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BPD briefly honors white man for Black History Month
By adamg on Sun, 02/11/2018 - 8:33pm
As the Celtics were retiring Paul Pierce's number, Boston Police were tweeting out an honor to Red Auerbach for his role in hiring blacks for the Celtics. The department took the tweet down not long after, when people began questioning it, but, of course nothing ever really dies on the Internet.
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Comments
How about Willie O'Ree?
First black man in the NHL, 1957. Played for the Bruins a bit then came back a couple of years later.
Oh, played with one eye tied behind his back. Really...due to a puck hit he was mostly blind in one eye. He played for over twenty years.
He is, literally, the Jackie Robinson of hockey.
Not helping their case
After deleting the Auerbach praise, BPD reposted a tweet from earlier this month:
What's wrong with that tweet?
What's wrong with that tweet? Maybe it's a sportsball thing I don't get.
Nothing wrong with Bill Russell
But ...
You've already honored him and you've just taken down a tweet for honoring a white man during Black History Month and you want to make amends and the only other black person you can think of is the guy you honored less than two weeks earlier?
So what?
Why would you or anyone, black person included, be offended?
If you're really serious and not just some rando troll ...
I'd like you to turn off your TV for a moment and think really hard: Why might it be wrong to honor a white person for Black History month?
I'm sort of confident that if you ponder this for a minute or so, you might be able to come up with the answer on your own.
Grow up Adam
I know you disqualify/disallow non-PC comments in general. Like Braude and Eagans’s Globefest on WGBH. But Red actually matters to some of us who live here. Give him a shot.
I'm all grown up, thanks
Nobody's criticizing Red Auerbach. He was, as they say, a mensch.
Are you OK with a city department tweeting in praise of Moses on Christmas? After all, without Moses, there's no Jesus.
Ridiculous? No more so than honoring a white man, no matter how honorable, during a month set out to honor the achievements of black people.
"I know you disqualify/disallow non-PC comments in general."
Actually, to be truthful, AG plays it fairly straight. I don't believe I've ever had a post removed.
Problem is that there are hacks that post here that labor under the illusion that they are writers. They spew invective here against anyone that they don't see as fellow leftie travelers. For instance, there's a poster here called Roman. Seems like a nice enough person, tries to make points in a logical and decent manner. There's another one, a few threads back, that invited him 'if you're an adult, do civil society a favor: kill yourself."
So, why should people come here to try to discuss things like adults when the snot-nosed children can't hold a decent conversation?
"Nice enough guy"
"Loves to argue points in bad faith and has a political disposition and conviction that's rather devoid of substance outside of 'hating liberals, leftists, and/or democrats,' but other than that, he's sure swell."
In other words...
...you're quoting yourself, because you're not quoting me.
Perhaps you can engage him in conversation. Good luck. You'll need it.
I have engaged with him
It's a waste of time.
Parrot, parrot, I found the parrot!
The grownups want their vocabulary back, son.
Yes, he's a Very Fine Person(tm). Absolutely. Uh-huh.
Um...
"Yes, he's a Very Fine Person(tm). Absolutely. Uh-huh."
Sorry, you can't trademark that. Oh, I like him more than I like you. He's nicer. Certainly less rude. Oh, as far as my vocabulary goes, pry it out of my cold dead hands.
Then maybe...
Then maybe you two should get a room. You can watch Howie together and bond. In a purely nonsexual sort of way, of course.
Nice person?
I have read many of Roman's posts. My opionion is that he is definitely not a nice person.
Well, anon...
...I don't care about your opinion.
Oh, and you're wrong.
Nice enough guy
That's a projection and the fact that you can't see through the hologram speaks loads about you.
The man is ignorant of history and lacking in factual substance.
Logic means nothing when the foundational information that it is premised on is utter and complete nonsense.
Sorry, not sorry.
"That's a projection and the fact that you can't see through the hologram speaks loads about you."
That's a load of horseshit and that speaks a load about you.
"The man is ignorant of history and lacking in factual substance."
Hey history buff, how about some relevant social history?
Some questions for you, no goolglgrrling allowed..
Who was Walter A. Brown Arena named after?
Who owned the Boston Celtics when they decided that they wanted to draft a Harlem Globetrotter into the NBA?
Who owned the Boston Bruins when they decided to draft the first NHL black player?
"Logic means nothing when the foundational information that it is premised on is utter and complete nonsense."
What the hell are you talking about? Get some sleep, you're a bit overwrought.
Logic is a set of operations performed on suppositions
If those suppositions are bad, logic won't make truth from garbage.
Example: a computer program is logical, but if the data are fake, performing logic on them won't make them useful or factual.
A simpler way to put it for simple minds: garbage in, garbage out.
Re: "logical and decent manner".
Just a reminder, it's still February. April 1st is quite some time away.
Yes but today is...
A. Lincoln's birthday. As a major contributor to the ability to have Black History Month, I say, Happy Birthday President Lincoln.
You died to make men free.
That must be acknowledged.
I bet...
You celebrate your father for knocking up your mother on Mother's Day, don't you?
I plan to spend St Patricks Day
Drinking a Newcastle and toasting all the Britons who didn't go out of their way to torture the Irish
for the same reason
...for the same reason your mother might be nonplussed if you thought the best way to celebrate Mother's Day was to pay your respects at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library.
Or...
...for the same reason your mother might be nonplussed if you thought the best way to celebrate Mothers' Day was to pay your respects to your father for his role in her becoming a mother.
From Morgan Freeman:
"Why would you or anyone, black person included, be offended?"
So, some common sense from Morgan Freeman discussing the subject with Mike Wallace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnTovm26I4&feature=youtu.be
Selectively quotes one black guy
That don't make you woke.
That makes you a cherypicking racist.
I'm not trying to be 'woke'...
...you anon asswipe. I'm posting a clip from an interesting conversation between Morgan Freeman and Mike Wallace. You don't like it? Too friggin bad. Give me a reason why it's not a valid point of view rather than insulting me with your bullshit.
Oh, learn how to spell 'cherry', moron.
Validity isn't the issue
Your giving it premier validity because you like what he said is the issue.
He is one man with one valid viewpoint. Not that you ever come in contact with other black people, or that they would ever speak their minds around your sad self.
Actions over Tweets
Black guy here, and I care far more about the actions of the BPD than what one or two of their social media folks post on twitter.
A list of black people connected with Boston worthy of praise
Bill Russell did great things, but surely there are other black people who've had something to do with Boston that merit notice during Black History Month. Indeed there are, for example:
There are plenty more, why, there's even a Wikipedia page on the history of African-Americans in Boston.
Since it's BPD, maybe go with law enforcement as a theme?
Wikipedia page lists the following, in addition to Horatio Homer:
Macon Bolling Allen the first African American licensed to practice law and to hold a judicial position in the United States
Robert Morris one of the first African-American attorneys in the United States
George Lewis Ruffin the first African-American graduate of Harvard Law School, the first African American elected to the Boston City Council, and the first black judge in the United States
Harry J. Elam, Sr. the first black judge appointed to the Boston Municipal Court bench, and the court's first black chief justice
William Henry Lewis the first African American to be appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney
David Sutherland Nelson first African American federal judge in Massachusetts
Just a quibble, you don't win
Just a quibble, you don't win a Medal of Honor. You are a MoH recipient.
An apology from BPD
How about
How about Ed Brooke ... our former Black Senator ... .. Deval Patrick... both worthy of celebrating
Or how about actual current
Or how about actual current black officers like Chief Gross, the first African-American Chief, or the hundreds of other minority officers protecting this city every day?
I know, right?
Oh BLACK GUYS = SPORTSING!
Big part of the problem.
Deval...
Thanks for the humor there......
Well, Doug
Being a two term governor of a wealthy and prosperous state is certainly an accomplishment for anyone - and well above any pay grade you will ever see.
Yes it is an accomplishment
Never said it wasn't, don't recall comparing my pay grade to his either, or any sort of comparison whatsoever. Awkward response you have there.
The guy was everything that is wrong with politics, everything was an "anecdote" and he never took ownership over a damn thing, but the nitwits in this state voted for him......hell of a job with that one.
What about Clive Rush?
When Clive Rush was the coach of the Patriots he combined offensive and defensive players and formed the Black Power Defense. The problem was they and the team sucked and they ended up going 4 and 10 and Clive had to leave the team for health reasons. But he should get credit for fielding the first all Black Defensive Team in Professional football.
Overboard
The history of African-Americans in this country necessarily, and obviously, intersects with some non-African-Americans. It seems better to recognize and praise those who stood up and did the right thing for African-Americans, regardless of their color. Can we not talk about William Lloyd Garrison this month? Abraham Lincoln, William Seward, Julia Ward Howe...?
Kinda not the point?
Sure, you can, no one's gonna stop you. But if your recollection of "those who stood up and did the right thing for African-Americans" is almost all white people, doesn't that make you want to dig a little deeper and learn more about African-American history?
Not on board
This is Black History Month. Notice the first word: "Black".
So it is appropriate during "Black" history month, to honor "blacks" as the primary honoree. Honoring "whites" during month that is for "black" history is akin to diluting the words "Black History" along the same lines as diluting Black Lives Matter to White Lives Matter or All Lives Matter with an additional addition of "Americans are Dreamers Too*", etc.
One can talk about William Lloyd, Lincoln, etc, the other 11 months of the year, no?
*Donald J. Trump, State of the Union Address, 2018
Sure, but...
Why waste your praise those amazing people during Black History Month?
You should save your praise for them for White History Month.
New Name
Per the Trump Administration, "White History" will now be known as "Anglo-American Heritage". Perhaps we can expect tweets from local Sheriff's departments in celebration?
Not overboard.
Historically, the achievements of black folk have been downplayed or overlooked by the mainstream. Black History month is an attempt to counter centuries of history focusing on white men by highlighting black folk. So choosing to highlight a white dude rather than any of the black folk involved in desegregation of sports seems to miss the point of the month entirely.
Um?
So this is wrong/not PC/ "another transgression by BPD" because??????? I admit, I am a libtard but this is NOT a big deal. You REALLY think BPD wants any bad press? They use the absolute minimum force generally, even putting themselves at risk for fear of public and internal backlash. The restraint they use on a daily basis is incredible. All they were doing was making note of how progressive the C's were. Let's not turn a positive to a negative; there exists farrrrr too many negatives in the world nowadays.