Is It Fair To Punish Past Figures Due To Modern Standards?

[Goldie]

Yesterday the Flyers and Yankies decided to disassociate themselves from Kate Smith, whose song (God Bless America) they used up until racist songs from her resurfaced.


The question I present to you is, is it fair to punish someone (their legacy) by either attempting to remove them from the history books, take down statues, etc, for things that they did that was normal in their time but decades later is now deemed disrespectful?


Let's say within the next decade they make a Dave Chappelle statue and 30 years later they wanna take it down cuz of homophobic jokes he made in a time where it was the norm for comedians to do so. Would that be fair?​

 

[OhMars]

I think right is right no mater what time you're in.
Rape has always been wrong no matter the time
Racism has always been wrong no matter what time it is
Discrimination is always been wrong no matter what time it is

I think it's all about intent. If she was singing song that down black folks it's always been wrong no matter how acceptable it was.
I don't count vernacular in this, because that changes pretty regularly.

 

[Goldie]

I agree they did the right thing pertaining to Kate Smith.


But like i said lets use Chappelle in a hypothetical. A large percentage of comedians used the word "faggot" in their bits, should Chappelle's legacy be ruined 30 years from now cuz in 2050 using that word is like saying the word nigger today?

 

[TonyDubbz]

Hell yea!

I dont even know who she is but FDB

 

[OhMars]

I agree they did the right thing pertaining to Kate Smith.


But like i said lets use Chappelle in a hypothetical. A large percentage of comedians used the word "faggot" in their bits, should Chappelle's legacy be ruined 30 years from now cuz in 2050 using that word is like saying the word nigger today?

Like I said, vernacular shouldn't count

 

[DOS_patos]

jews will rock until the wheels fall off and everyone is fired.

we march and go home.

 

[Duwop]

it's actually pretty funny...

the lines have been forever blurred, no one is safe..

society requires perfection celebrities, however everyone in society is far from perfect...


you search hard enough there's a reason to "cancel" everybody..

i love the ridiculousness of it all.. i wanna see how far it will go..

 

[Playmaker88]

I think right is right no mater what time you're in.
Rape has always been wrong no matter the time
Racism has always been wrong no matter what time it is
Discrimination is always been wrong no matter what time it is

I think it's all about intent. If she was singing song that down black folks it's always been wrong no matter how acceptable it was.
I don't count vernacular in this, because that changes pretty regularly.

no need to add anything agreed

 

[The Lonious Monk]

I think it depends, but more often than not shit that people are being punished for what probably not acceptable when they did it either.

 

[SneakDZA]

I don't think it's possible to "punish" someone that's been dead for decades. I think it's completely fair for people and society at large to determine who they idolize based on whatever standards they consider important.

The argument that it was the norm at the time (talking specifically about that fat racist trash that sang the anthem) doesn't hold much water since there were plenty of people living during those times that didn't sing songs about darkies only being good for picking cotton.

 

[AZTG]

I think thw topic has to be approached with nuance. Its not black and white.

We shouldnt judge past figures by todays standards. Not just with racism but all things should be looked at while understanding what society was like at the time.

With that said though, you cant keep playing this bitches music in 2019 once her being a racist is known. So imo its the right move to remove her music from public events. Removing her music hurts no one but racists in 2019.

 

[1/2]

yeah....i get where the lines can be blurred sometimes but overall its not a bad thing

they're just now starting to take down the confederate statues here, and people are losing their shit saying its a part of american history no matter what

while I wont even deny that they may have an argument, I feel it should always be the choice of the people overall....and the people voted to knock that shit down



the history is still there

 

[Chi-Town B]

It's history no matter if a statue is there or not but if you go down this road then bring up everyone's shit rather they black, white Asian or Hispanic, don't have selective outrage.

 

[Playmaker88]

yeah....i get where the lines can be blurred sometimes but overall its not a bad thing

they're just now starting to take down the confederate statues here, and people are losing their shit saying its a part of american history no matter what

while I wont even deny that they may have an argument, I feel it should always be the choice of the people overall....and the people voted to knock that shit down



the history is still there

Slippery slope when we leave it to the people and are good with a conclusion because the "people" spoke

It sound but picky but it ain't.. If it's right it's right though

 

[AZTG]

Man fuck them statues. The history should be taught and not forgotten, but fuck sensationalizing that shit.

 

[1/2]

I just dont think there's any threat to anything truly important or sacred in this

if we found out lady liberty's strong chin ass had kids she didnt take care of and they wanna kick her ass in the water, so be it

 

[The Lonious Monk]

I do think you have to at least look at a person and try to determine whether they changed or not. Let's be real, most people are sheep that just go along with what is around them. I'm sure it's common for a person that grows up around a certain element to behave badly because that's all they know and see. However, when their horizons are expanded and they are allowed to grow, they leave those bad ways behind. I don't really think you should be punishing someone for something they did 20 years ago when it's clear they have changed. That said, these people that actively try to lie about what they did and justify it most likely haven't changed and should suffer the consequences whatever they may be.

 

[DMorgan]

Yes remove statutes. Don't remove them from history books. Just tell the truth about them in the history books.

 

[konceptjones]

It's history no matter if a statue is there or not but if you go down this road then bring up everyone's shit rather they black, white Asian or Hispanic, don't have selective outrage.

So when Jay Z decides to get into politics we can go ahead and cancel him due to him being a drug dealer and destroyer of the Black community.




... but that also means canceling Tim Allen 'cause he did the same thing in the 70's except he got caught with the product on him and snitched on the other coke dealers to get a lighter sentence.

 

[Chi-Town B]

So when Jay Z decides to get into politics we can go ahead and cancel him due to him being a drug dealer and destroyer of the Black community.




... but that also means canceling Tim Allen 'cause he did the same thing in the 70's except he got caught with the product on him and snitched on the other coke dealers to get a lighter sentence.

Can't pick and choose when you do this, if you going down this road then go all the way. Can't be like that's different when it's someone you like is all I'm saying