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Guess what? You can't control people. No matter how much we sue people or try to punish people, they will still do it. Do you think having a death penalty around the country is stopping people from murdering? Putting an ad in a magazine sounds like a way of seeking attention. If this was really about stopping bigotry, they got the ultimate punishment already, she was fired.
Our country's history of successful lawsuits and public displays in response to discrimination for race, gender, and sexual orientation easily refute your belief. We've made a lot of progress in this country and now's the time for sexual orientation to have its balancing. It will never go away totally, but just as people no longer put signs up saying "No n*****" allowed" or "whites only", so too will we someday live in a society where people aren't called f****** for simply buying lettuce.
People are going to be made into public examples until we move past this bias. And guess what? You can't control people from fighting back with whatever legal or media tools are available.
Our country's history of successful lawsuits and public displays in response to discrimination for race, gender, and sexial orientation easily refute your belief. We've made a lot of progress in this country and now's the time for sexual orientation to have its balancing. It will never go away totally, but just as people no longer put signs up saying "No n*****" allowed" or "whites only", so too will we someday live in a society where people aren't called f****** for simply buying lettuce.
People are going to be made into public examples until we move past this bias. And guess what? You can't control people from fighting back with whatever legal or media tools are available.
I'm not saying all gay people are like this, I'm saying this is the reason why gay people get negative publicity. This is what is perceived in the media. I'm not trying to suggest that all are like that, but that is the label that has been given to gay people. Don't believe me? Listen to people reactions when Kobe Bryant used that word or when Joakim Noah used that word. It's about perception.
I'm not sure people's reactions were nearly as uniform as you think. Maybe the people you know all thought that gay people came across poorly after Kobe Bryant and Joakim Noah's words. A lot of other people's reactions were more like "oh, another homophobic black man. What do you expect?" There is an equally pervasive perception among liberal whites, straight and gay, that African-Americans are uniformly homophobic - witness the attempt to blame Prop 8 on African-Americans.
Both types of reactions are reprehensible, in my book.
I'm not sure people's reactions were nearly as uniform as you think. Maybe the people you know all thought that gay people came across poorly after Kobe Bryant and Joakim Noah's words. A lot of other people's reactions were more like "oh, another homophobic black man. What do you expect?" There is an equally pervasive perception among liberal whites, straight and gay, that African-Americans are uniformly homophobic - witness the attempt to blame Prop 8 on African-Americans.
Both types of reactions are reprehensible, in my book.
when you've got ministers who represent black churches talking like some backwoods white redneck from Mississippi, that doesn't help:
"I'm going to use the full power of the black church to kill this bill," says the Rev. Anthony Evans of Mount Zion Baptist Church. "I feel pity for those who voted for this because they have defied the will of God. We have warned them."
or good ol' Wild Barry spouting off about how it will unleash a "civil war" (how does this clown keep getting elected?)
I'm glad she was fired too and agree it should have happened on the spot (really makes me wonder if I'll go back there again), but why do you have such hostility toward poor black people here? You hardly comment on any other subject. Segments of the poor urban Hispanic and rural white populations in this country aren't really much different in terms of causing mayhem, drug abuse, and making inappropriate statements out of ignorance about people who are different from them.
I just don't get the singular focus on this one group.
Haven't I answered this question 1000,000 times before? I have "hostility" towards poor black people because more often than not, they have the same attitudes like this young woman does. And I shouldn't even say "poor" because I see this same behavior in middle and upper class blacks. It is the black community in general that is homophobic. Yes, I know white and Latinos and Asians and Eskimos can be homophobic. But for such a small minority in the country (14%) the numbers are overwhelming homophobic in the AA community.
TBH, no I haven't seen any whites, Asians, or Latinos harass gay Metro riders. No, it's not whites, Asians, or Latinos I see calling a group of white women walking along the street "white *******". No, I haven't seen whites, Asians, or Latinos fighting in storefronts. And 99% of the time any friend of mine says they were just called "f@g" or any other racial name it is from a black person.
Does this mean I think all black folks act like this? No, of course not.
But from the responses from black posters on here who could really give two $hits about this incident, it just reenforces what I already think. Ironically enough, these same people who brush off anti-gay bigotry would be the first person to scream "RACIST" if that cashier would have been a white person calling a black customer a "******". SMH...We aren't asking for "special" rights, we just want to be treated with the SAME human decency as everyone else.
And as for the hood rat comment, I will stand by it. This cashier displayed "hood rat" behavior. Total disregard for others.Smug.Can't speak proper english. Thinking she is above everyone else, yet she is the one working minimum wage at Safeway. That is just ghetto. And Im willing to bet she still lives with momma collecting food stamps and has a past record. It's not racist, it's being "real" as people on the DC board like to say....
wait, so it's ok to categorize someone as a "hoodrat" but it's not ok for them to categorize folks like you as "******s"? i see a double standard here.
i'm not sure when you joined the marines sir, but when i was a new recruit i heard 100x worse slurs and insults than that and i had to deal with it.
the fact that you stated your response would be to "go up a females ass" as a result to an offensive statement speaks volumes about your character.
Don't even try to compare the military and civilian life as the same. Of course I was called worse in the Marines. I was also kicked and pushed down the stairs a few times. Does this mean the next time I go to Safeway I should have a bag boy call me a "f@ggot" and throw me and my bag of cookies down the stairs? Hell no.
And of course I would never randomly go up to someone and call them a hood rat or any other disrespectful name. That's the difference between me and this hood rat cashier. I have tact. You can't go around doing whatever you want just because you feel like. I wish I could, don't get me wrong. But life won't work out to well for you. This cashier needs to learn that. Though I doubt her firing would even phase her. She probably has little to no ambition and will be working at Giant in no time.
And she deserves to be called a hood rat. She displayed hood rat behavior. And don't tell me she is a child. I believe I read she was 20. That is not a child. Young yes, but she knew very well what she was doing.
"Black people are homophobic and they hate people like me. Therefore, I hate black people and I will post repeated racist messages on internet forums".
Your attitude is an embarrassment to the gay community--to the human rights and civil rights community at large.
Look, man. This was ONE young woman who made her bigotry known out loud to two Safeway customers. She was wrong to say this and she should be terminated by her employer. Obviously, she harbors anti-gay bigoted values and she needs to come to terms with her issues. I hope this experience will be a valuable lesson for this young lady.
But I am tired of you indicting an entire race of people because of stupid and biased behavior from individuals. For the record, an overwhelming number of gay and lesbian individuals face discrimination from straight whites in this country. Furthermore, most violent assaults and murders against the GLT community have come from white males. WHITE MALES!
I think you need to join the formerly employed black cashier for some sensitivity training.
Well I don't know the whole story but when celebrities use those type of slurs they can't be surprised when the public reacts negatively. That's a good thing and a sign of progress. This isn't really about Kobe Bryant and I've never heard of Joakim Noah. However, if they made the same comments in the media as the Safeway gal I'm certainly not going to get in line to excuse them.
Why do you care if some random couple in Waterfront wants to sue Safeway? Its a huge grocery chain with millions of dollars. They'll be fine and not to mention it has nothing to do with you.
The point about those situations is not only did both of these individuals apologize and pay fines, either they both or their organizations were coerced to partner with gay right activist groups. This is what mainstream America has deemed the "gay agenda", make people accept gays by playing up the role of a victim. I in no way agree with the actions of this woman or either one of those basketball players. I don't agree with the lifestyle that gays take on but I respect each and everyone of you all as human beings. With that said, I disagree with this notion that this equal rights movement has to be continued to be pushed everytime a slur has been said. Gays are gaining a lot of rights, just about everything short of marriage in most places, but should we continue to act as if gays are oppressed people? At what point is this going too far?
Well keep in mind when you're on the clock you represent the company and the brand. So the company that hired you always takes SOME responsible for behavior because they hired you. That's why companies get sued in sexual harassment cases versus only the individual getting sued. So in order to protect themselves most corporations have training or documentation stating that sexual harassment won't be tolerated.
Now I'm confused. Did they sue Safeway or put up a negative ad in Metro Weekly? Both of which they have a right to do but I'm kinda confused.
Fair point. But if a company fires that individual and make a written apology, do you think that is enough to establish a separation between that individuals behavior and the behavior of the company?
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That is just ghetto. And Im willing to bet she still lives with momma collecting food stamps and has a past record. It's not racist, it's being "real" as people on the DC board like to say....
