NY Times and Sarah Jeong racism row

Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
59,075
Surprised there wasn't a thread on this - anyway the NYT seems to have hired someone who has, at face value, made some overtly racist tweets regarding white people. This has played into the hands of the 4Chan types who went after James Gunn as they have kicked up a storm and the right wing media has called out the NYT over it... they're not budging though and have just issued a statement condemning the tweets.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/03/sarah-jeong-new-york-times-twitter-posts-racism

Old tweets in which Jeong, a reporter for the tech website the Verge who is of Korean heritage, criticized and made jokes about white people were resurfaced on a rightwing blog run by Jim Hoft.

One of the tweets said: “oh man it’s kind of sick how much joy i get out of being cruel to old white men”. Another read “are white people genetically predisposed to burn faster in the sun, thus logically being only fit to live underground like groveling goblins”.

Bit of a contrast to say the treatment of the Netflix boss who was unceremoniously sacked after he used the n-word, in a meeting about offensive words and then used it a second time in a HR meeting to discuss his previous use of the world in the meeting about offensive words....

Of course there has been the narrative pushed recently that racism should be redefined and doesn't apply to white people - the tweets from this individual and the NYT's response or lack of it would seem to play into that narrative too.

Further they seemed to be quite happy to hire then quickly get rid of another individual based on their statements made online:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...befriending-neo-nazis/?utm_term=.c453cb294b98

In this instance it is a "queer" journalists who has used derogatory terms relating to LGBTQ people (though not to attack them, especially as she is LGBTQ + used the n-word albeit in a way that is quite anti-racist:

"“At this point, as far as I’m concerned no one is a terrorist, in exactly the same way no human being is a ******”"

She's also referred to some internet troll/computer hacker type who is apparently a "white supremacist" as her "friend" - though this seems to be because she's reported on his case, seems to feel sorry for him and has written to him in prison rather than supporting any of his views.

So nothing that would be taken as being "Racist" per say even at face value.

I'm not sure what to make of it - I mean perhaps she was just venting at white people in general because of the hate she has received etc.. and she didn't really mean all white people. Perhaps that is true, I'd wager also that most of the alt right memes, Pepe the frog, the anti Semitic stuff etc.. is mostly just teenagers in their basement trying to be edgy etc.. though I suspect that that wouldn't wash so easily as an excuse.

Similarly some alt right type who receives hate (I'd wager most of the prominent youtubers etc.. do + death threats etc..) could cite that as an excuse and make similar statements.

This sort of stuff can have consequences, there are plenty of regular people who will have read about those tweets and then wondered why she's still got a job at the NYT. The NYT has also lost a bit of moral high ground, if someone is hired in future by a right wing organisation and some dodgy tweets surface then it would be a bit rich for the NYT to criticise, especially if a similar excuse is offered.
 
Did everyone miss this bit?
Its like something bad sneaked into a conversation.

Nope, not missed, I mentioned that there were alt right types trying to male a meal out of it but regardless she still wrote the tweets and the fact she did is being reported in more than just alt right blogs etc...
 
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