Black Lives Matter

[LordGhoul]

Where is the lgbt+ post? I haven’t seen it before.

I don't remember it specifically, but I've been on this website for almost 11 years and back then there was no rules against LGBT+ phobic content and plenty of people had stamps regarding it on their profiles. Like some very hateful and shaming stamps and statements. It was quite disgusting to look at on an otherwise friendly website. I was just so happy when they implemented rules against it and spoke out about not accepting it any longer.

I don't understand how hate against a group of people to the point of denying them rights and harassing them is in any way an acceptable opinion to hold.

[Mondschatten78]

random take on the deerskin costume: it was said that it makes indigenous people uncomfortable due to its inaccuracy? would it be possibly to edit the costume to be more historically/culturally accurate?
if this isn’t possible or wouldn’t help the feelings of native americans please tell me!

That's just it, there's so many groups of Natives, there's really no way to edit it for it to represent every group. Their styles of traditional dress are just as diverse as what we wear normally today.

[W0LF]

Ok... WOW!! (o.0)

I have read most of the comments on here,
& well... Seems as though a huge can of worms has been opened here with one supportive post.

My family is very racially / culturally diverse.

My cousin is half black, & has said
(as several others have said)
that the BLM movement is doing
"more harm than good."

It seems as though the black community wants to be seen, heard & respected.
Awesome! I support you!! How can I help?
...That picture of a fictional black character on a box of pancake mix?...
(That has been there for the past 131 years)
Well, many are now offened by this, & so it must change!
- Ok.

My half Native husband is not offended by the term "Native American", & on sharing this topic with him
isn't offended by a "Native American" Halloween costume.
(He wants to know why it's only for cats though ...That just doesn't seem equal.)

I personally log into CS to both express myself
& to take a break away from real word problems,
but the air is getting thin with this.
One can barely breathe without somebody being offended by something.

I may not be great at expressing my true feelings, but long story short:
Can't we all embrace our diffences, instead of altering or "deleting" them?...

I'm off to dress a black pixel pet with slanted eyes, in a Native Deerskin costume now...
He / She needs my support carrying all of the world's many flags.

Happy Father's Day to all this applies to <3

[vaermina]

It seems as though the black community wants to be seen, heard & respected.
Awesome! I support you!! How can I help?
...That picture of a fictional black character on a box of pancake mix?...
(That has been there for the past 131 years)
Well, many are now offened by this, & so it must change!
- Ok.



for the aunt jemima pancake brand, it's not entirely rooted in fictionalism like many believe. as for myself, i was not educated on the history of the aunt jemima brand until i recently heard about how its company is going to change its name/logo. i did some extensive research on the history of the brand to educate myself on why so many people have advocated for the change, and for those on here who do not know of its history themselves, i'll explain a little bit here, although i always recommend everyone to do their own research. the brand made its official debut in 1889, and was found by a man named chris l. rutt along with his friend, charles g. underwood. the two of them had to sell their company in 1890 (due to failure to create enough capital) and they sold it to randolph truett davis milling company, who named their company to aunt jemima mills in 1914. the company was then purchased by quarker oats company in 1926, and they still have reign over the brand today. however, the controversy of the matter comes in because aunt jemima - the brand's logo - is based on the mammy archetype. the mammy archetype is an image that served as a political and social catalyst of white america that made it seem that black people - or in this archetype's case, black women - were content as slaves, and happy in their positions of servitude before slavery was abolished. aunt jemima's brand is not the first to use this archetype; many films have used it, also. chris l. rutt's inspiration for aunt jemima came when he saw a show that performed the song "old aunt jemima", presented by actors in blackface, and rutt supposedly appropriated the aunt jemima character for his company. the aunt jemima company has come under fire for many reasons, and it's been under fire for decades, despite how some people think its become under scrutiny recently. the aunt jemima character was created a number of years after the civil war, but its commercialization and promotion of the character was often criticized for glorifying of antebellum southern plantation life. this is an early drawing of the archetype itself, and supposedly it's what the actor who played aunt jemima in the show wore that inspired the dressage of the company's early logo.
the brand's first slogan was used in 1893 at the world's columbian exposition in chicago, illinios and its slogan was "i's in town, honey" which had been criticized for further pushing the mammy archetype. even back then, many fought against the usage of the aunt jemima character. black women formed the women's columbian association to ask for fair representation of post-emancipation african americans, and black scholars such as fannie williams used the exposition to address how african american women were being exploited. more about the mammy archetype can be read upon in this novel and in this article.

also, the aunt jemima logo herself was inspired and based upon several women, from my understanding; so while aunt jemima herself isn't a real person, the aunt jemima logo is based upon several real women. one of the early images of aunt jemima was based on nancy green. she was a former slave, and hired by the company in 1890 to represent the character. at the exposition in chicago, she worked at a stand for the pancake mix and supposedly, the judges were former children of the walker family she worked for, and her personality and former standing as their cook helped the company establish a successful showing of the product. many say that trying to erase the aunt jemima logo would be a disrespect to nancy green, as some say she died a millionaire - however, others say in 1910 she was working as a house-keeper, still and did not make enough money from the brand to support herself. in 2014, her family even sued the company for supposedly refusing to pay her her rightful dues, although the case was dismissed sometime later. anyway, multiple other women such as lillian richard, anna robinson, rosie lee moore hall and others have all also contributed to the aunt jemima character by portraying her for the brand.

anyway, i apologize that this is rather lengthy but i feel like it's important to relay the history behind the brand since i feel like there's a number of people who aren't aware of its history and how the logo is based on a jim crow-era archetype, and think people just want the name changed just because. of course, everyone is free to have their own opinions on the matter, as i've seen many people support the removal of aunt jemima and others furious about it. so everyone is free to make their own opinions, of course and take everything with a grain of salt. but i would encourage people to read more upon it and educate themselves, and see how aunt jemima is not the only brand who perpetuate these archetypes rather than just simply brush it off as people being 'offended by everything'.

[LordGhoul]

My cousin is half black, & has said
(as several others have said)
that the BLM movement is doing
"more harm than good."

The cops are now in jail, there's some other cases where they still aren't though.
New laws have been passed. People have been more aware and many people donated.
I don't see any harm by the movement itself. Sure there's looters and stuff, but you can't judge all protestors by the few that do harm and then turn around and say the police are just a few bad apples. It's hypocritical.

[W0LF]

It seems as though the black community wants to be seen, heard & respected.
Awesome! I support you!! How can I help?
...That picture of a fictional black character on a box of pancake mix?...
(That has been there for the past 131 years)
Well, many are now offened by this, & so it must change!
- Ok.



for the aunt jemima pancake brand, it's not entirely rooted in fictionalism like many believe. as for myself, i was not educated on the history of the aunt jemima brand until i recently heard about how its company is going to change its name/logo. i did some extensive research on the history of the brand to educate myself on why so many people have advocated for the change, and for those on here who do not know of its history themselves, i'll explain a little bit here, although i always recommend everyone to do their own research. the brand made its official debut in 1889, and was found by a man named chris l. rutt along with his friend, charles g. underwood. the two of them had to sell their company in 1890 (due to failure to create enough capital) and they sold it to randolph truett davis milling company, who named their company to aunt jemima mills in 1914. the company was then purchased by quarker oats company in 1926, and they still have reign over the brand today. however, the controversy of the matter comes in because aunt jemima - the brand's logo - is based on the mammy archetype. the mammy archetype is an image that served as a political and social catalyst of white america that made it seem that black people - or in this archetype's case, black women - were content as slaves, and happy in their positions of servitude before slavery was abolished. aunt jemima's brand is not the first to use this archetype; many films have used it, also. chris l. rutt's inspiration for aunt jemima came when he saw a show that performed the song "old aunt jemima", presented by actors in blackface, and rutt supposedly appropriated the aunt jemima character for his company. the aunt jemima company has come under fire for many reasons, and it's been under fire for decades, despite how some people think its become under scrutiny recently. the aunt jemima character was created a number of years after the civil war, but its commercialization and promotion of the character was often criticized for glorifying of antebellum southern plantation life. this is an early drawing of the archetype itself, and supposedly it's what the actor who played aunt jemima in the show wore that inspired the dressage of the company's early logo.
the brand's first slogan was used in 1893 at the world's columbian exposition in chicago, illinios and its slogan was "i's in town, honey" which had been criticized for further pushing the mammy archetype. even back then, many fought against the usage of the aunt jemima character. black women formed the women's columbian association to ask for fair representation of post-emancipation african americans, and black scholars such as fannie williams used the exposition to address how african american women were being exploited. more about the mammy archetype can be read upon in this novel and in this article.

also, the aunt jemima logo herself was inspired and based upon several women, from my understanding; so while aunt jemima herself isn't a real person, the aunt jemima logo is based upon several real women. one of the early images of aunt jemima was based on nancy green. she was a former slave, and hired by the company in 1890 to represent the character. at the exposition in chicago, she worked at a stand for the pancake mix and supposedly, the judges were former children of the walker family she worked for, and her personality and former standing as their cook helped the company establish a successful showing of the product. many say that trying to erase the aunt jemima logo would be a disrespect to nancy green, as some say she died a millionaire - however, others say in 1910 she was working as a house-keeper, still and did not make enough money from the brand to support herself. in 2014, her family even sued the company for supposedly refusing to pay her her rightful dues, although the case was dismissed sometime later. anyway, multiple other women such as lillian richard, anna robinson, rosie lee moore hall and others have all also contributed to the aunt jemima character by portraying her for the brand.

anyway, i apologize that this is rather lengthy but i feel like it's important to relay the history behind the brand since i feel like there's a number of people who aren't aware of its history and how the logo is based on a jim crow-era archetype, and think people just want the name changed just because. of course, everyone is free to have their own opinions on the matter, as i've seen many people support the removal of aunt jemima and others furious about it. so everyone is free to make their own opinions, of course and take everything with a grain of salt. but i would encourage people to read more upon it and educate themselves, and see how aunt jemima is not the only brand who perpetuate these archetypes rather than just simply brush it off as people being 'offended by everything'.

I looked into this prior to my last comment.
All good info.
To be clear, I am 100% against racial hatered.
We are all human -some decent, some not- regardless of race.

I am deeply saddened that youth (amoung others) are facing violence & hate, seemingly due to whatever race they happen to be.
It needs to end.
Personally, my main focus isn't yet on a 131 year old, ever-evolving character on a box of pancake mix
- which seems to leave some wondering what BLM is really about.

...I didn't quite say: people being 'offended by everything'
What I said was: "One can barely breathe without somebody being offended by something."
As in, you can't say anything without someone else being offended by it.
It's never ending. You can't please everyone.
& this was more in context with others saying the Native American Deerskin costume continues to offend them because it still exists.
As someone who has a half Native husband
(He doesn't take offence to this item), I could just as well be offended at this item being renamed or the idea of it being deleted, as some have suggested.
You simply can not please everyone.

My cousin is half black, & has said
(as several others have said)
that the BLM movement is doing
"more harm than good."

The cops are now in jail, there's some other cases where they still aren't though.
New laws have been passed. People have been more aware and many people donated.
I don't see any harm by the movement itself. Sure there's looters and stuff, but you can't judge all protestors by the few that do harm and then turn around and say the police are just a few bad apples. It's hypocritical.

I hadn't mentioned anything about "a few bad apples" ...on either side of this issue,
though there are decent human beings & horrid human beings of all colors & of every profession.
I don't think that will ever change.
Riots or not.

I simply shared my cousin's view on BLM.
He happens to be half black, & openly says "ALL lives matter".
* If the goal is to be treated as an equal regardless of your race, than don't separate yourself with your race.
That seems hypocritical.

[Kenjaku]

No offense intended, Wolfkiss, but you cannot use your half-POC relatives and friends to hold up your arguments. If they want to be ignorant on their own time, they're free to be- but you cannot use them as your tokens in this argument. The POC in your life are not something you can just use to argue. That is not your place. No one is arguing that all lives do not matter - BLM is not about black lives only. But when black lives are treated that they do not matter on a wide scale, all lives cannot matter until they are included. Right now all lives DO NOT MATTER. We are working to fix that by addressing the part of that which doesn't count as mattering.

If someone is offended every time you breathe, you should consider why your breathing is offensive, full stop. And if me telling you that POC like myself that you know irl are not tokens for you to use in arguments offends you, then please examine why.

[Kenjaku]

Alright, cool, but what does your being offended over other people having emotions have to do with literally anything? You do not have to participate in change if you do not wish to. This movement is not about you, this movement is not for you. If you want to be so offended about people having rights then go on, no one will stop you from having said emotions and feeling through them. But stop using your POC family as token characters in your argument against their own rights. It's a bad look for you and it makes me glad that my German husband would never dare do the same.

I did not dismiss your family, I said they are welcome to be ignorant to the movement on their own time - I simply said stop using them for your own voice. Tell us your opinion WITHOUT leaning heavily on, 'oh, well my POC friend said this!' I don't care what your POC relative said, I don't care what your POC friend said. What are you saying? Why do you have to hide behind their voice? They are not here to share their thoughts, all we have here is you, and you do not get to use their opinions to hide or bolster your own.

For what it's worth: the ones being 'left out' in this movement are racists. There very well might be black people against BLM who are suffering with internalized racism. There are LGBT folks who have internalized homophobia who are against their own rights. That is their struggle, not yours and not your place to take it in your own hands.

I wish I had the emotional strength to continue this argument, but I hope my words make you think in the very least. I hope someone else may be able to jump in and perhaps make my words reach you better.

[W0LF]

No offense intended, Wolfkiss, but you cannot use your half-POC relatives and friends to hold up your arguments. If they want to be ignorant on their own time, they're free to be- but you cannot use them as your tokens in this argument. The POC in your life are not something you can just use to argue. That is not your place. No one is arguing that all lives do not matter - BLM is not about black lives only. But when black lives are treated that they do not matter on a wide scale, all lives cannot matter until they are included. Right now all lives DO NOT MATTER. We are working to fix that by addressing the part of that which doesn't count as mattering.

If someone is offended every time you breathe, you should consider why your breathing is offensive, full stop. And if me telling you that POC like myself that you know irl are not tokens for you to use in arguments offends you, then please examine why.

"No offence" ...?
Of course I'm offended.
You dismiss those of my family simply because someone has a different opinion than you do,
then you proceed to imply their ignorance.
Ignorance is only respecting one view point.
Perhaps you should examine why your ignorant to why your last comment is offensive. Full stop.

You've missed my point entirely.
We should be banding together, & embracing diffences rather than dismissing & dividing.

Is a "Native American" costume offensive to me?
Well, that depends, does it offend a Native?
Some say yes, my husband says no.
You can't please everyone, & that's my point.

- Just as my personal views on BLM is based on how my half black family member feels on the subject;
Again, * If the goal is to be treated as an equal regardless of your race, than don't separate yourself with your race.
You have the freedom to disagree, but don't insult, & also say "no offence".

[nickjr]

I feel weird quoting myself, but I feel like this buried post of mine is relevant to the discussion. I actually started typing for a few seconds before I realized that I was basically repeating this post exactly. So I may as well quote it.

Food for thought:

I had to learn to become offended. While I'm not black or brown, I'm not white either--I'm Chinese. This puts me in an awkward spot when it comes to race-based privilege (I'm in the US). As you may be able to imagine, I share many but not all aspects of privilege with white folks.

I had to learn that what I accepted as normal when I was a kid wasn't right. As a kid, I wouldn't be offended by people making fun of how small my eyes supposedly were when they pulled the skin at the outer corner of their eyes. I thought it was just a neutral illustrative statement. I had no idea it was a derogatory gesture and had to learn that when people did that gesture, they were usually being not-so-nice about my mere physical differences and that in doing so, they were not trying to include me (or, in some cases, were actively trying to exclude me). (For those who are unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, check out (content warning: mentions of chants and gestures that are derogatory towards Chinese and Native Americans) this Reddit thread)

That's just one example of something I thought was normal and not derogatory but simply a fact of life turning out to actually be something that I should be offended about. There are more.

Separately from that, internalized intolerance is a thing. Internalized homophobia, internalized ableism, internalized racism...

I don't know if either one is happening here, but I would not be surprised if one or both are happening here.