# "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:** 5
**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, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/81 "2019-09-28T17:44:25Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > Social judgements never happened _this way_ before the internet and you damn well know it. I note that the one and only salient piece of information you left out of your otherwise detailed summary was that the _man_ (he’s not a “kid” today. He’s 24) who raised a million dollars for charity was a _kid_ when he made the offensive tweets _eight years ago_. > > It’s not fair for people to bring up dumb shit you did as a kid when you’re an adult. We accept this in every other area of life. That’s one reason why juvenile records are sealed, so people don’t judge you for stupid shit you did when you were too young and dumb to know better. It’s _double_ unfair when people bring up the dumb shit you did as a kid in the context of things _completely unrelated_ to the aforementioned dumb shit. triply, chances are good that the person/people digging this stuff up and outing it have no “skin in the game,” i.e. they’re not a member of whatever group of people the tweets were supposedly about. chances are they’re young white “woke” kids who do this so they can feel important. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/82 "2019-09-28T17:44:52Z")
When is the poor, beleaguered, white man gonna get a break from this terrible oppression? CMC fnord! ---
**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, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/83 "2019-09-28T17:50:24Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Bravo. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a blatant strawman. Care to revise your opinion? > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > When is the poor, beleaguered, white man gonna get a break from this terrible oppression? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/84 "2019-09-28T18:01:53Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > When is the poor, beleaguered, white man gonna get a break from this terrible oppression? > > CMC fnord! Sing it. ---
**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, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/85 "2019-09-28T18:12:18Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > When is the poor, beleaguered, white man gonna get a break from this terrible oppression? > > CMC fnord! maybe sometime after you post something other than a one-line non sequitur. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/86 "2019-09-28T18:24:25Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > it’s not just celebrities. it’s also a cadre of younger people (notionally liberal) who think they’re doing something good for the world by sitting on their social media accounts screaming at people to apologize for every possible thing they may have done wrong in their fucking lives. If they weren’t actually accomplishing something, no one would get mad at them. What they are doing is leveraging the power of speech to provide consequences for racism and bigotry. Rather than let it run unchecked, they use their speech to shine a spotlight on it. They don’t make excuses for it, even if the person is on their side. And note I said “bigotry,” not “every possible thing they may have done wrong in their fucking lives.” That’s minimizing language. Fortunately, the guy involved isn’t making those excuses. He’s taking personal responsibility, realizing he made a mistake, and owning up to it, while showing he’s moved on from it. Are there some circumstances where the Internet and social media’s megaphone for speech is used incorrectly? Sure–usually when someone doesn’t have the facts. Do some people cross a line into doing more than speech? Sure, and they deserve to be condemned. But all these people are doing is sharing their opinion that the guy should give an apology for what he said. How is that supposed to be some horrible thing? It isn’t–the people who want to get away with things just claim it is in an attempt to fight back. You’re using the same speech–but your speech is finding it harder to find an agreeable audience. Your speech is losing in the marketplace of ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/87 "2019-09-28T18:56:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But all these people are doing is sharing their opinion that the guy should give an apology for what he said. How is that supposed to be some horrible thing? > > It isn’t–the people who want to get away with things just claim it is in an attempt to fight back. You’re using the same speech–but your speech is finding it harder to find an agreeable audience. Your speech is losing in the marketplace of ideas. One of the many, many things I find weird about this is that the tweet police seem inordinately interested in speech. I’ve no way of knowing this, but my gut tells me that if someone on Twitter found out the Busch charity guy had, say, stolen a car or something, they wouldn’t have made a thing of it. They probably would’ve thought “It was eight years ago. He was a kid. Why bring up ancient history?” or something like that. This, despite the fact that stealing a car is, by any objective measure, far worse than telling a racist joke on Twitter. My theory is that we, as a society, have decided that childhood crimes (with some exceptions, of course) shouldn’t follow us into adulthood, but we’ve yet to reach the same conclusion about offensive tweets. Personally, I don’t think there’s any good reason for the tweets to be held to a higher standard. What do you think? ---
**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, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/88 "2019-09-28T19:35:43Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > When is the poor, beleaguered, white man gonna get a break from this terrible oppression? > > CMC fnord! This post drew three responses (not counting mine, here) and _ **two out of three appeared not to understand it was sarcastic!** _ Wow. This should tell us something; I’m not sure what. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/89 "2019-09-28T19:46:33Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > When is the poor, beleaguered, white man gonna get a break from this terrible oppression? > > CMC fnord! I’m glad this happened to a white guy. He deserved it for being white. All white people are racists and need to be punished. ---
**Author:** ![Deltree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Deltree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deltree)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/90 "2019-09-28T21:32:06Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > In the real world, if you were an ass when you were a teenager people tend to not care. However, in the virtual world, where people can be mean and stupid and judgemental and cowardly without consequence, dumb shit you said when you were a kid can fuck with your life as an adult. > > That’s not normal, it’s not how things work in the real world, and, most importantly, it’s not fair. It’s The Internet Age[sup]TM[/sup]. It’s the new normal. Get used to it. It’s not going back the way it was. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/91 "2019-09-28T21:49:47Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > The only thing that was undone was he lost his year’s worth of bud. The charity got their money, Bud got their positive exposure. > > Yes, we should teach our children that what you put out on social media is there forever. This time the kid lost beer, next time it might be an actual job. > > Guess what, in the real world if you’re an ass and say stupid things, sometimes that will bite you in the ass. The people in this thread who are out of touch with reality don’t include **iiandyiiii**. There is a reason most people prefer to post to boards relatively anonymously. It’s because the social justice mob is dangerously insane. At least the Europeans recognize the danger in a whole life being archived by Google. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/92 "2019-09-28T21:57:57Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Care to enjoy a wee bit of schadenfreude? > > [Reporter who outed racist tweets by viral fundraiser leaves Des Moines Register after his own offensive posts surface.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/27/reporter-who-outed-racist-tweets-by-viral-fundraiser-leaves-des-moines-register-after-his-own-offensive-posts-surface/) That’s hilarious. What should happen is a systematic investigation of reporters, editors, and publishers that goes back to their birth. Every embarrassing or offensive text, photo, video, recording that can be acquired should be. At some point, enough of those who enable internet mob behavior will be impacted that perhaps a positive change can occur. ---
**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, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/93 "2019-09-28T22:07:51Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > That’s hilarious. What should happen is a systematic investigation of reporters, editors, and publishers that goes back to their birth. Every embarrassing or offensive text, photo, video, recording that can be acquired should be. At some point, enough of those who enable internet mob behavior will be impacted that perhaps a positive change can occur. Hey, make it happen. All of that stuff is out there, and it wouldn’t bother me in the least to have someone dig it all up. I recognize that people aren’t perfect, and criticism of offensive speech isn’t the end of the world. It can even be helpful! The folks mentioned in this thread generally are doing fine, and probably have learned something from being publicly criticized. Their lives weren’t ruined. It’s okay to talk about this stuff. It’s even okay to criticize people for things they said and did in the past. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/94 "2019-09-28T22:30:39Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Hey, make it happen. All of that stuff is out there, and it wouldn’t bother me in the least to have someone dig it all up. I recognize that people aren’t perfect, and criticism of offensive speech isn’t the end of the world. It can even be helpful! The folks mentioned in this thread generally are doing fine, and probably have learned something from being publicly criticized. Their lives weren’t ruined. > > It’s okay to talk about this stuff. It’s even okay to criticize people for things they said and did in the past. I don’t mind a critique. I mind the scale of reaction that can be mobilized in a seemingly random manner. If people were being honest instead of, and this isn’t directed at you, posting snarky and racist one liners they’d be worried. ---
**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, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/95 "2019-09-28T22:35:30Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I don’t mind a critique. I mind the scale of reaction that can be mobilized in a seemingly random manner. If people were being honest instead of, and this isn’t directed at you, posting snarky and racist one liners they’d be worried. Who should be worried, and why? Seems to me like the consequences are pretty nonexistant (i.e. just mild criticism and mockery) if someone accepts that they did/said something wrong and apologizes sincerely for it, in general. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/96 "2019-09-28T22:45:20Z")
> [@](#): > > {…} A routine background check of {Carson} King’s social media revealed two racist jokes, one comparing black mothers to gorillas and another making light of black people killed in the holocaust. The joke tweets date back to 2012, when King was a 16-year-old high school student. {…}[RIGHT][CITE](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/football/2019/09/24/meet-carson-king-whos-raised-over-1-million-charity-asking-beer-money-childrens-hospital-tweet/2427538001/)[/RIGHT] I’m just curious. I was born in the middle of the civil rights movement, 1963. Ya know, half a fucking century ago. What year were Carson King’s parents born? Am I gonna die before the fucking parents of kids like this teach them that this kind of casual racism isn’t in any way acceptable? > [@](#): > > {…} Tuesday evening, King spoke to local television stations about the now-deleted tweets. > > “I am embarrassed and stunned to reflect on what I thought was funny when I was 16-year-old,” he said in a statement posted by WHO-TV. “I want to sincerely apologize.” {…} Good for you. I am embarrassed and stunned that your upbringing allowed you to think it was funny in the first place. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/97 "2019-09-28T23:00:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Who should be worried, and why? Seems to me like the consequences are pretty nonexistant (i.e. just mild criticism and mockery) if someone accepts that they did/said something wrong and apologizes sincerely for it, in general. Losing a job is a nonexistent consequence? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/98 "2019-09-28T23:01:23Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > I’m just curious. I was born in the middle of the civil rights movement, 1963. Ya know, half a fucking century ago. > > What year were Carson King’s parents born? > Am I gonna die before the fucking parents of kids like this teach them that this kind of casual racism isn’t in any way acceptable?Good for you. I am embarrassed and stunned that your upbringing allowed you to think it was funny in the first place. > > CMC fnord! Where’s your self-righteous voice in the Trudeau black face thread? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/99 "2019-09-28T23:18:54Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Where’s your self-righteous voice in the Trudeau black face thread? Stick to calling people ‘potty mouth’, it’s what you’re best at. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944/100 "2019-09-28T23:26:18Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Stick to calling people ‘potty mouth’, it’s what you’re best at. > > CMC fnord! So a teen is worth criticizing yet the prime minister of a country that is in the top 157 of influence and power in the world isn’t? Whose words and actions actually have more reach? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/none-of-us-chose-to-be-white-not-even-ed-sheeran/840944.md?page=6)