Vanessa Gyan at She So Major flagged a story that makes me want to yell at somebody.
Express Night Out, a WaPo publication, conveniently left out Gabby Douglas from its coverage of the women’s gymnastics team gold medal win yesterday. The article, a PDF copy of which can be found here, fails to mention Gabby at all. No photo, no mention — nothing:
We were all so proud of 16-year-old Gabby Douglas as she lead the United States Women’s Gymnastics team to win gold yesterday [July 31] during the London Olympics.
Tweets, headlines, text messages! Everyone was beyond excited for this young woman of color who dominated her sport. The sport she has loved for many years.This morning [August 1], I was baffled by the mention of Douglas being omitted from, The Washington Post publication, The Express Night Out, that was printed this morning congratulating Team USA on their incredible win.
A picture of Express Night Out’s article was tweeted and Gabby’s name was not mentioned and the publication chose to use a picture that did NOT include Gabby. Oh wait, Gabby was in the picture but in the background.
Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney are photographed and praised but why not Gabby?
Someone explain to me how this isn’t blatant discrimination. Please.
UPDATE: Gabby, or rather, an unnamed black girl doing a backbend, is featured in the upper right hand corner of the cover. So, perhaps it is not as egregious as I thought, but that doesn’t explain why the team picture chosen is of Gabby’s back, nor does it explain why she is not named in the article or on the cover. So, no, I will not delete this thread.
[full post here]
kwAwk
It could just be an unintentional oversight by someone who isn’t all that familiar with women’s gymnastics.
lacp
She probably didn’t show WaPo a long-form birth certificate.
gex
The only explanation that is ever given is that racism is imagined. That black people just end up on the wrong end of every unlucky coincidence that our society manages to dish out.
And the psychological mechanisms we have to protect ourselves from pain and guilt gladly grab on to that because we are also innumerate and can’t tell when patterns are no longer statistically random.
gex
@kwAwk: So the photographer, the writer, and the editor all just happen to be too pig-fuck ignorant about their subject to catch this oversight?
I guess they can make that claim. That they think it makes them look better is a matter of opinion, I guess. Journalism is a strange field in which claiming you didn’t bother to do your job properly is accepted as an excuse for not doing your job properly.
ETA: At least, the way I understand it is that they are supposed to inform us, not just put a bunch a shit out there and have us inform THEM what is information and what is trash.
Brachiator
Well at least we have some African American women obsessing over Gabby’s hair.
Again, this proves that the only thing dumber than NBC’s coverage is some of the public’s reaction to the athletes. Fortunately, the voice of reason has its Snark-Fu down. One of the best comments.
shortstop
The story only quotes Wieber and Maroney; it doesn’t quote Raisman, Ross or Douglas. There’s no mention of Raisman, Ross or Douglas in the story, so only the two quoted women are named in the body copy.
The caption should have mentioned Douglas along with the other four since she’s clearly visible in the background. It’s too bad she was a few feet away with her back turned during the photo. Even an editor who wasn’t intentionally trying to exclude her — which is certainly possible — would love this photo because of the hands-held-high-in-triumph angle. But they surely could have and should have chosen another shot that included her facing the camera with the others.
Amusing Alias
Oh for heavens sakes, she’s shown on the front page. The. Front. Page. The rest are on page 11.
Is that explanation enough?
rikyrah
sometimes, ABL,
I think being Black in America, we all become Conspiracy Brotha.
but, yeah, it’s hard for me to believe that if a WHITE GIRL, WHO WAS THE TOP QUALIFIER FOR THE ALL AROUND MEDAL…she’d be left out of the picture.
Tractarian
Are you saying that the reason Douglas was left off of the front page was racism?
Really?
Really?
rikyrah
@kwAwk:
like I said to ABL,
it’s hard for me to imagine an instance where a White gymnast..
WHO IS THE TOP QUALIFIER FOR THE ALL AROUND MEDAL ROUND..
would be left out of the picture.
I’m just sayin’.
kc
@Brachiator:
I was just thinking that the ponytails on the American gals in general are so extremely tight it’s wonder all their hair hasn’t fallen out . . .
Tractarian
Let me clarify:
Only Wieber and Maroney were mentioned in the article itself.
Douglas was not in the photo accompanying the article; therefore, she was not mentioned in the caption.
ABL: you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself whether accusations like this do more harm than good to the cause of equality.
rammalamadingdong
Same thing happened to Brianna Scurry. I believe Letterman had all the top players from the world cup soccer teamexcept the goalie. Another talk show host felt sorry for her and did a tribute show dedicated to her.
rammalamadingdong
Same thing happened to Brianna Scurry. I believe Letterman had all the top players from the world cup soccer team except the goalie. Another talk show host felt sorry for her and did a tribute show dedicated to her.
Tractarian
@rikyrah:
She’s not the top qualifier for the individual all-around. She is second and Raisman is third.
And the article had nothing to do with the individual all-around competition anyway; it was about the team competition.
Just ask yourself if racism is really the most plausible explanation for what happened here.
Joel
Gabby Douglas is probably the US’ best chance at individual all-arounds. So there’s that.
Roger Moore
@kwAwk:
You mean somebody who didn’t notice that Gabby Douglas was the only member of the team who participated in every event last night? Let’s stop bending over so far to give these idiots the benefit of the doubt that we wind up with our heads up our asses.
Tractarian
@Amusing Alias:
I didn’t realize that. You’re right.
So this thread is either a major fuck-up or a bad joke.
Delete it.
Tractarian
@Roger Moore:
I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt, because if I don’t, I’m assuming that the editors of this newspaper were so consumed by racial hatred that they wanted to disrepect the only black member of the gymnastics team by omitting her name and picture from page 11, and instead only included her picture on the front page.
Listen to what you’re saying.
ABL
@Brachiator: I love Snark-Fu. Brilliant.
kc
@Amusing Alias:
I haven’t seen the print edition, but online, the WaPo headline says “Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber lead U.S. women’s gymnastics team to gold”
Tractarian
@gex:
Racism exists. Of that there is no doubt. Please focus on the actual subject here. Is there endemic racism in the editorial staff of the WaPo Express Night Out? Is there racism that is so pervasive that staff members maliciously omit black people from team photos and forbid their name from being written?
Do you find that to be a better explanation in this instance?
Let’s get real here, this is not a major oversight. Newspaper staff are under no obligation – journalistic, ethical or otherwise – to mention the name of every team member in an article about the team’s performance.
On the other hand, if you think it was intentional, you have to believe that all of these people – the photographer, the writer, the editor – are so consumed with racial hatred that they would go so far as to omit references to a black team member. That, to me, is ludicrous.
Keith
Too much inside baseball for me. I had to go look Gabby Douglas up just to figure out what the hell this thread was complaining about (which can be true of so many BJ posts since it started approaching double digit FPers).
So executive summary for folks not familiar with all the members of the US Olympic team: Gabby Douglas is a black gymnast. Whether or not she was slighted by the framing of the photo…I dunno, since she’s had other photos taken of her (that presumably do not offend someone in this country) as well as articles with her in the headlines.
EDIT: Here…I’m sure you can find some way to be offended about this article as well, though.
Tokyokie
@gex: Having recently been laid off by a metropolitan newspaper that decided that it no longer needed copy editors, and being aware of how similar, if not quite as drastic cuts have been made at newspapers across the country, I’d say that the chances of it being a copy-editing error are overwhelming.
kwAwk
@gex:
Contrary to popular belief white people are neither omnicient nor omnipotent. Sometime we do really stupid things, like omit the team captain from an article about a gymnastics team.
Given the odds are that the photographer and the writer have probably paid as little attentiong to women’s gymnastics as the rest of us, it’s not beyond the rhelm of possibility that they writer just rushed up at the last minute, took pictures and statements from the available team members and ran with a story so that they could get out of there in order to go get drunk and hit on that cute Dutch reporter.
It could also be possible that at that moment, the team captain was busy with other commitments or talking with other reporters and that this was just an oversight.
I suppose it is possible that a newspaper in one of the blackest cities in North America is in the habit editing out black people in order to appease their suburban white readership, but I think that it is more likely that this was just a bit of stupidity over intentional racism.
Occams razor and all that…
kc
Aw, shoot, this even’t the actual WaPo. My bad. “Express Night Out,” I never even heard of that.
But Gabby IS pictured on the front cover, doing a gorgeous back handspring, and the p. 11 story only mentions one gymnast (Weiber) by name anyway.
Sooo, this doesn’t look like a case of racism to me.
Tommybones
Another Drudge-style piece from ABL. *yawn*
Laura
FYI, you can see that picture on gettyimages here
http://www.gettyimages.dk/detail/news-photo/alexandra-raisman-jordyn-wieber-mc-kayla-maroney-and-kyla-news-photo/149581111
and Gabby is NOT in the caption. It’s not like they deliberately left it out (on the photo caption at least)
kc
@kc:
I mean, “this isn’t even.” Sheesh.
Tractarian
This thread has really opened my eyes.
I just can’t believe anyone can say, with a straight face, that this is racism.
And (I’ll say it again) those who have done so need to ask themselves, honestly, whether throwing around bald accusations like this does more harm than good to the cause of equality.
Imani Gandy (ABL)
i’ll pass. thanks for your concern.
to the rest who are surely going to start whitesplaining: now that i see Random Black Girl on the cover, do i think omitting her from the body of the article was intentional. no. do i think it is yet another microaggression in a world full of microagressions?
absofuckinglutely.
do i need commenters here telling me i’m harming the cause of equality?
give me a break.
Imani Gandy (ABL)
google microaggressions. jesus christ.
i’m out.
Tractarian
John Cole, are you listening?
Your blog is being dragged in some disturbing directions.
Take control, or the good name of Balloon Juice will be in jeopardy.
Bizono
I noticed the coverage last night wasn’t as focused on Gabby as it should have been, given her performance vs the rest of her team (she had the best overall scores). Some other people noticed, too (see link below). I will, however, cut NBC some slack as Gabby was not (justifiably) the star of their womens gymnastics narrative heading into the Olympics, and their coverage has been largely following through on the narrative they had pre-established.
Crunktastic gets it right here: https://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/update-gabby-douglas-leads-team-usa-to-the-gold/
Tractarian
@Imani Gandy (ABL): Jesus Christ indeed. There is nothing aggressive, or even microaggressive, about this article and its accompanying picture.
Laura
Why don’t you just ignore Tractarian the obvious troll?
But this post was definitely reaching…
Brachiator
@Tractarian:
Shit, if Balloon Juice were worried about its good name, it wouldn’t be worth visiting.
Tractarian
@Imani Gandy (ABL):
Just because you don’t like to hear it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
And apparently you do need to be reined in by the commenters if you keep squeezing out BS posts like this.
General Stuck
pisses me off. I am all about the flying squirrel, and her story of almost quitting, but going on to win a gold medal. Whether rank incompetence by NBC, or something else, they should have known better
Tractarian
@Laura: Not a troll. Frequent commenter. Strong advocate of equality, to boot. Calling ’em like I see ’em.
Another Halocene Human
The rage, burning of strawmen, and logical fallacies are in full force in this kkkomment thread.
Isn’t it more likely that some privileged white hipsters throwing together the shit freeby edition JUST DON’T FUCKING CARE about an African-American athlete, or, perhaps, like the uber-privileged creator of Girls, don’t see
colorBlack people, even when they’re in classes with them, sharing apartments with them, trading texts with them?So the issue here is the utter lack of racial, ethnic, and social diversity in the newspaper industry which leads to entire groups being underrepresented due to NEGLECT.
And that has a real, negative impact on people who could benefit from the news coverage in their professional lives.
I rate WaPoo Free Hamster Liner doubleplusungood.
Scamp Dog
Based on the quality of the rest of the Washington Post, I have no problem believing that the omission is due to incompetence. Toss in the fact that it’s from the Express Night Out, we’re not even getting the paper’s A-team.
Another Halocene Human
@Tractarian: haha, your last sentence gave you away. Favorite phrase of white supremacists.
marduk
@Imani Gandy (ABL):
WAT?
Shark, jumped.
Another Halocene Human
@Scamp Dog: The Washington Post has an A team?!
Martin
Yeah, it was a team win. The least they should have done was name everyone on the team. This is like congratulating the US swim team 4×200 win and only mentioning Phelps – who swam the slowest leg.
At a minimum, it’s a huge cockup. That the only black member of the team was profiled fairly extensively, not only because she moved away from her family to train, but because she’s the leading member to win an all-around individual gold – and is now excluded from this article is really hard to contemplate without something more than just incompetence at play.
Honestly, how do you not mention the team captain in a team win? How do you not choose one of the gazillion photo pool shots of the entire team? I couldn’t find another shot that omitted Gabby.
shortstop
@Tractarian:
Douglas isn’t captioned by name on the page 1 teaser photo. Does it matter? Yeah, when she’s the only team member in the print edition who isn’t mentioned by name in either story or caption, it does — and there are other explanations for it other than “consumed by racial hatred,” but they’re not a free pass, either.
I’ve worked on publications for 25 years. I can tell you with 100% certainty that had I edited this piece, I would have made sure that all five members of the team were mentioned by name in either the story or caption — not both on a piece of this length — and that I would have noticed that one of the five was missing from mention. I can further tell you that I would have 100% noticed that the only one missing was the black girl, because I pay attention to that stuff. (Whole different story for basketball or lacrosse or other large team — you’re not going to name everybody in that instance, but the thing you never do is fail to name one person.)
And I can go even farther and tell you that I’ve met a few editors who would intentionally leave the black girl out, and a whole lot more who just wouldn’t have noticed — they see the great shot of four ecstatic victors with arms upraised, caption or ask someone else to caption the people facing the camera in that photo, and are done with it.
Neither explanation is particularly complimentary to the editor’s competence.
Because she’s on page 1, it’s very likely that someone on this publication noticed that Douglas wasn’t in the group shot and made sure the teaser photo had her in it. That same someone or another member of the editorial staff missed a chance to get her name into the caption with the others. I’m betting it was an oversight. But in a country in which we have a record of marginalizing and derogating African Americans, showing more care is just showing a little fucking respect.
Mike E
Also too: McKayla’s vault was Bob Beamon-esque, a kPOW! that signaled the squad’s dominance in this competition… So amazing that a couple judges had to collect their jaws after they saw it. Gabby literally carried the team with her performance in all four events. As well.
Tractarian
@Another Halocene Human:
Interesting. I wasn’t aware of that, as I don’t know any white supremacists and I don’t read anything written by white supremacists.
Oh, and fuck you for calling me a white supremacist.
Another Halocene Human
@kwAwk: Contrary to popular belief white people are neither omnicient nor omnipotent.
So what makes you uniquely qualified to snarf up all the jobs in media?
Aren’t you explicitly making the case for AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OMG here?
And I mean real affirmative action, like a fucking quota and a quota on each organizational level. No counting the janitorial contractor and what’s left of the mailroom.
Another Halocene Human
Also, too, you can’t spell omniscient.
So much for the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race.
Another Halocene Human
@Tractarian: Prove you’re not.
General Stuck
@Tractarian:
I agree, and ban apologist shitheads like Tractarian, that show up under one nym or another to bash on ABL on every single one of her threads. Tell me it’s not a big deal that NBC should have done better with highlighting Gabby Douglas, for several reasons, and yes, one is that she is a pint sized pioneer into what had heretofore been a white dominated sport. It is what the Olympics are about, imo, equality of all, regardless of anything else but the content of the character and skill of athletes without all the extra bullshit mankind operates in every other forum. shame on NBC and Tractarian assholes.
Another Halocene Human
@shortstop: Amen.
kc
@Bizono:
Huh, respectfully, I disagree. I have seen nothing but positive coverage of Gabby from NBC, and plenty of it. My impression is that Jordyn got a ton of coverage because her story in these Games is such a heartbreaker (or tearjerker, if you’re cynical) – being favored to win, performing so well in the qualifying, being upset by Raisman, and not able to make the finals because of the stupid two-athletes-per-country rule.
Of course, if I were in charge of Olympics coverage, I’d devote a channel to nothing but gymnastics, all day, all night, all athletes from all countries, and all the best routines (esp. Gabby’s) played over and over again, with plenty of super slo-mo for fun.
But that’s just me …
D. Mason
@Tractarian:
ABL sees racism everywhere she looks, except in the mirror of course — if a white person said it, it’s surely steeped in white privilege and probably racist. For my money she is the most bigoted blogger I’ve read but gets a pass because her open disdain is for white America. I can’t read minds but from reading her words I gather that the only good white male is a self loathing/ashamed white male.
She does a lot of good writing on women’s issues but when it comes to race I find her writing so out of line with common sense definitions of racism as to be factually useless. This post is case in point.
Tractarian
@General Stuck:
I’ve never used another name on this forum. You must be thinking of someone else.
I have no idea how NBC covered it because I didn’t watch it on TV. Maybe they omitted Douglas from every shot and blurred her face on the medal stand, in which case criticism would most certainly be justified.
We are talking about one article in the WaPo Express Night Out and its accompanying photo.
I reiterate my belief that throwing out accusations like this based on the flimsiest of evidence (ABL wasn’t even aware Douglas’s picture was on the front page of the very same publication) does more harm than good to the cause of equality. If that makes me an “apologist shithead” and an “asshole” so be it.
No One of Consequence
Um… Doods, and doodettes, and the esteemed Most Angry African-Amercian Dudette:
I watched this coverage last night. Immediately after the finish of (insert proper white gymnast here)’s floor exercise, the team gathered for photos. The initial photos did not have Gabby in them, as she was waving and bowing to the crowd (right where you see her in the background), and not paying attention to her teammates or the fact that they were doing group shots. One of her teammates grabbed her arm after a few seconds, and ushered her over to do the group posing/photo moments.
So, that was just one of the shots before they started to all pose together as a team. They later got the coaches in and started holding up their index fingers to show that they were number one…
Now.
Did the paper chose a poor photo to utilize? Undoubtedly, given that ‘the group’ was incomplete. Is it racism?
I doubt it. Didn’t even think about it.
Then again, I’m a mutt, who looks white I guess.
YMMV, but I think this is a little over-the-top, even for you ABL, and I hold you in very high regard.
Peace,
– NOoC
what
“whitesplaining”?
really?
MikeF
What the fuck? NBC’s gymnastics coverage has been the Weiber/Douglas show. Ross and Maroney are the ones who have gotten minimal coverage.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
“common sense definitions”. that is a good one. Let me guess, common sense defined by white racists or their apologists, its all harmless misunderstanding unless a rope is involved. AMIRITE?
If you think NBC, or those in charge, are unaware of the overwhelming majority white audience, then you are a fool. Even if that fact created an unconscious hesitation on those in charge of production and editing these events, it is still a bad showing, and race based. Especially with something so representative of our country to the world.
Don
Based on the quality of the rest of the Washington Post, I have no problem believing that the omission is due to incompetence
That’s what I came in to say. Never assume malice on the part of WaPo when simple stupidity/incompetence will do. If you’ll forgive the self-link: This is the paper that published an article that referred to an “underaged sexual relationship” between a 13 year old and a man in his 30s. Because grod forbid they actually call it what it is: RAPE.
So when they do something shitty I just assume it’s because they’re ham-fisted morons. These are the people, after all, who let sources vet their quotes and send story drafts to subjects.
jah
a fun game to play based on the criterea set forth!
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp
so far from what i can gather:
racist:
detroit free press
san jose mercury news
not racist:
chicago tribune
los angeles times
kc
@General Stuck:
It has been fairly “white dominated,” but less so in recent years. And I dont expect you would have heard of Dominique Dawes.
I kind of doubt you’ve actually watched any of the NBC coverage, either, because Gabby HAS been “highlighted,” and covered very favorably. Of course the commentators gush over all the women on the team, but Gabby’s gotten her fair share.
lee
It seems ABL was long overdue for another ignorant post. I was wondering if she had hired an editor.
Corner Stone
Hilarious.
kc
@MikeF:
And the Aly-Reisman’s-parents show. Yeah, I was wondering what the hell people are watching if they think NBC hasn’t given Gabby plenty of love.
Corner Stone
@Tractarian:
BWAH HA HA HA!!
***GASP***
HA HA HA HA HA!!
Mike E
@kc: And in their studio interview with Bob Costas, at the very end, you got a peek at who the light of that squad is…after very dutiful if robotic answers (they are all very young after all) to his standard fare, he asked them to recount their first moment watching an olympics where it truly made them sit up and take notice; again, one by one, they gave a decent answer (2004 games, ’96 DVD), but Gabby was last and said something to the effect of, “Shoot, I could do that!” and the room erupted with spontaneous laughter. The joy they share in each others company was nice to see, if only just at a glimpse.
General Stuck
@Tractarian:
And so is ABL. What’s your point? Since only one major publication fucked up, then let’s ignore it. I don’t see Abby in the group photo, she should be. Is the argument oversight, incompetence? For a supposed world class paper.
You sound like all post racial and shit, like the wingnuts. ABL is emo, that does not mean she didn’t have a point. Deal with it. Or send Cole an email at the wounding of your white pride, that ABL has apparently bruised. Move over closer, let me bruise it some more.
And no, I don’t have a teevee to watch the Olympics, so I got to get clips and snippets here and there after the fact.
Steve
Based upon her picture on the front page I’m going to declare the publication not guilty. I agree with shortstop @47 that it’s entirely plausible the choice to use her on the front page was intentional for this very reason. Having said that, it gets really tiresome watching people go full-blown ZOMG HOW CAN YOU CALL THIS RACISM when they could simply, you know, disagree and move on. One source of the problem is the insistence on seeing a binary choice between KKK-style racism and complete purity and blamelessness, with nothing in between.
But as the self-appointed spokesman for all white people, let me just explain this to anyone who doesn’t get it: to a white person, an unwarranted accusation of racism isn’t just wrong, it is THE WORST THING EVER. That’s why you always see these emotionally overwrought reactions. Many of us would like a world without racism, sure, but far more important is that we have a world without unwarranted accusations of racism! THEY MUST BE INSTANTLY SQUASHED OR THE WORLD WILL END.
kc
@General Stuck:
Her name is GABBY. Wow, you’re just oozing with white privilege. You think you can just call her any name you want?
Sorry, could not resist.
Mattminus
@Imani Gandy (ABL):
LOL! Microagression, that’s a creative new dodge to take when you’re proven to be flat out wrong.
What’s next, “fact privilege”?
Another Halocene Human
@D. Mason: Exposing white privilege is the real racism.
MikeF
@General Stuck:
Thanks for your informed and useful contributions to this thread.
Tractarian
@General Stuck:
You called me an “apologist shithead” for defending NBC. I did no such thing.
It’s Gabby, smartypants.
My concern here is, as I’ve stated a couple of times, throwing around bald accusations of racism with no evidence does more harm than good to the cause of equality. You may not believe that; I don’t care.
And for intimating that I have “white pride,” fuck you.
Another Halocene Human
@Steve: But as the self-appointed spokesman for all white people, let me just explain this to anyone who doesn’t get it: to a white person, an unwarranted accusation of racism isn’t just wrong, it is THE WORST THING EVER. That’s why you always see these emotionally overwrought reactions. Many of us would like a world without racism, sure, but far more important is that we have a world without unwarranted accusations of racism! THEY MUST BE INSTANTLY SQUASHED OR THE WORLD WILL END.
Because KKK-style Racism™ means you’re a meth-mouthed, ignant, overall-wearing redneck hick. And that’s-that’s-that’s just too foul to even acknowledge. I mean, I never. I went to the best schools, I have all my teeth. History’s Greatest Monster!
D. Mason
@General Stuck: Since she was on the front page I guess the only way they could avoid being racist here would be to focus coverage exclusively on the black star athlete, as if she weren’t part of a team at all and the other members were just there to fill the bottom lines on the application. It’s obvious the girl is extremely talented. She’s a star and the team captain, but the flipside of this post is that someone doesn’t think the others deserve recognition for their part in the games.
Another Halocene Human
@lee: How dare we even discuss this because SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP.
eclecticbrotha
I can clearly see Gabby facing in the opposite direction with both hands in the air celebrating in the attached picture, so there’s that. Its not like the copy editor couldn’t have found a different picture to highlight all five girls facing the camera, though.
General Stuck
@kc:
You are correct. I don’t have a teevee. And I don’t care if you or anyone else thinks this has been overblown by ABL, because NBC is this or that, or whateve. I am just sick of the white whining on ABL threads overall, and plan to flame the wankers and let the FSM sort it out.
So suck it up princess, our white asses can survive a little in your face by ABL, whether we need it or not. Our account on injustice is well in the red, so the beatings will not stop until morale improves, or something like that.
kc
@Mike E:
I missed that – tuned out after the tumbling was over. But it sounds as if she is as much fun off the apparatus as she is on.
Scamp Dog
I’m not saying what level they’d qualify for at a decent paper, mind you.
Gwangung
@Steve: Yeah, pretty much this. I think ABL went over the top on this; incompetence is abetted explanation to me.
On the other hand, what she talks about is a real phenomena in the real world, and its easy for incompetence to compound it.
Tractarian
@Steve:
I agree that this is a problem in general, and I can’t say I’m totally innocent of it.
I don’t think there’s a lot of gray area in this particular instance, though.
Hm. Couldn’t it just be that white people think racism is really really really really bad and so they really don’t want to be wrongly accused of it, any more than they would want to be wrongly accused of child molestation?
pseudonymous in nc
@Martin:
I’m always prefer the cockup theory, and agree with Martin here: perhaps the editor didn’t have a shot from the pool that combined the arms-aloft celebrations with Douglas facing the same way as the rest of the team. I also think it was a case of looking through hundreds of photos coming down the wire and saying “this one illustrates the story” without giving it a second thought. It’s tomorrow’s fishwrap, especially so for a freesheet.
The question then becomes why “cheering white girls” is the split-second choice to illustrate a US gymnastics story.
Another Halocene Human
@Don: They’re the poster children for the dammerung of the elites, the moronicity of the village, the reason for the tumbrel jokes, the need for the ruling order to be plowed under for a New new deal….
kc
@General Stuck:
All righty then. I do, I’ve watched the gymnastics coverage, and Gabby has gotten plenty of attention.
Tractarian
Well that’s for sure.
What’s less certain is whether “a little in your face by ABL” based on bald accusations without any evidence is good or bad for race relations and the cause of equality.
Either way, “white asses” are not on the line.
Gwangung
@Tractarian: Ah, concern trolling, then.
Then I should say YOUR tone is not helping either.
Another Halocene Human
@General Stuck: Heck, I’d be happy to take the fake show of diversity that papers over our real existential problems in America than a media landscape where Black faces are obliterated.
But we can’t discuss this? Because shutup that’s why?
Gawd, here I am lowering my expectations and everything.
The first step is acknowledging you have a problem… this thread is littered with whites in denial. Watch out, those crocodiles will bite.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
Thank you Mason, for making it clear what your complaint, as well as tractarian and the other white butthurt shitheads are crying about. WHAT ABOUT US WHITE PEEPS – EVERYONE ALWAYS PICKING ON US AROUND HERE, THE INJUSTICE OF IT ALL. Well boo fucking hoo, you will live. sounds like complaints from the regulars at Redstate.
Another Halocene Human
@Tractarian: Either way, “white asses” are not on the line.
They never are, hence the intellectual poverty of the discussions in “quiet rooms”.
decitect
Well, Kyla Ross is that pic. She’s got some Black. She’s also Asian, and Puerto Rican (white? hispanic white? black hispanic?)
She’s not getting much love either.
And noone’s really apologized for accusing Yu Shiwen of doping when her dope tests came back negative.
so add Asians to the racism in american news.
Another Halocene Human
@pseudonymous in nc: The question then becomes why “cheering white girls” is the split-second choice to illustrate a US gymnastics story.
When there are no Blacks in decision-making positions, we doom ourselves to a future of “missing cute white children”, “missing white women”, “runaway brides”, Palin reality shows, etcet.
kc
That’s Gabby.
Mattminus
@General Stuck:
Shorter General Stuck: Because there is racism, ABL gets to have her own facts.
Another Halocene Human
@decitect: But the point is Douglas is kind of considered the leader athletically, so she should be getting some love.
Asians getting obliterated by media isn’t news, it’s every day. Thanks for bringing that up because we need to talk about that, too.
kc
@kc:
And, not to nitpick, but I believe she’s doing a back handspring, not a backbend. ;)
Gwangung
Funny. Asian Americans point this out all the time. But we are only mentioned when blacks get mentioned first.
Tractarian
@Another Halocene Human:
In denial of what?
Speaking for myself, the only thing I’ve denied is that Page 11 of the August 1, 2012 edition of the WaPo Express Night Out is evidence of racism. I stand by that particular denial.
@Gwangung:
Nope. I’m being fully sincere, and I’m not a sockpuppet.
kc
@Another Halocene Human:
Says who? Isn’t that what we’re doing?
Another Halocene Human
@Gwangung: Y’all need a better lobby. ADL for East Asians. Racebending is a damn good site, though.
Msnbc has MHP on every weekend. Maybe they need an Asian host, too, to break down the media and cultural landscape for us? (I’ve learned some really fascinating things from watching MHP.)
Tractarian
@Another Halocene Human: So true. Shame there are no blacks in decision-making positions.
Villago Delenda Est
@Another Halocene Human:
Aye, that’s what the REAL problem is.
LanceThruster
@Brachiator:
The Snark-Fu is strong with this one.
Another Halocene Human
@kc: No, you’re attempting to foreclose discussion by screaming at ABL that she’s shrill, should take down her post, go away, appealing to Cole to deep six her, and repeatedly accusing her of lying and making things up rather than have a reasoned discussion as to what exactly is going on here… and why.
Penus
@Tokyokie:
As a one-time sports copy editor who escaped before the layouts, you’re on point.
To piggyback on your point, this isn’t the Post, but a free tabloid the Post puts out. I doubt there are ANY sports staff who are involved in its layout. While gymnastics is a sport that’s as likely to be known by non-sports people as sports people, there’s a strong chance that the person who put this picture in knows nothing about the sport.
Furthermore, someone else mentioned that Douglas wasn’t mentioned in the cutline. So a likely non-sports-knowledgeable editor is putting together the page and is supposed to edit in a mention of a girl in the background whose back is turned?
It could be racism. Not knowing any of the people involved, I won’t rule it out. But it’s incredibly unlikely that that’s the case.
General Stuck
@Tractarian:
You mean like a group pic on the WAPO front page without Douglass? sounds like evidence to me. Doesn’t prove motive, but it is fair to ask the scary questions to the white powers that be.
And let me clue you in on without any evidence is good or bad for race relations and the cause of equality.
We still have racism because too many white people don’t like black people getting equal treatment. Some of them don’t want them to exist at all in their world. There is no rule that says black people have to play by the same rules that are set by white people. ABL doesn’t do play by your rules, and makes her own rules, and that pisses people like you off. It isn’t that complicated, the problem with race relations is white people. 99 percent anyways.
kc
@Another Halocene Human:
.
She IS! She is getting plenty of love! Jesus Jumping Christ, she’s prominently featured in NBC’s coverage, she was, by herself, on the cover of farkin’ TIME magazine (that great pic of Gabby in the post on ABL’s page came straight outta time), WaPo’s headline mentioned her first . . .
D. Mason
@General Stuck: That’s what you got? Pathetic. ABL is a piss poor writer whos stock in trade is fauxrage over “microagression”. The only available defense for her drivel is to call me a racist for not lapping it up. Knock yourself out.
kc
@General Stuck:
Didn’t happen. Stop shouting and pay attention. We’re talking about a group pic on page 11 of “Express Night Out” or some shit no one outside of DC ever heard of, where Gabby and Gabby alone is pictured on the cover.
I hate to see you wasting all this fine outrage on shit that didn’t even happen.
kc
@General Stuck:
And it’s Douglas, not Douglass, goddamnit. Here you are howling about some nonexistent dis and you can’t even get her name right!
D. Mason
@D. Mason:
She’s on the front page and omitted on the 11th page. You’re arguing on behalf of a post which you don’t understand. See how that falls flat? Of course not.
General Stuck
@Mattminus:
She doesn’t have to accept your version of ‘facts’. That is for sure. And she doesn’t have to prove her facts beyond a reasonable doubt on a blog. The facts are Douglass was left out of some photos and script she should have been in. The question is motive, and one speculation is equal to others, it’s what blogs are for, amongst other stuff. It ain’t like black people ain’t been left out of shit before? eh?
kc
@Another Halocene Human:
:
I never said ANY of that. Why do you lie?
Steve
@Tractarian:
Of course, but we’re not talking about someone defending themselves. If you got called a racist (I guess maybe you did!) I wouldn’t blame you for taking umbrage. But freaking out because some anonymous person at some random publication got accused of racial insensitivity isn’t really necessary. You can just disagree.
You may have noticed how a lot of men seem to be more concerned about the possibility that somewhere, a woman is falsely accusing a man of rape, than they are concerned about actual rapes. Both of these things are bad, but there’s still something wrong about this.
Tractarian
@General Stuck:
If those white people are elected officials, then yeah, there kinda is.
Darkrose
I’m just wondering why, out of all the pictures of the entire group, the one that didn’t have the black girl is the one they chose?
Intentional racism? Probably not. An oversight because it didn’t occur to the editor that there’s a black girl on the team because black folks don’t do gymnastics? Yeah, probably.
And for all y’all who want to whitesplain it? Don’t, okay? If you don’t understand what it’s like to assume that representations of people who look like you in the media will be negative, then no, you won’t get why it raises eyebrows when she should be in the picture for something good. but isn’t.
decitect
@Gwangung:
Exactly, it’s not just a black/white thing.
The paper shoulda posted the ‘Fab Five’ and that’s it. Plenty of pix around they coulda grabbed.
Darkrose
I’m just wondering why, out of all the pictures of the entire group, the one that didn’t have the black girl is the one they chose?
Intentional racism? Probably not. An oversight because it didn’t occur to the editor that there’s a black girl on the team because black folks don’t do gymnastics? Yeah, probably.
And for all y’all who want to whitesplain it? Don’t, okay? If you don’t understand what it’s like to assume that representations of people who look like you in the media will be negative, then no, you won’t get why it raises eyebrows when she should be in the picture for something good. but isn’t.
Tractarian
@decitect:
No apology is necessary. China has had more than twice as many doping offenses as any other nation. A little skepticism is certainly in order.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
Well, I did just sit down at the computer for this thread. But what does it matter what page the group photo was on if she wasn’t in it? I really don’t have to have a reference point anymore when folks like you show up. That show is long running, and only the episodes change. Or, D Mason is pissed that white peeps is being wronged. Maybe they are, I don’t care because we are on top and can take the rage from minorities that question things that don’t add up. There is no such separate theme of white power, it is the whole show, and has been for a very long and nasty time.
Tractarian
@Steve:
I didn’t “freak out” until I got personally accused of being a white supremacist.
You know, I hear this a lot, but what is the evidence for it? That men get really really really upset and angry when they are falsely accused of rape? How does that even remotely imply that they are more concerned about the false accusations than they are about rape itself?
Darkrose
Ob FYWP:
I’m just wondering why, out of all the pictures of the entire group, the one that didn’t have the black girl is the one they chose?
Intentional racism? Probably not. An oversight because it didn’t occur to the editor that there’s a black girl on the team because black folks don’t do gymnastics? Yeah, probably.
And for all y’all who want to whitesplain it? Don’t, okay? If you don’t understand what it’s like to assume that representations of people who look like you in the media will be negative, then no, you won’t get why it raises eyebrows when she should be in the picture for something good. but isn’t.
D. Mason
@Steve: That’s the problem round here. Simply disagreeing leads, almost immediately, to being accused of racism. It’s fine for ABL and her sycophants to run things that way, shes a FPer after all, but they shouldn’t expect people to take their accusations of racism seriously when they come so easily. They don’t even have to understand the subject being disagreed upon to reflexively whip out the accusation of racism. To me it’s more like a joke than a serious accusation because it’s not coming from a serious source. Not everyone has seen it play out enough times to understand that though.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
Then why do you seem to show up in her threads and wank whiny shit about what she writes? If you think she is such a bad writer. Most folks would just scroll on by if that was their problem. But that isn’t the problem with you, you already copped to claiming reverse racism on this thread. Deal with it, or stfu with dismissal comments.
burnspbesq
When the Post goes out of its way to suggest that Kevin Love is primarily responsible for the success of the Olympic men’s basketball team, then you’ve got a legitimate beef. Until then …
General Stuck
@kc:
LOL, sure sign your opponent has nothing in a debate when they resort to spell checking for substantial argument. Twas a typo with an extra S from typing too fast answering morons moronic wanking on this thread. I believe I spelled it correct in earlier comments. Now don’t you feel stupid?
You should
D. Mason
@General Stuck: Context is why it matters. The accusation is racism based on exclusion in a p11 picture but really she was pictured on p1 instead of p11. To me that takes the umph completely out of this accusation, making it unserious, as most of ABL’s race related posts are. In fact I came into this thread ready to agree until I found out the star was pictured on p1. That changed the whole scope of things for me but obviously not for ABL who seems to be saying only the black star should be getting attention which is equally wrong, just on the opposite side of things. And sure, white America can take a few on the chin and still be fine but let’s not pretend the action is somehow advancing the conversation of race — it’s not. It’s just another example of laughable “microagression” on the part of ABL. Thanks ABL for the new terminology BTW, that’s golden.
ABL
@shortstop: I agree.
@Darkrose: Precisely.
@Steve: And what you quoted illustrates another problem: White people think racism is really bad (which white people, exactly?), so bad in fact that the first instinct is to get defensive and accuse me of reverse racism (there’s no such thing, by the way), or harming the cause of racial equality, or dragging the quality of Cole’s blog down (that one made me laugh) than perhaps to say, “Hey, she’s on the cover, so your “blatant discrimination” claim seems dead wrong, but I’d like to understand why you view the fact she is neither named in the article or cover, or pictured with her teammates as a racially-insensitive slight or microaggression.”
I mean, certainly attempting to understand where I am coming from, what I’ve experienced takes too much time when you’ve got a “white people think racism is really bad and I must defend them” mentality.
Oh,and by the way, I talked to my white mom and she agrees that it’s fucked up. Do I get points for that? No? Well, next time, maybe.
Cheers everyone.
D. Mason
@General Stuck: Being accused of something by you isn’t the same as copping to something.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
Yea, right. You have a long history on this blog. And agreeing with ABL is not in my memory banks, but I could be mistaken. All I remember is the white butthurt and flailing attacks on ABL’s writing skills, that you just can’t help yourself from reading.
Tractarian
@ABL:
“Which white people, exactly?” As in, “I can’t believe there exists a white person who thinks racism is really bad”? Fuck you.
By the way, this whole imbroglio started because YOU couldn’t be bothered to actually check the publication you so casually accused of “discrimination”. That’s poor blogging quality, even for this blog.
(Or would you have posted this anyway, even knowing that Douglas was pictured on page 1?)
ABL
@D. Mason: You’re welcome, kitten. If you’re interested in educating yourself about microaggressions, try here: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/02/microaggression.aspx
Or you could go on acting like a prat.
I prefer the latter; your fapping always amuses me. How frustrating it must be for you that neither I nor our host Cole care one whit about your patently unbiased and entirely subjective opinion about the “piss-poor” nature of my writing!
Nonetheless, the former might actually help you unlock your intelligence achievement.
Your choice! I’ll be satisfied either way.
Cheers!
rb
@Darkrose:
Intentional racism? Probably not. An oversight because it didn’t occur to the editor that there’s a black girl on the team because black folks don’t do gymnastics? Yeah, probably.
Exactly. And importantly: this oversight is functionally racist. It’s rather alarming that so many (presumably white) people on this thread can’t see this.
(I suspect most do, they just don’t like ABL’s style, so they are strawmanning it.)
And for all y’all who want to whitesplain it? Don’t, okay?
Hear fucking hear, says this white dude.
Corner Stone
@Tractarian:
Good God but that is a low blow sir! A low blow, indeed.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
Say what?@D. Mason:
@D. Mason:
“others” you mean white people, don’t you, but couldn’t say it?
Would you like your white sheets pressed and folded?
ABL
@Tractarian: You said “white people think racism is bad.” I know of a whole Klan of them who might prove you wrong.
Settle down, champ.
D. Mason
@ABL:
I would be guessing your mom is a part of “white people” there. You know, the ones who think racism is really bad.
ABL
@General Stuck: HAHAHAHA. half my family is white!
I’m cracking up.
Jamey
Judge deducts .10 for a bad dismount from the reverse-racism maneuver.
Corner Stone
@Darkrose:
Gabby is on the cover but they are unaware black people do teh gymnastics.
Has anyone here actually watched any channel in the NBC family during these games?
Jamey
@ABL
Huh? I guess you showed him…
D. Mason
@General Stuck:
Actually I meant the non-stars. Having not read any racial breakdowns of the team I don’t know if they’re all white but looking at the pic I guess you could assume that was my meaning. If you’re into assuming the worst, which some individuals around here obviously are.
BobS
@Imani Gandy (ABL): Todays episode of ‘Tilting at Windmills’?
Mattminus
@BobS:
This is a clear microinvalidation, and we won’t stand for it!
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
I wasn’t assuming anything in that comment. I was just feeding your own words back to you, claiming that you weren’t claiming ‘reverse racism’ in this thread. Maybe if you stopped acting like a white victim, as the republicans do, then maybe folks wouldn’t assume stuff that ruffles your feather .
Villago Delenda Est
@Darkrose:
One has to wonder.
It’s one of those things that a lot of people do unconsciously, without realizing what they’re communicating to those who are conscious of such things.
Which is what “sensitivity training” is all about. Being more aware of those sorts of choices, and the implications of them.
Yeah, the girls are thrilled. But excluding one of them and not even mentioning her (as little as a “also Gabby Douglas (in background, not facing camera)” would have resolved this) is telling. It’s an example of people not being aware.
Someone may well be mortified that they made that choice without thinking it through. We’ll probably never know.
ABL
You might as well shut the Internet down. I am never going to stop laughing at this:
That’s fucking brilliant. I am going to put it in my bio.
:)
what
In a parallel universe in which the “chips” fell slightly differently than they did in this one, most of the posters here tossing around casual accusations of others being KKK-level racist are, at this very moment, breathlessly posting defenses of Steve King over at “alternate-universe” Powerline.
The rhetorical tactics and logical failures are the same. It’s only the starting conditions that differ.
Jamey
OMG! President Obama commented on Gabby Douglas last! Thats rayciss!!!
D. Mason
@General Stuck:
Ok, Ok. Not assuming, failed attempt at mind reading perhaps? I mean, you only took my words and twisted them into a completely different meaning, with a racial slant(ETA: where there had been none before), and attempted to attribute said meaning to me. Nothing to see here.
By the way, your comment made me curious, they’re not all white.
JR
Well, the print edition also includes a shot of Allyson Felix on the next page, and an article about assistant women’s basketball coach Jennifer Gillom–complete with a photo of her and Michelle Obama–on the page after that.
Douglas is on the cover, though not mentioned. The other two people on the cover are Michael Phelps and Tracy Morgan.
I think this is bad writing, not blatant discrimination. If this paper is trying to be blatantly discriminatory, it’s doing it wrong.
Mattminus
@Jamey:
The rare automicroagressiveinvalidation! Mark it in your field guide!
Corner Stone
@Jamey: “in that order”
Oh God no! God help us all!
D. A. Krolak
Knowing how these sort of publishing things go – they used this shot because it cost less to license…
with or without racism (they may not have known, cutbacks in budget, etc…)it was bad journalism, bad reportage & very probably based on a subtle form of discrimination, a more subliminal form.
As others have so rightly pointed out, if it had been one of the “white” girls missing, someone, somewhere in this news process would have noticed. I saw this coverage live & saw her not in the photo when they gathered – and saw her come over seconds later – there were many more photos to choose from – they chose poorly, and I have little doubt out of a bigotry.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
LOL. So you didn’t say what you said. Okay. You doing a Mitt impersonation?
Alison
@ABL: It’s so Glenn-Beckian, isn’t it? ABL HAS A DEEP-SEATED HATRED OF WHITE PEOPLE AND WHITE CULTURE.
Corner Stone
@Alison: Thank you!
AA+ Bonds
if you don’t think this is racist, you suck
ABL
@Alison: I do. The jig is up!
AA+ Bonds
“HMM ANY MORE LITTLE WHITE GIRLS, NOPE, I GUESS THIS MUST BE THE WHOLE TEAM”
El Tiburon
@Tommybones:
Well, I thought I posted this comment a while ago but my old-man eyes can’t seem to find it.
So, I will try again, although I must admit I’ve lost my initial enthusiasm.
At least ABL didn’t squeeze Hamsher (the noted racist, according to ABL) into the mix somehow. Progress, I guess.
Now, it is fair to say that just about every single media outlet will fawn over the pretty blonde female to the exclusion of just about everyone else: black chicks, fat chicks, ugly chicks, and so on. This is not a new thought.
Otherwise this is just more faulty perception from a blogger who uses her perch here on a somewhat popular and influential blog to throw bombs.
AA+ Bonds
but this is also racist as shit, so outlandishly racist as to be almost comic
General Stuck
Got to hand it to you ABL, whatever your style. No one else brings out the Redstate around here like you do. With a bullseye on those with a sense of downtrodden and beleaguered white people calling themselves liberals. Somebody needs to do it, might as well be you :)
to the rest of you wankers, the WAPO thanks you for being a credit to your race and our publication, fighting the good fight against the black and brown hordes out after our pale goats. White butthurt in defense of liberty is no vice.
I don’t care if ABL raised a good question, or not. It is the answers in the comment thread that are fascinating and worth the price of admission.
D. Mason
@General Stuck: In my quote of you it clearly states that I meant but did not say white people, allegedly because I couldn’t. That’s your accusation and accompanying quote. Seriously, the rest of the team isn’t all white to begin with, which had no bearing on my meaning, ever. I used the word others for a reason, which had nothing to do with race. WTF are you on?
AA+ Bonds
And I mean, why the fuck so many commenters get so defensive when this obvious racism is called out as obvious racism
Hmmmmm
AA+ Bonds
“Here is a picture of everyone who counts and some interviews with them. No I didn’t check this looks about right to me”
Tractarian
@ABL:
I never said anything of the sort. False attribution is also poor blogging quality.
Steve
@Tractarian: I think you freaked out well before you were accused (bizarrely) of being a white supremacist. I mean, you were posting comments like every 2 minutes saying the exact same “Really? REALLY?” stuff. A normal reaction would have been to disagree and then move on.
Anyway, I think your response to my comment about rape shows that you’re still not getting my point. I never said anything about men getting worked up when they, themselves, are accused of rape. Of course no one reacts well to being accused of rape.
Again, what I wrote: “a lot of men seem to be more concerned about the possibility that somewhere, a woman is falsely accusing a man of rape.”
What you wrote: “what is the evidence for it? That men get really really really upset and angry when they are falsely accused of rape?” Completely missing the point.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
I would say quit digging, but your almost there to China. Now you want to parse your way out of what you said> Go ahead, but Wouldn’t it be easier to own it and maybe learn something about yourself to being a better person. None of us are perfect in this matter, just some want to hold on to their entitlement more than others. It isn’t about ABL. It is about you and me. And that is because we run things, or our tribe does, all like forever.
ABL
@Tractarian: You want to review your comment 85 and try again?
Come on. You’re making this too easy.
ETA: oh, my mistake. you said, “white people think racism is really really really really bad” and not “white people think racism is bad.” accept my apology for misquoting you, won’t you please?
D. Mason
@General Stuck:
Hate to break it to you champ but I don’t run shit. And I didn’t say white people in the quote above, which you insist that I meant. That’s not parsing it’s just reading comprehension. You started out saying I meant white in that quote which was demonstrably ignorant and have moved on to saying I actually said white which is an outright lie. Mitt is that you?
ETS: What you’re doing here is called muddying the waters in some places and lying in others. I stand by the things I’ve written but will not stand by the things you accuse me of writing which I didn’t. stop being a liar.
ABL
@D. Mason: Quit arguing with Stuck and tell me some more about my open disdain for white America.
::rests chin on hands::
D. Mason
@ABL: You’re not Willy Wonka and that meme is old.
El Tiburon
@ABL:
Tractarian wrote:
This is absolutely true. 100% true. Of this there can be no denial.
ABL wrote:
How is this not some form of overt racism or hatred on some level? Explain to me how this is any different from this statement:
“Black people think being lazy and on welfare is really really bad. – I know a lot of Welfare receiving lazy black folks who might prove you wrong.”
How is that any different? ABL, do you disagree with the notion that white people find racism really, really bad? Or, do Klansmen count as all white people? You basically called Tractarian out for saying white people think racism is bad.
Really offensive.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
And I put a question mark by it. You been wanking on white folks are getting a bad deal from this post, and ABL is the biggest bigot on the blogs, and the implication was? That she was dissing ‘the others’ and that you meant ‘others’ to not being a reference to white ‘others’ on a thread that has been about nothing but black/white race? Okay then, grasshopper, carry on. You can be anything on the blogs.
kc
@General Stuck:
Compared to you? Ah, no.
Tractarian
@ABL: Obviously I was referring to the white people that express high dudgeon when accused of racism; not all white people.
General Stuck
@kc:
What a clever remark. pure genius, Captain Glue.
Violet
I love watching Gabby. She has the best smile and is so athletic. NBC did a profile on her last night and in it they talked about her leaving her family to live near the training center in Iowa. Sounds like that was hard for her but her host family that she lived with in Iowa was really supportive. Very nice profile on her and her determination and dedication to her sport.
If the WaPo overlooked her or if it was blatantly racist, it’s stupid either way. She’s a star with a megawatt smile. If she does well in the all around competition, she’s got a lot of endorsement deals coming her way.
D. Mason
@General Stuck: As I already said, related to my reference towards Douglas being the star, “others” meant non-stars, one of whom is asian. That’s not good enough for you and that’s ok by me but when you say I said white, you’re lying. BTW, accusing me of parsing my way out of what I said when quoting me saying I did not say white is the same as saying I did say white, liar. The only defense you can provide for this garbage post is to fabricate lies about what those who disagree said so you can slam them as racist. Classy. As. Fuck.
Egilsson
If ABL had a shred – a single shred – of intellectual integrity she would be standing on her head condemning Another Halocene Human for calling Tracterian a “white supremacist” in this thread. Not a whisper.
That’s offensive, but, once again, ABL is exposed as a 2nd rate blogger who sometimes writes really stupid crap. This is another one of those sad episodes. This one is actually jaw-dropping.
It should clue her in when she relies on nasty characters like General Stuck to defend her. Sometimes General Stuck says interesting and valid things, but usually it’s trash.
ABL would be smart if once in a while she would say, “yeah, that was dumb, sorry.” But she digs in and says even more stupid crap.
kc
@Darkrose:
Well, ABL did say this in her post: “Someone explain to me how this isn’t blatant discrimination. Please.” In response to which a handful of people, including me, looked at it and politely offered explanations as to why it might not be blatant discrimination. I hope that is not considered “whitesplaining.”
As a fan of ABL, and Gabby Douglas, I don’t see any blatant discrimation here. But I can understand that ABL, who has had different life experiences than I have, would view it differently. I respect that. And I think subtle and unsubtle racism is more rampant than many of us think. I just personally am not seeing it myself in this particular case. I sort of thought the post invited us to talk about it.
It’s hard to have any kind of helpful discussion of racism issues in any event, and especially in an ABL thread, when so many knee-jerk anti-ABL assholes show up to crap all over the thread, and assholes like General Stuck just start screaming at everyone without even knowing shit about the subject.
ABL
@Tractarian: Well then, you should feel more than a little embarrassed for flipping out in comment 134, don’t you think?
Enjoy your evening, people.
It’s been fun. :)
Steve
On the whole, I might agree with something like 60% of ABL’s posts, but even when I think she is flat wrong about something, I’m still left shaking my head at the haters a whole lot more than I am at her. It’s really quite the phenomenon.
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
“others” you mean white people, don’t you, but couldn’t say it?
I didn’t “say” you meant white. I asked a question if that was what you meant, you know with one of these ?. You deny it, okay, that is fine by me, though I think it is laughable. And so, so how does ABL’s post diss (implication) others, like you claim?
or, my fav
Tell it to ABL, how she disdains white America when her family is half white. You half wit.
mainmati
@gex: Both my brothers are journalists and both excellent, multiple prize-winning ones at that. Absolutely, there are a lot of hacks out there and, with the decline in papers and competition with TV and the Internet to entertain, standards have plummeted over the years. But it is just not universal. Oh and BTW, the WaPo continues its long slide into mediocrity.
kc
@kc:
And of course they SHOULD have used a team pick with Gabby face forward, with the other girls. I mean wymyn. I just think theory that whoever chose the pic was lazy/rushed/ignorant-of-who-is-on-the-gymnastics-team, or all three, is more plausible than brazen racism.
Heliopause
Haven’t seen it brought up in the comments, though maybe I missed it, but here goes.
First, it should be pointed out that the article in question appears to be from a lengthy puff piece by Nancy Armour of the Associated Press. Now, before you Juicers start a Twitter Jihad against Ms. Armour please note that her piece is actually twice as long as that printed in Express Night Out and Gabby Douglas is discussed in the second half of the article.
So, why was the article truncated? Looking over the pdf of this edition it seems evident that this “newspaper” is simply a photo-heavy and text-light aggregator of news items and distributed for free to those who find the regular WaPo an onerous read. I’m a fan of parsimony and to me the most likely explanation is that whoever throws this thing together simply grabbed this AP piece, noticed that it was much too long for the space allotted, then simply cut it in half and published the first half. My guess is that if we looked at all the other articles in Express Night Out we’d find that they do something like this an awful lot.
As for the photo, it’s possible that whoever chose them felt that putting Douglas on the cover and some of the others on page 11 covered all the bases, but of course that’s just speculation. It’s possible that this editor choosing to highlight Jordyn Wieber twice but Gabby Douglas only one-and-a-half times was a conscious or unconscious racial slight, but again that would be speculation. I have a hard time sussing out the motivations of the publishers when it appears to my eyes that they are simply pulling stuff off the internet and throwing it together.
fraught
Never sawone of these ambushes of ABL as it was happening. Its so clear that the ganging up is both racist and involves some hatred of women who think while being black. The appeals to Cole are sou telling. They sound so primative: “Hey man, shut your bitch up.” ABL is just doing here what needs to be done here and doing it with much bravery and fortitude and humour. She is precisely right about this Wapo episode and
Egilsson
Steve, if you can’t figure why playing loosy-goosey with unfounded accusations of racism isn’t offensive, I think you are the one being obtuse. It’s disrespectful to *actual* instances of racism. And it’s vile to throw that accusation around as a weapon because you are embarrassed at getting caught saying stupid crap.
When you have a platform, you have a greater responsibility; if you abuse that, you should get called out on it. Lord knows people crawl all over John Cole when he says something stupid. Hell, people crawl all over him when he says something smart and right.
Beauzeaux
@Tractarian: They’re not consumed with hatred. They”re oblivious. They don’t even notice that the ONLY black member of the team isn’t in the picture.
Privilege doesn’t require malice it’s just the scenery.
fraught
…and this is exactly where it should be pointed out.
F-ing tablet typing
eemom
@Tractarian:
No doubt it’s the kiss of death coming from me, but you made a reasonable point and you do not deserve the shit that’s been hurled at you on this thread.
I have many times called out Cole and other FPers for posting half-assed accusatory tirades without checking the facts. I don’t see why ABL should get a free pass for doing the exact same thing.
Jamey
Geez, enough already. Kidding aside, there are zillions of other instances that would reasonably lead ABL to view WaPo’s coverage of the women’s gymnastic team as selective, and possibly racist.
I just happen to think that WaPo committed an error of omission, not one of commission. Unless the gymnastics coverage was bylined by Charles Lane…
D. Mason
@General Stuck:
Who’s parsing now?
The two things are certainly not mutually exclusive. I don’t know her family and am hesitant to bring them up, I only know ABL by her writing. If I read her without any family context I would think she had never seen an example of a non-racist white person, but I’m sure that can’t be true.
what
@ABL: Yay! We got ourselves some micro-aggression up in here!
Tractarian imprecisely states that “white people think racism is really^4 bad”
ABL is understandably micro-aggrieved due the lack of the word “some” or “many” or some other qualifier that is not “all” in front of “white people”.
ABL probably knows that Tractarian understands this, and if asked, he would freely admit it and probably correct his omission of a qualifier for “white people”.
However, ABL (reverse?) micro-aggresses against Tractarian by imprecisely pointing out the omission in his initial statement in a way that could be construed as calling him out as a racist (in light of accusations of such by other posters).
Yay! People are now mad at each other for not experiencing (and learning from) life in exactly the same way.
Hurray for petty self-righteousness!
Perhaps one of the 2 should be the adult here and quit trolling each other. One would hope it would be the FP’r.
General Stuck
@what:
One would think it is better to have trolled and lost, than to have never trolled at all. what
General Stuck
@D. Mason:
shorter Mason – whew, that was a close one
Egilsson
A Farce, Part One*:
:Curtain Opens:
ABL: A shitty Washington Post publication that no one has heard of has a group photo of the women’s gym team on page 11 but misses the black woman! That’s blatant racism; explain this!
CHORUS: Her picture is on The. Front. Page., and two other gymnasts aren’t mentioned in the article either, plus she’s referenced in part two of the article elsewhere.
ABL: Doesn’t matter, that’s racism!
Tractarian: WTF?
Another Halocene Human: Tractarian is a white supremacist.
Tractarian: WTF??
ABL: That’s microaggression and further evidence that you are a racist. ABL ignores Another Halocene Human’s insults.
General Stuck: Yeah, I don’t care whether ABL makes sense or not, I just thrive on poison like a blog cockroach.
Tractarian: WTF???
Steve: The fact that you are offended is understandable. However, the fact that you continue to express your frustration instead of turning the other cheek is possible evidence of overreaction to the sense that you are, in fact, a racist. It’s an interesting phenomenon.
Tractarian: WTF????
Chorus: Sighs.
:Curtains:
*There is artistic license involved in this play.
El Tiburon
@Egilsson:
What you have achieved is nothing short of a mini-masterpiece.
Saying you ‘nailed it’ is giving short shrift to things that get nailed. Or something.
But how you nailed General Stuck is truly a thing of beauty.
shortstop
@Egilsson:
Yeah, can’t argue with that. I just keep waiting patiently for the same small group of people who pop up only in ABL’s and Zandar’s threads to fret earnestly about the tragedy of unfounded accusations of racism to…come around just once in any other thread to stand against those actual instances of racism.
Just once?
General Stuck
@Egilsson:
It’s amazing, and even telling, that you would go to such lengths to write the comment you wrote. Seriously, as well as the passion from the others that you weep for on this thread — all Kindred souls facing down the ABL menace. Just amazing.
ABL asked the question for those out there in the bj audience to explain to her why this wasn’t blatant racism. And a shitstorm of white angst develops, like it has many many times on this blog.
You could have just said you didn’t think it was racism, without all the wankery on ABL’s shitty everything, and lectures on what is proper and workable on reaching equality for race relations. And the rest of the ugly twoofs that always seems to seep out, given enough time and a the proper baited trollage. Some folks might recognize that stupid trap for stupid people, before they step in it for all to see, over and over again, and just simply answer the question that was asked.
General Stuck
@Egilsson:
Apparently, so do you. I don’t like mindless pile ons by the same idiots, regardless of what ABL says, that arrive on every thread she writes. We all have our reasons for participating. What are yours?
rb
@Steve: This.
rb
@shortstop: I just keep waiting patiently for the same small group of people who pop up only in ABL’s and Zandar’s threads to fret earnestly about the tragedy of unfounded accusations of racism to…come around just once in any other thread to stand against those actual instances of racism.
heh, you’ll grow old waiting for that. So much easier to concern troll the one FP’er they feel comfortable calling uppity.
burnspbesq
@what:
You must be new here.
El Tiburon
@General Stuck:
somebody’s panties got twisted up.
Hit a wee bit close to home, eh General?
Chill out, Francis.
Egilsson
I think Zander is excellent. I’m just not a “ditto-head” kind of guy. If I agree, then I agree. I usually don’t have much to contribute, so I don’t. Many other posters should follow my example.
But people should not have to fear being called racists for saying they believe ABL is a sloppy blogger.
Another Halocene Human
@burnspbesq: Wow, burns, your drive by comment is a total race fail? Man, you need to get some sleep.
I’ll type slowly so you follow: black men excelling at basketball = dominant cultural narrative. Black girl excelling at gymnastics = gamechanger.
Another Halocene Human
@Egilsson: ABL is no sloppier than DougJ or mistermix. I, for one, jump on her posts because she’s usually blogging about something relevant to my interests and NOT a rehash of something three or four posts down.
So, to add to the racefail today we have holding ABL to a higher standard than, say, Cole. Just… mysteriously… no racial or gender bias here.
shortstop
@Egilsson:
Uh huh. Okay, you limit your contributions to registering disagreement. There’s a wide topical range on this blog, plenty with which to disagree, but the single issue discussed at BJ that gets you exercised enough to comment is…unfounded allegations of racism. You don’t think you have much to contribute, but by god, this issue is the one pressing enough to bring you out of the shadows.
There’s a guy who posts here who throws regular shrieking fits when he thinks aspersions are being cast on any of his tribes: Roman Catholics, whites, old people, males, Californians, attorneys, people of mediocre intelligence who are sensitive about it, pompous douchebags, etc. What he is patently unable to do is ever demonstrate even pretended concern for any demographic that doesn’t include him. We can tell a lot about his priorities from that posting history. We can tell a lot about yours from yours.
Another Halocene Human
@El Tiburon: Tractarian thinks that white people’s interests and concerns should precede those of all others. Is there some other definition of white supremacy that I ought to be made aware of?
Another Halocene Human
@D. Mason: If I read her without any family context I would think she had never seen an example of a non-racist white person, but I’m sure that can’t be true.
The projection is flying fast and furious. Don’t you have something better to worry about right now, like dinner?
Another Halocene Human
Shorter trolls on this thread: Black people are supposed to kiss my ass and confirm that I’m a good liberal/moderate/conservative and that we live in the happy post-racialicious future. Black people are not supposed to point out racefails in media, as that might suggest that everything is not wonderful in Bubbleland. They definitely aren’t supposed to fling that r-word around! Hateful! Spiteful! Wrong! Kill it! Killlllll ittttttt!
Another Halocene Human
@fraught: Indeed. I don’t know how she can stand it and come back here blogging every day. If it were me I would be through.
Egilsson
@shortstop:
I shouldn’t have given you the courtesy of a response. You can play juvenile games as you like, they have nothing to do with me.
Another Halocene Human
@Egilsson: Listen up, punk: calling someone a racist is not racist. Calling someone a white supremacist (based on their statements) is not racist.
This is not 3rd grade, we are not on the schoolyard, I’m not rubber and you’re not glue.
Racism exists in a CONTEXT of a specific power structure. We are discussing the United States in the 21st century.
The fact that Gabby was cut out IS a race fail. Why that occurred, well there has been plenty of reasonable speculation on that.
The troll brigade, on the other hand, refuses to acknowledge the race fail. They reflexively defend a world in which Black voices, Black faces, and Black bodies are obliterated and eliminated unless they fit a few narrowly predetermined media narratives, most of them overwhelmingly negative and indubitably limiting to the aspirations and sense of self of Black youth.
You cannot possibly be anti-racist and think that this is acceptable.
Tr-ct-r–n’s own words condemn him.
shortstop
Shorter son of Egil: You got me; I got nothin’. See you next time someone at BJ challenges my racial self-image.
burnspbesq
@Another Halocene Human:
Recalibrate your snarkometer, or return it and get a new one.
Another Halocene Human
@ABL: The fact that you’re willing to engage them demonstrates that you’re a whole lot less hateful than me. Patience of a saint.
Another Halocene Human
@burnspbesq: I fail to see the snark in your comment. Perhaps you could spell it out for me, as my snarkometer is, as you say, miscalibrated.
Another Halocene Human
@AA+ Bonds: Ding ding ding.
burnspbesq
@Another Halocene Human:
Cut out? Did you miss the part where she was featured on page one?
D. Mason
@Another Halocene Human: She’s been through once or twice. Only seemed to last long enough for her to realize there wasn’t going to be a going away party.
burnspbesq
@Another Halocene Human:
If you had to ask the question, you’re incapable of understanding the answer.
Another Halocene Human
@burnspbesq: I thought we were talking about your racefail, not my reference to the photo, reproduced on this very page for your referring-to-it convenience.
But sure, let’s talk about that photo, where her back is to the camera and her body partially obscured and as explained waaaaay up thread (past the Custom house) there were photos with all five of them taken a few moments later and distributed everywhere?
Could it be that the underpaid newsgrunts slapped that shit together and just didn’t care because not one of them working that night had any stake in Gabby Douglas? Was it possible the front page editor lead with her photo on page 1 because they have more of a clue than the person who laid out the rest of the article? Who knows, I mean, we aren’t there, but there was a reason for the omission. My theory is a lack of diversity in the newsroom and a total lack of caring about these issues of those who do work there. Others have suggested that this rag is SUCH shit that it means nothing at all. I remember Metro magazine and they were crap but there was definitely a fine Swedish* hand at work that one could detect.
*completely facetious comment. they had a local editor anyway.
At any rate, it’s a far cry from calling for ABL’s dismissal for irresponsibly calling out Wapoo’s Shit Express’ omission.
Another Halocene Human
@burnspbesq: Ah, I see, it’s a sacred mystery. (nods head sagely, strokes beard)
Another Halocene Human
@D. Mason: Did you just imply that her blogging and putting herself out there is attention-seeking behavior?
Keith G
ABL imagines racist intent. Hilarity follows.
Rinse and repeat.
Heliopause
@Another Halocene Human:
Here is the editorial staff, per the linked pdf:
GENERAL MANAGER—ARNIE APPLEBAUM | EXECUTIVE EDITOR—DAN CACCAVARO
CREATIVE DIRECTOR—SCOTT MCCARTHY | ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS—
HOLLY J. MORRIS, MATT SWENSON | ART DIRECTOR—LORI KELLEY | FEATURES
EDITOR—JENNIFER BARGER | STORY EDITOR—ADAM SAPIRO | COPY CHIEF—
DIANA D’ABRUZZO | SENIOR EDITORS—KATIE ABERBACH, VICKY HALLETT,
SHAUNA MILLER, KRISTEN PAGE-KIRBY | SECTION EDITORS—RUDI GREENBERG,
BETH MARLOWE, MORGAN SCHNEIDER, SARA SCHWARTZ, HOLLEY SIMMONS,
CLINTON YATES, FIONA ZUBLIN | EDITORIAL DESIGNERS—ADAM GRIFFITHS, MIMI IN
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR—MATTHEW LIDDI | PHOTOGRAPHER—MARGE ELY
And here is the contact page:
http://www.expressnightout.com/contact-us/
Another Halocene Human
@General Stuck: White butthurt in defense of liberty is no vice.
I can ignore how my choices contribute to a system of racial preference and oppression because HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A RACIST.
Another Halocene Human
@what: How dare we make a judgment. Liberals are supposed to keep minds so open their brains fall out and judge not, lest the Vitamin Shoppe and Corner Acupuncture and Reiki Clinic go out of business.
eemom
One of the many things I have agreed upon with ABL in the past is the contemptibility of a woman named Jane Hamsher and the adoring sycophants who frequent her blog, FDL.
Prominent among my reasons for contempt of Hamsher are her absolute intolerance of disagreement, absolute refusal ever to admit error, and demonization of those who do, in fact, presume to disagree with her.
Prominent among my reasons for contempt of her adoring sycophants is — well, you get the idea.
Another Halocene Human
Lol @ racists
I use the words “white supremacy”, y’all flip out because I might as well have called you a dumbhicksuckerfatmethmouthdeliverancechaw-spittin’ white trash goober. Of course, none of you can explain how your utter indifference to media racefails, even the ardent defense thereof, is not consistent with white supremacy, which is the advancement of a system of racial preference. But whatever.
Someone else upthread called you bad people, and you didn’t even notice.
It’s not being a horrible person that you mind–it’s the association with the KKK, which are of course loser dumbfuck stuck-in-the-mud, rural, inbred, fuckwitted HICKS that one would shoot in the eye rather than allow near one’s daughters, amirite?
“I’m not racist, I just want a world where Black people never pop up complaining about their unequal status.”
General Stuck
@eemom:
Got to ask you eemom, is there a point to this comment, or are you just thinking out loud with no particular message in mind. You are aware that ABL simply asked a question for the readership to tell her why this wasn’t blatant racism, and didn’t outright declare it, which is what the idiots on this thread jumped to for simply asking the question, under the circumstances was somehow a blow to the cause of equality as proclaimed by Tractarian. And all the rest of the bile for ABL that followed. Some people just cannot let themselves for a second be under anything even approaching equal status, let along that with an uppity black female front page blogger on Balloon Juice. How dare she tax us with such questions. They could have just said no, they didn’t think it was racism, but kudos for the courage to ask. Instead we got reams of wailing and knashing of teeth from the usual suspects.
Tractarian
@Another Halocene Human:
I saw no evidence of racism on page 11 of the August 1 edition of the Express Night Out. Therefore, I am a white supremacist. Makes sense to me.
By the way, you calling me a white supremacist doesn’t make you a racist. It makes you an ignorant fool.
And no one here (at least not me) begrudges anyone for calling out and publicizing, as you call them, “racefails.”
The thing is, page 11 of the August 1 edition of the Express Night Out is manifestly not a racefail. That’s kind of the whole point.
Tractarian
@General Stuck:
“Someone explain to me how this isn’t blatant discrimination. Please.”
That’s a declaration of racism (or, at least, discrimination) to anyone with a passing familiarity with the English language.
And you seem to think that ABL is getting especially poor treatment because of her race and gender. I don’t think I can disavow you of that notion, and I can’t speak for anyone else, but I assure you, if any other BJ blogger put up this kind of fact-free drivel, my reaction would have been the same.
General Stuck
@Tractarian:
No it’s not. That would look like ‘this IS blatant racism’. It does say that ABL thinks it is, but leaves open the possibility that others don’t, and she could be convinced of that with ‘explanation’. What planet are you from?
@Tractarian:
Have you ever read the owner of this blogs emoting fact free posts? I don’t recall you taking him to task. So I don’t believe you. I think it is easier for some folks to unload on ABL for all kinds of entitled bullshit, that has happened many times here. Did you not read this as an update.
This is ABL modifying her stance with new information. I think she did some more in comments, but genius Tractarian declares the damage has been done for the cause of race relations. Something I am sure you are expert on. You made an arrogant assertion after misreading what ABL was actually saying, and you are still doing that.
donna r
Gabby is in the picture. She is standing over to side with her back to the photographer. She was waving to the crowd in the other direction. I was watching when this shot was taken.I know that’s her because of the way her hair was fixed and she had her pants on already. I pay attention to this stuff. :)
They should have waited and got a pic of them all together. Right after this, she walked back over and joined the other girls.
donna r
In fact one of her coaches is right beside of her doing the same thing she is.
Corner Stone
Sounds like someone in the crowd is getting hit by the tossed brick.
Or some stupid shit that cohorts of a shitty blogger say when it suits them.
General Stuck
@Corner Stone:
Drunk blogging again? Task Force Ranger, or is it rex everything?
Corner Stone
@Steve: This analogy is bizarre. It’s bizarre and creepy.
Another Halocene Human
@Tractarian:
The thing is, page 11 of the August 1 edition of the Express Night Out is manifestly not a racefail. That’s kind of the whole point.
Yes, I know that’s your point, and I thank you for repeating it, you darling little white supremacist you.
Corner Stone
@D. Mason:
There’s no scale for how hard I laughed when I read this.
General Stuck
@Corner Stone:
You used to be a playa, CS. Now reduced to blithering from the peanut gallery. Kind of sad.
Corner Stone
@General Stuck: Oh, you. You very special agoraphobic shut-in you.
Thank you for your support.
General Stuck
@Corner Stone:
Anytime, bottle worm.
D. Mason
@Corner Stone: NP, glad you liked it.
what
@Another Halocene Human:
Well, I can make the judgement that you get off on needless name-calling as well as alienating potential ideological allies.
Though at this point, I’m starting to suspect that you’re a right-wing troll attempting to goad someone here into saying something maliciously racist.
However, if you are genuine, I think a lot of the people you’ve been calling names are probably open to learning about the various subconscious elements that make the minority experience in this nation different from the experiences of those in the majority. Just getting angry that they don’t see something exactly the way you do and then trying to drain the concept of “racist/white supremecist” of any useful meaning doesn’t really help combat racism.
It’s incredibly selfish and arrogant to assume that everyone else should be intrinsically sensitive to the subtle experiences of a life they’ve never lived.
Egilsson
@shortstop:
What a lousy response.
Whatever. Google up “balloon-juice egilsson”.
If you have any stones you’ll apologize to me. My expectations, however, are low.
TS
@Tractarian:
Well I know this was hours ago & probably answered 15 times – but REALLY – like the white people who passed laws to stop black people voting, like the white people who passed laws to treat blacks as 3/5 of a person – etc etc
These were the rules you think black people should have played by??
And as a corollary – how come all those white folks don’t play by the rules set by President Obama?
Corner Stone
@Another Halocene Human:
Please, please good sir! I beg of thee, please do not imply any kind gentle here is a “punk”.
Elsewise you may cause the good sir Flipyrnick to seek out one of his many fainting couches.
I appreciates yas.
Mnemosyne
@Tractarian:
You came so, so close to understanding that I just have to fix your comment for you:
Unless you work for Express Night Out and haven’t told us, you’re not defending yourself or your work from racism. You’re pre-emptively defending white people that you don’t even know on the assumption that they can’t possibly have acted out of unconscious or even conscious racism because shut up, that’s why.
That’s the comparison that Steve was making in #117: some guys get so worked up about the possibility of other guys they don’t know being falsely accused of rape that they feel compelled to cast doubt on any and all accusations of rape.
So the question becomes, why do you feel compelled to defend Express Night Out so vehemently that you can’t even allow the possibility that the staff’s unconscious or unacknowledged biases led them to use one of the few pictures from that night that did not include the team’s captain?
Tractarian
@TS:
No, I don’t think anyone answered that – I was let off easy. But why am I not surprised that it was somehow twisted into my saying “I support slavery”?
@General Stuck:
Just because you don’t recall me criticizing other front-pagers doesn’t mean it never happened.
By the way, I absolutely give credit to ABL for updating the original post. I did not initially read this as an update. That’s why I said to delete it. I still think the fact that Gabby Douglas (whom, incidentally, I will be rooting for to win the all-around gold tomorrow) appears on the front page of the very paper that has been casually accused of racial discrimination by maliciously omitting her elsewhere, kind of makes this post uniquely worthy of derision.
Tractarian
Because she’s on the front page
Tractarian
@Mnemosyne:
I have no idea of the racial make-up of the staff of Express Night Out – do you?
what
after a little belated Google-fu (though someone already pointed this out)…..
“racist article”:
http://www.expressnightout.com/printedition/PDF/EXPRESS_08012012.pdf
“original untruncated racist article”:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-blogs/gymnastics/golden-again-us-wins-1st-olympic-title-since-96.html
Either someone got lazy and just posted 10 of the first 12 paragraphs of the original article and called it a day, or some racist dude decided that the 2nd half of the article must be expunged so as to keep the readers of the “Express Night Out” comfortably in the dark about Gabby Douglas’s entry into gymnastic super-stardom. Perhaps the 2nd proposition is true given that ENO’s article features a picture sans Gabby, yet lacking evidence of malice on the part of the schmoe who put the ENO’s version together, I’m inclined to invoke Occam’s razor in favor of a lazy dude on a deadline (which can also legitimately explain the oversight in selecting a less than edifying picture to accompany the article).
It’s still possible it was an intentional act of racism, but I suppose people must choose for themselves what motivations to attach to this (non?) event in lieu of actual knowledge of the copy-dude’s intent.
The micro-aggression thing does still apply here (though I have to admit that I find elements of Derald Wing Sue’s interpretations of the concept to be lamely solipsistic). I find it entirely reasonable for a black person to be immediately bothered by Gabby’s omission from a grouping where her presence amongst them is significant due of her role as a pioneer in the sport. At the same time, I find it reasonable for a non-racist non-black person to observe the same omission and just chalk it up as a random “insignificant” oversight–insignificant due to an internalization of the concept that race already doesn’t matter in the sport of gymnastics.
The point is that we all lead different lives shaped by different experiences. No one has a monopoly on righteousness. You can ascribe whatever intent you want to whatever actions, but if you don’t actually have the data to prove it, then don’t go off crying when someone else with a different worldview bothers to disagree with your own biases based off of the same known information.
badbaba13
@Tractarian: you say we should be skeptical of china because of their history. i believe what our ms. abl is saying is that we have history here also too here in ‘murica also too. precedent! git some,bitches! late to the party to be sure, but i wanted to know what i was talking about before i wrote.
Tractarian
Well, there’s skepticism and then there’s skepticism.
China has a history of doping in swimming. 16-year-old Chinese swimmer comes out of nowhere to obliterate world records in the Olympics? I’m skeptical; I do not give Chinese athletes the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doping.
US has a history of racism. Black gymnast doesn’t appear on page 11 of a newspaper but appears on the front page instead? Even the most skeptical person would have to admit that the case for racism here is virtually non-existent.
By the way, don’t look now, but going forward, Express Night Out is going to be hard-pressed to hide the Olympic all-around gold medal winner (if she sticks her floor routine, that is)!
ABL
@Tractarian: I find it amazing that you refuse to even consider that people might find problematic the fact that she isn’t pictured celebrating with her teammates nor is her name mentioned in the article. She was team captain and competed in all four events. I find it very hard to believe that they would have left Jordyn Wieber out of the team photo. I find it telling that you’re so invested in your narrative that you’ve spent a day defending your position, complaining about me misquoting you (then refusing to admit your mistake in claiming that I did so), and think your opinion matters more than mine or the many others that have expressed concern.
I think your comments are uniquely worthy of derision simply because they have shown you to be extremely close-minded.
And your “I’m rooting for her, by the way” comment made me laugh out loud because really?!
Un-self-awareness, thy name is Tractarian.
Tractarian
First of all, I never said her omission wasn’t “problematic”. I said it wasn’t racist. Considering the fact that Douglas appeared on the front page, I stand by that assertion. It’s clear to anyone paying attention that, microaggression notwithstanding, this was a garden-variety bonehead mistake, not a racist mistake.
You did misquote me, in the same way that Romney misquotes Obama. You took my statement wildly out of context to make it appear that I was saying “No white people are racist” – when it was obvious that I was suggesting that perhaps the white people who get very offended by accusations of racism (myself included) are not racist.
I don’t think my opinion “matters” more than yours; I just think it’s way more accurate in this particular case.
Glad you found it amusing. Keep in mind, I have been accused on this thread of being a white supremacist. I mentioned I was rooting for her in part to debunk that.
Heliopause
@what:
Possible, but highly unlikely. Mainstream outlets are extremely sensitive to charges like that. If there was racism involved it was almost certainly of the unconscious variety.
What originally caught my eye was the question at the top; “Someone explain to me how this isn’t blatant discrimination.” It would be shocking if a mainstream “newspaper” was engaging in blatant (or as you say, intentional) discrimination, so I decided to dig a little further to see what was going on.
First off, I noted comments to the effect that the article may not involve blatant discrimination but certainly was “poorly written”, meaning that it left out the important contributions of Gabby Douglas, but nobody seemed to have named the author. A minute of googling and I discovered the author’s name and also that she in fact did write about Gabby in the article. So this careless accusation had no basis (you can judge the article “poorly written” for other reasons if you like, but not on this basis).
Next, looking at the overall layout of the publication it immediately becomes apparent that this is a dumbed-down version of USA Today, which itself is a dumbed-down version of a real newspaper. It also says at the top that it’s free of charge. This means that there is nothing like in-depth coverage of anything inside and we shouldn’t expect any. Knowing this, it’s not surprising that a truncated version of a longer AP article appeared in its pages, and a plausible alternative explanation for the slight emerges: the editor simply chopped the article roughly in half to fit the allotted space and didn’t give particular thought to what was being expunged.
So the two most realistic possibilities seem to be either an unconscious dislike of Gabby Douglas on the part of the editor or simple happenstance. If it’s the latter this still raises a possibility, as pointed out by another commenter, that the editor was at least guilty of journalistic malpractice, in that he/she surely should have known that omitting Gabby Douglas would cause offense to some. Possibly. It’s hard to judge from the outside when the editor’s job at this particular publication is to expurgate information from articles a dozen times before breakfast.
That same commenter referenced a “theory” that there is a lack of diversity at this publication and that explains the omission. Zero evidence was presented for this “theory.”
This thread started with a provocative question and proceeded with a number of provocative speculations in the comments. Sadly, it appears to have occurred to few to perform just a few minutes of background research first, but this is Balloon Juice after all.
Imani Gandy (ABL)
@Tractarian: ah, i see. so “i’m rooting for gabby douglas” is the new “i have a black friend.”
gotcha.
moreover, anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see i didn’t take you wildly out of context. i quoted exactly what you said. your response was “I never said anything of the sort. False attribution is also poor blogging quality.” TEH OUTRAGE!!!11
if anything, you assumed the worst possible meaning about what i said in response to your ridiculous comments —
and then blew a gasket. you never really recovered from that one, but it’s cute how you keep trying.
Stephanie Rollins
I have been noticing little slights and bias against Gabby all week: the way the other girls seem to separate her through body language; the group pictures where Gabby is almost behind the other girls, trying to squeeze in; the media focus on the failures of others to advance in lieu of the celebration of Gabby’s successes; the media speculation that she will fold under pressure – almost insinuating that she doesn’t really deserve to be there; the negative focus on her hair; and, it goes on from there. But bless her heart, Gabby has been a trooper through it all. She has let her faith be her guide and God has blessed her in return. She won the Gold and that’s a perfect response to all this other ridiculous pettiness. You go girl!
RobinDC
In this thread ABL and general stuck have made me want to be more racist. Amazing!
Davis
@kwAwk: You mean so unfamiliar with women’s gymnastics that they didn’t realize that the all-around gold medalist was missing from the picture? Please. NBC always does this, and so do the Olympics in general. It’s exhausting and depressing. Before things get started, the up-close-and-personal mini-specials will always focus on the white athletes, and if a black athlete ends up bringing home the gold, especially if it’s in what’s considered a “white” sport, they still get brushed aside; the Today Show interview will be not with the black winner, but with whatever white team member placed next highest, even if s/he didn’t win a medal. It’s disgusting. Remember Surya Bonaly, the French ice skater from a couple of Winter Olympics ago who had the “misfortune” to be of African descent? Scott Hamilton and the female commentator made nasty, bitchy comments about how she was “too athletic.” Never mind that she is the only female skater who can do a backflip and land on one skate, or that she consistently outjumped all the other skaters; Hamilton criticized every single thing she did, but could find something good to say about every other skater, even the ones whose routines were boring, who couldn’t complete their jumps, who choked and forgot part of their routines, or (these were the worst) fell repeatedly.
And it’s not new. At the 1984 Olympics while the all African-American 4 x 100 relay team was blowing Olympic records out of the water, all the coverage focused on Mary Decker Tabb (now Slaney), who got knocked over during one of those yawn-length distance races when another runner cut in on her.