Outside Chamber

This isn’t what I imagined my first post here would be about, so I apologize in advance about the site being rough around the edges. I started working on the site before the incident I’m about to discuss happened and the irony of the incident happening while I was developing this site didn’t escape me. I was asked to write about my thoughts and I declined those requests. The more time went by the more I felt the need to say something.

Since no one else was. Anyway, here we go…topic of the day: Loren Feldman.

*Disclaimer: Yeah, I’m black and I’m writing this.*

I’m not going to go back through the entire history of the videos Loren Feldman created and published. You can check them out yourself. Let’s be clear on some facts:

• The video was never on Verizon’s servers and would most likely never would be.
• The video was over a year old.
• The video was obviously done as comedy - whether the viewer thought it was funny or not.
• Loren was labeled a racist based off of one video, clearly done as comedy.
• Loren was labeled a racist by people who had no knowledge of Loren prior to seeing the TechNigga video.
• When it came down to it the video, that was supposed to be so offensive, wasn’t remembered correctly.
• People who knew the back story made little to no attempt to correct the record.
• It became clear people in the echo chamber didn’t have their facts straight either, yet were quick to cast judgment.

Seriously, what the….?

I lost a lot of respect/trust for many people this week. Let me be clear: I don’t care whether you liked the video, were offended by the video, etc. I don’t care if you like Loren or not. I don’t care if you think he’s not talented yet keeps getting these deals (stop letting jealousy and envy get the best of you but again, I don’t care). That is no excuse to call someone a racist. Calling someone a racist is a serious charge, one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. One that cannot be accurately made based off of looking at one video, published a year ago and made as comedy. It’s defamation of character:

a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone’s words or actions

an abusive attack on a person’s character or good name

I never met Loren and haven’t had any exchange with him in a long time but I don’t believe he is a racist. Too many black people have met him, after seeing TechNigga, and walked away saying, “Hey, he’s not what I thought at all”. I don’t label someone a racist based off of one video. Unless Shel changed colors, the way Loren was on Shel’s case would really make me think twice on labeling him a racist - since there are black targets he could use all day long.

In other words: I don’t label someone a racist unless I have facts to back it up. I definitely wouldn’t do it publicly and I sure as hell wouldn’t allow such filth to remain on my site without clearly stating I didn’t agree and advise others in the ignorance (meaning lack of knowledge, uniformed or uneducated on the issue) of their words.

The truth hurts

A member in my community posted this video in the Humor community. It’s a video made by The Onion titled Missing Girl Probably Raped. I don’t read/view The Onion so while watching this, it has a “real” look to the video so those not familiar with The Onion’s style tends to become baffled pretty quickly at the insensitivity of the video. I didn’t think it was funny.

Because I’m a rape victim.

Let me be very clear: I understand the point the video is attempting to make but as a rape victim it has a different meaning for me. That has nothing to do with anyone else though, does it? If I have a problem with it then it’s up to me to stop watching it. The thought never crossed my mind to request the video be removed to stop others from watching it.

Because I don’t censor what other people watch or read. I sure as hell don’t play God with other people’s wallets. Obviously people aren’t like me because they feel that, because they don’t like something, they have the right to control and censor what other people view/read.

The reason why I didn’t like The Onion’s video was because it hit home, it became personal to me. For those that had a reaction to Loren’s video the only reason to have a reaction is if it hits home - there is some truth to the video. Just like playing a violent game isn’t going to cause someone to be a murderer someone watching that video (that was obvious comedy) wouldn’t automatically think black people are like that…unless of course the image in the video matches what could be seen publicly. And hence, that’s where the problem was/is. Doesn’t take much to find examples of the behavior Loren had in his video.

At least I have the guts to admit The Onion’s video became personal and the wisdom to realize it’s MY problem. In the discussion within my community the females had a problem with the video, the men did not but the females did not cross that line to say the video should be removed (as in requesting The Onion stop syndicating it and for the record The Onion is on V Cast), the men were against women for seeing the humor in it, etc.

What being online has become….

I don’t like what I saw but I’m not going to play God and start punishing people based on what I don’t like. Loren was let go from Podtech over the video a year ago. He paid his dues - clean slate, time to move on. To be “punished” over the same video over a year later is messed up. Our court of laws don’t work that way, the principles of the US don’t work that way.

It’s ironic that Bernie Mac stepped into the same type of issue Loren did last night. He performed at Obama’s fund-raising show. Bernie Mac made an off-colored joke but from the reports there are not one, not two, but three different versions of “the jokes” that caused Obama to make the remarks he made. It seems to me everything Bernie said was inappropriate but I wasn’t there so I don’t know. The point: three different stories based on three different interpretations from the person writing the article. And none of them have the part where Bernie made a joke about hoes, bringing the total to four (and I’m not looking for more). The forth makes the most sense, but see how the story was filtered, spun around and changed based on the person writing the story? And, I can’t help but point out, black people joking about hoes…yeah, another example of the behavior Loren joked about in his video. A year later, it’s still happening.

There is an article that says Obama is a racist because he said “typical white person”. If you read the comments in that article doesn’t it remind you of the comments based on Loren this week? If you think those comments are messed up…

Here’s an idea: don’t get mad at the person that brings the behavior to light. Get mad at everyone who uses the behavior, regardless of race. I expect that niche to start boycotting Bernie Mac…immediately otherwise….what’s the word? Oh yeah….hypocrite. If Loren was wrong, so is Bernie.

The “he’s black, he can say that” argument does not fly with me. That’s the root problem with racism. If a word is “wrong” everyone stop saying it otherwise, obviously, it’s not that bad, is it?

Racism won’t stop until either everyone laughs when these stereotypes, words, etc. are used or no one uses them. You pick. Either way, everyone has to get on the same page for racism to truly end.

In the end….

It’s time for some maturity if Obama’s wish (if elected President) has any hope of coming true. There are a lot of people in jail (yes, black ones too) that, once out, expect to be given a clean slate because they served their time. Loren has paid not once but twice for the same offense (remember there are protections against this a court of law - it’s called double jeopardy). If another deal (or whatever) comes up for Loren and that video once again is brought up by a certain niche then that niche can’t say a damn thing about the same standard being held across the board (on anything) by their actions, their words and what they do. I guarantee you that if that standard was set, it will hurt that niche a hell of a lot more.

You can’t have it both ways.

On the NPR interview - IMO the interview should never have been done but since it was, I’m not going to boycott it or anything. There was no purpose, I “really” don’t understand what Fast Company today has to do with Loren’s Verizon deal. Due to the conflict of interest there, I think it should have never have been done but that is from a business perspective. I’ve written about Fast Company and my thoughts about them so I won’t rehash them here.

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. - Bertrand Russell

*The quote in the title is by Leontyne Price.

I’ve closed comments because this entry isn’t about discussing the issues I’ve written about. It’s about me making it clear I don’t think Loren is a racist. I think the Verizon deal should have run its course. I don’t believe in censoring adults - I believe people have the wisdom to make their own decisions and if not, isn’t about time they learned? After this week I seriously doubt racism will die anytime soon (not in my lifetime) because too many people are still holding on to it.