Gracie Gold Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Tweet | Page 10 | Golden Skate

Gracie Gold Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Tweet

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ikemen

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Nov 12, 2013
As an Asian-American, I did find that tweet offensive. And not only was it offensive, but it wasn't even a clever joke, either. Making fun of Asian accents is so tired. Come on. Put some effort into it, dang!

It wouldn't surprise me if Japanese people in Japan do not find it as offensive, because, as the dominant group in their country, they do not have as much experience being victims of racism and are therefore probably not as sensitive to it as Asian diaspora (e.g. myself) would be.

Asian-Americans (or Asian immigrants in the US) and Asians living in Asia are different. You are right about that.

Mao is not an Asian-American and obviously a foreigner from Gracie's standpoint. English is just a foreign language for Mao that she does not need to speak daily. I don't think Gracie would have said something like this if Mao was someone living in the US.

To me, if people living in totally different parts of the globe make jokes about one another's differences in a light-hearted way, it is perfectly fine. But if someone make fun of another living in the same community or country because of his/her accent, it's a totally different issue.
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Wow....thirteen pages....Well, "Let he who be without sin, cast the first stone."
I think and hope Ms. Gold learned a valuable lesson...I know I have learned from stupid things I have done and said....
Whether the Mayor of Toronto or certain NFL players have learned from theirs is less certain.
 

aftertherain

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Wow....thirteen pages....Well, "Let he who be without sin, cast the first stone."
I think and hope Ms. Gold learned a valuable lesson...I know I have learned from stupid things I have done and said....
Whether the Mayor of Toronto or certain NFL players have learned from theirs is less certain.

Three pages of Gracie, eight pages of a pissing match using big words, two pages of marveling at how many pages this thread has gotten, to be exact.
 

AllYouDoIsTalk

Match Penalty
Joined
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Three pages of Gracie, eight pages of a pissing match using big words, two pages of marveling at how many pages this thread has gotten, to be exact.

I suspect it went from low tolerability to ascending tolerability as the thread progressed, and I reckon it will still go that way. What do you reckon?
 

mskater93

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2--Why were you looking at it?
3--Trust me as a former high school teacher, I can tell you that the ability to get A's and the ability to use common sense when opening your mouth or posting on social media are not always interrelated. Teenagers frequently act impulsively, both A students and D students, and do and say stupid things.
Sheesh! I glanced at it. It was out in the open put right next to my stuff on the boards along with a couple more because they had all gotten their grades that day and were comparing.

#3-that was my point - she's not necessarily stupid as implied by some people on this thread but rather wrote something thoughtless (which could happen at ANY age really, but is more likely by an impulsive teen with limited life experience).
 

prettykeys

Medalist
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Oct 19, 2009
Wow....thirteen pages....Well, "Let he who be without sin, cast the first stone."
I think and hope Ms. Gold learned a valuable lesson...I know I have learned from stupid things I have done and said....
Whether the Mayor of Toronto or certain NFL players have learned from theirs is less certain.
THIS sums up my attitude about this whole fiasco. I know I've said stupid/naïve things without meaning harm and offended people. :eek::

Having said that, while I am not offended by Gracie's words I do appreciate the posters who are sharing why they found it offensive or side-eye-y. Opening up to other people's non-malicious perspectives increases understanding and reinforces why we should always be mindful when saying things in social sites or general public. In other words: I may not be offended, and I am also not offended that other people took offense.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
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Being aware and diligent of your own douchery, as the American kids would say, somehow makes you more palatable to yourself, let alone others? Oh I get it, to sustain the afflicted bon homme life, lest, God forbid, others should find out an evil person you have the potential to be! Well, there was at least three times a day a character in authority comes into my conscience it relays to me the following "May I remind you that you are under oath," which was nice, because I often forget the emotions I'm supposed to be feeling and that extra help helps. And that was before I converted to Catholicism!

Love how your "Problem solved" attempts to cut off discourse though, cute.

"something inappropriate or potentially offensive..." That is a big gray area; in fact with no lucid boundaries and barriers. Not to get all legalese on you, but that is why I said obscurantism is dangerous and clarity is imperative. Before you start leveling transgressions on people, lucidity is necessary.

1) Gold was in internet video

2) Mao was in the same internet video

3) Mao made cute verbal expression in jokity joke internet video; it was cute and charming; fun was had by all (including Mao).

4) Fast forward, however many months: Gold referenced Mao’s cute verbal expression to a picture of her and Mao

5) All ******* Hell broke loose

6) Wormwood smiles!

7) Me and you going back and forth

8) Now Lucifer smiles

But I love how you can't take the possibility of an objective view on such matters, so therefore I have to be an uppity American college student, or like one of those stone-throwers to Gold, just looking to ruin someone's enjoyment for no other reason than schadenfreude. Purging the negative from your life! In late-era capitalism! No! I can't believe it! Preposterous! Welcome to America, the land of the empathetic! So schadenfreude to Gold, schadenfreude to me—hell, schaudenfreude to everyone!


:sarcasm: *slow blink* Uh huh. Okay, yeah, I stopped reading after "sustain the afflicted bon homme life..." Your pretentiousness is insufferable.

I'm done attempting to decipher your quasi-intellectual ramblings and tangents.

Welcome and have fun posting here at Golden Skate.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I was shocked to see how much time/space is spent on this thread. Gracie made a mistake; it could happen to anyone. There is no suggestion she is a hate crime criminal. Let's move on we have the Phillipines, hunger and world peace to solve.
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Sheesh! I glanced at it. It was out in the open put right next to my stuff on the boards along with a couple more because they had all gotten their grades that day and were comparing.

Wow, so they all put their report cards on the boards so everyone who goes to the rink can see them?
That is weird. I don't know any vapid girl who posts their grade in open forum like that.

Seriously, the more you talk about this girl, the crazier she is. That is one hot mess in the making. Gracie should be on TLC. Hilarity ensues!
Could give Honey Boo Boo a good run for the trashiest title. Well, Honey Boo Boo is likable.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
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Well I'm glad this spitstorm has blown over. Imagine if at Skate America Mao and Ashley filmed a commercial in Japanese. They got along well, and had some laughs. Mao goes home and takes a friendly jab at Ashley's bad Japanese. Would people be all over Mao for being 'racist' and start threatening her sponsors? No, at least I hope not. My French brings out laughter when I go there. Same with my Spanish. As long as it is not deliberately trying to be hurtful, why should anyone else care or invest so much offense and indignation?

As for dumping these ultra-sensitive twitterers, well, she wants to be available to her fans, but it's like Facebook. If someone doesn't 'get it' and starts accusing you with hurtful names, well, that's where the delete friend button comes into play. At the beginning of my FB history, I accepted everyone, and had people from all walks of life. I called my male good friend a "biatch" and this woman pounded me for being such a misogynist without even trying to figure out I was talking to another gay male friend. She got blocked instantly. Gracie doesn't need it either.

Oh well. Hopefully Gracie and her team will learn from this. Inside jokes should remain that, an inside joke. Because there are people just randomly sitting by their computers waiting to claim moral indignation and superiority, when it was JUST A FRIENDLY JOKE.
 

Sasha'sSpins

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Country
United-States
I was shocked to see how much time/space is spent on this thread. Gracie made a mistake; it could happen to anyone. There is no suggestion she is a hate crime criminal. Let's move on we have the Phillipines, hunger and world peace to solve.

Well, you took the time to post here too so thanks for extending this thread even further lol!

I was surprized myself though - I didn't think it would get this much of a response! I thought there would be a comment or two then it would die. Boy was I off!

:agree:

Just curious though, did Mao Asada post something or say something to indicate that she thought it was funny? I saw a lot of comments from fans but not Asada herself.

That's a good question. I've as yet to see anything attributed to Asada on this controversy. Hopefully she's blissfully unaware of it - but in this day and age of instant news I doubt it.

My own 2 cents...Asians who have been at the brunt of class acts the likes of "You speaky Ingrish?" or " I lub you long time!" might see red at this tweet. The common taunting of Asians does have a lot to do with the issue of language, eg. the offensive "ching chong chang", an obvious put-down and denigration of status. Others of different ethnicity would probably shrug off a mockery of say, their Italian or German accented English, however, a Russian might laugh at a mimicry of his heavily accented English but bristle at the stereotyping of alcoholism. Been lurking, but I think understanding how it might upset Asians but not appear offensive to other groups, regardless of GG's intentions, could shed some light as to how the controversy could snowball.

Hollywood, especially old Hollywood is infamous for this. I think due to the racist history in the States (where I'm from) in virtually all classes and mediums (especially on film) people here are understandably sensitive to such tweets as Gracie's (and I don't believe she was being malicious). I cringe whenever I watch some old movie with a so-called 'Chinese' or 'Japanese' Mickey Rooney with a ridiculous accent that I suppose was his take on 'Asian' accents. Personally, that's why I found Gold's tweet so offensive. I'd hate for my friends who happen to be of various Asian cultures to see someone apparently mocking Mao's Japanese accent. And it's weird because Mao pronounced that sentence perfectly fine, yet for some unknown reason Gracie posted it in that rather offensive way.

Hi, Mrs. P. (BTW, thx for your PM on another subject :) ... I owe you a reply, which I eventually will get around to. ;))

I was disagreeing with Doris' perspective (see way above) that the tweet was in effect a private conversation btwn just the two friends Gold and Asada.
I was not trying to discuss Gold's apologetic tweet and its reference to the the vid, which thousands of ShibSibs fans (including me) have enjoyed in the months since it was posted.

As for the video, I will note that I respectfully disagree with Doris on another point:

I would not say that Asada's accent was "highlighted" in the video.
IMHO, the purpose of the repetition of her "One more sandwich" line was to add a deliberately grandiose flourish to setting up the premise and humor of the desperate attempts by each skater to claim that last sandwich. The "inside joke" of the vid was the melodramatic struggling for the sandwich, and had nothing whatsoever to do with Asada's acc
ent.

Back to you, Mrs. P. I have a general question regarding the apparent dearth of RTs of Gold's original tweet:

I see that only one RT was tallied at the time of the screen shot. But it seems within the realm of possibility to me that additional retweeting did ensue before the original tweet was deleted.
My ultimate question: If the original tweet is deleted (as Gold's was), do all RTs then automatically (and retroactively) disappear from the timelines of others? Meaning that at this point, we would have no way of knowing the volume of RTs?
In other words: I am wondering whether RTs of a deleted tweet remain accessible for posterity. Or would individual RTs have been visible only if seen in real time before the deletion of the original tweet? If so, could that be the very reason why the other person used a screen shot on tumblr to immortalize the original tweet?
(I ask mostly because I always like to learn new ins and outs of Twitter. Am not obsessing over this issue as it relates to the Gold story.)​

Bottom line: definitely agree with your conclusion of "be careful what you post."

ITA. When Mao's funny comment about the sandwich was put on a loop it was to set up the joke - it wasn't to highlight her accent at all, which btw, does not impede her at all in properly pronouncing the 'l' sound. She said 'Only' just fine as far as I'm concerned. She didn't pronounce it as 'Onry' which is why I am confused as to why Gracie would tweet it that way. Oh well.

This outcry is so pointless and simple-minded.

We all have differences and they should be celebrated. Asada's pronunciation "onry one more sandwich" was being celebrated by Gracie, because it's cute.

Except that Mao did not pronounce 'only' that way. You can clearly hear the proper 'l' sound if you were listening. And I don't know how one 'celebrates' poor pronunciation (which Mao doesn't have) or how one can find it cute.

Yes, except for the fact that she pronounced "only" correctly in the video.

Thank you!! This is what I've been saying all along! Mao pronounced 'only' correctly from the get go - so why did Gracie choose to tweet that 'onry' bit? It's just rather bizaare. It was unnecessary and Gold caused herself a mini-controversy because of it.

laugh:

Since, there is so many negative Mao threads I just wanted to join the club and say Mao is to blame because she should have known better than to posed in the picture with Gracie. And how dare she mispronounce "One more Sandiwch" :no:;). Her Olympic chances are doom.

But Mao didn't mispronounce 'Only' or 'sandwich'. She said the words out just fine.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
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Country
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Except that Mao did not pronounce 'only' that way.

Except that she did in the practice for the video and was coached by her fellow skaters to say it better, so stop judging an inside joke.

And I don't know how one 'celebrates' poor pronunciation or how one can find it cute.

Have you ever been around kids? They pronounce things wrong all the time and it is often incredibly cute.

If you're having such a misunderstanding about this, then I wonder where your thoughts are on poverty, overpopulation, overconsumption, and income inequality in the World. That's scary to me.
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Except that she did in the practice for the video and was coached by her fellow skaters to say it better, so stop judging an inside joke.

All this talk about inside joke. Are you inside, how do you know it's inside? Mao can't barely speak English, suddenly they are sharing inside joke? Like they are best friendz. Like they are a couple of mall rats, talking about boys and sharing answers to physics homework?

Hello!
 

Poodlepal

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Kids today really have no idea of what would be considered politically incorrect or racist from a few years ago. Some of them are so "non-racist" that they do things that seem odd to older folks.

We had a girl who wanted to be Mel B. from the Spice Girls on "Dress like a celebrity day" at a high school I taught at. She was white, though, so she had to put on a lot of tanner. The grown-up teachers were appalled, but not the kids (even the black kids). It was like, duh, if you're white and you want to dress like a black celebrity, what else are you going to do?:laugh: They had no reference to cruel, racist, black-face movies or whatever.

Gracie probably thought that's what it sounded like when Mao mentioned the sandwich and spelled in phonetically. She probably doesn't know about racist, hurtful stereotypes from years ago. It was good she deleted the tweet, but I doubt she has any bad intent.
 

hurrah

Medalist
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Except that she did in the practice for the video and was coached by her fellow skaters to say it better, so stop judging an inside joke.

You mean this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zvhNjWF2DE

I don't see Mao's accent being corrected here in this clip, and in fact, there is a sound quite similar to the 'l' sound in the Japanese language, so Japanese language speakers would not have that much of a problem with the 'l' sound as much as they have with the 'r' sound.

What can happen sometimes when a Japanese person is trying to master the 'r' sound is that their 'l' pronunciation starts sounding weird, like people who practice the lutz suddenly start having problems with the flip which they used to be able to do competently.

But in any case, I think Mao's and 'l's and 'r's are sounding quite okay in the original clip and in the practice clip.

BTW, I kinda feel sorry for the Shibs. They have been so savvy in their engagement with social media and have been doing such a great job with it, and now, their work has been marred by Gracie's most unwitty use of it.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
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Country
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BTW, I kinda feel sorry for the Shibs. They have been so savvy in their engagement with social media and have been doing such a great job with it, and now, their work has been marred by Gracie's most unwitty use of it.

Marred? Gracie's "controversy" got their work thousands of extra views.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
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Country
United-States
Except that she did in the practice for the video and was coached by her fellow skaters to say it better, so stop judging an inside joke.

Have you ever been around kids? They pronounce things wrong all the time and it is often incredibly cute.

If you're having such a misunderstanding about this, then I wonder where your thoughts are on poverty, overpopulation, overconsumption, and income inequality in the World. That's scary to me.

Except that we weren't discussing the 'practice' where she still said it just fine, but rather the actual video - where again, she said it just fine.

Considering I've had 4 of them the answer to your first question is 'Yes' I've been around kids. And this incident has NO comparison to that whatsoever. This was a tweet making sport of a Japanese young woman's supposed accent in English. That was offensive in every sense of the word. Unreal that you would even compare that to something 'cute' a small child would say while learning to talk.
 
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