Except this wasn’t mass-printed, it was a single card put in a single gift bag. Please read the original article and/or quoted text.
I’d be all with you on the condemnation if this was a flyer pasted to every flat surface they could find, but it just wasn’t.
EDIT: typo. Of -> if.
The word “but” tends to negate everything that comes before it in a sentence; just fyi.
I understand exactly what the word means, and strictly speaking, it’s accurate. My disagreement is with the connotation, suggesting that this person did something genuinely heinous, and I simply don’t see that being the case.
Further into the article, apparently this was a printout from a while bunch of valentine’s “memes,” and that may just be an excuse, but again I’m inclined to think this was a bad misjudgement.
I’m simply not willing to ascribe bad intent to this group based on ideology when there is no evidence to support such.
That’s mighty white of you.
Oh come on, it does negate that, because I’m not condemning this group for something they objectively did not do (specifically: mass distribute antisemitic remarks)
Not all of them. The person or persons responsible. According to the article they have identified the creator. Kick them out of the College Republicans and make sure that they have to answer for this should they ever attempt any form of political activity or other public role again. If it was a college event, kick them out of that, too.
Um, you know what’s actually “uncalled for” in this case? Trivializing and dismissing the effects that this kind of shit has on others, that’s what. And you’re doing that, by calling this sick joke a mere insensitive, distasteful instance of bad taste, instead of acknowledging what it actually is – hate-inspired antisemitism, and an action that’s going to (and no doubt already has) inflict trauma on students at this university.
Here’s hoping the perpetrator gets caught.
Coastal Michigan, like St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, which are right next to each other but might as well be on different planets?
Look, maybe I’m wrong, but all I know about this group is that it’s a bunch of college kids purporting to be Republicans. That’s it. And I’d like to think that the majority of Republicans are not some sort of xenophobic villains.
Painting me as defending them because they’re white or something is avoiding my point. What about BLM, would it be fair to paint the entire group as villains because one of them did something destructive at a rally?
I understand the rage people are feeling towards Republicans with their tacit support of one of the world’s most colossal assholes taking the presidency, but you can’t let that color your perception to this degree. It just deepens the partisan divide and doesn’t do anyone any good.
This, I can totally agree with. Free speech doesn’t mean free of consequences, so this person should face punishment of some sort, and your suggestion doesn’t strike me as being at all unreasonable.
Why are you so focused on intent, and so dismissive of effects?
I’m not trivializing this. It’s a disgusting thing to write and does not belong in a civilized world. (And for the record, I have direct relatives that survived the holocaust, and suffering depression has taught me the injury that words can do.)
All that said, looking at the article, I simply don’t see the malice in this, only stupidity. The person responsible should be punished, but in proportion to what they did, and not more because we’re mad at the disgusting turn our country’s politics have taken.
“Purporting”? Odd choice of terms. Have you, say, ever hung out with College Republicans orgs on campuses? (I have). Are you familiar with their history? Are you aware that the Milo Yiannapoulis invites to campuses were all coming from them? If you know much about them, I think you’d realize that these are not people deserving a whole lot of benefit of the doubt.
Because intent should inform punishment, especially if punishment is meant to correct the “perpetrator,” rather than simply provide eye-for-an-eye vindication to victims.
Agreed. Papyrus would have been a push, with Bleeding Cowboys tipping the scales for me.
You’re right, I haven’t interacted with them. My opinions on this are coming from an assumption that people are fundamentally good, not from knowledge or forgiveness of the Young Republicans’ past actions.
If it’s the case that these groups are this repugnant as a whole (and I absolutely can believe they are), then they should be treated as such for their actions as groups. This example, a single deeply-offensive valentine’s card, is not something worth this much rage and condemnation. If anything, it makes it sound like we are willing to rage and dogpile on any infraction, devaluing the real message (i.e. MiloY is a scumbag who deserves to never be heard).
Now that you’ve finally mentioned the victims, what do you think this antisemitic act has done, and will do, to them? And what do you think should be done for them?
“Deplorable” and “Deplorables” are way old as labels, too 2016, and besides, the Republicans gleefully adopted the word as their own.
How about for 2017 we just call them “Pathetic Little Sacks of Shit?”
Honestly, I think this act in particular will do little to harm people. I don’t particularly feel any attachment to my Jewish heritage, so I’m sure that many others feel this more keenly than I. That said, this act isn’t advocating anything, and wasn’t trying to reach people.
The joke itself is trivializing an atrocity, that’s disgusting, and the student responsible for stupidly printing it off the internet should face punishment. But we have to keep the scope of the actual act in sight, we have to try to keep a measure of impartiality.
As for what should be done for the victims, their reparations should be appropriate to the harm done. So, for example, as part of the punishment (not necessarily the whole), force the student to publicly admit their wrong and apologize to the Jewish community for what they did. Is that unreasonable?
