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Adams: "I'm going to back off from being helpful to Black America because it doesn't seem like it pays off. I get called a racist. That's the only outcome. It m

Adams: "I'm going to back off from being helpful to Black America because it doesn't seem like it pays off. I get called a racist. That's the only outcome. It makes no sense to help Black Americans if you're white. It's over. Don't even think it's worth trying. I'm not saying start a war or do anything bad. Nothing like that. I'm just saying get away. Just get away."

cykros 9mo ago
[flagged]
- sanktanglia 9mo ago
  Casting helping black people as a lost cause is not him deciding not to be an ally. It's him literally spreading racist rhetoric about black people as a whole
  - rchaud 9mo ago
    with more than a whiff of neo-colonialist "why aren't they greeting us as liberators?" thinking.
- spicymaki 9mo ago
  I am always genuinely curious when someone interprets something that is blatantly racist to me as something not. What about what Scott said was not racist? How do you define racism?
  - choeger 9mo ago
    It starts by believing that there are distinct human races (which there are not). That alone makes most US Americans racist based on language alone. No (sane) German would nowadays speak of "Rasse" to describe someone with a different skin color. Then, of course, racism consists of the believe that some races are intrinsically less valuable (in whatever sense) than others. I didn't see Scott Adams voice that part. But I might have missed it or it might have been implied. But it's important to note that US identity politics of the last couple of decades looks increasingly weird to me as an outsider in any case.
    - shermantanktop 9mo ago
      Using "Rasse" as a direct dictionary translation and then saying that it doesn't have the same cultural connotation in another culture is nonsensical. The term "race" means something in the context of American culture, which is due to our troubled history. And Adams' comments are also in the context of that same culture. But I believe some other countries have their own challenges living up to their nominal multi-ethnic ideals. Surely if I pop open a copy of Der Spiegel and start commenting about the finer points of an immigration policy proposal from an American perspective, I am going to get something wrong.
    - bluegatty 9mo ago
      "It starts by believing that there are distinct human races (which there are not). . That alone makes most US Americans racist based on language alone. " Sorry, but no. The scientific community has moved away from 'race' in the biological sense (although there is debate) but the sociological construct of race, which is what we refer to in this context, obviously exists. When a person 'self identifies' as Black, or Asian or White - that is 'race' - in the 'social construct' sense and it's perfectly accepted and normal - the recognition of that does not make one racist.
      - choeger 9mo ago
        > but the sociological construct of race, which is what we refer to in this context, obviously exists. I doubt that something built on self-identification yields a meaningful concept of racism.
        bluegatty 9mo ago
        It's clear as day, and it's hard to understand that someone could be confused by this. It's literally on the census form. 'Race' is a cultural euphemism for broader ethnicity. AKA 'European = White' - 'African = Black' - more or less. These are not arbitrary groups of 'self identification' like 'emo' or 'punk'. These groups are even self organizing - every single US city is built around small enclaves of groups - they pop right out on urban maps. We've been fighting tribal wars since the dawn of time, it's not hard to imagine how the 'Flemish' vs. 'Dutch' is not going to extend to 'European vs. African'. Elon Musk, on twitter, 2 days ago, was interjecting on this horrible bit of 'race war' nonsense, talking about 'blacks eviscerate whites' etc.. Again - while there's feeble support for the notion of 'race' in the field of biology (although I think it's more controversial than stated), we obviously have cultural foundations around those concepts. Honestly - this kind of argument is plausibly the 'worst thing' about HN. I don't understand how something so common and obvious could be devoid in the face of some, odd, hair-splitting rhetoric.
  - throw310822 9mo ago
    From what I understood (and I might be misinterpreting or applying a too sympathetic filter) Scott was upset because of the spread of a political ideology (identity politics) and because of its tangible impacts on society (for example DEI policies). The entire tirade against black people starts from commenting an opinion poll according to which a sizable proportion of black interviewees disagrees with the statement "it's OK to be white"- which, applied to any other ethnic group, would be pure and blatant racism. So his reaction is that of someone who's upset and disappointed at learning that he's despised by some group of people for his ethnicity, and advises to just stay away from those who harbour these sentiments.
    - spicymaki 9mo ago
      Thanks for the context. I checked Wikipedia for more details from the slogan and here is what it says: > In a February 2023 poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a polling firm often referred to by conservative media, 72% of 1,000 respondents agreed with the statement "It's okay to be White". Among the 130 black respondents, 53% agreed, while 26% disagreed, and 21% were unsure. Slate magazine suggested that some negative respondents may have been familiar with the term's links with white supremacy. Scott was a rather intelligent person with an MBA from UC Berkeley. How do you go from a sample of 130 black people a majority who agree with the slogan and only a minority against (less than a quarter). To all black people? Is that not an extreme overreaction?
      - throw310822 9mo ago
        > Is that not an extreme overreaction? It is indeed, but I think it makes sense to see it in the context of the culture wars. You can be upset at 47% of respondents to a poll disagreeing or being unsure that it's ok to be from your ethnic group; but that compounds with being upset at the perceived folly of a cultural movement that denies this is wrong or even encourages this way of thinking. It's the usual polarization mechanism, where apparent extremism of one side is so upsetting that it fuels or justifies an equally extreme reaction on the other. So again, I don't think it makes sense to judge these statements in a vacuum as if they were well thought and considered. They are momentary angry reactions to a perceived wrong.
  - jrm4 9mo ago
    Black person here, and I too am finding this thread confusing. Adams here was doing one of two things, either being blatantly racist or (perhaps the more generous, and perhaps more likely) being extremely bad at comedy? It is of course "possible" to comedically play around with "what team am I on," but you have to be good at it or you look like -- if not racist -- a completely oblivious weirdo, and he was obviously one of the two here?
    - solaris2007 9mo ago
      This interview the day after the "cancelling" debacle sheds full light on the whole thing. Hotep Jesus' podcast - Scott Adams Interview https://rumble.com/v2axwg2-scott-adams-interview-its-okay-to-be-white.html
  - bluegatty 9mo ago
    It's obviously racist - but people have to stop assuming that word means one thing. In that statement, it's not disdain for another group, it's disdain and resignation over racial politics. He seems to in fact have empathy, but has become maligned for some reason. He's seems to be 'giving up' on the cause and suggesting people go their separate ways. It's frankly much more cynical than it is racist. That's nothing near a traditional racist view. It's the posture of a cynical, old angry man - not some kind of White Nationlist. I'm not justifying anything but I am indicating that these thins are obviously nuanced. That said - I'm reflecting on a single comment, not his entire body of ugly commentary.
- stetrain 9mo ago
  I'm not sure I would describe this as "deciding to not actively ally": "So I realized, as you know I've been identifying as Black for a while, years now, because I like to be on the winning team" "But as of today I'm going to re-identify as White, because I don't want to be a member of a hate group, I'd accidentally joined a hate group." "The best advice I would give to White people is to get away hell away from Black people, just get the fuck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there's no fixing this, this can't be fixed, you just have to escape. So that's what I did, I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low Black population" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s
  - tim333 9mo ago
    I'm not sure if the whole thing isn't a bit unfair. Lots of people in America want to live in fancy low crime neighbourhoods rather than getto like but know not say a lot of their thinking so as to not be cancelled. The "ok to be white" thing was based on some dumb 4chan trolling, and quite likely got misinterpreted.
stetrain 9mo ago
You missed a few: "So I realized, as you know I've been identifying as Black for a while, years now, because I like to be on the winning team" "But as of today I'm going to re-identify as White, because I don't want to be a member of a hate group, I'd accidentally joined a hate group." "The best advice I would give to White people is to get away hell away from Black people, just get the fuck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there's no fixing this, this can't be fixed, you just have to escape. So that's what I did, I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low Black population" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
CodeWriter23 9mo ago
/whoosh

cykros 9mo ago

[flagged]

sanktanglia 9mo ago
Casting helping black people as a lost cause is not him deciding not to be an ally. It's him literally spreading racist rhetoric about black people as a whole
- rchaud 9mo ago
  with more than a whiff of neo-colonialist "why aren't they greeting us as liberators?" thinking.
spicymaki 9mo ago
I am always genuinely curious when someone interprets something that is blatantly racist to me as something not. What about what Scott said was not racist? How do you define racism?
- choeger 9mo ago
  It starts by believing that there are distinct human races (which there are not). That alone makes most US Americans racist based on language alone. No (sane) German would nowadays speak of "Rasse" to describe someone with a different skin color. Then, of course, racism consists of the believe that some races are intrinsically less valuable (in whatever sense) than others. I didn't see Scott Adams voice that part. But I might have missed it or it might have been implied. But it's important to note that US identity politics of the last couple of decades looks increasingly weird to me as an outsider in any case.
  - shermantanktop 9mo ago
    Using "Rasse" as a direct dictionary translation and then saying that it doesn't have the same cultural connotation in another culture is nonsensical. The term "race" means something in the context of American culture, which is due to our troubled history. And Adams' comments are also in the context of that same culture. But I believe some other countries have their own challenges living up to their nominal multi-ethnic ideals. Surely if I pop open a copy of Der Spiegel and start commenting about the finer points of an immigration policy proposal from an American perspective, I am going to get something wrong.
  - bluegatty 9mo ago
    "It starts by believing that there are distinct human races (which there are not). . That alone makes most US Americans racist based on language alone. " Sorry, but no. The scientific community has moved away from 'race' in the biological sense (although there is debate) but the sociological construct of race, which is what we refer to in this context, obviously exists. When a person 'self identifies' as Black, or Asian or White - that is 'race' - in the 'social construct' sense and it's perfectly accepted and normal - the recognition of that does not make one racist.
    - choeger 9mo ago
      > but the sociological construct of race, which is what we refer to in this context, obviously exists. I doubt that something built on self-identification yields a meaningful concept of racism.
      - bluegatty 9mo ago
        It's clear as day, and it's hard to understand that someone could be confused by this. It's literally on the census form. 'Race' is a cultural euphemism for broader ethnicity. AKA 'European = White' - 'African = Black' - more or less. These are not arbitrary groups of 'self identification' like 'emo' or 'punk'. These groups are even self organizing - every single US city is built around small enclaves of groups - they pop right out on urban maps. We've been fighting tribal wars since the dawn of time, it's not hard to imagine how the 'Flemish' vs. 'Dutch' is not going to extend to 'European vs. African'. Elon Musk, on twitter, 2 days ago, was interjecting on this horrible bit of 'race war' nonsense, talking about 'blacks eviscerate whites' etc.. Again - while there's feeble support for the notion of 'race' in the field of biology (although I think it's more controversial than stated), we obviously have cultural foundations around those concepts. Honestly - this kind of argument is plausibly the 'worst thing' about HN. I don't understand how something so common and obvious could be devoid in the face of some, odd, hair-splitting rhetoric.
- throw310822 9mo ago
  From what I understood (and I might be misinterpreting or applying a too sympathetic filter) Scott was upset because of the spread of a political ideology (identity politics) and because of its tangible impacts on society (for example DEI policies). The entire tirade against black people starts from commenting an opinion poll according to which a sizable proportion of black interviewees disagrees with the statement "it's OK to be white"- which, applied to any other ethnic group, would be pure and blatant racism. So his reaction is that of someone who's upset and disappointed at learning that he's despised by some group of people for his ethnicity, and advises to just stay away from those who harbour these sentiments.
  - spicymaki 9mo ago
    Thanks for the context. I checked Wikipedia for more details from the slogan and here is what it says: > In a February 2023 poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a polling firm often referred to by conservative media, 72% of 1,000 respondents agreed with the statement "It's okay to be White". Among the 130 black respondents, 53% agreed, while 26% disagreed, and 21% were unsure. Slate magazine suggested that some negative respondents may have been familiar with the term's links with white supremacy. Scott was a rather intelligent person with an MBA from UC Berkeley. How do you go from a sample of 130 black people a majority who agree with the slogan and only a minority against (less than a quarter). To all black people? Is that not an extreme overreaction?
    - throw310822 9mo ago
      > Is that not an extreme overreaction? It is indeed, but I think it makes sense to see it in the context of the culture wars. You can be upset at 47% of respondents to a poll disagreeing or being unsure that it's ok to be from your ethnic group; but that compounds with being upset at the perceived folly of a cultural movement that denies this is wrong or even encourages this way of thinking. It's the usual polarization mechanism, where apparent extremism of one side is so upsetting that it fuels or justifies an equally extreme reaction on the other. So again, I don't think it makes sense to judge these statements in a vacuum as if they were well thought and considered. They are momentary angry reactions to a perceived wrong.
- jrm4 9mo ago
  Black person here, and I too am finding this thread confusing. Adams here was doing one of two things, either being blatantly racist or (perhaps the more generous, and perhaps more likely) being extremely bad at comedy? It is of course "possible" to comedically play around with "what team am I on," but you have to be good at it or you look like -- if not racist -- a completely oblivious weirdo, and he was obviously one of the two here?
  - solaris2007 9mo ago
    This interview the day after the "cancelling" debacle sheds full light on the whole thing. Hotep Jesus' podcast - Scott Adams Interview https://rumble.com/v2axwg2-scott-adams-interview-its-okay-to-be-white.html
- bluegatty 9mo ago
  It's obviously racist - but people have to stop assuming that word means one thing. In that statement, it's not disdain for another group, it's disdain and resignation over racial politics. He seems to in fact have empathy, but has become maligned for some reason. He's seems to be 'giving up' on the cause and suggesting people go their separate ways. It's frankly much more cynical than it is racist. That's nothing near a traditional racist view. It's the posture of a cynical, old angry man - not some kind of White Nationlist. I'm not justifying anything but I am indicating that these thins are obviously nuanced. That said - I'm reflecting on a single comment, not his entire body of ugly commentary.
stetrain 9mo ago
I'm not sure I would describe this as "deciding to not actively ally": "So I realized, as you know I've been identifying as Black for a while, years now, because I like to be on the winning team" "But as of today I'm going to re-identify as White, because I don't want to be a member of a hate group, I'd accidentally joined a hate group." "The best advice I would give to White people is to get away hell away from Black people, just get the fuck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there's no fixing this, this can't be fixed, you just have to escape. So that's what I did, I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low Black population" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s
- tim333 9mo ago
  I'm not sure if the whole thing isn't a bit unfair. Lots of people in America want to live in fancy low crime neighbourhoods rather than getto like but know not say a lot of their thinking so as to not be cancelled. The "ok to be white" thing was based on some dumb 4chan trolling, and quite likely got misinterpreted.

stetrain 9mo ago

You missed a few: "So I realized, as you know I've been identifying as Black for a while, years now, because I like to be on the winning team" "But as of today I'm going to re-identify as White, because I don't want to be a member of a hate group, I'd accidentally joined a hate group." "The best advice I would give to White people is to get away hell away from Black people, just get the fuck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away. Because there's no fixing this, this can't be fixed, you just have to escape. So that's what I did, I went to a neighborhood where I have a very low Black population" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TnAn7qV1s

deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]

CodeWriter23 9mo ago

/whoosh