The Off Topic Topic

[Savonarola]

Okay now apparently they're going after the Cream of Wheat guy.  Never knew his back story but if what someone posted is true, I guess he's got to go.

But Mrs. Butterworth?  Seriously??  How could she offend? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z45ys7oJuCA

I dunno, here's the story according to Wiki:

The original boxes of Cream of Wheat were handmade and lettered, and they were emblazoned with the image of an African American chef produced by Emery Mapes. The character was named Rastus and was developed by artist Edward V. Brewer. Rastus was included on all boxes and advertisements. It has long been thought that a chef named Frank L. White was the model for the chef shown on the Cream of Wheat box—a claim White himself made. White's headstone contains his name and an etching taken from the man depicted on the Cream of Wheat box.[9]

Leading up to 2020, there had been public pressure aimed at various companies to change branding that had racist origins, such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's.[10] The character of Rastus had once been depicted by B&G Foods as a cook who was barely literate and did not know about vitamins. Rastus is also a derogatory term traditionally associated with African Americans in the United States. For these reasons, B&G Foods had been under public pressure for years to make changes.[11]

Demands from the public increased during the George Floyd protests in 2020. In response, on June 17, 2020, B&G Foods said they were "initiating an immediate review of the Cream of Wheat brand packaging."[12]

It's just a picture of a black chef - and the chef himself seemed proud of it.  The only offensive thing appears to be that they gave the character the name "Rastus" which is apparently derogatory, although I don't know if that name was ever used in marketing.

Some of the Cream of Wheat advertisements used in the 1920s like this one would be considered racist by today's standards.

[Valmy]

This kind of thing has been going on forever. Just random folks getting fired from their jobs and having their lives ruined for pieces of bad judgement. I am all for letting people know what they did was unacceptable and having them apologize and have a discussion I can see. But this kind of scarlett letter puritanism isn't helping anything, I don't think. Especially when we are not even talking about a person of power, just some schlubb that can be easily bullied.

[Valmy]

Some of the Cream of Wheat advertisements used in the 1920s like this one would be considered racist by today's standards.

Probably even by 1950s standards. The 1920s and 1930s was that period where old school racism met the early days of mass consumer culture.

[garbon]

Another extreme cancel culture example.  Unfortunately the original article is paywalled, but heavily quoted in this critique:

https://reason.com/2020/06/18/washington-post-blackface-halloween-costume-cancel-culture/

50-something year old woman goes to a Halloween Party in 2018 hosted by a cartoonist for the Washington Post.  This woman wore a business suit, wore blackface, and had a name tag that read "Hello, my name is Megyn Kelly".  Apparently this was because Kelly had said earlier in the week that "When I was a kid, that was okay, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character."

Anyways, two people took offence to the blackface back in 2018, confronted the woman, and she left the party.  She apologized to the cartoonist host the next day for her costume.

But anyways two years later these two decide to dig this story up.  They didn't know the woman's name so they went back to the cartoonist.  When he didn't immediately give up her name, they accused him of complicity in her racism.  The cartoonist gave up the name, the two spoke with the woman, the woman reported this to her employer, who immediately fired her.

And this woman... is nobody.  She's a government contractor, nobody famous or noteworthy.

And then it turns into a 3000 word story in the Washington Post.

Bye, bitch.

[Grey Fox]

Another extreme cancel culture example.  Unfortunately the original article is paywalled, but heavily quoted in this critique:

https://reason.com/2020/06/18/washington-post-blackface-halloween-costume-cancel-culture/

50-something year old woman goes to a Halloween Party in 2018 hosted by a cartoonist for the Washington Post.  This woman wore a business suit, wore blackface, and had a name tag that read "Hello, my name is Megyn Kelly".  Apparently this was because Kelly had said earlier in the week that "When I was a kid, that was okay, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character."

Anyways, two people took offence to the blackface back in 2018, confronted the woman, and she left the party.  She apologized to the cartoonist host the next day for her costume.

But anyways two years later these two decide to dig this story up.  They didn't know the woman's name so they went back to the cartoonist.  When he didn't immediately give up her name, they accused him of complicity in her racism.  The cartoonist gave up the name, the two spoke with the woman, the woman reported this to her employer, who immediately fired her.

And this woman... is nobody.  She's a government contractor, nobody famous or noteworthy.

And then it turns into a 3000 word story in the Washington Post.

The world built by the Boomers where you be a nice person in your public persona but a sociopathic predator in your private life is quickly eroding.

It is not a entirely bad thing.

[Barrister]

This kind of thing has been going on forever. Just random folks getting fired from their jobs and having their lives ruined for pieces of bad judgement. I am all for letting people know what they did was unacceptable and having them apologize and have a discussion I can see. But this kind of scarlett letter puritanism isn't helping anything, I don't think. Especially when we are not even talking about a person of power, just some schlubb that can be easily bullied.

But it hasn't been going on forever.  I don't remember people digging through the past from years ago and getting random people fired.  If it's public figures that's one thing, but now it can go after anyone.

[Barrister]

The world built by the Boomers where you be a nice person in your public persona but a sociopathic predator in your private life is quickly eroding.

It is not a entirely bad thing.

This woman is hardly a sociopathic predator.  She wore ill-advised blackface to a party - seemingly to make fun of Megyn Kelly, not to deliberately offend anyone (other than Kelly).

Never mind that this woman didn't need to lose her job - it's unbelievable that the Post even considered this newsworthy.

[Valmy]

This kind of thing has been going on forever. Just random folks getting fired from their jobs and having their lives ruined for pieces of bad judgement. I am all for letting people know what they did was unacceptable and having them apologize and have a discussion I can see. But this kind of scarlett letter puritanism isn't helping anything, I don't think. Especially when we are not even talking about a person of power, just some schlubb that can be easily bullied.

But it hasn't been going on forever.  I don't remember people digging through the past from years ago and getting random people fired.  If it's public figures that's one thing, but now it can go after anyone.

I do. Stuff like this was happening a decade ago. It was one of the things that drove me off most Social Media by 2014.

[Sheilbh]

I always get annoyed at conservatives who moan about post-modernism or other modern theories (and not targeting BBoy here), when from here, say, post-modernism seems like a fairly acute and relevant analysis of our world. If only conservatives stopped hating on modern theory, they might have a better way of understanding internalised and diffuse ways we subject ourselves and others to disciplinary/coercive power.

[Valmy]

The world built by the Boomers where you be a nice person in your public persona but a sociopathic predator in your private life is quickly eroding.

It is not a entirely bad thing.

It seems like she was criticizing Kelly for saying blackface was ok. Granted that was kind of a weird way to express that sentiment but "edgey" halloween costumes getting people in trouble is almost a seasonal tradition now.

[Grey Fox]

The world built by the Boomers where you be a nice person in your public persona but a sociopathic predator in your private life is quickly eroding.

It is not a entirely bad thing.

It seems like she was criticizing Kelly for saying blackface was ok. Granted that was kind of a weird way to express that sentiment but "edgey" halloween costumes getting people in trouble is almost a seasonal tradition now.

I'm only using the n-word in a sarcastic way to protest the use of the n-word by other white people.

[garbon]

This kind of thing has been going on forever. Just random folks getting fired from their jobs and having their lives ruined for pieces of bad judgement. I am all for letting people know what they did was unacceptable and having them apologize and have a discussion I can see. But this kind of scarlett letter puritanism isn't helping anything, I don't think. Especially when we are not even talking about a person of power, just some schlubb that can be easily bullied.

But it hasn't been going on forever.  I don't remember people digging through the past from years ago and getting random people fired.  If it's public figures that's one thing, but now it can go after anyone.

Good, they shouldn't think they are safe.

[Valmy]

The world built by the Boomers where you be a nice person in your public persona but a sociopathic predator in your private life is quickly eroding.

It is not a entirely bad thing.

It seems like she was criticizing Kelly for saying blackface was ok. Granted that was kind of a weird way to express that sentiment but "edgey" halloween costumes getting people in trouble is almost a seasonal tradition now.

I'm only using the n-word in a sarcastic way to protest the use of the n-word by other white people.

Well you shouldn't do that. But if you stop doing it and apologize I won't hunt you down two years later and get you fired from your job. Is that fair?

[Admiral Yi]

I'm only using the n-word in a sarcastic way to protest the use of the n-word by other white people.

Exactly.  If a stand up comedian did a bit about racist rednecks that would be a very good analogy.

[Valmy]

Good, they shouldn't think they are safe.

I mean she left the party and immediately apologized. In what way was she signalling that she was safe to do whatever she wanted? She clearly figured out pretty quickly what she did was wrong and tried to make amends.