# "None of us chose to be white. Not even Ed Sheeran." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 28, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944 "2019-09-28T11:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/1 "2019-09-28T11:20:39Z")
Bill Maher FTW! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/T0q2ZR4nBuE/maxresdefault.jpg "New Rule: White Shame | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0q2ZR4nBuE) ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/2 "2019-09-28T11:48:48Z")
Not gonna watch a video with no explanation. Stopped watching Bill Maher last year as he became whinier and whinier. He’s become the ultimate snowflake, constantly complaining about criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/3 "2019-09-28T12:06:51Z")
Yeah, this doesn’t seem like an inherently bad topic but considering its location, lack of content, and the OP, I don’t hold out high hopes. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/4 "2019-09-28T12:18:15Z")
It makes perfect sense that you are leery of watching this, Andy, because he is calling out people just like you : > [@](#): > > Black folks are not asking white folks to constantly be flagellating themselves. Because it makes everything awkward. It puts the burden on black people to absolve you… > “Forgive **me**. Absolve **me**. Recognize that **I** am one of the good white people.” Jesus, haven’t black people suffered enough? “Slavery, Jim Crow, and now I’ve got to make some yuppie feel better about himself?” ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/5 "2019-09-28T12:34:20Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It makes perfect sense that you are leery of watching this, Andy, because he is calling out people just like you : You mean the fantasy straw-man version of me that doesn’t really exist? Based on this quote, anyway. Bill is whining about straw men, at least in that quote. As usual. And the idea of Maher speaking for black people is about as ludicrous as it gets. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/6 "2019-09-28T12:38:10Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Not gonna watch a video with no explanation. Stopped watching Bill Maher last year as he became whinier and whinier. He’s become the ultimate snowflake, constantly complaining about criticism. Maybe, but one must admit that he’s highly skilled at telling **SlackerInc** what he wants to hear. With that, and his strenuous denunciation of life-saving vaccines— what’s not to like? ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/7 "2019-09-28T12:39:36Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Maybe, but one must admit that he’s highly skilled at telling **SlackerInc** what he wants to hear. With that, and his strenuous denunciation of life-saving vaccines— what’s not to like? Unfortunately for **Slacker** , Maher probably stops short before “black people are inherently genetically inferior in intelligence, on average”. For all his faults, I’ve never heard Maher actually say something white supremacist. Dumb usages of racial slurs, sure… but he’s never waxed on about the inferiority of black people. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/8 "2019-09-28T12:49:44Z")
I’m not a white supremacist. Would it make me a black supremacist to point out that the people who can run the fastest and jump the highest are black? And if we are talking about just IQ and leaving out other abilities for some reason, white people can’t hold a candle to East Asians. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/9 "2019-09-28T12:53:35Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m not a white supremacist. Would it make me a black supremacist to point out that the people who can run the fastest and jump the highest are black? And if we are talking about just IQ and leaving out other abilities for some reason, white people can’t hold a candle to East Asians. Then stop saying white supremacist things. I’m going to call you a white supremacist until you renounce white supremacist (and pseudoscientific, which shouldn’t need to be said) ideas about black people. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/10 "2019-09-28T12:56:35Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It makes perfect sense that you are leery of watching this, Andy, because he is calling out people just like you : How hard would it have been to just put the quote in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/11 "2019-09-28T12:59:57Z")
Andy, you’re just trying to distract from the fact that Bill Maher has you and people like you completely pegged. He was responding to a poll finding that white liberals were the only group that preferred other races/ethnicities to their own. That’s really cringey and awkward. Why couldn’t they just stop at having no preference? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/12 "2019-09-28T13:03:31Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > How hard would it have been to just put the quote in the OP? Given that it took several minutes of switching back and forth between YouTube, Notes, and Safari on my iPhone to transcribe it, somewhat hard. I put a funny quote from the segment in the title of the thread, and pulled that other one out in response to Andy, since he was stubbornly refusing to watch and needs to hear that message more than anyone here. But yeah, it took me longer to quote that than it would take for someone to just watch the video. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/13 "2019-09-28T13:08:22Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Not gonna watch a video with no explanation. Stopped watching Bill Maher last year as he became whinier and whinier. He’s become the ultimate snowflake, constantly complaining about criticism. I usually only watch his “New Rule” segments on YT (‘cos that’s about the upper limit of smugness I can endure) but I don’t see him as coming off as whiny. Most of his bitching (apart from Trump/the GOP) is about Democrats/liberals’ “purity tests.” e.g. “I don’t care if you support 98% of the things I do, I’ll sit by and throw you under the bus and wait for someone who’s 100% with me. But I’ll still bitch about Trump winning.” Oh, and constantly demanding groveling apologies for everything, no matter now small or insignificant the transgression. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/14 "2019-09-28T13:10:06Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m not a white supremacist. Would it make me a black supremacist to point out that the people who can run the fastest and jump the highest are black? And if we are talking about just IQ and leaving out other abilities for some reason, white people can’t hold a candle to East Asians. Okay, okay, you’re just a garden variety racist dipshit. Happy now? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/15 "2019-09-28T13:11:16Z")
Ecstatic. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/16 "2019-09-28T13:14:40Z")
Bill Maher doesn’t speak for me (or any PoC I know). White liberals, you go right on ahead and ally up! You have my permission. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > white liberals were the only group that preferred other races/ethnicities to their own. That’s really cringey and awkward. Why couldn’t they just stop at having no preference? Maybe despite being white, they realise that white people are just not all that great? I mean, _you’re_ the one crowing about how god-damn \*average \*y’all are. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/17 "2019-09-28T13:36:45Z")
So…you are in fact asking white people to “constantly be flagellating themselves”, and granting absolution to the ones who do? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/18 "2019-09-28T14:02:14Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Not gonna watch a video with no explanation. Stopped watching Bill Maher last year as he became whinier and whinier. He’s become the ultimate snowflake, constantly complaining about criticism. Bill Maher is hilarious; and like all comedians he does exaggerate. Maher is a friend to liberals — look at the guests he selects. Rosanna Arquette is an admirable woman, but Maher calls attention to this tweet: > [@Rosanna Arquette at Twitter](#): > > I’m sorry I was born white and privileged. It disgusts me & I feel so much shame, I will never stand for my flag again. @ **iiandyiiii** - Do you endorse Ms. Arquette’s sentiments here? The election will not be won with only the liberal vote. You refuse to watch Maher now, but I hope you bookmark the video. A year and a half from now, when Moscow Mitch and the GOP are still firmly in control, click on the video and learn one of the reasons why. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/19 "2019-09-28T14:03:55Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Andy, you’re just trying to distract from the fact that Bill Maher has you and people like you completely pegged. He was responding to a poll finding that white liberals were the only group that preferred other races/ethnicities to their own. That’s really cringey and awkward. Why couldn’t they just stop at having no preference? Your mind reading fails you once again. No, Bill doesn’t have me pegged. He argues against straw men when he whines about liberals and criticism. Saying over and over again “this is you!!!” isn’t actually convincing me at all. Why should it? You haven’t actually made an argument, you’re just saying the same dumb thing over and over again, and it’s not convincing with repetition. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/20 "2019-09-28T14:06:37Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Bill Maher is hilarious; and like all comedians he does exaggerate. Maher is a friend to liberals — look at the guests he selects. > > Rosanna Arquette is an admirable woman, but Maher calls attention to this tweet: > > @ **iiandyiiii** - Do you endorse Ms. Arquette’s sentiments here? > > The election will not be won with only the liberal vote. You refuse to watch Maher now, but I hope you bookmark the video. A year and a half from now, when Moscow Mitch and the GOP are still firmly in control, click on the video and learn one of the reasons why. Maher found a single dumb liberal sentiment. So what? Almost no one feels that way. Random entitled celebrity says something dumb doesn’t mean anything. Maher (and conservative enablers like Tucker Carlson) promote this shit. No one would be talking about occasional idiocy from random celebrities if it weren’t for Tucker Carlson, Bill Maher, and a handful of others. That Maher’s generally liberal doesn’t excuse this silliness. I think he’s a funny comedian, but his pathetic whining has grown so much in the last few years that I no longer find him entertaining. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944.md?page=2)