Gracie Gold Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Tweet | Page 14 | Golden Skate

Gracie Gold Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Tweet

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
JamesR, I take many issues with your posts. :bang:

But first I will note:
It is quite telling and highly ironic that you openly acknowledge being guilty of the same supposed deficiencies for which you hurl scathing criticism at others -- and which you call unforgivable.

"The words were a reference to a line Asada says while acting in a humorous video created by U.S. ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani. The video, titled “THE ICE 2013 — ONE MORE SANDWICH,” was done while Gold was in Japan last summer year to skate in a show Asada headlines called “The Ice.”"

That is all any thinking person needs to read, to understand the context of the original joke and that it had no malice.

Of course, most people don't bother to think. Or read.

Gracie will hopefully learn lessons in all of this:

1.) Most human beings are hopelessly ignorant

....

Then check yourself.

I didn't bother reading ...

Gracie was referencing that video. She and Mao and the other skaters had fun making it. She's a teenage girl making a reference in fun to a video she participated in with Mao. Her only mistake was not realizing how her comment would be perceived.

I can forgive the unwashed masses ... for not bothering to inform themselves about the context ... I can't forgive goldenskate members for doing the same. YOU should know better.

Will restrict myself to only the following additional comments:

Just about everyone in this thread has been well aware all along of both the primary One More Sandwich video (and how the title relates to the plot) and the secondary behind-the-scenes video. You had no need to patronize us by recapping the vid.

And contrary to what you would have us believe:
- Gold's original tweet was not a neutral reference to the title of the vid.
- The context therefore was not nearly as simple as you pretend.​
 

James R

Match Penalty
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Just about everyone in this thread has been well aware all along of both the primary One More Sandwich video (and how the title relates to the plot) and the secondary behind-the-scenes video. You had no need to patronize us by recapping the vid.

If you claimed to be aware of the alphabet, yet continued to scrawl gibberish, should your kindergarten teacher not take issue with it?

Gracie made a reference in fun, to a comedy video she participated in with Mao. Her only error was not realizing how many people would not understand the context. All of you who disagree with this, after being presented the facts, are simply beyond hope.

You can bully, gang up, and scream all you want. Screaming in unison does not constitute a rational argument. Majority doesn't dictate logic.

You are the ones who are prejudiced. You are the ones screaming hate at another. Not Gracie.
 

Lilith11

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
If you claimed to be aware of the alphabet, yet continued to scrawl gibberish, should your kindergarten teacher not take issue with it?

Gracie made a reference in fun, to a comedy video she participated in with Mao. Her only error was not realizing how many people would not understand the context. All of you who disagree with this, after being presented the facts, are simply beyond hope.

You can bully, gang up, and scream all you want. Screaming in unison does not constitute a rational argument. Majority doesn't dictate logic.

You are the ones who are prejudiced. You are the ones screaming hate at another. Not Gracie.

For all your cries of us being prejudiced and "screaming hate" (what screaming hate? I merely see some *gasp* criticism of Gracie), a key detail continuously appears to slip your mind. She posted the video to Twitter, a public social media, and thus opened herself up for public scrutiny. She did not keep an allegedly private joke private (only tweeting to Mao), but instead opened it up to the public, at which point it ceased being a mutually understood private joke and became a subject for public scrutiny and criticism. While you rant and rave about the uneducated masses and our hateful ways, I frankly find myself cringing a great deal more at your continued condescension and ignorance of the continued existence and expression of ethnocentric inequalities and tensions that continue to this day. Gracie is scarcely the victim here; she's is an eighteen year old, a legal adult in the U.S. who should be capable of taking responsibility over her actions, both the good and bad.
 

Sasha'sSpins

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Joined
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Country
United-States
"The words were a reference to a line Asada says while acting in a humorous video created by U.S. ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani. The video, titled “THE ICE 2013 — ONE MORE SANDWICH,” was done while Gold was in Japan last summer year to skate in a show Asada headlines called “The Ice.”"

That is all any thinking person needs to read, to understand the context of the original joke and that it had no malice.

Of course, most people don't bother to think. Or read.

Gracie will hopefully learn lessons in all of this:

1.) Most human beings are hopelessly ignorant
2.) In media, perception is reality
3.) Politically-correct nazis will do anything and everything they can to destroy you
4.) Racism is immediately assumed of whites (see #3)

Now I'll stop before I say what I REALLY think of the people on this rock.

Just wow. Smh.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
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Country
United-States
Quite an interesting comment, coming from someone willing to point his finger at others and call them "PC Nazis" :laugh:

Why should *I* be exonerated? What exactly did I do wrong, hmm? Please explain.

You are slandering many of us here, "not bothering to inform yourself about the context or about the character of the person, and then pouring their hate and ignorance all over us", look in a mirror, seriously.

I don't know GG personally, unlike you it seems, and I only take her at her words and deeds, nothing else. I am pointing out how those who might feel offended see her tweet. That is "pouring hate and ignorance all over GG", a PC Nazi beyond redemption? So are you answering on her behalf now, how she might perceive those who minded her tweet?

"Unwashed masses"?? Please tell me all about them.

The joke is not the problem if she had joked about "Only one sandwich", we'll laugh along with the off-rink capers, it appears to have escaped you that the problem is making a joke of Mao's non-existent accent, "Onry one sandwrich", because you know, Asians have such funny accents, haha. She said so "solly" , so what der ploblem, light?

Please, mind your crude manners and nasty, foul language. We've all been participating in the discourse in a civilized fashion.

Now, that is a hopelessly ignorant post.

What Gracie posted was in bad taste and derogatory. Period. It doesn't really matter whether she had "malice". It is about how a statement can be perceived by the recipient (in this case, the entire Internet audience). This is the key - she didn't say this directly to Mao in a friendly jest --- rather, she chose to post it so the entire world can read this.

James R, sorry, but you are presumptuous.

For all your cries of us being prejudiced and "screaming hate" (what screaming hate? I merely see some *gasp* criticism of Gracie), a key detail continuously appears to slip your mind. She posted the video to Twitter, a public social media, and thus opened herself up for public scrutiny. She did not keep an allegedly private joke private (only tweeting to Mao), but instead opened it up to the public, at which point it ceased being a mutually understood private joke and became a subject for public scrutiny and criticism. While you rant and rave about the uneducated masses and our hateful ways, I frankly find myself cringing a great deal more at your continued condescension and ignorance of the continued existence and expression of ethnocentric inequalities and tensions that continue to this day. Gracie is scarcely the victim here; she's is an eighteen year old, a legal adult in the U.S. who should be capable of taking responsibility over her actions, both the good and bad.

JamesR, I take many issues with your posts. :bang:

But first I will note:
It is quite telling and highly ironic that you openly acknowledge being guilty of the same supposed deficiencies for which you hurl scathing criticism at others -- and which you call unforgivable.

Will restrict myself to only the following additional comments:

Just about everyone in this thread has been well aware all along of both the primary One More Sandwich video (and how the title relates to the plot) and the secondary behind-the-scenes video. You had no need to patronize us by recapping the vid.

And contrary to what you would have us believe:
- Gold's original tweet was not a neutral reference to the title of the vid.
- The context therefore was not nearly as simple as you pretend.​

For all your cries of us being prejudiced and "screaming hate" (what screaming hate? I merely see some *gasp* criticism of Gracie), a key detail continuously appears to slip your mind. She posted the video to Twitter, a public social media, and thus opened herself up for public scrutiny. She did not keep an allegedly private joke private (only tweeting to Mao), but instead opened it up to the public, at which point it ceased being a mutually understood private joke and became a subject for public scrutiny and criticism. While you rant and rave about the uneducated masses and our hateful ways, I frankly find myself cringing a great deal more at your continued condescension and ignorance of the continued existence and expression of ethnocentric inequalities and tensions that continue to this day. Gracie is scarcely the victim here; she's is an eighteen year old, a legal adult in the U.S. who should be capable of taking responsibility over her actions, both the good and bad.

All the posters above! :rock:

Some people here seem to come dangerously close to being apologists for clearly racist remarks, *jokes*, or behavior. :scowl:
 

James R

Match Penalty
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
For all your cries of us being prejudiced and "screaming hate" (what screaming hate? I merely see some *gasp* criticism of Gracie), a key detail continuously appears to slip your mind. She posted the video to Twitter, a public social media, and thus opened herself up for public scrutiny. She did not keep an allegedly private joke private (only tweeting to Mao), but instead opened it up to the public, at which point it ceased being a mutually understood private joke and became a subject for public scrutiny and criticism.

It's not a private joke. She's referencing a public youtube video.

Earlier I was going to start in on why the makers of the video weren't similarly being attacked, even moreso. I quickly realized why - because they're not white!

So because the video makers aren't white, they are exempt from being called racist for creating the video content. And because Gracie is white (and worse yet has blond hair!), she's automatically a racist for simply quoting it in fun.

Isn't it racist for the Shibutanis to be making fun of asian English speakers, regardless of their own race? No? What if they had created it, put it on youtube and you didn't KNOW who created it. You'd then conclude that it must be racist against asians. But, since asians created it, it ISN'T racist against asians. Therefore, you are making the argument that context matters. Yet, you say context DOESN'T matter when it's a white girl referencing the video. HER context in referencing this video isn't relevant. She's white and therefore she's racist. Or if not racist, she's a horrible insensitive person who needs to be publicly punished by you, The Moral Authority (sic.)

Like I said. Beyond redemption.
 

meem

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
It's interesting to me to read that James R (obviously a mega fan of GG) is accusing posters of "screaming hate" towards Gracie. What a vitriolic reaction to simple posts on a figure skating forum. This past summer, while watching that online interview of Ashley Wagner by Jennifer and Dave, (in which she described some of the incredibly OTT nasty emails she received following Nationals '13), I wondered who the heck would be so outraged that AW beat out GG for the national championship that (s)he would want to generate such emotionally charged (hmmm...dare I say "screaming hate") emails.
 

Lilith11

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
It's not a private joke. She's referencing a public youtube video.

Earlier I was going to start in on why the makers of the video weren't similarly being attacked, even moreso. I quickly realized why - because they're not white!

So because the video makers aren't white, they are exempt from being called racist for creating the video content. And because Gracie is white (and worse yet has blond hair!), she's automatically a racist for simply quoting it in fun.

Isn't it racist for the Shibutanis to be making fun of asian English speakers, regardless of their own race? No? What if they had created it, put it on youtube and you didn't KNOW who created it. You'd then conclude that it must be racist against asians. But, since asians created it, it ISN'T racist against asians. Therefore, you are making the argument that context matters. Yet, you say context DOESN'T matter when it's a white girl referencing the video. HER context in referencing this video isn't relevant. She's white and therefore she's racist. Or if not racist, she's a horrible insensitive person who needs to be publicly punished by you, The Moral Authority (sic.)

Like I said. Beyond redemption.

First off, do you know the definition of racism and the difference between discrimination and racism? Racism refers to the institutions and ideologies that implement and perpetuate prejudiced thinking. Thus, a racist would be someone who with discriminatory thoughts/actions who is also in a position of power. Discrimination on the other hand can be practiced by anyone, regardless of their status. Thus, actually no it wasn't considering the Shibutanis are 1). Asian-Americans and 2). of the same ethnicity as Mao.

Furthermore, when I say the context didn't matter, I was countering the defense that that so many users seem to be using, that it's a private joke which they are apparently supporting by pointing out the public videos. Your argument seems to assume that all the audience that's in the know, unlike those "screaming haters," seems to have come to an overall consensus that there was indeed a private joke when in fact, as this thread's length indicates, there appears to be dissent even among those who had originally seen the videos. Furthermore, I doubt many of us have deep insight into the nature of Mao and Gracie's relationship and can scarcely verify the existence of this alleged good-will teasing, as you and others seem to suggest. This ambiguity, coupled with the video's broad audience and Twitter's public nature is why Gracie has come under criticism.

Also, if you want to make a valid argument, might I suggest you refrain from using ad hominem attacks to divert attention away from the issue being discussed? This might shock your refined sensibilities, but an argument based on condescending on all those that disagree with you is scarcely persuasive.
 

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
James R. why do you say that the Shibutanis are making fun of Mao?, it is ridiculous, if you want to defend to GG it is ok, but smear the Shibs is too much :mad:, it is not their fault that GG made a mistake
 

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
...
Isn't it racist for the Shibutanis to be making fun of asian English speakers, regardless of their own race? ...

Please stop immediately with your revisionist history -- which is just absurd.

The videos produced by the Shibutanis did NOT make fun of Mao Asada's accent. No way, no how. Not for one second, not for one frame.

The entire premise of your most recent post is absolutely without basis. (And none of your posts have accurately represented the entire context of Gold's original tweet, which had two deliberate misspellings of English words.)

... You can bully, gang up, and scream all you want. Screaming in unison does not constitute a rational argument. Majority doesn't dictate logic.

You are the ones who are prejudiced. You are the ones screaming hate at another. Not Gracie.

JamesR, your posts are among the few in this thread that I would liken to "bullying" or "screaming." Most of us are calmly expressing our opinions. They are strong opinions, in some cases, but calmly expressed.
 

James R

Match Penalty
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
It's interesting to me to read that James R (obviously a mega fan of GG) is accusing posters of "screaming hate" towards Gracie. What a vitriolic reaction to simple posts on a figure skating forum. This past summer, while watching that online interview of Ashley Wagner by Jennifer and Dave, (in which she described some of the incredibly OTT nasty emails she received following Nationals '13), I wondered who the heck would be so outraged that AW beat out GG for the national championship that (s)he would want to generate such emotionally charged (hmmm...dare I say "screaming hate") emails.

I would NEVER post negative things to a figure skater -- unlike the gaggle of Gracie haters on this forum, who undoubtedly have been waiting for the chance to pounce on her (likely why this thread is 20 pages.) I'm secretly sending nasty emails to skaters? What outrageous slander.

My defense of Gracie in this thread is based securely in both logic and ethics, and would be the same regardless of who I was defending.

First off, do you know the definition of racism and the difference between discrimination and racism? Racism refers to the institutions and ideologies that implement and perpetuate prejudiced thinking. Thus, a racist would be someone who with discriminatory thoughts/actions who is also in a position of power. Discrimination on the other hand can be practiced by anyone, regardless of their status. Thus, actually no it wasn't considering the Shibutanis are 1). Asian-Americans and 2). of the same ethnicity as Mao.

Blatant hypocrisy of your position aside, you've painted yourself very nicely into a corner.

One of the following must be true:

1.) Context matters
2.) Context does not matter

If context matters, then Gracie's only mistake was not understanding how many people wouldn't get the joke. Anyone reading this thread now knows the context, and has little to no basis for condemning Gracie.

If context does not matter, then the video itself is racist and should fall under even more criticism than anyone simply quoting it.

Lastly, if you apply different rules for Gracie than for the Shibutanis, then you admit openly supporting double standards based on race.

James R. why do you say that the Shibutanis are making fun of Mao?, it is ridiculous, if you want to defend to GG it is ok, but smear the Shibs is too much :mad:, it is not their fault that GG made a mistake

...I don't. It was a comparison to point out the absurdity of other people's arguments (giving the Shibutanis a pass because of RACE, while grilling Gracie.) I'd bet everyone involved in that video is not only NOT racist, but actually has a sense of humor. Unlike the people arguing with me here. Unlike the people assuming figure skaters are racists when they clearly are not.

Please stop immediately with your revisionist history -- which is just absurd.

The videos produced by the Shibutanis did NOT make fun of Mao Asada's accent. No way, no how. Not for one second, not for one frame.

Either you're openly denying reality, or splitting hairs. I'll assume the latter for now. Mao Asada, in the Shibutanis' video, was making fun of asians who speak English with an accent. She was participating in something called a "joke." Maybe you should research them. Whether that racially-oriented joke applies to Mao herself is beside the point. They and she are given a pass because they are asian, while Gracie is raked over the coals. That is a double-standard.

Yet another day on planet Earth where I must sit in awe of just how many people are incapable of comprehending something so very basic.

Nevertheless, it's always an opportunity to learn something. The ludicrous arguments and double-standards slamming Gracie in this thread have led me to believe that not only is Gracie being punished for her race (by some even openly proud of their double-standards) but that there is actually an active negative bias against white female American figure skaters, reaching all the way back to at least Tara Lipinski. When I think back on all the years of posts on many different forums, summing all of the praise and criticisms put forth toward different figure skaters, there is definitely much more hate thrown at white female American figure skaters. Interesting.
 

pec0

Match Penalty
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
This is ridiculous. If it was only Asada Mao who cannot pronounce R correctly, maybe she might feel insulted, NOTE THAT IM JUST JOKING HERE, but in fact many (like over 90% of) Japanese who study English at school but remain in homeisland never master R sound. That's fact and we know that. Asada Mao or any Japanese never care. I feel sorry for Gold for this crazy response on internet. It is clear that Gold had no bad intention. She had no need to apologize. Accusation of racism is just stupid.
 

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
I understand the problem is L no R :scratch:, I heard a lot of times japanese presenters to say "Shizuka ARakawa" and I hear perfectly the R
 

pec0

Match Penalty
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
The presenter will be pleased if you tell him/her that. By the way Japanese language does not have R sound spoken by English people. There is only L sound. Arakawa is spelled using R because of romaji system to write Japanese in Alphabet instead of Japanese characters. We pronounce aLAkawa. I hope this thread stop now.
 

qwertyskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Please stop immediately with your revisionist history -- which is just absurd.

The videos produced by the Shibutanis did NOT make fun of Mao Asada's accent. No way, no how. Not for one second, not for one frame.

The entire premise of your most recent post is absolutely without basis. (And none of your posts have accurately represented the entire context of Gold's original tweet, which had two deliberate misspellings of English words.)



JamesR, your posts are among the few in this thread that I would liken to "bullying" or "screaming." Most of us are calmly expressing our opinions. They are strong opinions, in some cases, but calmly expressed.

Word. Contrary to what James R alleged, there is nothing wrong with the original video because that video wasn't about making fun of poor Asian English speech patterns. It was just a caper about skaters and sandwiches. *IF* GG had simply tweeted "Only one more sandwich!", as she hurriedly did, there would be no negative reaction from anyone, especially not from Asians. However, she made a PUBLIC joke about Mao's inability to pronounce "L" in the English language. This wasn't what the video was about. It is this Asian English speech pattern joke (stating it as a fact is perfectly acceptable) that is a problem. Some feel that Asian accent jokes are fine, many feel they're not. Some are fine with tired, albeit friendly, private ribbing/teasing but tried to explain why it would be publicly upsetting to Asians, i.e. provide a context for the larger problem of mainstream exclusion and how Asian speech jokes continue to buttress this exclusion and otherness. It doesn't hurt GG to develop a better sensibility towards other races/ethnic groups from her current public callousness, whether malice was intended. This is the crux of the matter.
 

hurrah

Medalist
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
And the realization that she had put up a picture of herself squinting with the explanation 'Asian face' on social media about a year ago indicated that there is an established pattern in her behavior to ridicule 'Asian' faces, accents, etc. as funny and laughable has made the perception of the problem worse.

All of this does not, in my opinion, indicate that she is a racist. She's just a young girl who didn't get the kind of upbringing to understand that making public statements that belittle other ethnic/national/race groups will cause affront, generally speaking, and that some may even make judgements about her personality.

I also personally see her as the more ignorant and illiterate of her age group (which could change in the future), because as some posters have indicated, not all young people are like her. In fact, there are many who are not like her.
 

qwertyskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
And the realization that she had put up a picture of herself squinting with the explanation 'Asian face' on Facebook about a year ago indicated that there is an established pattern in her behavior to ridicule 'Asian' faces, accents, etc. as funny and laughable has made the perception of the problem worse.

All of this does not, in my opinion, indicate that she is a racist. She's just a young girl who didn't get the kind of upbringing to understand that making public statements that belittle other ethnic/national/race groups will cause affront, generally speaking, and that some may even make judgements about her personality.

I personally see her as the more ignorant and illiterate of her age group (which could change in the future), as some posters have indicated, not all young people are like her. In fact, there are many who are not like her.

Yes, I felt that "Asian face!" joke was even worse. Didn't someone sit down with her and show her the red line? With so many Asian FS competitors and fans, that asinine attitude needs to change. I know we should separate the talent from the person - speaking for myself, I used to like her skating a lot but feel conflicted after this show of disrespect from her. It's a pity as FS is one of the most enjoyable sports because it is like a mini Olympics each GP with representation from many countries. I like how colorful it is.
 
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