[News] Liam neeson

[Dave the OAP]

Guy from Birmingham university basically said that neeson set out to lynch a black man, therefore linking it to the lynching of black men in america Deep South.

He kept on mentioning lynching, even Dan walker tried to get him to change his use of the world, which he flatly refused to do.

Walker asked him if he should have apologised and this guy said that apologies are not enough and he can't unsay what he said.

I wonder where this will end up?

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I think he was right to get this off his chest but the timing stinks and the audience was the wrong one. He would have been better talking to a psychiatrist as it may have helped us all understand emotions and how we control them. Unfortunately in society there are many who actually go out and beat the crap out of people for the sheer hell of it. It is them who deserve the bad publicity going in Neeson’s direction.

 

[Klaas]

Have you actually understood everything that he said or are you just jumping to your own conclusions?

Did I misunderstand the bit about wanting to murder a black man?

 

[pigbite]

What Neeson said reveals the deep seated psychological biases all humans are capable of reverting to. The "them and us" mentality that polarises people into "your either with us or against us", no sitting on the fence, camps at the heart of all conflict.

What Neeson expressed and did was clearly racist and cannot be excused. It is the same base process however that motivated protestant v catholic violence for years in Ireland, the Balkan conflict, the Holocaust, tribal genocide in Rwanda...and on and on and on and on.

We are fortunate to live in a society where we don't have something like a war or other daily conflict going on and these base emotions are not tested to the extent that provokes serious violence but it's there. We tar groups of people with the same brush all the time. Most of the time it's just a bit silly (e..g a BMW cuts us up and that of course is representative of all BMW drivers being knobs). Sometimes it betrays those ignorant prejudices that are still acceptable to voice (e.g. something about obese people, gypsies, immigrants etc).

What Neeson did cannot be condoned however I would say it represents the same emotions and irrational behaviour that characterises and self justifies the need for vengeance and "justice" that motivates people all the time to do senseless acts of violence. In the face of being unable to identify and blame an individual people blame the group. It happens ALL the time to a greater or lesser extent and we are ALL guilty to some level and at some point. We are just lucky that our overriding desire to maintain some level of peace and harmony tempers things. But it does surface when we do feel threatened. We see it surface in the debate about immigration. We see it surface when trying to tackle ideologically based terrorist attacks. We see it with extremists on both side of the political divide in the US. We saw what can happen when polarising rhetoric motivated the murder of Jo Cox.

I heard Radio 1 Newsbeat last night and they were obviously all over this story. They went and got a load of vox pox including a very interesting comment from a guy who basically says that it was wrong of Neeson to blame a whole race for what one person dd but black people do it as well regarding white people. It of course can be argued that centuries of exploitation that still continues to disadvantage entire communities provides some justification for a level of indignation over and above what Neeson did but it was an interesting viewpoint.

If you are interested in listening then the best bits are from around 05:20, with the comment I refer to around 05:40.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00029bx

 

[wellquickwoody]

He didn't admit he was wrong. He said he was ashamed of the way he felt. That isn't the same thing.

Semantics to an exceptional level.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Amongst my close circle of friends I'm the only white one, not one of them gives a monkeys what Liam Neeson says or not. Im wondering if some of you actually know any black people, because you mistake them as people who are as precious as some of you. The vast majority are like the rest of us, who just get on with life and don't let things people say bother them. Then again I realise time has moved on and you must now tell social media how virtuous and right on you all are.
Stop being offended by words.

Thank you for a sensible contribution, if only the wannabe seen to be good/PC/right on folks could be so magnanimous.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Who on here is speaking on behalf of black people? Nobody that I can see. Except you of course.

When I told of a close black gay friend laughing at how offended Brighton fans could be about homophobic chants you were equally mocking. Seems that you choose speak on behalf of black people to me.

 

[The Clamp]

When I told of a close black gay friend laughing at how offended Brighton fans could be about homophobic chants you were equally mocking. Seems that you choose speak on behalf of black people to me.

I don’t recall that exchange but in this case I assure you, I’m not mocking.

 

[The Clamp]

Thank you for a sensible contribution, if only the wannabe seen to be good/PC/right on folks could be so magnanimous.

I think you have misread the general feeling on this matter.
From what I see most people are in agreement that what he did years ago was fundamentally racist but that he quickly realised how silly he was being and came to his senses.
Also he was a bit daft recounting the story in an interview.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Would you agree with Barnes's assertion that "we are all unconcious racists" ? (aside from the fact that he probably means 'subconcious', but then it fits in with the overall generally semi-coherent ramble of that entire interview anyway).

I think we all subconsciously fear things we don't know or understand, but no I don't think we're born subconsciously racist - I think it's something we're taught through our environment (for example, the current tabloid media driven agenda is something that I find borders on racist and that has clearly fed into a society that has become more and more racist and insular since Brexit started being a thing). I grew up in a predominantly white area (as I'm sure many on here did) and I saw and heard things that were just the norm then; I'd pull people up for these things now having had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful people of different nationalities and races (and realising that they're different than us in some ways, but also fundamentally exactly the same). Although, on a personal level, I've suffered several racist incidents in my adult life despite being a white person, so racism clearly isn't just a thing for white people - misunderstanding people of other cultures is clearly something that many societies suffer from.

In Neeson's case, this happened to him when he was living in Ireland 30+ years ago and I imagine opinions were very different. Bearing in mind everything that's happened with his wife and in terms of his career development, I'd hope he wouldn't hold that same view now; I got the impression from the interview that he didn't. So I commend him for being able to grow as a human being whilst recognising that what he did was fundamentally wrong (as he himself admitted).

 

[sydney]

Guy from Birmingham university basically said that neeson set out to lynch a black man, therefore linking it to the lynching of black men in america Deep South.

He kept on mentioning lynching, even Dan walker tried to get him to change his use of the world, which he flatly refused to do.

Walker asked him if he should have apologised and this guy said that apologies are not enough and he can't unsay what he said.

I wonder where this will end up?

well.......you started it old boy as far as this forum goes anyway ..........the journo has made herself an overnight celebrity and turned Neeson into public enemy no.1.......****ing shitpuffinrey of the highest order all round .....well done , all to eager to jump on the race band wagon , like lighting a bonfire isn't it.....

 

[Bakero]

Guy from Birmingham university basically said that neeson set out to lynch a black man, therefore linking it to the lynching of black men in america Deep South.

He kept on mentioning lynching, even Dan walker tried to get him to change his use of the world, which he flatly refused to do.

Walker asked him if he should have apologised and this guy said that apologies are not enough and he can't unsay what he said.

I wonder where this will end up?

It was a bit lynchy to be fair.

. According to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), nearly 25% of lynching victims were accused of sexual assault.

“The mob wanted the lynching to carry a significance that transcended the specific act of punishment,” wrote the historian Howard Smead in Blood Justice: The Lynching of Mack Charles Parker. The mob “turned the act into a symbolic rite in which the black victim became the representative of his race and, as such, was being disciplined for more than a single crime … The deadly act was [a] warning [to] the black population not to challenge the supremacy of the white race.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/26/lynchings-memorial-us-south-montgomery-alabama.

 

[drew]

Did I misunderstand the bit about wanting to murder a black man?

they
You said he was going to attack an innocent black man. He never said that. He was going out hoping a black man would provoke something and he would then respond in other words, they may well have been innocent of the rape but they wouldn't have been innocent of starting a fight for example. You've picked out the bits you wanted to hear to suit your agenda.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

It seems the studio is thinking of replacing Liam Neeson from the new men in black film and getting his performance done by someone else and re shooting his scenes like they did with Kevin Spacey

 

[sydney]

It seems the studio is thinking of replacing Liam Neeson from the new men in black film and getting his performance done by someone else and re shooting his scenes like they did with Kevin Spacey

pathetic

 

[sydney]

they
You said he was going to attack an innocent black man. He never said that. He was going out hoping a black man would provoke something and he would then respond in other words, they may well have been innocent of the rape but they wouldn't have been innocent of starting a fight for example. You've picked out the bits you wanted to hear to suit your agenda.

as usual.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I believe now that the new film Cold Pursuit will not see the light of day. The red carpet premiere was pulled last night and I expect the studio to take a £ 50 m hit on this rather than be associated with the " racist " Liam Neeson. It will go straight to dvd. Unlikely any UK cinema will show it either. Also will Schindler's List be shown again ? I see the morally outraged middle class Piers Morgan has waded in not really understanding the context of the interview, ironic when he went ape at Ross Greer for pointing out Churchill was a racist during his lifetime. Liam basically lost the plot, not in what he said bar the " find a black bstard " bit why he used those words he is probably asking himself now. honest yes, sensible no. His views were deplorable 40 years ago and they are now

Now that everyone in the world is a part time judge and can speak with certainty what is going on in someone elses head 40 years ago and twitter witch hunts Liam is not going to recover from this. His career is over. At least we have intelligent people like John Barnes speaking on this, sadly he also is now being accused of being a racist apologist after spending the last decade fighting racism. Now in this day and age debates are CLOSED.

 

[jameswestport]

Snowflakes

 

[sydney]

I believe now that the new film Cold Pursuit will not see the light of day. The red carpet premiere was pulled last night and I expect the studio to take a £ 50 m hit on this rather than be associated with the " racist " Liam Neeson. It will go straight to dvd. Unlikely any UK cinema will show it either. Also will Schindler's List be shown again ? I see the morally outraged middle class Piers Morgan has waded in not really understanding the context of the interview, ironic when he went ape at Ross Greer for pointing out Churchill was a racist during his lifetime. Liam basically lost the plot, not in what he said bar the " find a black bstard " bit why he used those words he is probably asking himself now. honest yes, sensible no. His views were deplorable 40 years ago and they are now

Now that everyone in the world is a part time judge and can speak with certainty what is going on in someone elses head 40 years ago and twitter witch hunts Liam is not going to recover from this. His career is over. At least we have intelligent people like John Barnes speaking on this, sadly he also is now being accused of being a racist apologist after spending the last decade fighting racism. Now in this day and age debates are CLOSED.

what an absolute shit storm ........just shows you that baring your soul and being 100 % open and honest gets you absolutely **** all in this day and age ......never mind , we can bury Liam Neeson as long as we've got Michael McIntyre and Alan Carr to keep us amused .......

 

[Dave the OAP]

what an absolute shit storm ........just shows you that baring your soul and being 100 % open and honest gets you absolutely **** all in this day and age ......never mind , we can bury Liam Neeson as long as we've got Michael McIntyre and Alan Carr to keep us amused .......

Just wait until this documentary on michael Jackson surfaces. A guy on the radio said that MJs songs will disappear from the radio and he will not be spoke of again.