Racist Welsh coal miners in blackface

Irish Guitarist · 01-02-2019 04:25AM #1

Someone in Phoenix was so insulted by a 100 year old photo of Welsh coal miners in 'blackface' on the wall of a restaurant that he wrote a newspaper article about it.

https://eu.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2019/01/28/downtown-phoenix-photo-men-soot-blackface/2683881002/

"Viewers cannot determine the intention of an artist’s work. Art also exposes society’s blind spots. Blackface is only a glimpse of a larger issue. The larger issue is the lack of representation of marginalized people and their voices in Phoenix."

This isn't art that someone painted; it's an actual photo of coal miners covered in soot.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/everything-is-racist-coal-miner-edition

I'm old enough to remember my family not having central heating so my father used to order coal. I didn't realise until now how racist it was of the coalman to be covered in coal.

Before anyone complains about me talking about American politics or something, I don't really give a shite about this story. I just think it's so ridiculous that it's funny and worth sharing.

suicide_circus · 01-02-2019 04:27AM

such privilege, wow

Ipso · 01-02-2019 04:42AM

It’s one thing to be stupid enough to think that, but to say it in such a public and permanent way makes the mind boggle.

NSAman · 01-02-2019 04:45AM

America is screwed. There are so many people here, outraged about everything, that they don’t know what real outrage should be.

Duckworth_Luas · 01-02-2019 04:52AM

This guy is using Ali G's 20 year old material.

01-02-2019 04:58AM

You'd think he'd look at the photo and realise that most white people had it bad as well. What sort of white privilege did those men feel working down dangerous mines?

As usual though, it warms my heart to know people like this guy are ruining their own lives voluntarily. He obviously doesn't have any of the real issues I or my girlfriend have. Let his victimhood spiral out of control and end up more troubled than we are. He deserves it.

Realt Dearg Sec · 01-02-2019 05:03AM

NSAman wrote: »

America is screwed. There are so many people here, outraged about everything, that they don’t know what real outrage should be.

I've never seen all these many people who are supposedly outraged about everything. I hear about them all the time on the internet.

01-02-2019 05:17AM

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I've never seen all these many people who are supposedly outraged about everything. I hear about them all the time on the internet.

They exist. I ended up through a friend going out with a group of them a few times. Many times, I had to bite my tongue and not point out the absurdity of their points and how ironic it was that they were so discriminatory. He gradually went from normal to insane and I ended the friendship.

DS86DS · 01-02-2019 05:22AM

The irrationality and stupidity of leftists never ceases to amaze me.

01-02-2019 06:55AM

Good God I think (if I lived there) I'd be more offended by the fact that a "news"paper has decided to insult its readers by giving a platform to this cretin. The mind boggles.

ChikiChiki · 01-02-2019 07:19AM

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I've never seen all these many people who are supposedly outraged about everything. I hear about them all the time on the internet.

Calm down dude.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 01-02-2019 07:26AM

I don’t get it. He knows what the image depicts. He says so. He reiterates. And yet has still decided to be offended by it. Mmmkay. Some people have waaaay too little to be worrying about.

That has to be a trolling article, right? RIGHT?

mikemac2 · 01-02-2019 07:30AM

I asked a Latinx and white woman for their opinion.

Please forgive the old person, I’m not with it anymore

What is a latinx person

Latino? But what is the x?

knucklehead6 · 01-02-2019 07:34AM

mikemac2 wrote: »

Please forgive the old person, I’m not with it anymore

What is a latinx person

Latino? But what is the x?

Latin Cross? Maybe it was some sort of talking crossbred dog?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 01-02-2019 07:41AM

mikemac2 wrote: »

Please forgive the old person, I’m not with it anymore

What is a latinx person

Latino? But what is the x?

I’m 30s and stumped. I thought it was Latina or Latino depending. Is it a newfangled gender-neutral term? Oy vey.

Oh well, off for my hip replacement surgery...

King of Kings · 01-02-2019 07:58AM

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I've never seen all these many people who are supposedly outraged about everything. I hear about them all the time on the internet.

I know a few irish like this now. This crap may reside on the net but it seeps into society.

Ipso · 01-02-2019 08:10AM

King of Kings wrote: »

I know a few irish like this now. This crap may reside on the net but it seeps into society.

But it has to hit peak stupid at some point and go beyond parody, they have to have some self awareness.

FTA69 · 01-02-2019 08:44AM

I’m convinced this is an article geared toward ‘clicks for money’, even hate clicks saying “look how thick this lad is.” Either that or an elaborate troll.

Nobody could be that much of an eejit surely?

Snotty · 01-02-2019 08:57AM

FTA69 wrote: »

I’m convinced this is an article geared toward ‘clicks for money’, even hate clicks saying “look how thick this lad is.” Either that or an elaborate troll.

Nobody could be that much of an eejit surely?

This is exactly what it is, but people lap it up, people here included.
These so called journalists set out to find a way to be offended and as proved here, they can get offended by pretty much anything.
The world isn't nearly as bad as we are lead to believe, its the media who exaggerate society norms so they get more clicks.

emo72 · 01-02-2019 09:01AM

Sometimes I wish I had Twitter so I could get in on the outrage for the craic.

01-02-2019 09:04AM

Heh I can not even understand the people who got freaked and uppity with me for allowing my 7 year old daughter to darken her skin as part of a Moana outfit. So I certainly can not get my head around people who are upset at people being darkened in the course or their _entirely normal day at work_.

NSAman wrote: »

America is screwed. There are so many people here, outraged about everything, that they don’t know what real outrage should be.

I have tried to spot things that might outrage people - before I actually hear about people outraged by it. And I simply can not do it. And I have _really_ tried. What head space must they be in to be capable of this? They spot naturally things I can not spot with full concentration and effort.

After the Gillette ad though I am also not just trying to spot outrage - but also situations where I suspect the source is _trying_ to get that outrage so they attract clicks and attention and get exposure and free press.

And finally I think I spotted one.

I was watching the Punisher S02E01 and the first fight scene is between the Punisher and two knife wielding assassin women. No gender in it and they are pretty much his equals in combat. So all seems benign and equality and so on.

But the start of the fight when the punisher realises combat is unavoidable - he quietly closes the door and takes his belt off to them. A real "domestic violence" image if ever I saw one.

And I thought "There!" that is a scene the permanently outraged could warp and get wilfully uppity and distraught about. And then I thought - I wonder if that is exactly what the producers/writers want. Were they hoping that this perfectly defensible seen would be misrepresented and generate a twitter storm of pearl clutching as free advertising for the show.

lawred2 · 01-02-2019 09:12AM

DS86DS wrote: »

The irrationality and stupidity of leftists never ceases to amaze me.

The irrationality and stupidity of people who are stupid never ceases to amaze me

mad muffin · 01-02-2019 09:24AM

The author is racist if they see a 100 year old photo of coal miners as black face.

We are inching ever closer to idiocracy…

The Crowman · 01-02-2019 11:45AM

This person has no sense of humour or irony whatsoever.

ohnonotgmail · 01-02-2019 11:47AM

mikemac2 wrote: »

Please forgive the old person, I’m not with it anymore

What is a latinx person

Latino? But what is the x?

faster than writing "latino or latina"

Irish Guitarist · 01-02-2019 11:52AM

Has no one else noticed the smoking gun that proves how racist this photo is?

Look at the pint the first miner is holding. You might see a head on the pint and light shining on the glass. What I see is these things coalescing to form a cross. JUST LIKE THE CROSSES THE KU KLUX KLAN BURN!!!!!

:mad:

BattleCorp · 01-02-2019 12:31PM

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Before anyone complains about me talking about American politics or something, I don't really give a shite about this story. I just think it's so ridiculous that it's funny and worth sharing.

It's as simple as this. Many Yanks will do anything to get attention. The gobsh1te who wrote that article is one such individual.

FTA69 · 01-02-2019 12:38PM

mikemac2 wrote: »

Please forgive the old person, I’m not with it anymore

What is a latinx person

Latino? But what is the x?

Yeah it’s a gender neutral term for a South American. It’s a few of the wokelord younger Latins in London using it now. Needless to say the average Colombian lad couldn’t give a bollix.

conorhal · 01-02-2019 12:40PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

faster than writing "latino or latina"

Nope, this is more lefty 'gendered pronoun' crazyness. It's offensive to apply a gendered description to 'peoplekind' and thus using the gender netural latinx is how you need to refer Latin folk you sexist!

ohnonotgmail · 01-02-2019 12:41PM

conorhal wrote: »

Nope, this is more lefty 'gendered pronoun' crazyness. It's offensive to apply a gendered description to 'peoplekind' and thus using the gender netural latinx is how you need to refer Latin folk you sexist!

and they have the cheek to call those on the left snowflakes.

seamus · 01-02-2019 12:42PM

This is the danger of overthinking art. Like when you're reading a book in school and the teacher picks out a single line and goes into a rambling and convoluted explanation of what that line really means and fifty potential interpretations. When realistically sometimes it just means what it says.

The mistake that the author of this piece has made is to give their subjective offense the same validity as objective offence.

Objective offence is when the artist intends to cause offence with their piece; or that the what the artist intended to portray, is offensive.

Subjective offence is when you derive offence from a piece where that offence or interpretation was not intended by the artist.

In this case, the author has interpreted this picture as a form of blackface, and found it offensive. Which they are perfectly entitled to do.

But the photographer's intention was not to portray blackface. Therefore the picture is not objectively offensive, and the author needs to cop onto himself.

It does say more about his own sense of entitlement; his belief that he is entitled to not be offended; than it does about any photograph.

To play devil's advocate, one could go down a rabbit hole and try to "get inside" the head of the photographer:

- Why did you take this picture?

-- Because it was amusing

- What was amusing about it?

-- They look like n1ggers.

But that's a whole other leap, which is making a thousand assumptions for which there is no evidence. I doubt very much that Wales in the early 1900s had an abundance of black men or any kind of anti-negro movement.

Racist Welsh coal miners in blackface

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