Great post again mate, it's interesting what you say about John Barnes.
This is fundamental to improving society. During the recent BLM protests I had that issue with just 1 or 2 people I know. They will never know and they will never understand.
You're spot on about the need to educate people, that is a societal failure at so many levels. Some will never be educated though.
Thanks again
I love Barnes. I'm not old enough to have seen him play properly while he was in his prime but i've watched countless hours of footage and what a player. In terms of these racism issues, sometimes he words things so perfectly, there's nothing to add, its as nail on the head as you can get, but at other times he goes (for me) too far the other way and excuses some things I think shouldn't be excused, but he is his own person and we don't have to agree with everything he says. I always believe its important to speak about things on a case by case basis, someone can speak with incredible wisdom for 50 years then raise some questionable or outright wrong beliefs or views in the 51st year, it isn't any less questionable or wrong because of their previous wisdom, you just treat it as it is and learn to differentiate.
100% mate and people dont need to get their backs up at hearing that fact, its not a criticism, simply an observation. Women struggle through a hell of a lot of prejudice and discrimination and no one will never see me claiming 'I know how it feels', I never will but I have the understand of that and the understanding that supporting and standing up for women is how I can help instead of pretending I know how it feels for them. There may be similarities and parralels with some of my own experiences, but it will never be identical.
Thank you too John. It's great to have these discussions and all learn from them, there's so much knowledge out there
The "delete your social media" makes me very uncomfortable.
It's moving the "blame" onto the victim. Similar to blaming a rape victim for wearing revealing clothes or taking a drink from someone gives someone else the OK to take advantage of you.
I'm a white, 41 year old male. I've no doubt some of the stuff I've said in years gone by hurt people. The only thing I can do (aside from trying to track everyone I've ever met down) is to try and be better moving forward.
Thank you
Me too mate, it should never be the case and the onus should be on those in control of changing things. The vicitim blaming this is quite cowardly and no one should be blamed for being victimised regardless of their race, sex, age etc. Perception is a dangerous thing and as a society we have placed different levels of severity on different acts.
Mate, this current cancel culture is a double edged sword. I do feel the 'everyone makes mistakes' is thrown around a little too frequently absolving people of blame or consequence for some heinous stuff BUT at the same time we cant drag anyone who's ever offended someone over the coals. Learning and trying to be better is important and I salute you for both recognising and actioning that. To some it seems small but it's important these things are celebrated as it's what we need more of. The way you group up, who you associate with and where all have an impact on how you view things and some of that is out of your control, its vital we recognise this while also realising it cant be used to excuse everything. Unfortunately we are in an age where for young people, social media rules all and this warped perception of reality is the be all and end all for way too many, everyones got a platform to speak and although that brings out some beautiful stories and moments, it also frees up the sinister side of society and gives a voice to those who want to spread hate.
Some of the terms coming out worry me a little and one of the biggest is 'he's/she's/they're just saying what everyone thinks but is just afraid to say'. It never rings true and is simply people projecting their personal views and trying to create a less controversial way of expressing them, without having to admit 'this is how I really feel'.
The debate about many current issues opened my eyes to a lot of things going on around me and many people claiming to be friends or acquaintaces showed their true colours when speaking on these issues.
I am extremely patient but as with the Barnes thing, I think things are best isolated and looked at as individual incidents. There's a long way to go to change things but it's nice some look at things as an opportunity to learn and change in order to progress and help others.
Again thank you mate