5 ms·

Good advice but I'm curious about: "Jason Fried is the fastest white man you'll ever meet." Is Jason actually really fast and/or was he an athlete at a prior

Good advice but I'm curious about: "Jason Fried is the fastest white man you'll ever meet." Is Jason actually really fast and/or was he an athlete at a prior time?

Johngibb 14y ago
That stood out to me too... is there an inside joke? What's the white have to do with it?
- philwelch 14y ago
  Seems like a throwaway joke to me; nothing to over-analyze.
  - easy_rider 14y ago
    Well, Most Asians have awesome APM or are great at table tennis. Black people tend to be great at running really fast. It makes sense doesn't it?:)
dlss 14y ago
Yeah, it was really weird hitting the bottom of the article only to find a vaguely racist nonsensical byline.
- igorgue 14y ago
  I don't think is racist. I'm hispanic and I don't feel offended of white people calling themselves white :-) because they're white.
  - corin_ 14y ago
    I suspect the racist tag was applied because stereotypically white men are slower runners than black men. But as far as racism goes that's... not to mention that it's a white guy talking about himself.
    - lmm 14y ago
      While I'm generally happy with the position that white guys can take it, I think it's still racist to imply white men are slow, whether one is a white guy or not.
      - jiggy2011 14y ago
        It's not really racist to say something like that especially when there is strong supporting evidence. Racism is where you advocate treating somebody differently because of these differences. So it would be racist to say "White men are too slow therefor should be banned from taking part in the olympics"
      - chongli 14y ago
        No, it isn't. It is not at all racist to acknowledge the physiological differences between different ethnic groups. It is well established that a higher leg-to-torso length ratio correlates with faster sprint times. Conversely, a lower leg-to-torso ratio correlates with faster swimming. Racism has nothing to do with facts. It is all about promoting hatred based on superficial differences.
- cosmando 14y ago
  While certainly a seemingly off-color (no pun intended, I swear) remark, this is an interesting topic that came to my attention during the London Olympic games. Of the ~80 men who have run a sub-10 second 100m dash, only one or two of them have been Caucasian, though Jason Fried was not among the list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-second_barrier#Ethnicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-second_barrier#Ethnicity
- MartinCron 14y ago
  I'm not going to defend the byline (because it's cheap and inappropriate for the context) but there is a distinction between racial humor and racist humor. Not everything that addresses the concept of race is automatically racist, especially when it's not mean-spirited or demeaning. It's a line that I'm not clever enough to tread, but other people seem to pull it off. Look at Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Very racial, not really racist.
  - TillE 14y ago
    > especially when it's not mean-spirited or demeaning. This is a common misunderstanding about the nature of racism. Read about Asian Americans and the model minority.
    - MartinCron 14y ago
      I don't see how you get from "model minority" to "absolutely any discussion related to race is racist". Sure, some things that aren't mean-spirited or demeaning are also racist, but that doesn't mean that everything is. Am I missing something? Serious question.
n72 14y ago
Yeah, this jarred me as well. Vaguely racist.
m_for_monkey 14y ago
Jason, I found a little bio of you that said, "Jason Fried is the fastest white man you'll ever meet. He has curly hair and a sunny disposition. He loves to travel, play hoops, and watch sunsets from his roof deck. He wishes he could break dance." Is that all true? JF: That was an old bio that someone wrote for me. I guess it's probably all true, except for the break dancing part. I really don't have any desire to do that. http://www.tompeters.com/printer_friendly.php?print=1&note=coolfriends/007936 http://www.tompeters.com/printer_friendly.php?print=1&no...
- reledi 14y ago
  That whole interview was a good read, thanks.

Good advice but I'm curious about: "Jason Fried is the fastest white man you'll ever meet." Is Jason actually really fast and/or was he an athlete at a prior time?

Johngibb 14y ago

That stood out to me too... is there an inside joke? What's the white have to do with it?

philwelch 14y ago
Seems like a throwaway joke to me; nothing to over-analyze.
- easy_rider 14y ago
  Well, Most Asians have awesome APM or are great at table tennis. Black people tend to be great at running really fast. It makes sense doesn't it?:)

dlss 14y ago

Yeah, it was really weird hitting the bottom of the article only to find a vaguely racist nonsensical byline.

igorgue 14y ago
I don't think is racist. I'm hispanic and I don't feel offended of white people calling themselves white :-) because they're white.
- corin_ 14y ago
  I suspect the racist tag was applied because stereotypically white men are slower runners than black men. But as far as racism goes that's... not to mention that it's a white guy talking about himself.
  - lmm 14y ago
    While I'm generally happy with the position that white guys can take it, I think it's still racist to imply white men are slow, whether one is a white guy or not.
    - jiggy2011 14y ago
      It's not really racist to say something like that especially when there is strong supporting evidence. Racism is where you advocate treating somebody differently because of these differences. So it would be racist to say "White men are too slow therefor should be banned from taking part in the olympics"
    - chongli 14y ago
      No, it isn't. It is not at all racist to acknowledge the physiological differences between different ethnic groups. It is well established that a higher leg-to-torso length ratio correlates with faster sprint times. Conversely, a lower leg-to-torso ratio correlates with faster swimming. Racism has nothing to do with facts. It is all about promoting hatred based on superficial differences.
cosmando 14y ago
While certainly a seemingly off-color (no pun intended, I swear) remark, this is an interesting topic that came to my attention during the London Olympic games. Of the ~80 men who have run a sub-10 second 100m dash, only one or two of them have been Caucasian, though Jason Fried was not among the list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-second_barrier#Ethnicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-second_barrier#Ethnicity
MartinCron 14y ago
I'm not going to defend the byline (because it's cheap and inappropriate for the context) but there is a distinction between racial humor and racist humor. Not everything that addresses the concept of race is automatically racist, especially when it's not mean-spirited or demeaning. It's a line that I'm not clever enough to tread, but other people seem to pull it off. Look at Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Very racial, not really racist.
- TillE 14y ago
  > especially when it's not mean-spirited or demeaning. This is a common misunderstanding about the nature of racism. Read about Asian Americans and the model minority.
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    I don't see how you get from "model minority" to "absolutely any discussion related to race is racist". Sure, some things that aren't mean-spirited or demeaning are also racist, but that doesn't mean that everything is. Am I missing something? Serious question.

n72 14y ago

Yeah, this jarred me as well. Vaguely racist.

m_for_monkey 14y ago

Jason, I found a little bio of you that said, "Jason Fried is the fastest white man you'll ever meet. He has curly hair and a sunny disposition. He loves to travel, play hoops, and watch sunsets from his roof deck. He wishes he could break dance." Is that all true? JF: That was an old bio that someone wrote for me. I guess it's probably all true, except for the break dancing part. I really don't have any desire to do that. http://www.tompeters.com/printer_friendly.php?print=1&note=coolfriends/007936 http://www.tompeters.com/printer_friendly.php?print=1&no...

reledi 14y ago
That whole interview was a good read, thanks.