Slog Jun 22, 2017 3:10 PM

Fremont Arts Council Gives an Official Response to Puppet Many Saw As Racist... But They Will Not Name the Puppeteer

by Charles Mudede

Comments

1
WHERE Is the photo so we can judge for ourselves?
I do not trust Charles' judgment on a matter like this one.
Not Good Red Herring Either on June 22, 2017 at 3:22 PM · Report this
2
was this a new puppet or not? I feel like I've seen it around.
Max Solomon on June 22, 2017 at 3:30 PM · Report this
3
It's the black one on the left in the picture.

I saw it - it was definitely questionable.
foobusbarbus on June 22, 2017 at 3:31 PM · Report this
5
Charles is insisting that they 'name names' - where have we heard that before?
NoSpin on June 22, 2017 at 3:47 PM · Report this
6
Slog is really weird these past couple weeks. Did the paper lose a bunch of journalists again?
The CHZA on June 22, 2017 at 3:51 PM · Report this
7
"[S]he said they have a good idea of who it is and are in the process of contacting him. But if they know who it is..."


BUT they don't know, clearly, do they??

By your own reporting: They have an Idea --which is to say, they have a strong suspicion, but have not been able to confirm it yet-- but they do not know.

So, that's really just a rhetorical trick employed here to get a click-bait headline.

Timrrr on June 22, 2017 at 3:58 PM · Report this
8
Is this the most harmful example of racism to focus attention on? Or is it just easier to be outraged about a dipshit in an offensive costume than to volunteer time and energy combatting inequity that still exists? What about policing practices? Drug law disparity? Educational disparity? Recidivism and lack of opportunity for felons reentering society? Our criminal justice system has racism still written into its very laws that affect people's lives and freedom and you want me to care about a puppet?

Weak.
snicks on June 22, 2017 at 4:00 PM · Report this
9
@ 2, Me too. I posted in a previous thread that I feel like I've seen the same puppet in previous Solstice Parades. I remember being surprised that nobody seemed to care.
RomCom on June 22, 2017 at 4:27 PM · Report this
10
"A person who even they consider to be a racist should not hide behind that puppet."

Too bad Slog couldn't ever post a strongly critical article about Omari Tahir-Garrett where they would explicitly call him a racist after having video evidence of several interactions where he was racist to other minority groups.
Capn Morg on June 22, 2017 at 4:44 PM · Report this
11
@10: Stop changing the subject.
Hoover on June 22, 2017 at 4:50 PM · Report this
12
@11 this subject is over. A racist puppet has been denounced by all and called racist. What else is there left to say?
Capn Morg on June 22, 2017 at 5:02 PM · Report this
13
taekaway: to be safe, all solstice parade giant head puppets should probably be giant head PNW animals from here out. owls, salmon, bears, elk, coyote, or ravens. maybe octopus. maybe.

or maybe, you could have an explicitly multi-ethnic giant head puppet gang, like the gang that beat nick cage up at the end of wild at heart.
Max Solomon on June 22, 2017 at 5:16 PM · Report this
17
I belive in preventing bloodshed. Withholding the name seems prudent.
raindrop on June 22, 2017 at 5:47 PM · Report this
18
@14: when you say #witchhunt you sound like a trumpist so probably don't do that if you don't want us to think you're #whitewhining. crazy uncle omari has no power to oppress you; his son wyking runs africatown.
Max Solomon on June 22, 2017 at 5:48 PM · Report this
21
Yeah definitely didn't want to be lumped in with that Jane Doe, disagree with tons of what you've just said
Capn Morg on June 22, 2017 at 7:12 PM · Report this
22
@19, 20: are they picking your pocket or breaking your bones? no? then tl;dr.
Max Solomon on June 22, 2017 at 8:03 PM · Report this
23
If they don't know for sure who the person is, they of course should not publicize it. But even if they do, what are we supposed to do? March on his home with pitchforks and torches? Contact his employer and demand that he be fired for something he did in his own time? Hound his family and friends?

Catalina Vel-DuRay on June 22, 2017 at 8:18 PM · Report this
24
Charles wants the name so a lone-wolf lefty can "solve" the problem.
Last of the Time Lords on June 22, 2017 at 9:10 PM · Report this
25
@3
I appreciate your opinion but I would like to see the photo myself.
Not Good Red Herring Either on June 22, 2017 at 10:05 PM · Report this
26
@25 did you not realize @3 is referring to the picture that is, in fact, posted with this article?
in-frequent on June 23, 2017 at 7:52 AM · Report this
27
@23

That is exactly what would happen if their name got out. There is a big difference between someone who makes a bone headed mistake and a dyed in the wool "let's murder us some minorities" racist.

We as a country have proven, quite consistently, that we are incapable of exercising restraint when dealing with people we believe have done wrong.

Giving over the puppeteer to the mob would be wrong. Period.
GhostDog on June 23, 2017 at 8:32 AM · Report this
28
The mob is good when its on your side.
Idiot Sawant on June 23, 2017 at 8:41 AM · Report this
29
@27: that's assuming the puppeteer even made the damn thing. "here, well-meaning but naïve white dude, you take the black puppet head." "um, are you sure, I feel kind of uncomfortable..." "it's your 1st year, you get what you get."

the issue is the bright red lips - a common feature of pre-war pickaninny imagery. unless he like, made the puppet do racist stuff...
Max Solomon on June 23, 2017 at 9:25 AM · Report this
30
@26
Photo in Slog post doesn't show enough except to want more information
Not Good Red Herring Either on June 23, 2017 at 9:35 AM · Report this
31
" about the identity of the puppeteer, she said they have a good idea of who it is and are in the process of contacting him. But if they know who it is, they should tell the public right away, otherwise it looks like they are protecting him"

So, maybe let them confirm the person's identity, so that there is no doubt, before unleashing a wave of social shame? Seems like they are making sure the innocent don't get caught in the crossfire. Due diligence and all... Right, journalists?
treacle on June 23, 2017 at 10:21 AM · Report this
32
Publishing someones personal info in order to unleash a stream of online abuse and potential violence is a move straight out of the alt-right playbook.

I guess the potential upside of the left sinking to the depths historically reserved for the right is that actual rational thinkers from both sides will be forced to band together.
RomCom on June 23, 2017 at 10:47 AM · Report this
33
@28

For the record, I'm not particularly fond of the mob in any of its manifestations. I'm well on my way to believing that we need to shut down all social media so we can go back to the day when people weren't able to arrange their own small gotterdamerung by making a single stupid headed tweet.

@29

Agreed. The actual puppeteer's sin might have just been that they weren't aggressive enough in their anti-racism to tell whomever assigned them the puppet that it was awful, racist, and they won't use it.

GhostDog on June 23, 2017 at 11:51 AM · Report this