7 ms·

Apparently Cuban's reasoning is that with a black President, suddenly inner-city wannabe gangsters will start writing Rails apps.

fallentimes 18y ago
Even if it seems sort of trite and artificial to many people (including myself) having a black President with a name that sounds like "Osama" is a big achievement.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
  I had a long discussion a few days ago with a close friend about racism in America. It's real and does exist, but it really warms my heart to see the nation come together in spite of that to elect their new President.
  - hugh 18y ago
    What about the point of view that Obama won partially because of pro-black racism? Both among blacks and whites, there were people who admitted voting for him because of his "race". Now, I myself don't believe in this "race" concept that other people seem so obsessed with, but I still find that a disturbing thought -- just as disturbing as the thought that some people were voting against him for his "race".
    - rw 18y ago
      Call it affirmative action. There isn't a problem with so-called "reverse racism" when it is being used to repair centuries of injustice.
      - fallentimes 18y ago
        People of today shouldn't pay for the crimes of people of yesterday (even if it does end up happening a lot). That's why AA/Title9/etc are great in theory, but pretty awful in execution. If only we were all color blind...
    - LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
      You have a good question, and I don't have an answer to it that fully satisfies me. I also find the idea of making race a deciding factor in one's voting choices disturbing. I won't deny that some individuals will have voted along those lines, either for or against a candidate. Despite that, I still find it heartening that a solid candidate from a long-marginalized group can have such success in today's political climate. I feel like I can finally start believing that we as a nation are overcoming the old and poisonous biases that were alive and well in my grandparents' time.
    - olefoo 18y ago
      People make voting decisions based on all sorts of irrelevant irrational prejudices and on rational, well thought out, heavily researched grounds as well. The guy who bases his vote on a coin flip has as much right to vote as the person who runs detailed financial simulations of the candidates declared policy initiatives. That's what makes it a democracy.
- wensing 18y ago
  I was living in Chicago when Obama first ran for Senator. The first time I saw "OBAMA" on a billboard, I thought there was no way in the world he would get elected in our post-9/11 world.
jimbokun 18y ago
Your insinuation that black people are all "inner-city wannabe gangsters" is appalling.
- mynameishere 18y ago
  I'm wondering if this willful distortion of logic is ever going to end. Look, here's what Cuban said: ...our amazing country once again reinvigorated the dream that any child in this country, no matter what circumstances they are born into, can grow up to be anything they want... It seems that "no matter what circumstances" is intended to mean, among other things, "black", since that is what Cuban is talking about in the rest of the piece. Presumably, since Obama is not a scion of oil money or an Admiral's son, he also implies that "poor blacks" will start thinking that they can become anything they want. I'm pretty sure that's what Cuban means. Now, if you state it as bluntly as possible, here's what you get: "I believe that Obama will inspire poor, criminally-inclined inner city black people to straighten up, study, work hard, etc." or "Apparently Cuban's reasoning is that with a black President, suddenly inner-city wannabe gangsters will start writing Rails apps." Now, that is NOT THE SAME AS SAYING "All black people are inner-city gangsters". That's a logical error, and your peers are upmodding you in celebration of your logical error, which pisses me off because that's how politics always works: Opinion trumps reason. The OP is basically right. But we'll just have to see whether Cuban is.
  - mileszs 18y ago
    Aren't you stating that poor and black also imply criminally-inclined? That is where the logical error is, as far as I can tell. I'm not trying to be snide. I honestly don't see how criminally-inclined or 'wannabe-gangsters' follows from "no matter what circumstances they are born into".
    - nazgulnarsil 18y ago
      poor and black does imply criminally inclined. reality doesn't care about your notions of what is fair or open minded.
- 18y ago
icey 18y ago
I don't really like commenting on politics here; because it's the wrong place for it. But I can tell you for certain that electing a black President has certainly made it far easier to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to basic intelligence.
- dhimes 18y ago
  ??
  - icey 18y ago
    I'm just saying that it's surprising how many people still appear to be patently racist, even here. I think it says a lot about a person's intelligence if they still carry around these weird racial biases in this day and age; especially as hackers - you would think people would know better.
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]

fallentimes 18y ago

Even if it seems sort of trite and artificial to many people (including myself) having a black President with a name that sounds like "Osama" is a big achievement.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
I had a long discussion a few days ago with a close friend about racism in America. It's real and does exist, but it really warms my heart to see the nation come together in spite of that to elect their new President.
- hugh 18y ago
  What about the point of view that Obama won partially because of pro-black racism? Both among blacks and whites, there were people who admitted voting for him because of his "race". Now, I myself don't believe in this "race" concept that other people seem so obsessed with, but I still find that a disturbing thought -- just as disturbing as the thought that some people were voting against him for his "race".
  - rw 18y ago
    Call it affirmative action. There isn't a problem with so-called "reverse racism" when it is being used to repair centuries of injustice.
    - fallentimes 18y ago
      People of today shouldn't pay for the crimes of people of yesterday (even if it does end up happening a lot). That's why AA/Title9/etc are great in theory, but pretty awful in execution. If only we were all color blind...
  - LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
    You have a good question, and I don't have an answer to it that fully satisfies me. I also find the idea of making race a deciding factor in one's voting choices disturbing. I won't deny that some individuals will have voted along those lines, either for or against a candidate. Despite that, I still find it heartening that a solid candidate from a long-marginalized group can have such success in today's political climate. I feel like I can finally start believing that we as a nation are overcoming the old and poisonous biases that were alive and well in my grandparents' time.
  - olefoo 18y ago
    People make voting decisions based on all sorts of irrelevant irrational prejudices and on rational, well thought out, heavily researched grounds as well. The guy who bases his vote on a coin flip has as much right to vote as the person who runs detailed financial simulations of the candidates declared policy initiatives. That's what makes it a democracy.
wensing 18y ago
I was living in Chicago when Obama first ran for Senator. The first time I saw "OBAMA" on a billboard, I thought there was no way in the world he would get elected in our post-9/11 world.

jimbokun 18y ago

Your insinuation that black people are all "inner-city wannabe gangsters" is appalling.

mynameishere 18y ago
I'm wondering if this willful distortion of logic is ever going to end. Look, here's what Cuban said: ...our amazing country once again reinvigorated the dream that any child in this country, no matter what circumstances they are born into, can grow up to be anything they want... It seems that "no matter what circumstances" is intended to mean, among other things, "black", since that is what Cuban is talking about in the rest of the piece. Presumably, since Obama is not a scion of oil money or an Admiral's son, he also implies that "poor blacks" will start thinking that they can become anything they want. I'm pretty sure that's what Cuban means. Now, if you state it as bluntly as possible, here's what you get: "I believe that Obama will inspire poor, criminally-inclined inner city black people to straighten up, study, work hard, etc." or "Apparently Cuban's reasoning is that with a black President, suddenly inner-city wannabe gangsters will start writing Rails apps." Now, that is NOT THE SAME AS SAYING "All black people are inner-city gangsters". That's a logical error, and your peers are upmodding you in celebration of your logical error, which pisses me off because that's how politics always works: Opinion trumps reason. The OP is basically right. But we'll just have to see whether Cuban is.
- mileszs 18y ago
  Aren't you stating that poor and black also imply criminally-inclined? That is where the logical error is, as far as I can tell. I'm not trying to be snide. I honestly don't see how criminally-inclined or 'wannabe-gangsters' follows from "no matter what circumstances they are born into".
  - nazgulnarsil 18y ago
    poor and black does imply criminally inclined. reality doesn't care about your notions of what is fair or open minded.
18y ago

icey 18y ago

I don't really like commenting on politics here; because it's the wrong place for it. But I can tell you for certain that electing a black President has certainly made it far easier to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to basic intelligence.

dhimes 18y ago
??
- icey 18y ago
  I'm just saying that it's surprising how many people still appear to be patently racist, even here. I think it says a lot about a person's intelligence if they still carry around these weird racial biases in this day and age; especially as hackers - you would think people would know better.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]