Friday, December 19, 2008

The Rumor Mill

This week I got an email from a coworker. Behold the email in its entirety, with commentary! (names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.)
Good Morning Zero,
So far we're off to a good start...
There is an ugly rumor circulating about a MySpace page and Senator Obama’s presidential candidacy. The rumor states you professed on your MySpace page to purchase an AK47 if Senator Obama was elected president. I believe in neither assuming nor accepting “rumors”. Therefore, I am approaching you because I feel we have a good working relationship.
Susan, my coworker doesn't know me very well. I'd never own a commie gun, and I haven't used MySpace in a few years. What I did say was said on facebook, and what I said was "Zero is celebrating Obama's victory by purchasing an assault rifle." It's nice to know that Susan and I have a good working relationship, because she's going to try damn hard to destroy it. Now watch as Susan goes ahead and assumes the rumor as true:
However, if your MySpace page does have this quote – I have a few questions.

Will you shoot me because my skin is black like presidential-elect Obama? And, if you pull the trigger will you look me in my eyes to see Susan as a project team member who is black or a black woman who happens to be a project team member? And, when my blood is pouring out of my body will you watch to see what color it is?

Okay Susan, here are the answers:
  1. No, I'm not going to shoot you because you're black.
  2. No, there will be no blood letting so staring into each other's eyes will not be necessary.
  3. No, I won't be checking the color of your blood, but if "oversensitive" were a color, that's the color it'd be.
I'd like to ask Susan a few questions:

What on God's Green Earth gives you the idea that I want to shoot you? Why would you think I'd shoot someone because of the color of their skin? What makes you think I care about your skin color, or that of President Elect Obama? What in my comment would imply that I want to shoot anyone at all? Yes, yes, my comment was a little provocative, but did you know I was going to buy an assault rifle anyway? Did you know I've wanted one for years? Did you know that I think guns are a lot of fun, as well as a necessary evil? Did you know that Obama wants to make assault rifles illegal, so I want to make sure I purchase one well before he comes to power?

Most importantly, why didn't you confirm the rumor before asking a bunch of incredibly ignorant questions revealing your underlying bigotry?

Susan seems more than willing to believe an unsubstantiated rumor and twist it around to think that I want to murder black people. I don't see where she gets that, but if one lives one's life as a perpetual victim one probably perpetually seeks victimizers.

Each individual has the constitutional right to freely express their opinions and thoughts on subject matter. But, please know that this “rumor” has me greatly disturbed. Maybe I am being overly sensitive if you are truly exercising your constitutional right. I have lived with racism my entire life and it is painful.
Indeed, racism is painful. Probably about as painful as unjustly being called a racist.
I apologize in advance if the “rumor” has misrepresented your opinion.

Susan

Apology accepted. Now all you've got to do is work on the chip on your shoulder. While you're doing that I'll be at target practice with my new assault rifle.
Posted by at 11:55 PM
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17 comments:

  1. Wooooowwww... That's crazy dude. Whoever that chick is, she clearly doesn't know you at all. How the heck does, "I want to buy a gun!" turn into "I want to kill black people!"

    She made up her mind about you way before she sent that email. Nobody in their right mind goes off on a tirade like that "just in case the rumor is true." Strong words and strong accusations, and they totally deserved to be vetted before going off.

    Bigotry is easy to spot. I wonder if she realizes that the only reason she sent that to you is because you are white, and that she wouldn't have sent it if you were black.

    She's basically become that which she hates.

    peace|dewde
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  2. report her for creating a "hostile workplace" by accusing you of being a racist

    WV= "dograg"
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  3. @dewde - it's unfortunate that the irony is probably lost on her.

    @harry hobbit - I thought about reporting her to HR, but ultimately decided against it. To use the institutions of thought control and oversensitivity, even to combat thought control and oversensitivity, strengthen those institutions in my estimation.
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  4. You might need a bit of, um, FELICITOUS wording, as she seems to already be quite gun-shy (pun intended)...but have you thought of inviting her to shoot your new prize?
    You might end up bringing a new baby shooter into the world (good for us all), as well as improving your already-good work relationship by removing the perceived threat.

    PS- I consider it an honor to 'liberate' commie guns from those who would seek to use them to further statism and terror. Cheaper to shoot, too :-)
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  5. I wonder what she has to say about the Black people I met at the gun show this past weekend.
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  6. Make certain you store that email away safely just in case. If she does ever complain to Human Resources about you that probably would be helpful. It shows she's taken rumor and turned it into a weapon for her usage.

    Otherwise I'd stay as far away from this person as possible. Bad Bad news is all that will come from that one.
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  7. I have no advice on how to communicate this to Susan, but she obviously does not realize she is a gun bigot. Or gun owner bigot.

    Maybe you could ask her if she is going to run you down with her car because Biden got elected?
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  8. Wow... that is just a little scary. I guess to people like her, people like us who just happen to own guns are itching at the opportunity to go out and shoot us some black folks. How that kind of "logic" comes into existence I will probably never understand, but I think I can live with that.
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  9. She's messed in the head, very messed.
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  10. Obviously she misinterpreted your statement as "A black guy won, so I need to buy a gun to shoot him", when really all you meant was that you're going to buy an assault rifle before Obama makes it illegal to do so. Of course a liberal-minded person would be so bigoted as to think this is a racial issue - if Biden or Clinton had won and made a gun ban one of their top issues, we'd be just as eager to celebrate their victories with the same kinds of "assault rifle" purchases.

    Also, I agree with B Smith. A Soviet-designed gun is not a bad thing as long as it's in the service of our liberties. The gun itself is an object, it's the user who decides to what purpose the gun is put.
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  11. Well, you could mention that, by the end of June, 1919, a lot of people had spent a lot of money purchasing and stashing away liquor, inasmuch as the sale and distribution were to become federal crimes come July 1, 1919.
    Just a small historical anecdote.
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  12. Wow and I am a liberal. I remember when I read that. I thought "Yeah you know you better get your gun to prove how much you love your Right to Bear Arms." However, since I am so liberal, I didn't want to hear how much you love guns. I never thought you were a racist from that comment. I agree that with comment that the decision was made before they addressed the Myspace Rumor. I am a Latina who is friends with you not because you are a racist, but because you are a someone not afraid to speak your truth. (by the way I don't think you are racist) However, because you speak your truth you open this kind of dialogue, which is why I love it this!!! I am glad she spoke up and I hope you replied in your crazy way. As she keeps getting to know you, she will see you are not a racist but someone who voices what they see and experience and believe it was not the gun comment. At no point in time did I think it implied you wanted to kill black people. I know it's really annoying liberal latina's like me who bombard you with Peace and love that you truly want to shoot!
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  13. I would put a call to state mental health authorities and have that woman institutionalized.

    Extreme paranoia like the one described in this post can be a symptom of schizophrenia.
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  14. QUOTE I know it's really annoying liberal latina's like me who bombard you with Peace and love that you truly want to shoot! QUOTE

    LOL I didn't know many liberals like to visit this blog ring. I thought they would all call us insane and religious fanatics. Welcome. However, let me explain why the 2nd Amendment is so important. Most people of wisdom, including the Founding Fathers of the US, states that a tyrant's worst fear is the armed citizenry.

    In the 20th Century alone, 170 MILLION people were murdered by their own governments because they were not able to fight back against injustice. Terrified people huddle in their homes across the world from Berlin to Warsaw to Leningrad, waiting for the secret police to arrive at their door. The Ottoman Sultan and their Pasha enforcers disarmed the Armenians before they decided to wipe them out. Hitler disarmed the Jews before he wiped them out. And Lenin and Stalin disarmed all of their citizens and picked off any presumed "political opponents" by the thousands.

    If you have some time, please visit the JPFO website. (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership) They have a great documentary called "Innocents Betrayed", and it shows what really happens when the people can no longer own guns or other tools of true freedom.
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  15. You could point out to Susan that the first targets of gun control laws were free blacks, in an effort to disarm them so that terrorism from the Klan would be easier.

    You could point out that it's a lot harder for black people to be oppressed/endangered/lynched if they're armed.

    You could point out that while God created all men (and women) equal, Sam Colt and John Browning made sure they stay that way.
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  16. Take her shooting. Seriously.
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  17. Well, it's sad that people don't take context into account before jumping to conclusions. As in:

    INTERNETS -YER DOING IT WRONG

    It makes some sense that she is concerned, and I applaud her for asking you about it. But, she has clearly not taken the most diplomatic avenue or tone. It probably doesn't warrant answer in inflamed passions - these subjects, while controversial, need to be discussed, so that understandings may be reached.

    The truth is, I've been a gun-owner most of my life, but I view gun ownership, and its' legality and utility in a much more politically objective manor than most people I've met.

    Obama will likely be supportive of gun restrictions. However, lots or folks conveniently forget that significant restrictions were ratified by Reagan, GHW Bush, and GW Bush (and their administrations). I'm not going to argue these, they are facts. I, find the NRA's current campaign of targeting Obama as a single "gun-grabbing" individual politically reprehensible and counterproductive for their cause. Polarization and fearmongering is not the answer here. There is no likelihood of Obama instituting an Executive Order rescinding the 2nd Amendment. He simply doesn't have the political weight to do so. It would be absurdly stupid. The answer is choosing battles wisely, and battling the legislation before it ever gets to his desk, as this is how laws are passed. They are not passed in a vacuum by a single man - you can and should vote and petition your elected representatives.

    The answer is to make sure that no branch of government erodes the protections of citizens under the Constitution. I cannot stress how important this is.

    That said, you should have bought a rifle 8 months ago, when the market rate wasn't inflated by all this fear of restrictions an trade-protectionism.

    Just my 2 cents.
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