# What the fuck is wrong with Huey Freeman? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427 "2019-01-08T20:43:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/401 "2019-01-22T01:28:28Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Do you honestly think that race, gender, w/e classification is a better variable than socio-economic class to use for preferential treatment? Let me guess. You want to abolish the programs for helping victims of racism or sexism right now. And you might get around to setting up a program for helping poor people someday. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/402 "2019-01-22T01:54:42Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I think the real issue is that having quantifiable metrics takes away many tools that the Democrats use to exploit the populace. Furthermore, treating people as equals and holding people to same standards neuters the Dems ability to use language as a bludgeon. I totally believe you think that’s a coherent thought. You’re kind of dimwitted, though. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Let me guess. You want to abolish the programs for helping victims of racism or sexism right now. And you might get around to setting up a program for helping poor people someday. Exactly. I’ve got a brilliant and irascible gamer friend who’s also a hardcore Marxist and who has utter contempt for intersectionality theory, because he thinks class is the proper axis upon which to base revolutionary change. It’s a damn sight different hearing him say it from hearing a rightwing scold like octopus say it. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/403 "2019-01-22T02:49:11Z")
> [@WernhamHogg](#): > > Huey attacks people’s (non-white) wives and children on a message board. If you think that’s not exactly the kind of bitterness King was talking about, please tell me what he was talking about. “I don’t have a problem with a black man protesting racial injustice; I just wish they would quit being so, you know, angry. They’re scaring the kids! Heck, they’re scaring me, too!” ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/404 "2019-01-22T03:04:08Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > “I don’t have a problem with a black man protesting racial injustice; I just wish they would quit being so, you know, angry. They’re scaring the kids! Heck, they’re scaring me, too!” Oh, for fuck’s sake, you whimpering idiot: mocking children and spitting on the concept of adoption _is not protesting racial injustice_ by any definition of that phrase. Fuck you for insulting every person who has ever _actually_ protested racial injustice by conflating the concepts, fuck you for spitting on adopted parents and children by joining with Huey Freeman in this ridiculous way, and fuck you for being a whimpering idiot in general. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/405 "2019-01-22T03:06:12Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > An utterly stupid post that in no way addresses the substance of what you responded to. _I_ thought it was poetic and wise. Fine, whatever. > [@asahi](#): > > From “What the fuck is wrong with Huey Freeman” to Stormfront. > > Congrats, white people. Huey probably somehow knew it would end up like this. > > Now, for the educated among us, here’s what you need to take with you from this thread: people who subscribe to Stormfront’s vision of America can become CEO’s of companies. They can become landlords. They can become neighborhood watch vigilantes. They can become bank loan officers. They can become mayors, governors, sheriffs, congressmen, Senators, and even President. The Huey Freemans of the world? Not so much. > > Think about that. Racism, real racism, is more about actual power and the ability to abuse others than it is about a fantasy to do so. I take your point to be that **Huey** ’s racism doesn’t matter, because he can’t do anything about it. Here, he has as much power as anyone: He can use words to influence other people’s thoughts and feelings. IRL, we don’t know how much power he has. He’s a black man with a job. He may be homeless; he may be a CEO. He may even be lying and be a Russian agent or last spring’s prom queen. I think Kant had a point when he said that the only thing that’s absolutely good is the good will. A good person is good even if they’re tied to a chair. A murderer doesn’t become good because they’re in prison, and a bigot without much power is still a bigot. We’ve talked about less important things here than black racism. We’ve talked about the legal status of Godzilla and proper strategy in Middle Earth. And how often have you saved the world by posting, anyway, that we’re now wasting valuable time? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/406 "2019-01-22T03:58:47Z")
Don’t worry, he’s said that he will teach us. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/407 "2019-01-22T04:40:17Z")
Based on what I’ve read of folks with radical politics, I think the answer to the OP’s question might be this: some people have been so hurt by the current system of culture, government, and economics that they think that anyone who doesn’t advocate its complete overthrow is complicit in its endurance. They seem to think that white people (and other privileged folks) are severely underestimating (or worse, dismissing) the severity, scope, and negative effects of racism in this country. In that POV, a lot of the arguments against Huey Freeman would come off like Trump supporters scolding liberals for “not being nice” to Nazis, and that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar and all that. They feel literally existentially threatened by racism, capitalism, or what have you, and think that (a lot of? Most?) people who disagree with them are at best indifferent to the suffering they and their loved ones are going through. This is, admittedly, not necessarily the case in this particular situation, but it’s something that I’ve noticed about a lot of the more vocal and hardcore socialists I come across online, for example. How much do you REALLY care about the poor and disabled and such if you’re not behind fundamentally changing or overthrowing the very system that makes them directly suffer? ---
**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:** [January 22, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/408 "2019-01-22T05:01:02Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I totally believe you think that’s a coherent thought. You’re kind of dimwitted, though. > > Exactly. I’ve got a brilliant and irascible gamer friend who’s also a hardcore Marxist and who has utter contempt for intersectionality theory, because he thinks class is the proper axis upon which to base revolutionary change. It’s a damn sight different hearing him say it from hearing a rightwing scold like octopus say it. Of course it would \*seem \*different but that’s because your simple. Like support for open borders, if the left were actually honest about the why’s of their belief system how much power would you really have? By disguising your motives you have damaged the nation with your nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/409 "2019-01-22T05:56:50Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Of course it would \*seem \*different but that’s because your simple. …goooooodnight, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/410 "2019-01-22T06:37:53Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Of course it would \*seem \*different but that’s because your simple. > > Like support for open borders, if the left were actually honest about the why’s of their belief system how much power would you really have? By disguising your motives you have damaged the nation with your nonsense. If we were simple-minded, dishonest, and had disgusting motives, why would we be arguing with you? We’d be in full agreement and campaigning for Trump. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/411 "2019-01-22T06:48:45Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Like support for open borders, if the left were actually honest about the why’s of their belief system how much power would you really have? By disguising your motives you have damaged the nation with your nonsense. What are the why’s of our belief system? How would revealing them change our “power”? What motives have we disguised? Do you believe in the Illuminati? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/412 "2019-01-22T10:24:14Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Of course it would \*seem \*different but that’s because your simple. > > Like support for open borders, if the left were actually honest about the why’s of their belief system how much power would you really have? By disguising your motives you have damaged the nation with your nonsense. We’re not disguising anything. The problem is that you fuckers are just too fucking thick to realize that building a wall won’t stop the illegal immigrants who will simply find ways to enter through legal ports of entry by way of human smuggling or visa fraud, or they will simply overstay and disappear. It’s you disgusting pieces of shit who are dishonest about your anxieties and apprehensions about all immigration, legal or otherwise. Conservatives are driven by fear not facts, which is why they buy into conspiracy theories and fake news. The world in which conservatives live is a dangerous jungle filled with non-white venomous predators. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/413 "2019-01-22T10:40:24Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > Oh, for fuck’s sake, you whimpering idiot: mocking children and spitting on the concept of adoption _is not protesting racial injustice_ by any definition of that phrase. Fuck you for insulting every person who has ever _actually_ protested racial injustice by conflating the concepts, fuck you for spitting on adopted parents and children by joining with Huey Freeman in this ridiculous way, and fuck you for being a whimpering idiot in general. It’s not your idea of protesting, but protesting can come in many forms. It can be holding hands with white people and walking through the streets, or it running around the streets and throwing rocks. Or it can be neither of those things. Maybe it’s refusing to be friendly to white people until they can demonstrate a commitment to building a society that is more equitable. And for the record, Huey didn’t necessarily mock a child or spit on the concept of adoption. I acknowledge that what he said was offensive to Shodan, and I think he meant it to be. I wouldn’t have said it, but I don’t necessarily characterize it the same way that others have. On the subject of cross-cultural adoptions and marriages: I’ll say that having lived in Asia, I’ve met a lot of white people who despite all their cross-cultural exposure were still obviously racist. Having adopted a daughter from China or having married a woman from Thailand doesn’t automatically make someone less racist. Thomas Jefferson impregnated Sally Hemmings. He was still very much a white supremacist, albeit the ones of ‘nicer’ ones among the people of his day. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/414 "2019-01-22T13:29:27Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s not your idea of protesting, but protesting can come in many forms. If attacking adopted kids is protesting, then you’ve already lost the battle. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/415 "2019-01-22T13:52:17Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Maybe it’s refusing to be friendly to white people until they can demonstrate a commitment to building a society that is more equitable. That’s fine. But to the extent that refusal to be friendly to white people involves making ludicrously false claims, it’s fair game to respond. Huey’s lack of politeness doesn’t bother me; calling me a cross burner for no reason other than I’m white does bother me a little. Claiming that white people are all _literally_ inbred autists will prompt a response — particularly around here. > [@](#): > > Having adopted a daughter from China or having married a woman from Thailand doesn’t automatically make someone less racist. Sure, but so what? Absolutely nobody disagrees with that. The idea is not so much “Shodan is not racist” as it is “Shodan didn’t purchase a trophy daughter that he cares about only as an object.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/416 "2019-01-22T14:34:03Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Like support for open borders, if the left were actually honest about the why’s of their belief system how much power would you really have? Back when I was younger and stupider, I had a lot more tolerance for wacky beliefs, such as libertarianism. I worked with a hard-left dude (who was absolutely horrible in other ways, but I digress), and we talked politics. When I defended libertarianism, he made essentially the same argument: if I were actually being honest about libertarianism, I’d admit it was morally vacuous. Around the same time, I sat on a Greyhound next to a hard-right Catholic (sedevacantist, if that means anything to you). He made the same argument: if I were actually being honest about spirituality, I’d admit that the Catholic god was the only plausible god. And around the same time, I chatted with a Hare Krishna. If I were actually honest, he insisted, I’d try the hare krishna chant for several weeks and realize it was the only true path to enlightenment. The “if you’re actually honest about” approach to politics is sincerely held by many stupid people. It’s a shortcut to argument, allows you to conclude that the only reason anyone would disagree with your brilliant logic is that they must be lying. The alternative is to consider carefully the views of your opponent, allowing for the possibility that their views are reasonable and well-founded. That can be scary. Especially for dumbasses. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/417 "2019-01-22T16:52:58Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > What are the why’s of our belief system? How would revealing them change our “power”? What motives have we disguised? Do you believe in the Illuminati? Illuminati? No. Reptile people? Maybe. Look, I’m sure many on the left are sincere. Naive but sincere. However, quite a few just parrot the superficially nice sounding concepts to gain social standing and political power. You want to know why socialism and communism is always just one more try away of doing it right this time? Because of left wing dupes. People want power. They say the right things to get mob support. It’s like a religion or a cult exploit the masses with good sounding nonsense and rule them. That’s why Huey is troublesome here. In a hive of liberalism he exposes that modern liberalism is not about a consistent set of beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/418 "2019-01-22T17:37:57Z")
I think part of **Huey** ’s problem is that he can’t see the distinction between White People Privilege, and Sane People Privilege. He knows he doesn’t have the first. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t have the second. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [January 22, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/419 "2019-01-22T19:31:52Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > We’re not disguising anything. The problem is that you fuckers are just too fucking thick to realize that building a wall won’t stop the illegal immigrants who will simply find ways to enter through legal ports of entry by way of human smuggling or visa fraud, or they will simply overstay and disappear. It’s you disgusting pieces of shit who are dishonest about your anxieties and apprehensions about all immigration, legal or otherwise. Conservatives are driven by fear not facts, which is why they buy into conspiracy theories and fake news. The world in which conservatives live is a dangerous jungle filled with non-white venomous predators. Hitler was white. Stalin was white. Seems like those would be your type of white people. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427/420 "2019-01-22T19:35:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Back when I was younger and stupider, I had a lot more tolerance for wacky beliefs, such as libertarianism. I worked with a hard-left dude (who was absolutely horrible in other ways, but I digress), and we talked politics. When I defended libertarianism, he made essentially the same argument: if I were actually being honest about libertarianism, I’d admit it was morally vacuous. > > Around the same time, I sat on a Greyhound next to a hard-right Catholic (sedevacantist, if that means anything to you). He made the same argument: if I were actually being honest about spirituality, I’d admit that the Catholic god was the only plausible god. > > And around the same time, I chatted with a Hare Krishna. If I were actually honest, he insisted, I’d try the hare krishna chant for several weeks and realize it was the only true path to enlightenment. > > The “if you’re actually honest about” approach to politics is sincerely held by many stupid people. It’s a shortcut to argument, allows you to conclude that the only reason anyone would disagree with your brilliant logic is that they must be lying. > > The alternative is to consider carefully the views of your opponent, allowing for the possibility that their views are reasonable and well-founded. That can be scary. > > Especially for dumbasses. You realize that many who are fervent advocates and followers of an ideology or a religion are led by those who use that particular belief system as a tool to manipulate? I wouldn’t be so worried about modern liberalism if one of their tenets wasn’t the worship of a supreme state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-huey-freeman/827427.md?page=22)