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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

The tweet exchange between Rappaport and the writer who alleges there was discrimination at BA is no longer available. But when you say “bad” things, I assume you’re not referring to that. You’re referring to the tasteless costume and his tone deafness to minority writers.

Ok. So the costume is bad. It shows terrible judgment and it’s mean. But is a 2010 incident of that minor magnitude worthy of a volcanic response a decade later? I think not.

But he should have apologized. As Howard Stern and Ted Danson have done for doing something far worse. Yes, blackface is far worse than wearing an insensitive costume celebrating stereotypes. (One can dress as a Chav, in track suit and gold, using miserable lowbrow Brit accents and accrue laughs and not derision. One may also dress as a hayseed or redneck for Halloween and not be accused of offensive behavior. Both of those groups have little if any power, but it’s still acceptable in most social circles to satirize stereotypes of them. A group stereotype may be an effort to be edgy that fails. It may be an open mockery of political correctness, taboo humor. Blackface, OTOH, totally dehumanizes the target.)

So then we get to Rappoport’s alleged discriminatory acts towards journalists of minority background. That’s a fair basis for people to demand a firing. Totally agree.

Finally, we have the issue of whether Rappoport simply wasn’t performing. Another acceptable basis to call for a firing.

But the 2010 photo alone? Not a basis to call for a firing, or to fire, particularly if he’d acknowledged its insensitivity and apologized for bad judgment.

ETA: Stereotypes are tricky. They have historically been a source of much humor, often by people of the stereotyped groups themselves. I think they actually serve to bond people, as we all get a chance to laugh at ourselves. The trouble is there’s a fine line, and one has to be a near professional humorist to balance on it. Rappoport wasn’t balancing anything. He just dressed as a stereotype which on its own isn’t very funny. (I may be biased here as I hate costumes of all types and really loathe costume parties.)

In other words, Rapoport deserved to be fired for other reasons, and we don't need to discuss his costume at all. So Williamson's choice to include him as an example of cancel culture was intentionally misleading (remember: Williamson cited to that NPR article as his source), an effort to manufacture an example of cancel culture out of a set of facts that suggest something else was going on.