High Schooler Dresses up as KKK member for Halloween

[istewart]

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If you honestly believe that wear a KKK costume next halloween and walk through harlmem with it.

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Nice comparison.

[istewart]

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The people who do [censored] like this never had to deal with discrimination in their lives and think its all fun and games.

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And the people that get offended by Hitler costumes are living in Schwartzensteinberg suburb in New Jersey with $2M houses, who cringe when they have to come close to black cashiers at supermarkets. Yet nobody gets up-in-arms about that.

[istewart]

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like when a school is forced to not use the word Christmas and instead replace it with the word holiday or something because some parents decide to make a big deal over Semitics.

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FYP

[istewart]

lol, I thought OP was DrewDevil, nvm that.

[DrVanNostrin]

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A good example was the Phelps church that had all those ridiculous anti-homosexual picket signs and doing stuff like protesting at the funerals of fallen U.S. soliders, saying that they deserved to die and a whole bunch of insane things. I was extremely offended and shocked after watching this documentary on these people. Do you think it's "stupid" to be offended by that or get upset over it? They didn't use anything but words, after all.

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I don't get what's offensive about the fact that stupid people exist. You know these people shouldn't be taken seriously, right? So why do you take the insane things they do and say seriously? All it does is validate their opinions (that is, give them the impression their opinions matter to you).

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What kind of thing is this to say? Nothing offends you or pisses you off? You are human, aren't you? If you are, seek medical attention. I don't think you have any emotions, or the far more likelier case is that you're saying this because it sounds good in your head, but don't follow it yourself. I don't blame you either, it's just not practical.

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Some things do offend and bother me. But those things are things that actually impact something. Dressing up like the KKK for halloween doesn't do anything. The kids are not advocating the beliefs of the KKK.

BTW, I do see how advocating these beliefs could be offensive. But it's only because the actions of the KKK do have a negative impact. If the KKK never acted on their beliefs would it still be offensive?

[aislephive]

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Some things do offend and bother me. But those things are things that actually impact something. Dressing up like the KKK for halloween doesn't do anything. The kids are not advocating the beliefs of the KKK.

BTW, I do see how advocating these beliefs could be offensive. But it's only because the actions of the KKK do have a negative impact. If the KKK never acted on their beliefs would it still be offensive?

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What do you mean by "impact something?" Being offended basically always involves something that doesn't affect anything unless you let it. It does not matter what their intentions were, it's not like mst people think that these kids were racist or had evil intentions. It doesn't matter, it's still out of line. And it does affect people around them negatively, I don't buy that it doesn't impact anything. Maybe not to the extent that some other things do, but nonetheless it's not acceptable.

It's also a moot point about what the KKK would be viewed as if they were a mildly racist and harmless group. They are and always will be seen as an extremely violent group that promoted racial segregation. Any attempt to represent this group regardless of your intention will offend the public and piss people off. Any black person will certainly take offense, but so will a lot of white people as well.

[MicroBob]

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And no its not just white liberals that get offended. Lebowski If you honestly believe that wear a KKK costume next halloween and walk through harlmem with it.

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You don't even need to be black OR liberal to be offended by it.
My Mom has voted Republican her whole life and is as anti-liberal and anti-Hilary as they come. Listens to and watches all the various conservatives like Limbaugh, Hannity, etc etc.
Also worked for a Republican governor where she had a desk along-side intern Dick Cheney.

She would be INCREDIBLY offended by somebody wearing something like this. Thought the situation in my home-town where two kids did this was just terrible and was offended by that too.

You could walk through or go trick-or-treating in either of my parents' neighborhoods which are probably both 80%+ Republican/conservative and I think you would find yourself really offending practically everyone there and possibly having to deal with some violent senior-citizens ganging up against you.


OTOH - I consider myself fairly liberal and I'm still a little torn about it because I feel they have the right to express themselves even if their opinions offend me and/or most people.

Note that in my experience with this from my hometown the TRUE liberals, the ACLU, were there to HELP the KKK and their right to march and express themselves.

[chesspain]

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By sending these kids home and forcing them to apologize you are taking away some of their freedoms. I don't know about the technical aspects of Canadian freedoms, but I think this would clearly fall under the freedom of expression clause in America.

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You should have paid more attention while in school.

[DrVanNostrin]

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Some things do offend and bother me. But those things are things that actually impact something. Dressing up like the KKK for halloween doesn't do anything. The kids are not advocating the beliefs of the KKK.

BTW, I do see how advocating these beliefs could be offensive. But it's only because the actions of the KKK do have a negative impact. If the KKK never acted on their beliefs would it still be offensive?

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What do you mean by "impact something?" Being offended basically always involves something that doesn't affect anything unless you let it. It does not matter what their intentions were, it's not like mst people think that these kids were racist or had evil intentions. It doesn't matter, it's still out of line. And it does affect people around them negatively, I don't buy that it doesn't impact anything. Maybe not to the extent that some other things do, but nonetheless it's not acceptable.

It's also a moot point about what the KKK would be viewed as if they were a mildly racist and harmless group. They are and always will be seen as an extremely violent group that promoted racial segregation. Any attempt to represent this group regardless of your intention will offend the public and piss people off. Any black person will certainly take offense, but so will a lot of white people as well.

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If I sit here and say I hate black people, etc, it doesn't impact anything. If I go out and commit crimes against random black people it does. What's technically wrong with the KKK isn't their beliefs, it's their actions. I don't get worked up about those beliefs. I would be upset by the actions. I can even understand getting upset about the beliefs as there is a correlation between beliefs and actions. But dressing up as KKK members for halloween does not have anything to do with beliefs. If someone went as a vampire would they be promoting the consumption of human blood?

The reaction this sort of thing gets is the reaction I'd expect, but I still think the is reaction silly.

[aislephive]

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If I sit here and say I hate black people, etc, it doesn't impact anything. If I go out and commit crimes against random black people it does. What's technically wrong with the KKK isn't their beliefs, it's their actions. I don't get worked up about those beliefs. I would be upset by the actions. I can even understand co getting upset about the beliefs as there is a correlation between beliefs and actions. But dressing up as KKK members for halloween does not have anything to do with beliefs. If someone went as a vampire would they be promoting the consumption of human blood?

The reaction this sort of thing gets is the reaction I'd expect, but I still think the is reaction silly.

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You just can't compare the costume of a fictional character from a movie to a costume of a member of one of the most evil and despised clans in history. Sorry, it's a weak analogy.

Sure you can say that you hate black people randomly or whatever, and probably nobody will do anything but give you a disgusted look and a couple choice words. But if you sit on the corner with a sign that says "I hate black people" and you yell that in a megaphone every minute as well I'm sure you will see that it makes an impact, regardless if you believe in what you're doing.