Triggered by Banana Peel

[Jackalope]

[Forgive me the Portuguese ignorance, what is the origin of this racial slur? bananas???

The origin is that some racists here have historically referred to black people as monkeys or apes.

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@OP

Stripped of context, yeah this is a severe overreaction. In context, not so much.

[Joods]

I thought this was gonna be about something else, lol.  But, my mind is always in the gutter, so...

Atta girl!!

[The Valkyrie]

Can we at least admit that things are seriously out of control when an organized event is cut short because of a litterbug? The Daily Mississippian report that several students felt threatened and unsafe by a banana peel: HERE

It was a southern, Republican banana peel.

It was probably dressed as Rambo and carrying an AR-15 in each peel.

[Iroscato]

Can we at least admit that things are seriously out of control when an organized event is cut short because of a litterbug? The Daily Mississippian report that several students felt threatened and unsafe by a banana peel: HERE

My father was murdered by a banana peel, you oppressive fucker.

[GUBU]

Now, them hanging on trees... there's a message there. Forgive me the Portuguese ignorance, what is the origin of this racial slur? bananas???

The thinking amongst racists (especially racist soccer hooligans) is Black people=from Africa, apes=from Africa, popular culture maintains that apes love bananas (and the racist idiots think bananas are African too!), therefore if you throw bananas at Black people then like the "apes" that they are they'll start pining for Africa and return. Or some such.

Of course that's forgetting the little fact that white people are both African and apes, too.

[Aegon]

Can we at least admit that things are seriously out of control when an organized event is cut short because of a litterbug? The Daily Mississippian report that several students felt threatened and unsafe by a banana peel: HERE

Neo I thought I told you to stick to Aquinas? You're still shit at this stuff.

Knowing the context now, which you left out, I understand why they were upset.

[Neo-Scholastic]

But someone did hang banana peels in nooses around the school previously.
Did you read that bit Neo?

Yes, I did read that. There is a big difference between prominently displaying something in a noose with the intention to offend and a random piece of garbage. Even if someone was initially shocked by some distant similarity, he or she, if they were reasonably intelligent, would perhaps be puzzled or maybe shrug it off as an animal's work or something - not go into hysterics.

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Knowing the context now, which you left out, I understand why they were upset.

Entirely untrue. I read and shared the entire article. Of course there were racial tensions, hypersensitivity is being stoked to absurd levels and some people's reticular activating system are being misdirected to overreact to trivial things in the environment. It's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just ask Robert Lee at ESPN.

[Athene]

But someone did hang banana peels in nooses around the school previously.
Did you read that bit Neo?

Yes, I did read that. There is a big difference between prominently displaying something in a noose with the intention to offend and a random piece of garbage. Even if someone was initially shocked by some distant similarity, he or she, if they were reasonably intelligent, would perhaps be puzzled or maybe shrug it off as an animal's work or something - not go into hysterics.

I'm on no mission to change your heart/mind in regards to this matter, Chad; I don't put that sort of energy into lost causes. But you need to quit LYING, in pretending that a random piece of discarded trash caused this woman to become rattled. 

You know goddamned well that it wasn't. 

Quit being a such slimy, sneaky little coward. You're not particularly adept at being slick, so you may as well give it up and be who the fuck you are.
Let the chips fall where they may.

[Little lunch]

Yeah, Neo, a reasonably intelligent person would shrug off a banana peel in a tree as animal's work?
What sort of animal? A monkey?
Displaying something in a noose? Banana.
Random piece of garbage? Banana.

[Jackalope]

Yeah, Neo, a reasonably intelligent person would shrug off a banana peel in a tree as animal's work?
What sort of animal? A monkey?
Displaying something in a noose? Banana.
Random piece of garbage? Banana.

Not to mention that minorities have been - especially of late - harassed, and much worse. How much empathy does it take to understand the heightened sensitivy to racist dog whistles like bananas hanging from nooses - and that's what they are, they are effigies, intended to intimidate people of a broad range of brown.

We have jackasses running around with guns, Confederate flags, and swastikas.

How much empathy does that take to understand?

Two people were knifed to death and a third gravely wound when they got between a violent racist and two brown young women in my city several months ago. While that - so far - is an isolated incident in recent months, it doesn't take a lot of compassion and empathy to realize that brown people would feel a greatly increased level of racial tension recently.

How much empathy?

Apparently more than some can muster.

P.S. sorry about the bad sentence structure.