Liam Neeson: Rape, Revenge, and Race Relations
February 5, 2019 at 11:43 pm
(This post was last modified: February 5, 2019 at 11:48 pm by Rev. Rye.)
Looking through the controversy about Liam Neeson's recent interview... wow.
Just so we're absolutely clear, the scenario he described of what he was thinking for about a week was nothing short of monstrous, and if he actually went through with his murderous fantasies on some unsuspecting black person, it would be utterly indefensible even if he actually found the guy who raped his friend. And yet, as he described it, he made abundantly clear that he was ashamed he ever thought like that. He's describing how he briefly gave in to the racism that most white people end up struggling with, whether consciously or unconsciously, and at least made the attempt at trying to overcome it.
And, of course, there's a lot of outrage about the whole thing. On the one hand, of course what he admitted to was horrible. But to find that for so many his remorse about the whole ordeal means nothing (the fact that he framed his realisation in terms of revenge and not race relations probably has something to do with it, but given that Northern Ireland, where this appears to have happened, is the whitest nation on Earth might explain why his immediate thoughts were on the futility of revenge in general than on the specific racial dimension) concerns me if only because, well, if you want to actually stem the tide of racism, maybe giving people some incentive to change (as opposed to decrying them even as they apologise and express remorse) might actually help with that.
The more I look at it, the more obvious it becomes that the zero-tolerance approach that many take to situations like this seems counterproductive. And now, we keep running the risk of becoming Chuck McGill, sabotaging a former crook's attempt at reforming because of that past, and inadvertently making sure he no longer sees a point in becoming a better person.
Accountability for horrible deeds done by unrepentant assholes is one thing, but what will punishing someone for thoughts decades ago they knew were wrong before they acted upon them accomplish?
Just so we're absolutely clear, the scenario he described of what he was thinking for about a week was nothing short of monstrous, and if he actually went through with his murderous fantasies on some unsuspecting black person, it would be utterly indefensible even if he actually found the guy who raped his friend. And yet, as he described it, he made abundantly clear that he was ashamed he ever thought like that. He's describing how he briefly gave in to the racism that most white people end up struggling with, whether consciously or unconsciously, and at least made the attempt at trying to overcome it.
And, of course, there's a lot of outrage about the whole thing. On the one hand, of course what he admitted to was horrible. But to find that for so many his remorse about the whole ordeal means nothing (the fact that he framed his realisation in terms of revenge and not race relations probably has something to do with it, but given that Northern Ireland, where this appears to have happened, is the whitest nation on Earth might explain why his immediate thoughts were on the futility of revenge in general than on the specific racial dimension) concerns me if only because, well, if you want to actually stem the tide of racism, maybe giving people some incentive to change (as opposed to decrying them even as they apologise and express remorse) might actually help with that.
The more I look at it, the more obvious it becomes that the zero-tolerance approach that many take to situations like this seems counterproductive. And now, we keep running the risk of becoming Chuck McGill, sabotaging a former crook's attempt at reforming because of that past, and inadvertently making sure he no longer sees a point in becoming a better person.
Accountability for horrible deeds done by unrepentant assholes is one thing, but what will punishing someone for thoughts decades ago they knew were wrong before they acted upon them accomplish?
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
![[Image: harmlesskitchen.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/yxR97P23/harmlesskitchen.png)
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
