?

I hear good things about New Zealand sometimes…

[Muffin]

Hands up all those who, without looking, know the individuals’ names?

Of the several hundred million people in the USA, how many do you think know the individuals’ names?

[Penfeather]

@Aspidistra

I wonder where is the best country to go to experience black and white people mixing on equal terms day to day?

I hear good things about New Zealand sometimes…

We’re still working on it.

[Ambivalid]

@jsgoddess

I think racism is one of those things that really likes reinforcement from like-minded individuals. Make people work harder to get the reinforcement and lots of people won’t bother

Absolutely agree with this. Racists need validation for their racism.

[Hail_Ants]

How can a racist frat-boy rehabilitate himself?

Oh, I don’t know. Maybe by ignoring this politically correct bullshit and continuing with their lives. Wait, too late! That’s what they’re already doing…

[kayaker]

@Muffin

Hands up all those who, without looking, know the individuals’ names?

Of the several hundred million people in the USA, how many do you think know the individuals’ names?

But Google knows. I sometimes meet someone who gives off a “strange vibe”. I Google them and sometimes find out interesting things. It happens.

These guys enroll in a different university. Someone at some point searches for their name and the next day their nasty history is common knowledge.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@kayaker

But Google knows. I sometimes meet someone who gives off a “strange vibe”. I Google them and sometimes find out interesting things. It happens.

These guys enroll in a different university. Someone at some point searches for their name and the next day their nasty history is common knowledge.

Post #2.

[kayaker]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Post #2.

Yes, but would it work? Has it worked for others in similar situations? If a clerk in the judge’s office Googles the “before” name out of curiousity and tells her husband who tells his buddies…

People in the witness protection program (or whatever it’s called) get outed.

[hajario]

@stillownedbysetters

As a mom and brand new grandma, I hate to think that any young man’s life is ‘over’ at the age of 19. What he did was heinous and inexcusable, but it wasn’t murder or rape and there is an excellent chance that he can learn from this very public airing of his tighty whities and evolve.

Problem is, where does a 19 year old expellee go? Right back home, which is no doubt where the mindset he expressed regarding his black brethren came from in the first place. There is, in fact, a certain element out there that would reward him for it.

The best thing to do is get him far away from mama and daddy - the Peace Corps is a great idea, maybe even the army (although it has its own problems with racism), or send him to school in France where black and white mingle comfortably. I agree that he should disappear from social media for a while. People will move along and in a couple of years, a 19 year old boy will not only act different, he’ll look different.

Hopefully someone intelligent will get a hold of him and set him on the right path.

You need a bachelors degree to get into the Peace Corps so that won’t work. Even if he had one, he’d never make the cut. It’s a very competitive program. You don’t just join the Peace Corps and head off to Africa.