6 ms·

This, after many Americans called Miss America Nina Davuluri an Arab and a terrorist. This is very saddening to the say the least.

by adi2412 13y ago

krapp 13y ago
Not "many" Americans. A few. Probably fewer than a hundred on a couple of social media sites.
- adi2412 13y ago
  The problem is even the hundred odd Americans making such comments on a couple of mainstream social networking sites is disconcerting. These people actually did put up such comments. Who knows how many others exist who did not publicly make such comments just so they were politically corrext?
  - krapp 13y ago
    Well yes. But show me a country of 300 million or so where you cant round up a sizable mob of knuckle-dragging morons. It reflects poorly on them, but the fact that it was a story at all is due to the context in which it was presented (I found out about it on the Daily Show and posts to my facebook) because most Americans found it embarassing and absurd.
    - Amadou 13y ago
      I wish reporters and pundits would just quit mining twitter for stupid quotes. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. It means exactly nothing that a couple of hundred, or even thousand, people said something dumb on twitter. What this judge said is definitely newsworthy. Some random anonymous user on twitter who is probably trolling, stoned or both saying something means bupkis. Although I did get a laugh out of Colbert's take - "705 people saw a woman in a bikini and thought, 'Muslim Extremist.'" http://gawker.com/stephen-colbert-had-the-perfect-response-to-miss-americ-1337004212 http://gawker.com/stephen-colbert-had-the-perfect-response-t...
eshvk 13y ago
Free speech still stands. No one is stopping you from being stupid. Obviously when one is a public official, racism/idiocy in this situation comes into play and the person gets kicked out of office.Also being an Arab as far as I know is not a slur. One is not supposed to know every damn ethnicity that exists.
- kingkilr 13y ago
  What do you think free speech has to do with this?
- Amadou 13y ago
  Also being an Arab as far as I know is not a slur. Context is everything. They didn't just idly identify her as an arab as in "Wow, an arab finally won Miss America" - they called her an arab as part of a larger effort to associate her with terrorism and debase her as being less of a person and therefore undeserving of winning. Just because a racist is illogical in their hatred doesn't make their hatred any less real.
  - eshvk 13y ago
    Thanks for clarifying. To reiterate my point, I think the way free speech ideally should work is that you are technically free to be stupid. Don't be surprised if you get fired from your job. That is the responsibility you take on for spouting your opinion. That however does not mean that is something "sad" or "awful" which the parent post was implying. It simply is a function of outliers existing in a distribution of people. I am sure I can pick such outliers in any country of your choice.
- adi2412 13y ago
  A mistake in identifying her ethnicity is fine. But what they did was call her an Arab to associate her with terrorism and thus insult her. Free speech does exist. But do remember that any free country also stipulates that the freedom comes with the responsibility that you do not use your freedom to hurt others.
  - 13y ago

This, after many Americans called Miss America Nina Davuluri an Arab and a terrorist. This is very saddening to the say the least.

by adi2412 13y ago

This, after many Americans called Miss America Nina Davuluri an Arab and a terrorist. This is very saddening to the say the least.

krapp 13y ago

Not "many" Americans. A few. Probably fewer than a hundred on a couple of social media sites.

adi2412 13y ago
The problem is even the hundred odd Americans making such comments on a couple of mainstream social networking sites is disconcerting. These people actually did put up such comments. Who knows how many others exist who did not publicly make such comments just so they were politically corrext?
- krapp 13y ago
  Well yes. But show me a country of 300 million or so where you cant round up a sizable mob of knuckle-dragging morons. It reflects poorly on them, but the fact that it was a story at all is due to the context in which it was presented (I found out about it on the Daily Show and posts to my facebook) because most Americans found it embarassing and absurd.
  - Amadou 13y ago
    I wish reporters and pundits would just quit mining twitter for stupid quotes. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. It means exactly nothing that a couple of hundred, or even thousand, people said something dumb on twitter. What this judge said is definitely newsworthy. Some random anonymous user on twitter who is probably trolling, stoned or both saying something means bupkis. Although I did get a laugh out of Colbert's take - "705 people saw a woman in a bikini and thought, 'Muslim Extremist.'" http://gawker.com/stephen-colbert-had-the-perfect-response-to-miss-americ-1337004212 http://gawker.com/stephen-colbert-had-the-perfect-response-t...

eshvk 13y ago

Free speech still stands. No one is stopping you from being stupid. Obviously when one is a public official, racism/idiocy in this situation comes into play and the person gets kicked out of office.Also being an Arab as far as I know is not a slur. One is not supposed to know every damn ethnicity that exists.

kingkilr 13y ago
What do you think free speech has to do with this?
Amadou 13y ago
Also being an Arab as far as I know is not a slur. Context is everything. They didn't just idly identify her as an arab as in "Wow, an arab finally won Miss America" - they called her an arab as part of a larger effort to associate her with terrorism and debase her as being less of a person and therefore undeserving of winning. Just because a racist is illogical in their hatred doesn't make their hatred any less real.
- eshvk 13y ago
  Thanks for clarifying. To reiterate my point, I think the way free speech ideally should work is that you are technically free to be stupid. Don't be surprised if you get fired from your job. That is the responsibility you take on for spouting your opinion. That however does not mean that is something "sad" or "awful" which the parent post was implying. It simply is a function of outliers existing in a distribution of people. I am sure I can pick such outliers in any country of your choice.
adi2412 13y ago
A mistake in identifying her ethnicity is fine. But what they did was call her an Arab to associate her with terrorism and thus insult her. Free speech does exist. But do remember that any free country also stipulates that the freedom comes with the responsibility that you do not use your freedom to hurt others.
- 13y ago