Paid Members Bellenda Carlisle Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 This Liam neeson thing has been all over TV today, the audio is completely insane. He wasn't provoked or entrapped to say anything controversial in any way, I cant believe it, what a mad cunt. Apparently it hasn't really hit the states yet so there will probably be a shitstorm today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 I'm waiting on the outburst of condemnation for Barnes, mainly from middle-class white people probably. They'll no doubt be telling a guy of Jamaican origin, who lived in Britain throughout the 70's & 80's, how he's wrong about racism and isn't quite getting it. I know that while he may not be the definitive authority on the subject, he's pretty fucking close, so regardless of how much we may or may not like his opinion, he's not a novice to the topic at hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Neeson isn't holding himself up as some kind of vigilante hero. He's talking about something he admits he is ashamed of. I mean, it's batshit crazy he felt the need to randomly drop it in there and I doubt he was purposefully shining a light on ingrained racism but it's not like he justifies it at any point other than to say this is how he felt at a traumatic time and he was crazy for doing so. The mad bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bellenda Carlisle Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 He literally says he waited with a cosh for a week because he wanted to kill a black bastard. He's entirely focused on race in the story and doesn't seem to care whether it's the the right person or not. Racist psycho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 10 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said: Neeson isn't holding himself up as some kind of vigilante hero. He's talking about something he admits he is ashamed of. I mean, it's batshit crazy he felt the need to randomly drop it in there and I doubt he was purposefully shining a light on ingrained racism but it's not like he justifies it at any point other than to say this is how he felt at a traumatic time and he was crazy for doing so. The mad bastard. That's what I got from it too. There are a load of arseholes on Twitter trying to justify him as not being racist, but the guy has openly admitted he was and that he's horrified and ashamed of what he was like then. If he's had the stones to come out and admit such a thing, especially in these rather nasty and febrile times, we all have to be willing to show some forgiveness. After all, if our reaction to someone telling the truth and admitting their wrongs is to continue to lambast them and punish them, others will see this, come to think of the social justice movement as implacable, and not only be reluctant to admit their own failings, but actually come to see those campaigning for equality as the bad guys. When you've got someone as high-profile as Neeson actually speaking to the ignorance and hatred of racism stemming from their own experience, we've got to respond from a position of awareness and love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 3 minutes ago, Carbomb said: There are a load of arseholes on Twitter trying to justify him as not being racist, And I'm sure if a Pakistani muslim went looking for a white wanker to cosh after a white man raped someone close to him, they'd be equally understandable. Another element of this is how Neeson has taken a loved one being raped and making it all about him, I wonder how the person who got raped feels about him broadcasting it and it getting so much coverage. I actually hope that he is making it all up and the lines of film and reality have blurred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 I get your point Carbomb, but I'd sooner save my plaudits and goodwill for someone who's never publicly fantasized about "murdering a black bastard." Only so much time in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 1 minute ago, Keith Houchen said: And I'm sure if a Pakistani muslim went looking for a white wanker to cosh after a white man raped someone close to him, they'd be equally understandable. Trust me, I personally take that hypocrisy as read. Never any doubt in my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 1 minute ago, BomberPat said: I get your point Carbomb, but I'd sooner save my plaudits and goodwill for someone who's never publicly fantasized about "murdering a black bastard." Only so much time in the day. Sorry for the double post. I must emphasise here, Pat - I was very careful to say "some forgiveness", because I don't want it misconstrued: there should be no plaudits nor goodwill for Neeson. People should not receive kudos for having stopped being an absolute wretch (and I'm bearing in mind the recent discussion of Jeremy Hardy and his pointing out how people who were decent from the start don't get that). He can't be completely forgiven either, until he's demonstrated by his actions that he's moved in the direction that he has claimed to have done with his words. All I'm saying is that, when people admit to such things, we should be prepared to show them that they can still re-apply for membership to the fellowship of ordinary, decent people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 Yeah, but when's Liam Neeson History Month? (I get you Carbomb, I was angling for that Jeremy Hardy gag in the first place) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Loved James O'Brien's take on this, that if the rapist happened to be white, Neeson may have been prone to attack himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 Thinking about it, walking around looking for a black man in Ballymena in the '70s, he'd have been in for a hell of a long night regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 A few months ago, when BlackKklansman came out, Boots Riley put out a statement detailing why he thought the film was problematic and where Spike Lee would have been better advised focusing the narrative. It was quite interesting seeing the reaction to his statement. It was noticeable that it was mostly white people falling over themselves to agree with him, like they had been waiting for an opportunity to criticise Lee's film and that they felt Riley had given them that opportunity, and not at all because they're racist and waiting for a chance to disagree with the film without looking as such. Similar thing is happening here with John Barnes. A whole lot of white people agreeing with him and taking the opportunity to defend Liam Neeson's comments, shielded by Barnes' views on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted February 5, 2019 Moderators Share Posted February 5, 2019 As long as they're also using it as an excuse to bash Churchill then I'm ok with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted February 5, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted February 5, 2019 Like people would have been rushing to say 'yeah, he's an expert, you can't disregard what he's saying' if he'd said 'well, that was really quite racist'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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