# New York Times hires unapologetic racist writer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 4, 2018, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086 "2018-08-04T10:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/241 "2018-08-07T22:38:02Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > I highly suspect that you are looking at people like they are sub-human or that they are going to rob you if this happens every time, even if that isn’t intentional. > > Street criminals and bullies are selective about their victims. Realize this is not an attack against you, and I am not blaming you but you may want to look into why they single you out. Some simple changes may make you feel more comfortable in lots of situations. > > I tend to look everyone I pass in the eye and say a friendly ‘hey’ and have had zero problem even in neighborhoods that the national press likes to label as cesspits like Oakland, Hunters point and Compton. > > Of course this is not an option if you are female, but us males do have this privilege. Why are you talking as if you’re the resident sociology professor here to educate us ‘white folk’ about the errors of our judgements? ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/242 "2018-08-07T22:39:56Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Why are you talking as if you’re the resident sociology professor here to educate us ‘white folk’ about the errors of our judgements? Because you are trying to justify bigotry and racism, and if I let it slip by without saying anything I would be guilty of letting this bullshit go unchallenged. Complacency in face of racial bigotry is intolerable. Example: > [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Aren’t you supposed to be better than the people discriminating against you? Which is complete BS. How about we quit being bigoted oppressors? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/243 "2018-08-07T22:49:17Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > I highly suspect that you are looking at people like they are sub-human or that they are going to rob you if this happens every time, even if that isn’t intentional. > > Street criminals and bullies are selective about their victims. Realize this is not an attack against you, and I am not blaming you but you may want to look into why they single you out. Some simple changes may make you feel more comfortable in lots of situations. I didn’t even see the catcallers before they yelled at me, and when I got bottles thrown at me I was too busy playing tennis to wonder if the crowd was dangerous. I did do a doubletake when I realized what neighborhood my friend asked me to play tennis in but I figured I would most likely be safe. But I have learned by those incidences, and other more firm data, that a single digit percentage of everyone are hardcore racists, and by going into that neighborhood I was exposing myself to a lot of people who would see me as a hated target, much like there are a whole bunch of white people who will call the police on black people for nothing even if 95% of us won’t, so the incidences of that happening are too high (as in, they exist.) It was probably just that neighborhood, however: while I haven’t spent any time that I know of walking in other black neighborhoods, I’ve spent the majority of my adult life living in mixed neighborhoods and have never had an issue there, in fact, when you add together safety and feeling at home, I’m more comfortable in mixed neighborhoods than in majority neighborhoods of any race. As a white person, I don’t feel the need to accept responsibility for the outrages of people I don’t know and do not have accountability over. While at the same time, pertaining to this thread, one or two railings against “white men” in social media taken in isolation is not something to get worked up about. It’s assumed that they meant to type “some white men”. But that isn’t _always_ the case. Sometimes people really do think whites and only whites can be racist. I was demonstrating a counterexample which, if disagreed to, would rob the word of any sting to the point of meaninglessness. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/244 "2018-08-07T22:50:55Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > So… you’ve been in a black neighborhood a total of four times in your life? > > I bow to your extensive expertise on this subject. So, are you taking estimates of how many times I’ve done something similar? You’d think that being around so many likely targets of my virulent racism in my lifetime since the unfortunate end of segregation that I’d have at least shouted out a few choice epithets at some PoCs in my lifetime. I trust you will come back with some citations shortly. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/245 "2018-08-07T22:53:24Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > Look what just mentioning Peterson’s name drags out of the woodwork. Utterly pitiful. In so many other threads you are happy to respond point by point. Here…you’ve got nothing and I can only assume that it is because you can’t summon the courage to challenge your thinking. > [@](#): > > …my apologies, certainly wasn’t my intention. Unfortunately merely mentioning his name provokes a reaction. As you can see. Directed at me of course, you sir, are an intellectual minnow and a coward. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/246 "2018-08-07T22:53:32Z")
To directly adresss that ad hominem, no I am not special or blessed, I just won’t ignore it when people bitch about minorities stepping out of their place, which as I stated before is just another form of the ‘uppity negro’ trope. It is disappointing that you can self justify this bullshit, and I would rather not be responding. You should know this, and if you didn’t view your fellow citizens as ‘_others_’ is is just pretty freaking obvious. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/247 "2018-08-07T22:58:12Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I didn’t even see the catcallers before they yelled at me, and when I got bottles thrown at me I was too busy playing tennis to wonder if the crowd was dangerous. I did do a doubletake when I realized what neighborhood my friend asked me to play tennis in but I figured I would most likely be safe. But I have learned by those incidences, and other more firm data, that a single digit percentage of everyone are hardcore racists, and by going into that neighborhood I was exposing myself to a lot of people who would see me as a hated target, much like there are a whole bunch of white people who will call the police on black people for nothing even if 95% of us won’t, so the incidences of that happening are too high (as in, they exist.) > > It was probably just that neighborhood, however: while I haven’t spent any time that I know of walking in other black neighborhoods, I’ve spent the majority of my adult life living in mixed neighborhoods and have never had an issue there, in fact, when you add together safety and feeling at home, I’m more comfortable in mixed neighborhoods than in majority neighborhoods of any race. > > As a white person, I don’t feel the need to accept responsibility for the outrages of people I don’t know and do not have accountability over. > > While at the same time, pertaining to this thread, one or two railings against “white men” in social media taken in isolation is not something to get worked up about. It’s assumed that they meant to type “some white men”. But that isn’t _always_ the case. Sometimes people really do think whites and only whites can be racist. I was demonstrating a counterexample which, if disagreed to, would rob the word of any sting to the point of meaninglessness. Did you ever consider that they were just a group of assholes who happened to be black before you assigned this behavior to an entire group of people? I was once attacked by a group of drunken Canadians with hockey sticks because they didn’t like I was on a bicycle. I never once blamed white people or Canadians as a whole. This is an example of prejudice, where you just sold an entire group of people as being evil and violent because of a difference in melanin. If you don’t see why this is a problem I suggest you do some looking inward and maybe some reading. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/248 "2018-08-07T23:04:35Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Is there a thread already about Jordan Peterson? I can’t figure out why this dude has become famous all of a sudden. I’ve listened to a couple of discussions where he was a participant, and the things he said about atheists was just monumentally stupid, and I do mean monumentally. But most of the time, he sounded like Chauncey Gardiner. Has he said stuff worthwhile ever? As I said previously I don’t know his stuff that well but one video that I did see was his [address to the Oxford Union.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZMIbo_DxJk) What he says in it seems fairly reasonable and was well received by the students. (those notable right-wing rabble-rousers) There was nothing particularly scary or hideously hateful that I could perceive. Of course some on this thread seem to think that if you can find anything at all sensible or reasonable in what he says then it marks you out as some form of vermin. I think people are grown up enough to contemplate a thought or an idea on its own individual merits. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/249 "2018-08-07T23:09:11Z")
> [@](#): > > **rat avatar** > Because you are trying to justify bigotry and racism, and if I let it slip by without saying anything I would be guilty of letting this bullshit go unchallenged. I call out the hypocrisy of the NYT due to their staff member posting racist tweets, and I’m the one justifying racial bigotry and racism? Do you even read what you type? Do I need to remind you what the textbook definition of racism is, because it looks like you’ve forgotten, here, I’ll remind you, again, I’ve bolded the phrases just to make sure it’s sinking into your brain. > [@](#): > > **itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/about-racism** > > **Racism takes many forms** and can happen in many places. It includes **prejudice, discrimination or hatred** directed at someone because of their colour, ethnicity or national origin. > People often associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment. **However, it doesn’t need to involve violent or intimidating behaviour. Take racial name-calling and jokes.** Or consider situations when people may be excluded from groups or activities because of where they come from. > [@](#): > > Complacency in face of racial bigotry is intolerable. Yeah exactly, why do you think I’ve been rambling on for the last few pages? > [@](#): > > Which is complete BS. How about we quit being bigoted oppressors? How about everyone do it at once? Is it that hard to hold everyone to the same standard? And btw, not every member of an ethnic group is a bigoted oppressor, but you in turn use the same gross generalisations you accuse racists of using themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/250 "2018-08-07T23:11:35Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Did you ever consider that they were just a group of assholes who happened to be black before you assigned this behavior to an entire group of people? > > I was once attacked by a group of drunken Canadians with hockey sticks because they didn’t like I was on a bicycle. I never once blamed white people or Canadians as a whole. > > This is an example of prejudice, where you just sold an entire group of people as being evil and violent because of a difference in melanin. If you don’t see why this is a problem I suggest you do some looking inward and maybe some reading. Where did I assign blame to a whole group of people? Did you not read my posts where I blame a single digit percentage of all races? (Which may or may not be accurate, it’s just an estimate). There’s nothing preventing them from being assholes _and_ racists; in fact that’s sort of how things work. The easiest conclusion from this pattern of occurrences is that I was harrassed and/or attacked because of my race. With the gang of kids throwing bottles at me one can’t be _sure_ that they didn’t do that a whole lot as equal opportunity mayhem, but I can be pretty flippin sure when people yell at me to get out of the neighborhood that they didn’t have the energy to just do that to random people. I’m truly puzzled as to why you repeatedly claim that I was justifying prejudice by revealing that a certain percentage of people are racists. The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/251 "2018-08-07T23:17:18Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Why…? Again, you are ascribing meaning to my words that is so far from their actual meaning that I’m just bemused. Please find someone else to lecture with your patronizing non sequiturs. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/252 "2018-08-07T23:21:13Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > In other words…a level playground? Or are you trying to say only white dudes have that happen to them? What the fuck, man, are you trolling me? Only white dudes can have that happen to them? Do you consider me daft? Everyone can be the target of racism. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/253 "2018-08-07T23:22:07Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > As I said previously I don’t know his stuff that well but one video that I did see was his [address to the Oxford Union.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZMIbo_DxJk) > > What he says in it seems fairly reasonable and was well received by the students. (those notable right-wing rabble-rousers) There was nothing particularly scary or hideously hateful that I could perceive. > > Of course some on this thread seem to think that if you can find anything at all sensible or reasonable in what he says then it marks you out as some form of vermin. > > I think people are grown up enough to contemplate a thought or an idea on its own individual merits. Then he started spouting how white privilege is a “Marxist lie,” and the right wing likes to demonize the left as communist scum and are afraid of having women treated as equals. Jordan B. Peterson appeals to lonely men on the internet who feel alienated by the progress of women and minorities but his views directly align with white nationalism. Also retweeting nazi’s doesn’t tend to help win people over [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/KP21Ctg.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/KP21Ctg) > ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/254 "2018-08-07T23:23:30Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Where did I assign blame to a whole group of people? Did you not read my posts where I blame a single digit percentage of all races? (Which may or may not be accurate, it’s just an estimate). There’s nothing preventing them from being assholes _and_ racists; in fact that’s sort of how things work. > > The easiest conclusion from this pattern of occurrences is that I was harrassed and/or attacked because of my race. With the gang of kids throwing bottles at me one can’t be _sure_ that they didn’t do that a whole lot as equal opportunity mayhem, but I can be pretty flippin sure when people yell at me to get out of the neighborhood that they didn’t have the energy to just do that to random people. > > I’m truly puzzled as to why you repeatedly claim that I was justifying prejudice by revealing that a certain percentage of people are racists. The mind boggles. Here > [@Ludovic](#): > > Well, it’s happened every single time I’ve walked through a black neighborhood. I guess I’m a liar, though. Now only 1/4 of the four times was it an actual attack, the other times it was merely catcalls telling me to get out of the neighborhood, which totally aren’t racist because I’m an evil white man right? I’ve probably attacked dozens of black people for being in my neighborhood by your reckoning. Do you have an estimation of how many? Or if you think I am too timid for that, can you tell me how many times you think I’ve catcalled black people from a car telling them they should leave the neighborhood? Probably a whole fucking bunch right? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/255 "2018-08-07T23:28:43Z")
So, if a person perceived as black says they were in a majority European-American neighborhood and felt singled out by police due to their race, they were blaming all white people? I don’t think so personally. You might disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/256 "2018-08-07T23:32:51Z")
I also notice that no one has opined on how many times I’ve done the same to others as I’ve experienced. Of course, the average person categorized as “black” has experienced worse than that. If I am considered a racist due to people categorizing me as “white”, then people actually harassing me due to my race makes them a super-deluxe racist, and KKK members and those police officers who are actively blase about racial injustice must be monster-mega-super-duper racists. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/257 "2018-08-07T23:35:11Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > So, if a person perceived as black says they were in a majority European-American neighborhood and felt singled out by police due to their race, they were blaming all white people? I don’t think so personally. You might disagree. No they are blaming institutional racism, that is well documented. Or do you think that “police” == “white”? Now to be fair, this institutional racism is largely based in a system that was run by white people. But you chose your own words there. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/258 "2018-08-07T23:37:17Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I also notice that no one has opined on how many times I’ve done the same to others as I’ve experienced. Of course, the average person categorized as “black” has experienced worse than that. If I am considered a racist due to people categorizing me as “white”, then people actually harassing me due to my race makes them a super-deluxe racist, and KKK members and those police officers who are actively blase about racial injustice must be monster-mega-super-duper racists. Na, you are being called out as a racist because you blame people based on a trait that is not biologically significant due to the actions of the few. You don’t get a ‘I am the victim’ card here and you are far more likely to be assaulted by another white person anyway. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/259 "2018-08-07T23:41:26Z")
Cite on my last claim. > **[White supremacists' favorite myths about black crime rates take another hit...](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/10/23/white-supremacists-favorite-myths-about-black-crime-rates-take-another-hit-bjs-study)** > > Vast majority of most crimes are committed by a person of the same race as the victim, Bureau of Justice Statistics reports. > [@](#): > > Vast majority of most crimes are committed by a person of the same race as the victim, Bureau of Justice Statistics reports. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086/260 "2018-08-08T00:31:08Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Na, you are being called out as a racist because you blame people based on a trait that is not biologically significant due to the actions of the few. No, I didn’t. I was providing evidence that the socially-imposed race of my harassers was important to them, not to me. I’ve been trying lately to always add the caveat that race doesn’t exist - which it doesn’t - even though it always makes posts a lot longer. If someone who says “fuck white people” can be written off as really meaning “a lot of people viewed as white behave pretty bad right?” then I don’t see how shortening an observation when the vast majority of people will understand you is not also acceptable. But if you’d like I can start exclusively using the terms “people categorized by society as ‘white’ even though race doesn’t actually exist” and “people categorized by society as ‘black’ even though race doesn’t actually exist” if you’d like. It wouldn’t be a big issue for me because I rarely feel the need to mention perceived race. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-times-hires-unapologetic-racist-writer/819086.md?page=14)