Yesterday Commencal 21 Team Manager Charlie Juliá shared a photo of Amaury Pierron with cornrows and the words "Next level n----tion" in his Instagram Stories, which Pierron subsequently shared in his own Instagram Stories with the caption "Rap carrer in the making” set to Bobnlarry's 'N---- N---- N----' song.
Today, both Pierron and Charlie Juliá have posted apologies in their stories.
About my last story:
I would like to sincerely and deeply apologize to all.
I reposted a picture, a song, and a term for which I don’t understand the true and painful meaning. If I could turn back time, I would change my actions.
At that moment, I was just happy to show my braids that a Senegalese friend made me at the beach, and I regret that I didn’t weigh up the impact of what I was doing.
I always want to treat everyone equally. A person’s appearance or background never changes how I act towards them. I try to do good every day.
But I messed up. It was a mindless moment with heavy implications.
I recognize that I have a lot to learn about the subject and history more generally.
I acknowledge that my position as a public figure comes with responsibility - especially in the messages and images I share with people who might look up to me.
I will take more care in the future.
Again, I’m deeply sorry if my actions offended you and for having been disrespectful to anyone.—Amaury Pierron
I’m sorry.
I want to apologize to all the people who felt offended by my story last night with my friend Amaury Pierron. I am showing something that neither I nor Amaury share and that unfortunately nowadays is very present in our society.
I didn’t know that this song and these words had so much evil in the. Believe me, if I did, both Amaury and I wouldn’t have played it.
As a child I suffered from racism because of my skin colour and my origins. I never thought that people could think that I am a way that is not the right way, that I don’t share and hate.
I always try to help people, to have a good relationship with everyone, no matter this skin colour, belief or wealth.
Simply, I am very sorry for using words that I didn’t know exactly what they mean. Unfortunately I do now.
I just loved Amaury’s braids and wanted to share it.
I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.—Commencal 21 Team Manager Charlie Juliá
This doesn't bother me a bit and changes nothing on how I view the guy. It's a song, it's sounds we make with our mouth. I don't think the guy is racist or stupid and wish people weren't made to plead apologies in an attempt to save face from something they didn't even intend in a negative or derogatory way.
@kleinblake: Nope, I read the whole thing and came to this conclusion as a mixed a american with a black father. I experienced all sorts of real racism growing up in Tennessee and this isn't it. I don't believe in bad words, I look for context.
Agree. I’m pretty sure rap is the most popular genre now and is laced with the word. Hence people are gonna say it. Right or wrong-offensive or not-hard to see the problem unless used in a demeaning way like any other word could be
@ryanthelyon: dismissing it as “just a song” is super dishonest when there’s a caption using the n word. If it was just a song then yeah it’s a different story, but its not
@ryanthelyon: Absolutely. People fired up about a word the guy doesn't probably even understand the historical meaning of and they themselves at the same time maybe gentrifying black neighbourhoods, profiting from historical enrichment due to slavery and living with hundreds of micro aggressions towards black people that goes unchecked everyday. Not accusing anyone, just giving an example of using the energy towards what the issues really are.
when you're in the public eye and you're an inspiration to people of all ages, this is unacceptable. he has 138,000 people that follow him on instagram, it's good that he apologized but just all around, horrible judgement on his and his manager's end
Having spent a lot of time in France (mainly Paris) the N word is everywhere. Its not censored on the radio, its featured heavily on grafitti and 'street art' and i can think of multiple occasions where I heard the term used in casual conversation amongst groups of people of all ethnicities on the metro, in restaurants, bars and in the street. Whilst this is obviously a really stupid thing to post on social media, its not controversial language in France.
@not-really: Micro aggressions don't exist, and the United States was made much poorer because of slavery. The only people that profited from slavery were the rich 1% of the country (with significant non-white overrepresentation, ironically), and blacks in Africa that sold other blacks into slavery.
Poorer whites and the middle class had to compete with slave labor (impossible), and much automation/mechanization was delayed.
@wburnes: They are wholly related. Where you choose to glean information is directly correlated to your understanding of subject matter. The US was LITERALLY founded on slave labor. And looking at your other comments, I would have to say: If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...
@scary1: It’s as if you don’t understand that the “1%” made all of the other rules in this country in order to stay on top. Divide by race as to avoid the class war they just escaped, and boom: America. You think your fake statistics prove something that they really do not.
@Brentainbiker: Oh just f**k off with you’re virtuous opinion. You’re world of considering every conceivable person who could be offended is sterilizing society.
@scary1: He did claim that most slaves were traded through jewish people, which is patently false. Seems like a good reason to get banned to me.
A few Jewish people participated in African slave trade to the Americas, but something like a few dozen and they made up a tiny portion of those participating in slave trade.
If you want to sling wild conspiracy theories, this isn't the place for it.
@insertfunusername: Jews, Arabs,Africans, Vikings , Indians , Spanish they all had vibrant slave trades. Every culture on earth had slaves at one time or the other. There’s a giant slave trade right now
@scvkurt03: you obviously have no understanding of history, American history, the evolution of this country or any other and what makes this place what it is , warts and all .
@scary1: yes many cultures have things that are totally unacceptable today. However that is very different than trying to blame Jewish people for the African slave trade to the Americas, which barely had any level of participation by Jewish people.
@scvkurt03: The point i would attempt to make is, It just seems like a bad idea. The word is full of hate, and has a long history of suffering attached to it. I don’t use it and i don’t support people who do. I support your argument and I’ll let whoever be whoever, however they want. My position will remain the same.
@scary1: Fully agree with your “warts” comment. What you’d do well to accept is that the people who designed this system were racist whites, which created “warts” for non-whites, most specifically natives and black slaves. It’s fairly simple.
@scvkurt03: you are one real stupid mother f*cker aren’t you? You don’t even know the history of rock music,- blues- jazz-gospel- slave songs. The amount of arrogance and ignorance on hear is utterly staggering. You should probably stop talking.
@dynamatt: I agree with your sentiment and think the world would be better off without that word. There are a lot of black people who agree, but the change has gotta come from within the community.
Do some research on the history of the American economy and the origins of real estate. The american economy was absolutely founded on the slave trade, and the original land deals and mortgages hinged on how many slaves an owner had and could trade.
@insertfunusername: so, he disagreed based on his perception of history and you believe he is spreading conspiracy theories? That being said, nothing makes me want to be less a part of pinkbike than a bunch of defenders of poor little “POC” like me… that work so hard to prevent racists that they end up acting like ideological dictators that want anyone who disagrees banned. Way to make the comment section an echo chamber.
@scary1: must be surrounding your self with...? More old white guys by the context in which you are trying to sell your super biased opinions as facts.
@doublej-cville: It is a debunked conspiracy theory that Jewish people ran the slave trade in the Americas. So yes, he was spreading a conspiracy theory.
Perception of history is a different thing, most history is written from the point of view of the winners and therefore written from the winners perspective. Choosing to learn history from known peddlers of false narratives and conspiracy theorists, is not a matter of perception.
I'm not trying to defend anyone at all, just trying to counter known false information.
@insertfunusername: that’s fine, I just don’t think you should be calling for banning people for disagreeing. You call it a conspiracy theory, but I’ve never heard it. So maybe that person doesn’t think it’s a conspiracy theory, they just think they are right. Just disagree, don’t silence.
@doublej-cville: That is the trouble with all platforms that have users contributing through comment sections. If people are able to keep vocalizing falsehoods and lies then those can become the truth for some people. I'm sure a person could link several articles that claim exactly what he said as the truth, then a person could speak down a terrible rabbit hole of fake information.
@scvkurt03: I still think they should be allowed to voice their wrong opinion or belief. Calling it harmful feels like hyperbole to me. I respect your opinion, I just don’t think we see eye to eye on this. I genuinely hate that I got sucked into commenting here. Thanks for keeping it civil(not sarcasm). No worries.
@doublej-cville: There are places on the internet where it is okay to try and promote false information of this type. This just isn't one of those places.
It is though harmful to try and claim Jewish people were in control of slave trade to the Americas, or that indigenous people were better off for being colonized. This is a type of thinking that needs to be called out when seen.
@insertfunusername: I agree that happens, I just don’t think you or I are the ones to decide what others read( unless it is actually racist or attacking someone). No worries though. Pinkbike(Outside?) are their own company and can do what they like with this stuff. Thanks for the civil conversation/disagreement.
@insertfunusername: for sure, definitely rare. All that said above, I am also appalled by the things @wburnes has written. Being in the military for 20 years just gave me an exceptionally high tolerance for ignorance and stupidity.
This kind of buffoonery would have been sort of funny about 15 years ago before all the hothouse flowers of the world got Instagram accounts. There's a lot of power in telling the woke folk to F straight off once in a while.
@jclnv: how about "Oh just f**k off with **your** terrible grammar. **Your** world of considering every conceivable person who could be offended is ...." f sakes dude! I'm pointing out these two are fools regardless. Surprised you write this kind of thing from Cumberland. I'm sure everyone at UROC is a big fan of yours.
@wburnes: @wburnes: idk why this is downvoted. Could be slightly better worded but it’s not wrong. The south was stupid rich by the means of a few plantation owners and an incredibly large amount of poor white people did exist. There were also non-white slavers some of which depending on how you qualify it were the richest ethnic group in the world for a short stint. I also don’t think anyone from Spain should be pointing fingers about slavery.
I am going to put the internet down right now for the day, because you made my day and I don't want some f*cktard to come along and screech about oppression and whiteness, and have my mood go to shit. Have a good day, sir!
@thustlewhumber: Agree completely. Dr Dre 2001 is one of the best albums ever made, but it’s also one of the most offensive. If people listen to this over and over so they end up knowing the lyriks (see what I did there) then it is going to sanitise how offensive it is in their mind.
@Brentainbiker: Yes, it’s terrible when people don’t agree with your world view that demands everyone think and act in the same sanitized, calculated, manner. I’’m surprised ‘that’ (emphasis on your lack of gramma) a human would write this “thing” (?) from Earth. I’m sure every comedian, artist, political thinker etc ‘are’ big fans of yours.
Seemed like a heartfelt apology. You can feel sorry about offending someone even if it wasn’t your intention. I doubt anyone forced him to do so. Amaury seems about as genuine and good natured as they come.
@not-really: they 'probably don't know the meaning' of the word? Oh grow up. They know full well the meaning of the word. If you are alive, have mobile or internet access or a TV or radio then you 100% do know the meaning of the word. Especially when you're a well travelled person.
Stop defending it as if they are ignorant to the reality because honestly, you and anyone else defending it like that is utterly stupid and absolutely in the wrong.
@kleinblake: So it's bad if it's written down but not if it's said orally either in person or a recording. Got it. Making sure I keep up with the ever changing rules of the thought police. It's hard sometimes. Thanks for keeping us informed!
@crysvb: Pretty sure cardi b has way more followers and is clearly a worse influence on kids than amaury but nobody cares about that. He didn't write the apology and probably doesn't care (nor should he), it was forced. Fine with my kids following AP, hope he comes back strong and keeps winning. Shouldn't have caved to the thought police and apologized though. Apologizing to the left never works
@Duvaldevil: your logic is so flawed. amaury isn't a rapper. amaury is white, he's a professional mountain biker. the use of the N word is unacceptable, it's offensive and it's racist. that's it. he knew better, he f*cked up.
@ryanthelyon: When I was a young teen, me and some friends would skate near the bricks in rough neighborhood in New York. If you know the bricks are you know they aren't nice wealthy neighborhoods. We became friends with some other kids and that word was used a ton. Eventually us white kids would say with no threat. We created a culture where that word did mean anything at all. Society needs to stop going of its way to complain. It's that exact thing that inflates the negative aspect of anything that keeps it inflated. Dilute the negativity and watch it fade away!!!!
@crysvb: I don't think he did know better. He'd a kid who hears the word every 12 seconds in the music he's into. I'm certain he has little if any awareness of the connotations it has coming from the mouth of a white person and that he's never been schooled on the topic. He probably thinks it's just something you can call your buddies (which is often how it's used in hiphop). It's a PR f*ck up, but not the f*ck up people are blowing it up as. A country's language and culture doesn't necessarily permeate entire populations of other countries. America is a cartoon to many people here.
@crysvb: I'll turn it around. You really believe he set out to offend and express racist feelings? Normalising the n word in American popular culture is going to throw up these kinds of issues in non-English speaking parts of the world. Everything American is dubbed in France FFS, very few people have the inclination or are able to look beyond the surface of the foreign cultural content they consume. It's probably the only word he recognises in the music he hears! This kind of shit is almost inevitable. Many in this comment section give a level-headed analysis of how he ended up in this predicament. It's ignorance of North American history and culture, nothing more.
@mookie83: When black MCs throw the word around it has all sorts of meanings and connotations, and usually they are not negative. I think if AP had read and studied the English-language version of To Kill a Mocking Bird, his understanding may be a little different.
@mookie83: i genuinely thought that the n-word in english was very less insultant than the n-word in french because i hear it all the time in rap, movies and other. It is said, to my little understanding, sometimes quite proudly. In contrary never heard it in that way in french. In fact i almost wrote it competely in the first sentense but would never do that in french.
@BenPea: thanks for being a voice of reason. It's fair to point out that what he said was not acceptable, but to assume that he did it deliberately or knowingly in order to denigrate, offend or upset anybody because he's actually a racist is unrealistic given his upbringing and the language barrier.
Furthermore, he has actually acknowledged his mistake and apologized, and if people are going to refuse to accept an apology and continue complaining afterwards then they're simply unreasonable people. I understand that people want to campaign against bigotry, but wanting to crucify people even after they've admitted to their error, apologized and made it clear that it won't happen again... well what else were you hoping they'd do? Is it because using a particular word is such a cardinal sin that it can never be forgiven? Or is it more about people being annoyed that they can't continue to hold the moral high ground if they accept an apology?
@crysvb: Bad move, and apology 100% necessary. But, is ignorance bad judgement? Or is ignorance just ignorance. I am not sure where in Canada you are from, but I have traveled a lot within our country and the culture can vary a lot. I have definitely embarrassed myself and apologized due to cultural ignorance. If you don't know, you don't know.
@wburnes: examples of how the US was built on slave labor (as many empires of the past are built that way): the cotton industry, building of the transcontinental rail road, the prison industrial complex. Need more examples?
I saw him wasted at worlds and he seem kinda like a drunk frat boy, he was impersonating an loudly impersonating an “American,” while in snow shoe West Virginia. Seemed pretty lame and out of touch
@wburnes: you are clearly the Pinkbike village idiot. Maybe this was clear to others before now, but it is immediately apparent to me from just one post
@jsobrie: stop trying to ban people just bc they say stuff you don't like. grow up. this isn't twitter and you aren't more entitled to voice your opinion than anyone else. Deal with it.
@scvkurt03: that's fine just don't tell me meat is murder in between bites of your big mac. consistency shouldn't be a race specific quality. if you don't like hearing a word, stop using it. simple. I can't even think of another ethnicity that calls each other by the word they claim to be the most offensive....
@TotalAmateur: I am Irish. we call each other Mick between eachother in jest, but if someone else does, it's pub fight time! anyways, obviously nowhere near the amount of offensiveness, for obvious reasons, but it does happen.
@conoat: ya and that is not nearly as popularized, if Irish hip hop was universally liked and listened to and was influencing cultures around the globe, then maybe it'd be comparable. but to my point, most Irish people won't respond to "mick" the same way a black person will respond to 'n*gger'.
@SterlingArcher: lol ok now I'm convinced you are just wasted and having a totally different discussion. I have no clue who you are talking to or what about XD
@SterlingArcher: lol about what?! you literally said "sure you can" and I have no idea what you are referring to! I'm not trying to be a dick I genuinely don't know what any of your responses are referring to.
@TotalAmateur: lol ok now you’re the one who’s wasted lol wow play dumb lol derpderp my eyes are having trouble rolling further than I want them to lol
@SterlingArcher: ummm ok? You could have just clarified your point? "you just refuse to acknowledge it in the context of this conversation because you want look right." I'll make it easier for you. Acknowledge what? what do you want me to acknowledge? name another ethnicity that uses a racial term as much as black people do, while insisting nobody else does? or you can just post 'lol rofl lmfao i'm loving this' bullshit like you have been. big beta vibes homie....
@TotalAmateur: the fact you can't type one word and you can the other says it all. I honestly think the offense for the the latter, if used by a non-black in any context whatsoever, is largely driven by media and a culture of offense. If a white person that lives in a predominently black culture can't use it the same as a black in the same culture, than that culture is oppressive and racist.
@conoat: I know right? you can type all manner of racial slurs but they'll censor that one lol....but my main gripe is consistency, if you don't want a certain behavior exhibited in society then you shouldn't be doing said behavior......pretty elementary
@TotalAmateur: the word is fully weaponized. it can be 10/10 offensive when you need it to be, or 100% friendly when you need it to be. Anything in between as well.
I agree with you. we either destigmatise it entirely, eliminate it's use entirely, or....status quo until the race wars start in 4.....3....2....
@conoat: LOL! ya that sounds about right. like I said, reiterating the creators of south park, it's either all ok or none of it is. the new left is the epitome of trying to 'have your cake and eat it too'.
@pssrrgg: was brief but in an insta story made some crack about someones bike being a f*g or the owner being one. he's removed Monster and 5.10 from his profile or did.
@TotalAmateur: Username checks the f out on this one. Keep comparing cultures as if “culture” is simply the one you’re a member of and you’ll continue to be confounded by their differences. Food, music, language/vernacular - all things among many others that it takes far more effort than you’re willing to give in order to understand. You can’t just judge a single word from black culture from your seat at… whatever you are.
@scvkurt03: idk what kind of false ideology you're trying to create to fight, but I can assure you it doesn't have anything to do with me. I honestly have no idea what you're trying to say, other than you're trying to somehow call me ignorant? how am I judging a word exactly?
@scvkurt03: or you just can't even support yours? How am I judging a word? All I said that was that if you don't want to see a particular behavior exhibited in society, you shouldn't emulate it. is that really that hard of a concept for you to understand? Or are you just that unhappy with your own being you have to look for little instances to gleam some sense of moral superiority by talking down to 'racists'? like damn dude if you're so smart it should be easy for you to highlight your argument instead of just taking your ownnut square in your face and acting like you just got laid lol.
@scvkurt03: " Keep comparing cultures as if “culture” is simply the one you’re a member of and you’ll continue to be confounded by their differences" my family is literally a mix of 6 distinct cultures and my girlfriend's whole family is mixed race. you need to stop trying to make personal attacks and find out what's really important in your life, and how to communicate those values. bc this aint it chief, you looking weak af mentally and spiritually with this shit.
@TotalAmateur: All that and you still don’t understand n* within black culture. I never said you were anything in particular, other than blinded by the over-emphasis on your own experiences and values. But keep on with the dollar store advice, it’s entertaining.
@scvkurt03: lol ok so how am I not understanding then? I'm sure you're the pinnacle of racial insight so please educate me sensei! and hey if you need to come up with elaborate rules about why some people get certain privileges that other people shouldn't get, based purely on their skin tone, then you do you. but don't act like you're not being racially biased again, for your little pea brain, all I'm saying is that if you don't want society to do 'insert behavior' then you should minimize how much you do 'insert behavior'. Hopefully one day CNN will do a cartoon special and you'll get it.
@scvkurt03: ah another white man from LA trying to tell the world it doesn't understand race. please tell me more middle aged white man, about how to be more woke XD
@scvkurt03: seriously though is it like a requirement that once you move to LA you just become a dense twat that thinks they know everything and can justify irrational behavior because 'hey my friends are black, so I get it more than you do'. Lol, you're a joke buddy.
@TotalAmateur: Chill with the ad hominems and try to stay on topic.
The word has more than one meaning. It means brother, homie, friend… it means fool, punk, mf-er. White people used the word as part of a dehumanizing campaign, but now it’s a black word. After hundreds of years of it being used as a pejorative, they have rightly seized ownership, and can use it however the hell they want. The community can also disagree within (they do). You and I can have an opinion about it, sure, but it doesn’t and shouldn’t factor into the conversation. It’s their word, and nobody can say shit about how to use it.
@scvkurt03: ok so you inherently believe that having a certain skin color gives you certain permissions that aren't granted to other skin colors..thanks for explaining
@scvkurt03: oh so if you're a part of a ethnicitiy that has been enslaved, then it's good? Sweet! practically my whole family has slave family roots so I'm good! Unless you think I can't unless I'm black, in which case you're defeating your own argument by reiterating mine this isn't really hard to understand, hopefully you'll see the loop soon enough so we don't have to keep going around, you'd think you're old enough but...
@TotalAmateur: Good lord, it's like you're *trying* to not understand. We're talking about a specific word to a specific culture with a specific history. Quit trying to take down arguments I'm not making.
@scvkurt03: lol dude I'm just ahead of your argument and you can't see it. Ok let me break it down this way, what skin color of person is allowed to use the 'n' word? Is it specific to one skin color? BC I have news, granting permissions to some people but not others just bc of their skin, is racist. And again, if they really hate hearing the word so much, why are they popularizing it? You don't see jews dressing up as Nazis and saluting each other while demanding nobody else does it. It's a metaphysical fact, one you are really struggling with, that if you want to see less of a certain behavior, then reducing the behavior is the only way it can be done. By your rationale, are you ok with black on black violence? Or just upset with white on black violence? if despicable behavior is acceptable as long as it's within a homogenized community, then you're obviously ok with gang violence right? I get what you're saying, there is history behind the word, history of the culture, etc. But it doesn't change the fact that demanding people not do something you do every day and insisting you are ALLOWED TO BECAUSE OF YOUR SKIN COLOR, is stupid and racist.
I think you're unintentionally ousting yourself as a racist lol. And before you accuse me of equating jews with black people, it was an analogy. Now no offense but if you can't come to terms with these facts, and that's what they are, then we needn't continue this discussion. just keep believing everything you're told and don't critically evaluate information.
@scvkurt03: so what, "specifically", makes it acceptable to use the word, aside from your skin color? if you can answer that then you might have a point, if you can't don't bother.
@scvkurt03: "Gotta love how ya just glossed over the whole “hundreds of years of slavery and racism” bit and just boiled it down to melanin." Ya because we don't have any slaves in America anymore so it's either you get to drop n bombs because you are a slave or you're black, which is it?
@TotalAmateur: I’m gonna answer one question in your second reply (of the last 3) because it’s the only one that’s pertinent to this discussion. The answer: their specific history with the word. If there were whites who enslaved whites and called them by that name too, using it for hundreds of years to dehumanize them, they’d own it too. But it didn’t go down like that, did it?
@insertfunusername: It's not though, there are even Jewish sources that confirm this. Though it doesn't matter in the grand scheme really, everyone had a part in it, the first legal slave owner was black, and quite a few white people owned slaves. Slavery sucks, but most people on this planet has owned slaves or been enslaved at some point in history, most have been on both sides of it. The whole racism debate in USA currently, is a distraction so won't go out and lynch the people making EVERYONE into slaves now, the 0,01% want people divided, that way the aren't at the pointy end of the pitchforks.
@Losvar: very broad statements, so hard to comment on most of what you are saying.
A Racism debate exists in almost every country. Here in the US there were so many racist policies and activities for hundreds of years that it was institutionalized. This lasted long after slavery was made illegal, for instance it was okay to discriminate based on race just over 50 years ago on housing and the practice continued long after it was made illegal in 1968. This massively changed the opportunities available for some and was a large driver behind the fact that the average black family was 1/10th the wealth of the average white family.
@scvkurt03: ok so it does come down to skin color? Because no black person alive today was a slave so it's not first hand history with the word. Do we get to behave differently in society based on how our ancestors were treated? Because I have a lot of genocide in my family history and I'm ready to not take responsibility for my actions too if we're all doing it. You're trying so hard to say the truth without actually saying it so you keep dressing it up like I'm ignoring history when I'm not. Bottom line: you can't use the N-word if you aren't black, and being black is the only requirement. Furthermore, black culture repeatedly telling people to not use the word while they continue to use it in every day speak, is counter productive. personally I don't care bc it's like someone punching themselves and complaining about being punched. People who don't accept it are just dumb.....
@insertfunusername: you're missing the forest for the trees. There are an endless ways of dividing ourselves and bickering over little differences and who has been marginalized more than others, but at the end of the day the white house keeps cozying up to private sector businesses, and using race to distract us while they bomb Syria and give defense contracts/positions to former Boeing executives, who just happen to make the drones used by Obummer in all of his air strikes on dangerous civilian weddings.
The only 'us vs them' mentality we should have shouldn't be on racial, ethnic, or sexual lines, it should be the people vs the corrupt gov officials and the businesses (apple, Nike) that are actively promoting slavery everyday. Side note, isn't it funny that even with Nike essentially being known for using child/slave labor and they're still the most sought after shoe? Really shows you the depth of our priorities.
@TotalAmateur: Do former Boeing employees get defense positions? Yes. Does Boeing make drones? Yes. Have we bombed Syria? Yes. Have bombs been used and killed people that they shouldn't? Yes
Is a 10x wealth difference(171k vs 17k) between white and black families a "little difference"? No. Do things like the 1921 Tulsa race massacre still matter today? Yes Does the fact that people if color were not allowed to live wherever they wanted to, by law, 53 years ago, still matter? Yes. Is there any debate over who has been marginalized more in the US? No. Does it even matter? Shouldn't we just not marginalize anyone and try to right the harm caused by previous marginalization?
I am definitely not saying that this is a "us vs them" thing at all, so why are you quoting that? It is exactly the opposite of that. You need to understand that tons of really terrible crap went on, that we need to hear people that are still being effected by those things that have happened in the past and are still happening today. Boeing, Nike, a government appointment, Syria, and weddings have nothing to do with that crap that happened, or how it effects people.
@insertfunusername: I'm not saying that any of those things had anything to do with historic racial inequality? Maybe I didn't make that clear. What I'm saying is that we have the most racial tension/outbreaks/riots during election cycles. Democrats are notorious for visibly exciting and encouraging racial tension/rioting (protesting if you believe robbing a store is some form of protest), and Republicans don't do a good enough job at integrating communities in the more urbanized areas. However, the biggest threat to the people at large is still the government promoting division amongst it's people. We have essentially monetized political influence, and turned politicians into celebrities, all while ignoring that the system of legislation and judicial enforcement are being corrupted from the top down. People THINK that shit happened 100 years ago to their ancestors affects them more than the shit happening today, which is pretty ridiculous when you think people are more upset about slavery that didn't affect them, than the slavery they are helping affect.
@TotalAmateur: Big companies mostly steer our policies and therefore our government. Public opinion has nearly no influence on policies, it is nearly completely dictated by the money and organization of the largest companies and industry groups. Many Republicans have taken a firm stand on making sure that it is harder to reduce big companies influence of companies on our government. Citizens United case is now 11 years ago and our political landscape has been changed quite a bit since then.
It is definitely to the biggest companies advantage to try and create division by pointing out what a person doesn't have and create a need to try and get it.
@TotalAmateur: You keep boiling it down to skin color, I keep boiling it down to a particular history, which is not limited to slavery. There are people alive today who went to the first schools to be integrated. There are laws and practices in this country enacted post-slavery that have continuing effects into the neighborhoods, schools, and police in those neighborhoods. Why are you obsessed with trying to get me to say that it's only about skin color, when I'm clearly stating that it's not the only factor. Why do you keep ignoring historical and ongoing disparities? The fact that you overcame shit your ancestors faced has nothing to do with this discussion. That's great, but it's an anecdote, and doesn't negate larger trends and data. This country defined black people by that word for hundreds of years and now it's theirs. I happen to agree with you that things would be better off without it entirely, even among the black community, but you in particular are proof that people who can be called a "n***er" can call the shots about who says "n**ga". You have zero understanding. How about this: go find 5 black people and tell them that they need to stop using that word in order for them to reasonably expect others to stop using the word. See how that works out for you. I'm done.
@insertfunusername: A brief comment regarding the wealth difference. Absolutely there is such. How big it really is and why are way more complicated questions. First thing to do is to compare people living in same area( south, west etc). Secondly one need to take in account that the average age of blacks is 27years vs whites 57years and so on.
@scvkurt03: I have absolutely told my black friends that they shouldn't use that word if they don't want to hear it and they all agree, lol. And you keep trying to make it about the 'history' of the people, but you're evading the point. how about this: IN A PUBLIC SETTING, HOW WOULD ONE DETERMINE WHO IS SOCIALLY ACCEPTED TO USE THE "N-WORD" AND WHO ISN'T, WITHOUT KNOWING THEIR FAMILY HISTORY?
you keep avoiding answering my question bc you know I'm right, the rule is if you're black it's fine if you're not its not. And I'm not saying black people shouldn't use the word, I don't care. I'm saying they shouldn't use it IF they don't want to hear it. Pretty ground breaking huh?
@Juuhan: it's virtually impossible to easily compare cities, regions, countries etc across socioeconomic metrics. Even when you start correcting for population size, you can't capture disparities in the average psychological make up due to proximity, for example, or several other factors that influence a Gini coefficient or life span, violence rate, etc.
@scvkurt03: "go find 5 black people and tell them that they need to stop using that word in order for them to reasonably expect others to stop using the word. See how that works out for you. I'm done."
That is the single most racist comment I have read on Pinkbike, ever. You are indirectly calling black people violent savages, while pretending you're not a racist, wow dude.
@Losvar: Haha... what? Where the hell are you getting that? That didn't even cross my mind. Is it the "see how that works out" bit? There are other ways to strongly disagree than to beat someone up. What you read into that says more about you than me.
@TotalAmateur: You're lying. There's no way you type out all that BS above without playing the "my black friends said I'm right" card earlier.
Your whole premise is flawed. Of course, the easiest way to identify who owns the word is by skin color, but only because it's pretty damn safe to assume that in America, the a black person is very a descendant of a slave and/or has faced racism as a result of their skin color. People don't call Latin Americans that word - it was reserved for black people. I can't believe I have to spell that out.
Skin color defines a particular historical experience for black people in this country. It's that simple.
@scvkurt03: That really sounded like the typical passive aggressive threat of violence that people like to spout, with some plausible deniability in case you get busted. What other way would anyone take that? It's the same as the typical "Do X and see what happens" people say before starting fights.
@Losvar: he's a typical racist white liberal who thinks they're a savior and needs to protect black people. Same type of person that thinks voter id laws are racist bc minorities somehow can't figure out computers or a city grid. their ignorance displays their true intentions/feelings.
@scvkurt03: "You're lying. There's no way you type out all that BS above without playing the "my black friends said I'm right" card earlier." just put your fingers in your ears and stomp your feet like every other middle aged white savior already. you can't fathom that you're wrong so you just insist I'm lying. rich.
@TotalAmateur: I've always maintained that your focus solely on skin color is stupid, and that it's about the events surrounding the use of the word. The doesn't have the same use in other parts of the world, and where it does it's borrowed from the US.
Even if you're not lying (which you most definitely are, and you know it), that I gave you a shitty anecdotal test doesn't change the fact that you and I are outsiders and our opinions don't mean shit.
@SeanDRC: It's likely that if they're here for a year or two, they'll be called that or treated like that at some point. I don't make the rules, and there's a grey area here but I'd imagine that black people who use the word wouldn't object.
@scvkurt03: lol dude you already admitted that the determining factor is their skin color. end of story. and the fact remains perpetuating behavior you don't want to see is idiotic. argue against those points all you want, I'm done. you were the one challenging me to say this to people of color, which I replied I did, so if anything you should be mad at your own stupid challenge that was actually pretty racist as the other PB user pointed out.
@scvkurt03: how do you not feel ridiculous yet for all of the mental contorting you're doing to try and define who can or can't use this word, without acknowledging the obvious?
@SeanDRC: how do you not get that my entire thesis is that my opinion on whether or not black people can/shouldn’t use it doesn’t matter? Black people should define who can and can’t use the word. It’s their word. The only thing I’m arguing is that anyone other than them trying to define whether or not they should be using it is out of line.
@TotalAmateur: God forbid a complicated word with a complicated history should have complex and conflicting usage in a diverse country. Sorry that seems like “mental contorting” to you. If you need a simple summary, see above. Acknowledging different experiences for different races in this country isn’t racist. Ignoring them isn’t enlightened. There’s a bigger picture you’re missing while you fixate skin color. Also done, for real this time!
@SeanDRC: I don’t have an opinion on that because I’m not in a position to have an opinion on it. That’s sort of the point. Sometimes it’s best to defer to the people who are primarily involved. If I wanted to form an opinion, I’d ask a bunch of black people, since again, it’s their word.
@scvkurt03: you're a clown bro. if I didn't want people to say the word 'bitch' why would I use the word? It's not f*cking hard, stop trying to be some white savior who feigns understanding something by being willfully ignorant and refusing to admit simple truths.
@TotalAmateur: That's the perfect way to express your misunderstanding of the difference between that word and almost any other insult. That logic does not apply. I'm not going to explain it to you again.
@scvkurt03: I don't need you to explain the history of slavery and oppression the black community has faced. you called me ignorant for stating that if you don't want behavior repeated in society you shouldn't emulate and perpetuate that behavior. if you want to think that's wrong then go ahead, you're free to be as stupid as you want.
@TotalAmateur: This is the crux of what sets the word apart from that logic (which does apply to pretty much every other insult): white people used the word for hundreds of years ONLY to dehumanize black people. Black people use it for their own purposes, which include both positive and negative connotations. There's almost full agreement just below that "only a ginger can call another ginger, ginger", only that this word is far more loaded coming from non-blacks than "ginger".
@scvkurt03: arguing on the internets is a lot like banging your head on a brick wall and expecting a different result with each impact. Which is also a way to define insanity. I tapped out once I recognized the point of diminishing gains in this comment thread. Respect for carrying on. Possible that some progress would be made with in person discussion, but who knows these days.
@scvkurt03: lol nobody is arguing that black people use it differently than white people, that's some goal post you erected so you could argue a point. if you could stick to my point that you responded to for even a second, you still have yet to demonstrate that perpetuating a behavior that you detest is conducive to eliminating said behavior. I'm not saying black people have no right to use the word, you're arguing with yourself on that one, all I"m saying is that the only qualification to using is being black, and to perpetuate a behavior to claim to want to see less of is counter productive. holy hell, is this getting through your head yet? Once more: I'M NOT NOR WAS I EVER ARGUING THAT USE OF THE WORD IS HOMOGENOUS ACROSS ETHNICITIES, NOR AM I ARGUING THAT THERE IS NO INHERENT HISTORY BEHIND THE WORD. and did you really get upset that I used the word bitch in an analogy because they 'didn't have the same history' then use ginger in yours? lol, once again, zero awareness of your own ironic idiocy.
@BenPea: never said they can't use the word, I'm saying perpetuating behavior you supposedly hate isn't an effective means of lessening it. full stop. I'm not ignoring the history, I'm not saying they have no reason or right to use the word, all I'm saying their strategy of getting the word out of common usage is shit. something Kurt can't comprehend to save his life.
@TotalAmateur: As far as I can tell the idea is primarily to remove it from usage among white people. It's a symbolic process I guess. Black people don't agree on whether it should be used at all, of course, but it's easier and more rational to focus on its use among white people, given the context in which the vast majority of white people have uttered it over the course of history and still today (check out the 1/6 hearing and the black cops' testimonies - no those cops are not communists). Pure logic doesn't necessarily apply to this whole debate. You could say its a tiny gesture towards reparation and that it costs nothing. Reparation will never happen, so the remaining options are going to be of this kind.
@BenPea: I just don't see how we're going to build any lasting equality based relationships between races if we're starting from a place of granting privilege to specific races over others. I get that it would be a nice gesture, but as far as building a future that isn't fixated on differences in skin color, I don't see instituting a 'you can't do X unless you're Y color/ethnicity' rule as a positive step. The issue has always been that repeating behavior creates a culture and homogenizes behavior, so if you want to get rid of something you don't continue using it and create reasons around it. plenty of people have their own reasons for bigotry, but unless we condemn it wholly we are allowing it to hang on. some people want to say that's ignorant to point out, but the same people are likely fundamentally irrational beings.
@BenPea: also let's be honest, there are far more than 1 black privilege. look at the recruiting qualifications for Asian american students vs African American students at universities for starters. You can find privilege in any demographic if you're honestly looking for it.
@TotalAmateur: These black privileges you allude to do not exist in a society in which equality has been established and probably do little to plug the gap that we all wish wasn't there. But there very existence as a crude tool to try and redress the balance is ckearly viewed as unfair by many. I personally think its churlish to nitpick and try to apply cold logic to a messy and irrational topic.
@BenPea: i feel like that was a fantastically overcomplicated way of just saying 'nuh-uh'. nobody said that there were any effective measures being taken to address reparations, nor that effective measures aren't needed. My only point has been that if you dislike a certain element of society, you should limit your engagement in said action/social circle. In my opinion paying the descendants of people who suffered travesties compensation for said travesties decades later is largely ineffective and actually rarely occurs if every. I think you have a bigger problem ahead of yourself once you try to build an equitable fair society that has foundations in granting privileges to one skin color/race over another.
Unless you or kurt are going to demonstrate how you can discourage and diminish unwanted behavior by maintaining/increasing participation of said behavior, then you guys aren't arguing anything that I care to discuss, you're just trying to argue against some right wing talking head that you think is arguing against black people having rights. which again, i'm not.
@TotalAmateur: well we are a fantastically overcomplicated species that simple answers can't help, despite being so appealing. Ultimately, they lead us down the wrong path, like all cheats/shortcuts. I do see where you're coming from, but I think you're oversimplifying.
@BenPea: I'm not saying occams razor is the best answer to every problem, but I think it's important to step back and be rational about issues when we dive so deep that we end up splitting hairs on who is more disenfranchised. What I'm proposing is just an axiom that isn't necessarily the end of the conversation, but I'd rather it be where we start from. Again I don't see how you can reasonably create an equitable society if you're foundation is built off of giving preferential treatment to one group over another bc of their skin. That's literally the problem we're working to undo. Instead of saying 'it's time for the pendulum to swing the other way', I think we need to say 'why the f*ck do we keep pushing this thing from one side all the way to the other?'
@TotalAmateur: oh man, the colour of the skin has so much tied into it, come on. It carries so much historical weight and continues to shape conscious and unconscious perceptions. Any change has to be bold.
@BenPea: nobody is arguing that? honestly you guys have such a perverted sense of the point I am trying to communicate it's just not worth the time to respond anymore. Racism is real, it's ugly, i'm not saying otherwise or even that what I'm saying will end racism. I don't think history is irrelevant and I understand the conversation isn't simple. I have yet to have anyone demonstrate that you can reduce the prevalence of racism or unwanted behavior, without curbing the engagement in said behavior. kurt and archer are just idiots who want to call other people racists so they can feel enlightened without educating themselves or rationalizing their beliefs, but you're actually making good points, but I'm just not arguing any of them with you so I'm not sure why you are bringing them up? I whole heartedly agree with about 98% of what you're saying. Thanks for making the effort to be respectable, that new york dork can learn a lot from you.
@TotalAmateur: It must be tough being an outcast your entire life, to then realize that even on the internet nobody respects your BS. Also your reading comprehension could use a lot of work. Oh and thanks for that essay - too predictable! But it’s missing about 2500 words which I’m sure are coming shortly LOL
@TotalAmateur: I've never been 98% at anything, so I can deal with that. I'm going to boil this down to "I don't want to tell black people they shouldn't say N, just because non-black people don't get what an important symbol it is seen to be when passing their lips." Pierron incidents are going to happen, purely due to a lack of information - and he really lacked information, as did his black buddy - and it should be an opportunity for discussion and thought, not knee jerk condemnation. Jesus I'm such a f*cking hippy.
@TotalAmateur: I never called you a racist. Uninformed, misinformed, ignorant... all of that, but never racist.
Your argument boils down to ignoring skin color to determine equal and fair rules of conduct, and that it will solve the ills that racism has brought upon our society. That's pretty not racist, as I understand it. But yeah, it ignores all context, which is pretty ignorant. Why is the onus on equally on black people to stop using a harmful word that white people coined, when white people won't stop using it? You're not wrong that it would probably help a little if black people stopped too (again, I agree with you), but it's a dumb thesis to endlessly argue when a certain sect of white people will never stop. Imagine being black, forbidden to use the word, while oppressors continue. They're fully within rights to own the names given to them and use them for their own purposes.
@BenPea: once again, totally agreed. not saying black people have no need to use it or grounds for using it, just mainly commenting on some very real facts regarding changing behavior and cultures. More than anytying I'm just surprised there are still people out there that don't see the potential back lash for this kind of behavior. The fact that people are still doing black face but also claiming to not be racist (Canada PM) just blows my mind. And keep on being a hippy dude, I'm all about opening a dialogue and discussing without resorting to calling people racists or bigots, just because I don't understand something. And once again thanks for not being a total jizz stain like archer who is still desperately seeking validation from me lol.
@TotalAmateur: you’re just upset someone gets to do something you don’t get to do LOL. For someone who writes so many words, you have zero relevant points, but by all means keep these essays coming, because they’re entertaining AF
@TotalAmateur: read your own posts. You’re the one who started with the ad hominem attacks and name calling in the first place. This is what you wanted. You did this. But we want more essays too!
@AntN: ah, a comedic treatment by Tim Minchin. Would have been more civil to attribute the quote upfront. Here's a short but serious recent take from the City Attorney for Compton, CA which still contains a joke--'Sir, are you a rapper or a comedian?' afro.com/open-letter-to-dave-chappelle-about-use-of-n-word Pinkbike is indirectly profiting from use of the [Redacted word] just as Chappelle and many others more directly have. The mind-boggling question 'as to why prominent Black comedians and rappers are so fascinated by its use' remains
@milesofpain: redheads have been persecuted for 2000 years. Like, look it up. Probably not an American thing though, so I guess it doesn't really matter.
@milesofpain: If you look at what else he's posted, you'd realize this is tongue in cheek. Suspended is one of the posters that's well aware of what's going on in the world around him.
@milesofpain: LOL It's brilliant because it explains in a single sentence who can use the N word without actually using the N word, silly. I do know white folks with hardcore ghetto passes that can say it with their black homies and tons of Latinos in my neighborhood use it, but they are far from being middle class honkie ass mountain bikers like us and AP.
I honestly hadn't heard the Ginger song before or realized the rearranged letters spelt Nurga when someone posted the sentence above.....sue me.
@milesofpain: The entire history of mankind is steeped in the most horrific brutality you can imagine, and it's still ongoing many places, but keep getting offended (on the behalf of others?)
Some might not like this but i don’t get the outrage.
So what, a (for me still fantastic) french guy who obviously likes hiphop or rap a lot, thus having heard the n-word a million times in songs is being stupid about his hair and tries to be funny - not knowing that the world has forgotten to take bad jokes that weren’t even remotely meant the way that it resonated with today’s overly “politically correct” mindset.
off camera we’re all the same and i’m 100% convinced that we all know that he’s a guy with no disrespect to anyone and like all of us - a stoked community member.
@whiteboarder: I would say that most know the meaning behind the word as it's been covered so many times in the media over the last year's.
For me personally. The use of a word in songs regardless of the colour of the skin of the artist is the same as I don't discriminate based on skin colour.
@whiteboarder: Yeah a few years ago it was Antoine Griezman, a soccer player, who disguised himself as a black man, so doing a blackface, not knowing that this was not politically correct. I wasn't aware of this either.
Also AFAIK Amaury is from rural central France, not the most up to date region^^. He could be blamed for his music tastes though :p
@whiteboarder: hopefully there will only be so long that we discriminate and hide behind "hip hop". Its a highly emotive word for the reasons we all know and shouldn't be used. Maybe I am a little PC, new age in my old age and think everyone should be equal, treated equal and held to the same standards and accountability.
To be more accurate, the equivalent to the N word would be negro in french, but it sounds quite different (it's not used much in french hip hop culture, and even if it is, the N word still doesn't bear the same meaning as in the US), and it's not really linked to its english equivalent. And while there surely is racism in France, it would be most primarily visible against north african/maghreb people (or french people of north african/maghreb origins). For instance the war of Algeria is still taboo in France, kinda like slavery is in the US.
The reason is because of social currency among Anglophones. Your social currency manifests itself if you're offended and/or speaking sanctimoniously. Any conflicting facts or views can f*ck off as we have been reduced to emotional reactionaries.
@betsie: It's not the same. But I can agree it's questionable and from an outside perspective very confusing. It also diminishes the right to complain when stuff like this comes up, I do not blame Amaury whatsoever and I really don't think he even needed to apologize because the context in which it was used was not racist. And apparently context is everything. Normally, you can't have it both ways, but in this situation... you can.
@Whiteboarder: Yeah, I think most get that he had no ill intent but talk about being naive! I'm more surprised that he didn't question if these posts might possibly ruin or stain his career. It's effing 2021 for shites sake! What a DUMB thing to post on so many levels. Embarrassing.
There is a line, a difference between posting something on Instagram or Twitter because you have a deep appreciation and love of a culture and and the music. Or posting something because it's entertaining to you and you think it'll get you likes from it. I'm having a hard time believing this dude posted that's because of his love of the music and culture.
That’s a fair point of view, but when you experience racism in various forms throughout your life - from people talking behind your back to being treated differently to outright blatant assault - outrage is a very normal response.
In this particular case I am outraged. Outraged that it happened in the first place in 2021. However I am not angry, especially since despite the naivety (benefit of the doubt) and at worse wilful ignorance initially displayed, it’s very clear that both have learned a very valuable lesson and that no true harm was intended.
How English is used in Germany is often shocking to native English speakers, I've had to 'educate' a few German friends about the N word. It is also true that offensive English language music is played at all times of the day on national radio stations so words you should never normally repeat on an English street are acceptable in Germany.
@owl-X: Yes it's the literal translation, its meaning is as bad and has led to the change of the name of some sweets ("tête de nègre" (n*gger head) turned to "tête de choco" (choco head), but it's not as "heavy" as in US culture. Also as has been said here and there in these comments, in France we may be exposed to the N word in hip hop culture a lot, but we may not be much exposed to the whole weight that comes with it in US culture, and consequently the link between the US N word and its french equivalent is not that clear, as eventually we end up being exposed to the US N word more than to its french translation.
This is absolutely pretty unbelievably dopey, dumb and tone deaf, especially in this day and age. It's a huge huge self own. I mean it's nuts. On Instagram!!?
Was the intent to be racist and massively offensive though? The faux pas is so insanely dumb, I can't believe there was any ill intent behind it. Just a total lack of awareness of _why_ it is so offensive.
@chuoi152: yeah I doubt that too, but I have a hard time thinking he posted it with the genuine intent of being a massive racist, rather than a totally clueless dumbass.
@CustardCountry: I think it depends on where you lived. I'm french actually, and while the meaning of the N word may be known in big cities, in the remote central region of Auvergnes where Amaury's from, maybe not as much, I mean he may not have ever been exposed to "street culture" and just have think he'd look gangsta by using a cuss word from hip hop songs (the picture makes me think instantly of Snoop Dog) without knowing the whole historic weight, and without knowing how only a ginger can talk about another ginger as a ginger (as said in another comment).
Also guys, as a general note, keep in mind there are cultural differencies between the US and France : We can show tits on TV.
@CustardCountry: and there I said "cuss word" but it's not even a cuss word, I just read an article on it and it's difficult to really grasp it's meaning, and how it's used amongst black people with a sort of sad irony ? And how the same word used by white people becomes so taboo. The article said the "equivalent" in France (in term of historical weight, not about describing black people in a bad way) would be a cuss word about jews.
@Will-narayan: it's not that hard to grasp. Black people have seized ownership of the word and redefined it's meaning. When said by a white person it is contextually completely different. See, for example, the fact that Eminem, or other white rappers, don't use the word. In Europe and beyond, if you don't know this then what rock have you been living under? Hiphop has an unbelievable influence on pop culture.
@AlanMck: take that one step further using the exact same ligic and it's not that hard to grasp that people from an entirely different culture can also take the same word and redefine its meaning.
@sonuvagun: you miss my point. It's not for other cultures to redefine is it?? That's like saying it's fine for white kids to address each other in this fashion since the word has been redefined, which is absolute bollocks.
@AlanMck: "White kids?" Do you mean "white kids" from Belorussia? Northern Spain? Croatia? Estonia? Do you mean ethnically French? Your point rests on the validity of cultural overlords dictating who's allowed to do what. It's wrong to do that.
I don't believe you. I have been all over the world with my MTB and most Mountain bikers are pretty cool people. We don't have many black mountain bikers in Europe - for some reason they choose to do other sports. "A lot of clowns" or do you mean a few people out of the millions world wide that are part of this fantastic community?
@Prof: hmm do 'they choose to do other sports' or does this fantastic community have questions to ask itself about it's elitist culture..? Back to the classroom for you Professor.
There are a lot of sick black riders coming up. Look at skateboarding these days to see the future 'extreme sports'. I'm super proud to call myself a (old, former) Skateboarder.
@tgent: No, he either wrote a badly thought out comment or he just wants to stir up crap. I know it happens because I have been a victim of it but most people are not like that. There will always be idiots but he/she is making a rather harsh judgement about somebody he/she doesn't even know. Another media trial that divides people!
@Prof: I've been riding for 42 years BMX and MTB....You're fool if you don't think they're are both steeped deep.. Into pretty much every shitty, misogynistic, bigoted, homophobic, racist, bro/frat, narcissistic, f*ck wad, stereotype ever. The PB comment sections are proof of this.
@nickkk: Oh dear. Its not up to the community to make decisions for these people and just because they have no interest in the sport it does not mean we are all racist. However, I would like to think we have a responsibility to make them feel welcome and part of the community f they choose to join us. Are you confusing mountain biking with Polo?? Most committed mountain bikers are quite poor, living in vans and working several jobs across Europe to pay for their sport. Maybe it's time you freed yourself from the University indoctrination.
@OlSkoolJake: you may be surprised at how racist, bigoted, homophobic, tribal, nationalistic, and intolerant most affiliated (sport, cultural, ethnic, national) groups are, by your standards.
@Prof: if you're white you have no idea. I'm indian and I've had people comment on it and I live in Canada. Bike shops always think I'm a noob when I go in or they don't even help me. On the other hand I've noticed if I'm there with a white friend they treat them completely different. Be honest, if you saw an Indian biker riding a specialized Enduro s works and a top spec commencal supreme, thoughts about my skin colour (whether positive or negative) would definitely come to mind wouldn't it? Almost every white person I ride with has mentioned something about me being brown. It's just normal for me.
@Prof: lol. I'm not sure what your incredible view that most 'committed' mountain bikers are living some kind of idyllic life winding though Europe in a van, has to do with the point I'm making about accessibility to all. You are absolutely having a laugh if you truly believe most mountain bikers are quite poor, and the sport isn't built in the present day on the profits from those with the most coin. It's not built on puncture repair kit sales ffs. Instead of saying " just because 'they' have no interest in the sport" maybe try considering the sport does have major accessibility issues.
@nickkk: this is such a horseshit view. Mountain biking is mainly a rural sport for obvious reasons. Most people who do it live in the countryside, small towns, near mountains or otherwise in cities but they are usually cities with great access to mountains. Only 2% of Black and Minority groups in Britain live in rural areas. Id say you'd be hard pressed to find may mountain bikers from central London of any colour.
What I don't get is how the same people will make arguments about how awful the elitism and supposed tribalism of these white gate keeping mountain bikers is will simultaneously defend black people using the N word or excluding people of other races. Tribalism is tribalism and I don't care if you are white or black it still applies. You can't defend one form of tribalism and then attack another. It's beyond hypocrisy.
Classis case of appropriation to get the "cool" or "street cred" factor it seems. And of course on a very majority lily white site, a lot of people don't see what the big deal is.
As far as Amaury and Commencal team manager, can't claim ignorance or naivety anymore. IIRC there have been protests in France about worker's rights, immigrant rights, and police brutality so I'm not buying their apology. More like they knew what they were doing at at least some level and just didn't care.
@humoroususername: you make a great point, well argued man. I will say however at no point am I defending black people using the N word or excluding anyone. I may have misunderstood the direction of that particular point you made, but that was not my argument. I still believe it's a sport that has issues with inclusivity. That's the nub of my argument- and pointing out that I felt Prof's view was ludicrous. Have a good day man.
@Prof: bruh. I'm poor and living in my van to ride my bike across Europe. Let me tell you, we are 100% the minority and I've also met an absolute abundance of close minded a*shole riders on my travels.
This just in: A website with mostly rich upper middle class white users, has users that defend rich upper middle class mans use of N word, wonders why they can't say word themselves!
The issue is, most everyone who is on the flip side of this ( like yourself) doesn't actually give a f*ck about racial issues.
Why?
Because they don't bother doing anything of value to support any of these causes IRL, the only energy they expend is to type comments and share posts in attempt to cancel someone, only to make themselves feel woke and important.
@TwoHumanPower: Why is it so hard to believe that the majority of people don’t put up with racist remarks for the fact that being racist is awful? That “cancel culture” excuse is just the right wing way of trying to demonize people that don’t put up with their slow to develop frontal lobes.
@TwoHumanPower: HAHAHA dude... you know nothing about me.
I literally work full time for one of the largest bicycle brands in the world working DAILY to make a difference in regards to racial issues SPECIFICALLY within the bike industry.
But keep telling yourself that you're in the right by going against those who stand up for others because you're 2 cool 2 b woke
@mm2344: Does your "..largest bicycle brands in the world..." know your are on one of the largest bike websites talking trash to a large portion of their potential customers and acting like smug child instead of taking the high road?
@bman33: Hey man, I don't really see any smugness. Someone called me out saying I don't do anything and hide behind a keyboard, I feel like it's important to show that my comments (and many others) are actually followed by action.
I don't speak for my employer in anyway, but feel completely supported by them when standing up for what's right
@dualsuspensiondave: It's not hard to believe at all, but this isn't political. It's just a word, it's not going to actually hurt anybody. We can agree it's in bad taste to use it without overreacting. Try it out.
@nojzilla: Lol, no. Just a human who realizes we all insult and harm each other regularly and if we never forgave anyone life would be miserable.
For those who downvoted my post, what do you want to do? Condemn him forever? Boot him from UCI racing? Or maybe you can find it in yourself to accept his apology, considering there isn't a specific person he's harmed and there was no ill-will intended? IMO if you can't forgive this you need therapy.
@davec113: yeah I dropped a sarcastic reply about catholics deathbed repenting an all they sins are forgiven. The actual point being that some things are just unforgivable. As a professional, sponsored athlete in todays social media world he should've known this was a fkng stupid thing to do. Especially in a new era of inclusion and attracting people who wouldn't usually consider a sport like MTB or cycling as being for them, stuff like this just re'enforces that stereotype. Doesn't really matter what we think.. but how this will effect Commencal, sales an marketing. As an ambassador for the brand he should've known this... Yes it's a crazy world where one person can say a word and another can't regardless of context. He should also know in todays social media world, this will follow him.. forever. A UCI fine? A slap on the wrist? I guess we'll just have to wait an see if he's still on a Commy next year.
Hence the Fuuuuuuck part of my original comment I would 100% like to think He's not racist an this was a all a bit of fun, lost in translation maybe, a continental sense of humour but still... even I f*cking face palmed hard for the numpty....
@nojzilla: I have long held the belief that you shouldn't apologise to people who demand an apology. They won't accept it when they get it and they aren't even offended in the first place. They usually just want to make you grovel and take the moral high ground. If you can't accept an apology no matter what then you are a bit of a c*nt. This thread is full of people who claim he did something terrible but who won't accept any apology he makes. I hate these people.
@humoroususername: if the apology is genuine........ Is he sorry for the people he upset or sorry for himself an what he could loose. If it was the first, he would've had enough common sense not to do it in the first place.
If Amaury and the @Commencal21 team want to make real amends, they should educate themselves on the issues of systemic racism and show that they are making steps to help correct it within themselves and their team. There is opportunity for them to help make positive change rather than just making a bs apology and trying to forget it happened. If you want people to believe and support you, you need to take real action. Action speaks louder than words on a temporary 24 hour instagram story.
Come on, if he was rascist he would have understood and anticipated what have folowed.
The guy just dont know, this can be seen as rascism but also the purest form of antirascism. Bet he is very mad at himself right now..
Do Americans seriously have their heads so far up their rss that they think the world runs on their culture? Like, thanks for inventing the mountain bike and all, but no, the rest of the world hasn't been following the minutiae of your political discourse.
PS. Racism is unequivocally bad (and just plain dumb).
Yeah I don't get how this is so newsworthy. Okay what Amaury did was not super nice but what the hell, he apologized, move on, there was no ill intend there.
Finally, a comment with some common sense! Stop Americanising the rest of the world! You keep repeating these stupid a$s words on songs, that play non stop on the radio and what not, and then, get all offended when someone, especially a non american, uses them just because... With all due respect, f$%# off
So legitimate question: if you went up to a black person in another part of the world, had ironic corn rows and repeatedly said the n-word, proclaimed yourself to be the n-word, etc. nothing would happen? There would be no consequences? Racism may be tolerated more or perceived differently in different parts of the world but it’s pretty ubiquitously understood. This incident isn’t exactly nuanced, nor should it take an “American perspective” to understand it’s wrong.
@bridgermurray: I can guarantee you no African person would give a shit if you had corn rows or not. Cultural appropriation is the dumbest concept in history. It's beyond moronic. The more you think about it the more idiotic it gets.
A lot of what Americans call racism the rest of the world, including people of all different races, thinks is complete nonsense and a sign of bullshit academics gone crazy with influence.
@humoroususername: I agree cultural appropriation is nonsense— you totally mischaracterized what I said. Maybe read what I said, and look at what the Commencal riders in question did, then get back to me. (hint: it’s not just getting cornrows)
'the rest of the world hasn't been following the minutiae of your political discourse'
He said the n-word for fuck sake, I have no knowledge of Jewish politics either, but know that joking about the holocaust is fucking stupid. No knowledge of minutiae needed just common fucking sense.
Think about the absolute irony of your comments. Some random French idiots from a niche sport half way around the world are being INFLUENCED by random rap songs from the deep south of the US that lyrically and culturally make absolutely no sense to them, and yet they STILL go far enough to cut their hair and post IG messages. I have no words. Its either willfull ignorance or pure stupidity. I'm leaning towards both. If you're from the US, you look at at the many non-US MTB and commonwealth athlete videos that use music like this, and just shake your head. How about you use your own culture's music and stop being culture vultures, especially with shit that you have absolutely zero clue about?
@humoroususername: calling someone the n word isn’t just woke-academia racism, it’s racism. This is pretty blatant stupid racism that would offend and draw ire anywhere in the world. Not influenced by academia, woke-politics, or Americanism. Get a clue
@AllMountin: Yeah I agree our government and society has told white people to hate black people since it was founded and we should stop, and maybe listen to them when they don't want white people doing something
@JoeHelvoigt: yo i'm German and i would never use that word anymore like older Germans still do. Young people in Europe that still use the nword and his equivalents probably are just very ignorant. To be honest most french riders with exceptions like Bruni speak a horrific English and maybe they're not the brightest when off the bike♂️
The historical relation of Europe with black slavery is a lot different than in the US and here that doesn't mean they should be fired for saying something stupid or being unaware of what that could potentially mean for others. I believe here we accept sincere apologies and we hope they learn from that as they have publicly done, and we don´t need to punish again somebody who as Charlie, has faced racism before. That will be plain dumb and won't help anyone.
I don't think the historical relation of Europe with black slavery was "a lot" different than the US, as France played a huge role in slavery back in the day b/w Africa and it's French colonies. Tag on Portugal, England and a lot of others. That being said, I think the "N" word was primarily a derogatory American thing(I could be wrong); so I could see how a young French mtn biker could be clueless to this. I don't think it excuses the words/post, but I don't think he deserves to be crushed either.
@kawika: it is culturally different because slavery happened mostly there and in a completely different way and also, a lot more recently. All these nations you mentioned deal today with the part they played in the slavery trade in different ways than the US, thus the difference the N word makes across the pond. And I think the bottom line here anyway is: they said something racist, but that doesn't make them racist, just ignorants. And ignorance I can take as long as you learn from it. Racism is a lot more than saying a wrong word.
@jsobrie: The French honkeys also embraced Black US singers and actors and artists decades before we crawled out from under our rocks in the USA.......
@doublej-cville: Of course not. We're both Honkies. I grew up in a society where Archie Bunker and George Jefferson got along way better than PB commenters.
@doublej-cville:I can see how that would be confusing, then. I respectfully retract my remarks.I don't think any terms used describe whites can be considered racist as we do not have those protections. I was trying to demonstrate that.
This IG story was absolutely shocking to see, and I'm glad there's some accountability here... However, their explanation is completely idiotic and disrespectful to the community. Charlie Juliá seriously expects people to just accept the statement that they had NO IDEA what the N-word means in 2021? Bro, come on...
You would be surprised by what young people from other countries (specially when English is not their first language) understand about that word.
They know is “bad” but they also hear it every day in songs, films, YouTube videos…etc. They admire and want to emulate a lot of these hip hop artists. You can see white teenagers in Europe that are into hip hop calling each other the n word. Is that stupid? Yeah it is. Are they racists?. Don’t necessarily think so.
Are they aware of what they are doing? Yeah somewhat, but nothing like an American kid who raised in the middle of that struggle. It is good to educate and raise awareness towards important important topics, but it’s also important to contextualize before passing judgement.
@jsobrie: The diversity of 'black people' in France is beyond comprehension for most people outside of europe. France has a long and complex history with migrants from Africa, former colonies and the Foreign Legion. This language is in common use in day to day life in France and simply doesnt carry the weight it does elsewhere. In fact i would say the level of integration achieved by various African cultures in France might even explain why these words are used so often with little consequence.
True. However the history racial oppression in France is different than in the US. I bet there are derogatory terms that someone can use in there towards black people, that carry a tremendous weight in terms of cultural nuances. I just don’t happen to know them. He used a term that is intrinsically linked to the black struggle in the US (in addition to all the other cultural ramifications, that we could spend a lifetime discussing).
I moved to the US from Europe, and was educated on topic upon arrival. I still see friends back home say things that would not be acceptable in the US, and I know for a fact that they are not trying to be malicious.
I am not trying to tell anyone how to feel about the incident, I am just trying to offer some cultural insight for fellow Americans that (understandably) may be shocked by it.
@psicoizaguirre: The way it's used in hip hop makes it's use contextually ok under some circumstances, and it's use is casual and even a term of endearment at times. IMO, this fact makes it difficult to be all that upset at others for it's use if they are attempting to use it in the same acceptable contexts. They just didn't get that one of the contexts is being black. From the outside I can see how it might be a little confusing and how different communities in the world may have different contexts. This isn't a black and white thing... Oh, damn it... pun not intended but I think it worked out?
In 2021, such lack of awareness is disappointing from a public figure in a sport with a strong presence (industry, participants, fans) in the USA. While Amaury Pierron should know about the meaning of such word to a worldwide audience, I am not surprised.
He is not the first athlete to say/do something offensive and stupid and not the last. Let's not forget that he is paid primarily to go as fast as he can from A to B down a mountain on a bike.
Expecting athletes to be role models in society means for the most part setting the bar very, very low.
Something else more folks in the USA need to better appreciate is that for the rest of the world (you know 7.3 Billion people) many words do not carry the same weight or level of offensiveness than in their country because these words do not have the same history elsewhere. As an example, in France (where I was born and spent 27 years) and I can tell you that people use the word c*nt like they use a period or a comma in a sentence. And, telling someone they are a c*nt is the most common insult, for which people are really unlikely to be offended. Maybe it is because France is less puritan than the USA and that for most of the society is not constructed on an "honour-based" system. To the contrary, you say c*nt to someone in one of the "proud southern states" in the USA, you are pretty likely in trouble, immediately.
Yes, let's just pretend that he is a dumb piece of shit who can ride bikes...and got to travel the world...and comes from a country where racism is a present topic...uff now even pretending to pretend is getting hard.
Everyone makes mistakes. It doesn't make you 100% a bad person if you do make a mistake. All you can do is apologise, and learn from it so you don't do it again in future. People need to realise this rather than villifying people for their mistakes. There was probably no malice meant.
@nojzilla: that's like, your opinion man, insulting people is never a solution, it may relieve your anger temporarily but who the f*ck cares about dumb people.
@daweil: who's angry, as a whitey honkey it's not my place to be angry. I'm just face palming hard for the guy, but for some dumb f*ck to not realise or see what Amaury's mistake was... In this day an age of online outrage.... when some body operates on that level there's no legitimate conversation to be had with that person other than a f*cking good insult. It's all they understand
If you ever want to test whether somethings worth posting on Instagram, I always suggest standing up and saying it on top of a table in a crowded bar. If you get your a** kicked (as anyone with ironic cornrows yelling I'm next level n*nation rightfully should) its probably not going to play well.
@chriskneeland: do you actually think people who don't agree with you on this believe in things or say things like "white power". Some of you lads are so far off the deep end that it's scary. The Kkk in America is at record low levels of membership. You have been wound up for the 4 years of Trumps presidency that white nationalists were somehow everywhere. It didn't seem to matter that there was no evidence of this, all that was needed were a few anecdotes and literally one march in Charlottesville which was roundly condemned and never repeated. I certainly don't remember hearing about another rally like that anywhere. So if its such a prevailing ideology where is the evidence for it? Where are all of these white power people that you believe exist? I've a secret for you, they are in your imagination. Ssssshhhh.
@humoroususername: Only, I come from a family full of Trump supporting white nationalists, so ya, I can say first hand, it's f*cking everywhere, and they're not trying to hide it anymore.
@chriskneeland: @huoroususername Not all beliefs about race are violent or hateful. Sometimes they just put black people at the but of a joke, constantly, and throughout society. While yeah, making a joke doesn't mean you're in the KKK, I couldn't imagine what it is like to get bullied by the society you live in. The bottom line is we all have a choice, we can pile a few more jokes on 300 years of indignity or we can joke about other stuff.
Hi, I can give an extra comment being a French guy here: 1. You all assume that the rest of the world is fully fluent in English and knows language specificities, while we are not 2. Sorry but "for me" = my culture, my French roots and obviously my big lack of American history knowledge (BTW, what about America knowledge about other countries' history....), I did not even know that the so-called "N-word" was not to be used. You can call it a lack of culture, but I bet many of us here do not know much about other culture after all.
Frankly, I could have done exactly the same story on Instagram (unfortunately my hair is short and ginger) without having the clue of how offensive this could be for other people... So, you can blame him, but I'd very much like to see the "average American guy" behavior is similar situations in other culture... Bye,
@togood2die: like Americans (soldiers) know how to behave in Afghanistan lol
For those who don't know, US military is famous for constantly distributing razors etc to rural bearded Afghan men, in a country where the length of the beard is considered as a symbol of faith. I think it took them almost 10 years to understand this was considered as an offensive gesture
France is not a PC country, you guys would be horrified by our insults. I think it is not gonna be too crazy, he directly apologized and it was not his post. He reposted it from the other guy and added something about "Rap career". Amaury's English is not fabulous, but at least he speaks other languages ... He heard the N words a thousand times and thought it was cool English slang on the other post.
Max Commencal and the sponsors know he is not racist, saw him many times in Europe / Whistler, Amaury is a nice guy. That is why I am a bit pissed that Pinkbike is turning into a cheap tabloid.
He apologized and I am sure he is pretty sad at the moment.
Is there some cultural disconnect between the US and France over this word? Do the French care about this as much the American media does? Completely curious if it is received differently by the French. Think it is absolutely moronic though, like your a professional athlete with sponsors and such maybe don't toe the line with racial stuff...
yeah I think you're right. it's also hard for us Europeans to understand how the N word can be used so much in hip-hop culture and still be such a big no-no. If it is so offensive, why is it ok to sing it?
@marge88: If it is hard to understand why it is ok for some people to say that word and not others the solution is to look into it and understand it. The solution is not to post it to your 138k followers on instagram.
The up votes for every comment saying it's 'not that bad' or it's 'not racist', compared to down votes for every comment which says 'actually this is racist', just goes to show how far this sport still has to go.
(I make the distinction between doing a well dumb racist thing and being a total racist, I think this one is closer to the former).
Reminds me if Kendrick Lamearse inviting a white chick onto the stage to sing with him, only to take offence when she sung his N words too!
Should use it in your song if it's only ok for some it not all to sing along!
Genuine question - why is there no outrage toward the guys that write these songs to make money, or the record companies that publish them, or the radio stations that play these songs and the streaming services that make these songs available? And why is there never a peep that every second one of these songs says something like 'suck my d..k b..ch? Yet we focus all our outrage on a kid who is consuming the product he is being fed every day.
Are you really sure there's no outrage about those things? Because I'm pretty sure I remember gangsta rap being hugely controversial back in the '80s and '90s - and I'm aware that there's a fair amount of push back within the black community on misogynist content in rap and even the use of the N-word itself. Or were you asking why Pinkbike isn't covering those aspects? In which case, I'd respectfully suggest that it's outside the remit of an MTB site.
@chakaping: there is no kick back against this. What are you talking about? Rap is getting increasingly more vulgar and more popular. It constantly glamourises treating people like sex objects and criminal behavior. I have not once seen any discussion about this on any mainstream media platform in years. The most outrage I've seen recently was for WAP and almost all the editorials in newspapers/media were about how terrible men were for complaining about it (even though I couldn't really find men complaining about it too much).
Mario has been killing koopas for years yet you only occasionally see a kid squash a turtle? I'm suspicious you know the answer to your alleged genuine question but don't like the perceived double standard. Its encouraging that you're expressing a desire to be educated, but I think a better question is to ask a POC in your life to share their experience with you without demanding to know why anything>.
@chakaping: I can only speak for Oz, but I hear this stuff on the radio every day. I routinely have to turn the radio off if I am with my kids. There is definitely no push back against this music. The swearing and rubbish they say in this type of music is well out of order, which is a shame, because some of the music is cool.
I have not heard a single word about its inappropriateness on any mainstream media - and personally, I reckon the treatment of women in most of this music is a bigger issue. The whole culture around this music has become mainstream popular culture, and is seen as cool. And what happens with popular culture? People want to be cool too, so it's hardly a surprise that people are mindlessly copying something they think /are repeatedly told is cool. I think everyone is barking up the wrong tree attacking Pierron. He's human. We all stuff up every day.
@Assclapp: Funny thing, but I don't tend to ask questions when I already know the answer. Better things to do.
There aren't many turtles cruising around normally. Probably why there aren't many squashed. I suspect they are aware of Mario, so stay hidden. I bet Pierron will be on the hunt for them now whenever he's out riding.
Am I a hypocrite for loving the guy for being stupid enough to ride down a hill at the speeds he does, while despising him for being stupid enough to enjoy rap?
Americans largely ignore and tolerate racism, exploited not only black people but possibly every kind of human in the word, killing innocent people to protect economic interest, then they've millions of songs, videos, and every f*cking corner there's a crackhead singing awful vulgar and meaningless rap songs ( may the godfathers of HH forgive u). But hey if a guy makes a joke all of sudden they became the defenders of human rights, civilization and culture.
It's a global trend, but i've never experiences such an hypocritical and stupid public opinion as nowadays.
Yes, Americans exploit black people so much that they fought a civil war to free them from slavery, then gave them full citizenship and voting rights, then gave them preferential hiring treatment and a long list of government aid programs. Much racism. Wow.
@kleinblake: Gee whiz, no shit? They both apologized.
You're arguing in bad faith. You cherry picked words to construct a 'gotcha!' statement that was never made. If you can't give people the benefit of the doubt who seem to be trying to own their mistakes, you're a greater problem than ignorance.
@HaggeredShins: the language used shifts blame away from him for choosing to speak like that, and towards people that know that speaking like that is wrong. It’s subtle but it matters. “I’m sorry YOU were bothered,” not “I’m sorry that I bothered you”
@kleinblake: No, it doesn't. You did. He wrote an 169 word apology and you selected 5 to take out of the greater context. You're in bad faith and playing a role in exacerbating the problem. Pull your head out of your ass.
Stop using the word in rap and I’ll take the outrage seriously. It’s the most popular form of popular music and the N word is littered all over it. But we’re not supposed to say it. Ever.
Lame excuses, it doesn't sound like they really understand what they did. They are just sorry they got caught!
Doesn't look good for Commencal!
Racism doesn't have to be mean and aggressive. Most of the time racism just look like that, dumb and tasteless... just enough so it keeps infusing the society!!
@adamdigby: I don't say they don't understand what they did. I mean they don't understand the impact of their action. They don't fully understand what they did wrong. I believe many people are racist or sexist or have other biases without being really conscious about it. When the whole society carries racist or sexist baggage, we have to be really deliberate and conscious about these issues. I'm not trying to find excuses but I don't think they are evil but more dumb and careless. They are just the reflect of the society (especially the french society which is quite racist at the moment). Unfortunately in current modern societies, most people are racist by default until they educate themselves and deliberately choose not to be racist. I appreciate the community is stepping out and is saying it's not ok and I hope we'll keep progress as a more inclusive and respectful society. There is still lot to be offended about daily, just look at how POC or women are being stereotyped or objectivized in the media, movies, music. Some will say it's free speech and the political correctness dictatorship but I beleive being offended help set some values and it's not antinomic to the concept of freedom.
@wburnes: nope. I marvel at how many comments on here say things like “I’ve never torn a tire casing, why would anyone run a 1200g tire”. Or “that bike might ride well but I would never buy one because I don’t like how it looks”. Weak-ass shit.
That’s not me projecting insecurities, it’s me annoyed at the mediocrity and vacuity of PB commenters.
As for the racism, maybe-just maybe it pisses me off. If that’s what I’m putting out there, I’m okay with that. Wish more people got mad about racism, not when their racist views were exposed.
@wyorider: The tire casing comment you are referring to is me from the other thread about inserts. I know why people use 1200g tires, dipshit. The comment I was questioning made It sound like no one would ever run a lightweight casing in the sea to sky corridor, do they not have XC riders there? Or weight weenies? That's pretty rich coming from an apparently expert XC and road racer. You immediately read way to much into my comment and tried to turn it into a dick measuring contest assuming I never rode anywhere in the western US even though I live in Lake Tahoe. In my experience people trying to puff their chest out on the internet are usually the biggest chickenshits in real life. On topic though I do agree that this IG post is a moronic thing to post. Have a nice life.
Not surprised North American people make a huge deal out of it while completely disregarding the cultural differences.
AP is also known to be a not so bright guy. Not exactly surprising he posted this shit, and not surprising as well he doesn't understand why his "apology" is wrong as well. Doesn't excuse anything though
In French the equivalent word is "Negre" which also means ghostwriter. It is used by almost nobody (including for its other meaning) because it's has a clear negative connotation.
In French rap/hiphop, they usually use the word "negro". It's also not considered ok for white people in France to use this word.
Pinkbike is Gone... World is filled with hyper sensitive people that dont participate in direct social interactions just communicate their world through devices...Yep you sound like bunch of crying morons...And make it look like we all are resposible for the horrific enslaving of people and in the past were the "owners"...Those slave owners are playing us against each other and they are doing well with society filled with low IQ
Amaury's a cold hard G...he shouldnt have needed to say sh$t!! He didn't use no "Hard R" in that word...get ready for mind blown....Black people dont care if us white's use that word as long as it isn't directed towards them in a hate way...If any of you little SJW sheltered white folk on this comment thread thinks Amaury had 1 iota of hate in his posts, you need to find Jesus and stop being a little bt$h. Period.
Ya right you are a fool If that what you think . Feel free to come to Any city and use that word around black people and let’s see how it pans out for you bordn21 .
Racist
noun
a person who believes in racism, the doctrine that one's own racial group is superior or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.
This isnt racism
You define "racist", then conclude "this isn't racism", seems like a fallacious train of logic. Few people at the pointy end of this think that someone in Amaurry's position are racists as defined; the premise is that use of racial slurs is in fact racism, situational ignorance notwithstanding. See Merriam-Webster on "racism" below. If you accept Amaurry's apology, say so and move on, there is no need to (inadvertently?) be an apologist for the "its just a word" faction.
: a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race also : behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice
His braids were done by a friend from Senegal, now I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume his friend is black....his friend.... so although being friends with a black person, he still somehow has to defend himself for not being a racist after making a joke which I'm sure his friend would have seen the funny side of..... being a friend and all....
Imagine living in a world where a certain race were made slaves and referred to as a certain word. Then after slavery being abolished being hated, burned, raped, spat on etc because their ancestors where slaves and added to that they are different colour so still referred to by that same one word above all else. Imagine that aye?!
@kennyken1015: Warred against by their own tribal neighbors, captured by same, sold by same to Arab merchants sailing in Jewish-financed ships, built by French wrights, captained by any various nations' people, navigated by Italian seamasters and given access to ports by their greedy kinsmen.
But yeah, blame it on the word and the people here for example (America), where less than 3% of the population of pre-CW colonies owned slaves.
P.S. My family, white as white can be, were INDENTURED SERVANTS during that time, no better than slaves and in fact treated like scum all the more by the ruling families of what is now Mississippi.
@togood2die: imagine being secretly so ashamed of where you’ve made it life that you can’t possibly admit others have to start with a systemic disadvantage because if you do it makes your existence even that much more unbearable. God you’re ignorant.
This comment section is unsurprisingly abhorrent. a few of you have learned something over the past year, the rest of you are the status quo of this sport and that will never change.
His story was clearly meant to be funny, not to cause harm, but the fact that he didn't know people would react like this astonishes me. I'm a black rider and I feel bad for the guy because I know drama hes going through over this is massive in comparison to the fact that he tried to be funny and made a douche baggy post on IG.
Well... I guess times were peoples cames to France to feel free to live theire life is far. French people or MTBikers are not more racists than others. IMO having an haircut and quoting some Hip Hop music is not racist.
What is racist is meaning you are better than someone by your origin. What Amaury and his team manager did was not to prove that they're better than Black people in any way or making fun of their culture.
Even if you think this was dumb from them, then you have a problem with thinking everything is racist. Now if you think I'm racist because I'm French, European, male and cisgendre I recomend you to watch this video and be satisfied to live in this kind of world : www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIYGFSONKbk
Context people, context! It's clearly a mistake, a little naive maybe but a mistake none the less. Just move on, there's more important matters concerning actual racism that need the attention, not this.
I don't necessarily subscribe to political correctness at all but this totally crosses the line... Made much worse by the fact that the MTB community is incredibly white and homogenous. I'm a little shocked people on this site are trying to defend this, it seems pretty cut and dry to me. Ignorance isn't an excuse... Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
It's a bummer he made a stupid post to begin with, but I am glad he made an apology and acknowledged it. We all make mistakes and he will be more conscious in the future. That IS progress.
So why is the song allowed on youtube if it's so offensive? My beef with this sort of thing is it's always okay until it isn't. The music is publicly available. It's listened too. Want to keep offensive songs from being shared? Go after the artists, not those using it as a background track with no forethought. When you say a person of one colour can say something but someone of another colour can't? Yeah, there's a term for that...
They should have learned from the best for the apology to look more sincere and less like a blanket statement straight out of a PR firm www.youtube.com/watch?v=15HTd4Um1m4
The brand he rides for mostly uses music in their videos with that language, so no one should be surprised. Its the image they want for themselves. Is it smart, no. Do they know exactly what they are doing, yes.
PC culture is such BS the world is now a mine field of people waiting to be triggered. The slightest mis step in etiquette and youre banned, regardless of your intentions or virtues. Unless someone is straight up being hateful you gotta give people benefit of the doubt.
Probably already been said but who has time to wade through the bullshit? Young people and children learn from what is presented to them. If people of colour are offended by that word then they need to stop using it themselves. Teach all the young to be accepting by example. f*ck racism and all the Q-anon lap dogs who perpetuate it. You are the true sheep!
I can understand and forgive someone for not understanding the weight of a word in a second language but it should be universal knowledge that appropriation of a subjugated culture is unacceptable; doesn’t matter what language you speak.
@wburnes: are you serious? Colonization, slavery, modern day racism within the country and all other Francophone countries. It’s the literal definition of subjugation.
@McKai: they gained much more than the French form colonization. Slavery today really only exists in Africa, Middle East, and some parts of Asia. Blacks do not face racial discrimination in any European country.
@wburnes: That is totally what colonization was all about huh? Just rich people travelling around spreading wealth, that is exactly what I remember reading about in my history books and other reading on the subject.
@insertfunusername: No, colonizers got resources and labour. Colonized people got infrastructure, law and order, and much higher living standards. Even today former colonies are doing much better (although they have declined as a result of being left to their own devices) than places that weren't colonized.
@insertfunusername: for what it's worth, the majority of the European population were quite poor off while that was happening. Go even farther back and realize most Europeans descendants were serfs.
@sonuvagun: yes, the vast majority of people have been quite poor for most of history. Middle class living is a really recent thing that society is still trying to figure out how to maintain.
@insertfunusername: well I wrote that because you wrote "Didn't France colonize a whole lot of Africa?" And to that extent you put responsibility and blame on tens of millions of people who were struggling to just get on in life, let alone determine the exploits of the French military. Such oversimplifications result in repugnant, ill-conceived conclusions and hateful rhetoric.
Comment that I replied to: In what way are Africans culturally subjugated to the French?
I replied that France had colonized a whole lot of Africa.
Then you stretch that into me blaming millions of regular French people at that time. Sorry but clearly, that was not what I wrote or what i implied with that statement.
Ignoring that France had colonized many parts of Africa would be a massive oversimplification that could help a person come to ill-conceived conclusions though. Also blaming people today for those actions would be the wrong thing to do. Instead facing ones countries actions from the past head on and acknowledging them is what all people of the world should choose to do.
@insertfunusername: A stretch? Not at all. When you claim an entire nation committed a horrible act, then the blame falls on the entire nation.
If you lack the ability to use more careful and accurate words then it's understandable to some degree, but it's really just a matter of adding a couple more words. Otherwise it's extremely poor discipline of words which is the fuel divisive organizations use to keep the machine of division growing stronger.
@insertfunusername: If you don't know then it's best to let you discover that on your own. It's not hard to write "French colonial powers" or "the French expansionist powers." It's 2-3 extra words and does a lot to keep things precise. Like, why not do that?
@McKai: Black slaves were sold to French ships by Black Peoples in Africa. Colonization of this part of the world went righ after. So what do we do ? Do we have to blame Africans for Slavery crimes as well as Europeans ?
Do we have to blame Americans that wears Tatoos from Pacific islanders ?
Wow lots of racists in the comments here. Also the apology is 100% BS. Racism in Europe doesn't get talked about much here in the US but it's a big problem. I know Commencal like using songs with the N-word in their videos but this kind of removes any benefit of the doubt I'd been giving them, which is a shame as a Commencal owner and fan.
Racism in Europe is a problem, but for a completely different reason that in US. Everyone simply (silently) realizes that having millions of people migrating every year is not sustainable given the size of countries and existing population.
@ReformedRoadie: We were completely gutted, because we wanted to win. But that's not what you mean, is it, you just wanted to have a dig.
Afterwards, yes, a few complete pricks made pathetic racist comments. But after that a shed load more people spoke out in support of Rashford and co, including the rest of the team, Southgate, other sports people, politicians, people all over social media etc etc. Hundreds more people went and put messages of support and hung England flags on the Rashford mural wall and the police went after the people making the racist comments. And it's kept people talking about racism everywhere. Obviously that doesn't make the racsim ok, at all, but the way the rest of the country reacted to it was pretty good to see.
Maybe you could read about the whole thing before making comments like that.
@ReformedRoadie: do you mean England or some so called football fans? that would be like me thinking every white person in your country is racist having all voted for Trump the ultimate dog whistling racist President.
@Uncled: Also...Brexit. Really, what was the real driver there in the vote? Was taking on immigrants per the EU not part of that? Point is, in response to original post, it's there. Maybe not the same as in the US, but it certainly exists, and maybe it is covered up until something like losing the Euro finals and it bleeds out. And to be honest, I get it to some degree. European countries are not just borders, which have moved over time, but ethnicities and cultures, with long histories. The US is almost all immigrants, and not very old, relatively speaking. We have a history of abusing the latest wave of immigrants the way whatever group we belonged to were when they arrived.
@ReformedRoadie: I think we agree on more than we may have first thought, not everyone who voted for Brexit was racist, but all the racists definitely voted for it, and yeah football has an awful tendency to bring out the very worst in mostly poorly educated men in this country, it’s another reason why I’m glad I have cycling in my life as a sport to obsess about. have a good day mate.
@Uncled: American football fans are no better… Unfortunately, US soccer team is nowhere so we don’t get to feel that. It must have been heart breaking, but no excuse for some people’s reaction. And Trump lost the popular vote - twice. Cheers!
He probably doesn't. And that would actually make it ok because it proves he had no ill intent. I doubt he hates black people and unwittingly gave himself away with that IG story.
"Everytime you point your finger at someone else there are three of your own fingers pointed back at you." -Michael Bruce Leavy
Being offended is a personal choice, and in that it is an individual's responsibility to acknowledge that being offended is a reflection of themselves and not of the offender. It all boils down to the filters that each of us have developed to view and interpret the world around us, and nobody can tell you what that should be unless you let them.
Yeah man being an oppressed minority is just, like, a mindset. There are no structural forces in society whatsoever that are reified by the behavior of the oppressor class, who needs a compassionate society when you can completely rely on personal responsibility to provide for you, living in self-sufficiency on land that definitely didn't have Native Americans on it before you got there.
This is a common way people interpret this sort of issue, that misses the way "offensive" is being used. When people say that using language with deep connections to racial violence and inequality is offensive they mean something closer to an army going on the offensive, whereas it sometimes gets interpreted on the level of "I am offended". The key difference is that the former is working to reinforce the cultural and representative notions of race that support prevalent material racist violence and inequality, while the latter is largely focused on an individuals feelings. I mean, you should probably avoid the latter as well if you're an empathetic human being, but it's a substantially different thing than the former.
@jsobrie: so those native Americans....did they just peacefully become the dominant force in their land? You don't think there is a chance that maybe a lot of death and mayhem caused some tribes to become dominant over others? It all just came about through a plebiscite that everyone agreed to without any coercion or force. Native Americans were just unusually peace loving despite having quite accurate and powerful weaponry. Sure it wasn't gun powder but I'm pretty certain an axe and a bow are very lethal weapons in the right hands.
What drives me crazy about all this stuff is that it is so obviously hypocritical. I was watching a documentary recently which had a white girl who grew up in Kenya and was the only white girl in the village. She would talk about how the locals just wanted to touch her hair all the time and that she usually felt welcome but certain things would be uncomfortable to her, they had some names for her which were because of her skin colour etc etc. Pretty much the same story as any outsider would have when trying to fit in with a majority. She seemed relatively happy though. However, in the west we have this whole cohort of people who have convinced themselves that this type of behaviour is full of micro aggressions and is exclusive to white people. Some of the worst racism in America is between Mexican and Black gangs. Many of them literally despise each other and there are dozens of surveys showing very high levels of racism between non white groups towards each other. But because this doesn't fit with the white saviour complex some people have they ignore and pretend it doesn't happen. It's almost like people want to point out the bad guy, ie someone else who looks like them as there is no risk of being called out on it, and then make a huge point about how they are not like that person. They are better and morally superior and an ally to all of you minorities. But they actually don't care about the issue of people treating each other differently because of skin colour.
P.S. Every single nation on earth has been fought over, warred for, and bled while being lost by someone's tribe. I'm not responsible for one single bit of that, and I will never be cowtowed into saying so.
@JustAnotherRiderHere: I don't get what you are referring to, but commenting in a thread about racism and just casually unironically throwing in the term "euro trash" is absolutely funny
@scvkurt03: I don't think people are offended as much as they are pissed off. It takes an awful lot of entitlement to post something like that on Instagram then pretend like you're oblivious as to why people would not like it. Am I wrong?
@daweil: Because without the US and our military, and sacrifice of thousands of men, well, all of Europe would be speaking German. Jews would all be a thing of the past (in Europe) and well, we would have never been able to laugh at French cars (or their absolute lack of Military Prowess)
@chuoi152: and everyone who lives anywhere benefits from the things that happened in the past. What's your point? Please name a country which hasn't been built on the blood and sweat of others?
I used to think the concept of original sin in Catholicism was mental. Why would anyone claim that someone is born a sinner when they have never done anything. But that's what you are saying. We are all born sinners and should repent for the crimes of our white ancestors. It's mental and further proof that this wokeness is basically a religion of its own. Right down to making people kneel to show their devotion to it.
@JustAnotherRiderHere: the Russians did a hell of a lot more to stop the Nazis taking over than the Americans did. The Russian resistance is what crushed the Nazis to the point where the Americans were fighting a very weakened enemy.
@humoroususername: Thankfully JustAnotherRiderHere (I'm almost certain he was previously Roadstain) has left the site again. Unfortunately he'll probably be back spouting his shit under another name soon.
@JustAnotherRiderHere: I prefered speking German (or Russian) than seing this french bashing from a country that existed thanks to the french. Just go back to your sisters room. Natives were right on you (hopefully not on every Americans).
No I don't do that? I don't understand what you are saying and I don't use any instagram at all! Sorry! The n word means nothing to me and means nothing out of context. It only has implication when you are belittling someone else. So saying the n word on the internet has not meaning at all! Its just a word!
Yes there is too much mental and emotional instability throughout the world and Im very sure this is being cause and being blown out of proportion due to the Internet!!! I don't know how old you are but before the internet or better said social media platforms we had no problem bro! People talked things out and had live discussions, it was a much better time than just being canceled from a platform for one word and no discussion! So, the big question is how are we raising our kids to evolve into this internet world in civil manner? This is a question no one is really addressing!!!
To me there is a big difference in singing along or play back a rap song and using the word to refer to people with a dark skin. Maybe it wasn't very smart to do but I do not believe the intention was to discriminate.
I too think there's to much racism in the world but over-reacting to this kind of things is not going to solve the problem. Judge people on how they act towards other people in day to day live, not on de music they like / sing.
@scary1: as an ESL, I'll take your wordiness comment as a compliment.
Your answer is fascinating. Instead of attacking any of the facts I listed, you make it personal. You sound cornered and rather defensive. I am just trying to have a conversation with you (now that troll buddy is gone).
The words you are using like good, evil, converted, combined with your identity/location details (male, 51, in Scottdale Arizona) lead me to believe that your are religious and probably have a fairly Manichean view of the world (i.e. not nuanced) hence you are finding the complexity of reality unpleasant. Do you believe in god? If so, I can trash your religion for a bit to see how it makes you feel.
Do you know that your (white) self hatred comment is a white supremacist talking point?
Is the brown shirt comment a reference to nazi soldiers?
I feel no guilt about the color of my skin or the privileges I am benefiting from as a white, educated cisgender male. You probably feel the same. Where we likely differ is that I am aware that I am benefiting from a colonialist society that protects white supremacy and has some systemic racism all over, and because I am benefiting from this system, I have some responsibility to make this system and society more just and less oppressive for visible minorities that are under-privileged.
If a large proportion of African Americans find it deeply hurtful for non-Black people to use the word n*gger because of its long and painful history for them and their community/family, I can easily make the effort of not using that word. Everybody is better off and that's not political correctness, that's just a little bit of respect and self-awareness.
We can laugh and talk about everything but not with everyone. If as an atheist dude I make a joke about jews and jews laugh with me, that's fine but if it is the nazis that are laughing (and not the jews), that's not. Same principle applies with other oppressed/historically oppressed communities.
@humoroususername: always open to be proven wrong and evolve my point of view with facts and a good argument. You presented none this far.
Sorry, which parts were conspiracy theory nonsense?
The history of the USA about racism and slavery? White grievance being used as a tool to divide society, scapegoat visible minorities so the historical power structure is kept intact?
Can you summarize some of the reasonable arguments you are referencing?
I have no issue ripping apart the disgusting aspects of the western society. They need to go and that starts by recognizing the facts.
People who feel white grievance like @scary1 seem to feel, they really feel it, we must acknowledge and recognize that. There is no denying that the USA has left behind a massive number of white people, poor and middle class that are getting poorer. The problem is the narrative feeding the white grievance. Believing that their lives sucks because of BIPOC and immigrants (who have little political/economical power) is false and wrong (and by the way, that's white supremacy ideology). These folks need to understand that they have been played by their conservative politicians (left and right, labelled republican or democrat) and their rich buddies so they (politicians and rich) can stay in power and keep the system working disproportionately in their favor.
Just look at the number of white people in the USA who vote directly against their own (financial, health, social and family) interest because they would rather stay in the hole with whites controlling power than being lifted out of the hole with other people who do not look like them.
Please, you have no idea what you speak , regarding me. All this over the top, overly judgmental ,sensitive groupspeak, it’s way to easy to project your argument or whine onto a characatuer that you made up. The only grievance I have is how far we’ve fallen from the greatest generation to now. I’m not black, or a racist, I treat everyone equally poorly . I’m sorry that displeases the masses, but if we all developed a bit thicker skin and a lot more of “ I don’t give a shit” we’d all grow to where micro, macro, made up aggressions don’t even bother us. We’d be stronger . I swear to god if you come back at me with slave ships and systematic oppression , I will find you! The answer is still the same.
If Amaury Pierron was a racist - he would not listen to afro-american Hip Hop. Stupid post on his behalf, for sure, but one mistake that many Europeans could do without the slightest idea of this being racists.
soooo much systemic racism in way to many of these comments
now im also reading gender based bashing, i wonder if Outside magazine will allow this inflammatory type of post to continue
we all have a very long way to go........
Well, the guy gets paid for biking - it shows that he is no rocket scientist. Dumb people make dumb choices, it is a fact of life. And naturally, like everyone else, he now has to face the wind blowing into his face. What I do not understand is the apologists here. For me, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t fully understand the derogative and racist meaning of the word he used or if he is no „real“ racist (whatever that is), he made a really stupid choice and now gets to pay the piper…
Whilst I don't for one second think this makes them racist, the apologies and the "I didn't understand" just doesn't fly anymore in this day and age. If you genuinely do not understand, stay well away from the subject and don't post, its that simple.
All you fucking virtue signalers can fuck all the way off! If words hurt you you're a fucking pussy pain and simple. Nigger nigger nigger. It's the title of a fucking song by a black man! If it was truly offensive to then they wouldn't put it in ALL their music! Fuck off all of you! Ban me bitches!!!
He's sorry for what exactly? Saying the N-word in a song, yeah that never happens, every crappy rap song out there it's N this and N that. I suppose that's what you get for posting on Insatcommie.
Spanish rap is another story, it fights against racism, against capitalism, against machismo and against murderous religions. Simplifying, fighting for human rights. In other countries the word rap has been corrupted youtu.be/wWrXkBz74SU
State the the belief you've been indoctrinated with. Present your opinion as facts. Repeat the words of those that indoctrinated you as your own. Chastise people with different opinions/indoctrinations. It's like cnn and fox news had sex and the pinkbike comments section was born, then raised by Facebook.
It was only a matter of time before the ugliness of the world started showing up in Mountain Biking. The way people really feel has a way of rearing it’s ugly head. Bottom line to everyone How many people of color do you see mountain biking versus caucasian. You can argue any reason it’s just a fact. I’ve been Cycling over 20 years & always noticed it. And if you want to take it to another level How many Pro’s do you see of color??? Enough said!
This were people want us to be. It gives 50% of the population power to point “Witch! Witch!” And the harder you deny the more they insist it must be true. If you don’t give a shit, they lose theirs.
With everything going on in the world over the past year(s) they are claiming ignorance? Not buying it. Own up to your mistake properly. Clearly there is still a lot of growth to be had in this sport.
It's almost as if this article is purposely made to divide the mtb community or at least the users of this site. Why even post this stuff PB? I'm sure you can get better content than this.
its not intended to divide, this Literally IS the divide. unless you are blind, def and stupid, this is the same shit different day for the participants of this sport. Maybe Motocross, maybe wakeboarding have a more toxic group of participants but in my 11 years of being into this sport, everywhere I go and especially on this website, the Misogynist, The racist, the Xenophobe, and the Bigot all have a safe and comfortable home here in Mountain Biking. look no further than this comment section but it lives in every comment section of ever post on this site.
@POWsLAYER: Imagine if you will a world where people like you can't read per-capita stats, demographic breakdowns, half a century's worth of biological, sociological, and psychological study, and any various other discipline that shows your worldview to be degenerate.
@POWsLAYER: What you should really be ashamed about is claiming to be in this sport 11 years and still thinking it is ok to rip people off on the buy and sell, BUYERS BEWARE!
@scvkurt03: perhaps PB is trying to elicit a real conversation about race. Personally I'm glad they posted it. The mtn bike community can only pretend racism in the sport doesn't exist for so long.
@chuoi152: Racism exists everywhere and in everything. Prejudice between good looking and ugly people, fat and skinny, bald and hairy, alcoholics and tea totallers, etc exists everywhere. What are we supposed to do about it? There are laws in place to prevent discrimination. There is social stigma to stop people being bullied. What other things do you want to see?
How far do you want to take it? I've only every met one black guy mountain biking and aside from my initial realisation that he was the first black mountain biker I'd ever met I don't think it affected my relationship with him even for a moment. What exactly is this discrimination that you think black people are experiencing in mtb?
Anyone getting outraged about this, should first listen to an interview with Amaury (or any other French athlete) speaking English. The Frenchies don't speak English.
What world we are living in now? It's wrong for white kids to do haka dance, it's wrong when an Indian cartoon character's voice belongs to non-indian. It's wrong when black guy in a movie eats fried chicken and I could continue..
The excuse from Europeans in this thread thinking racism is an American thing is mind boggling. Has no one here seen the racist online abuse the black players on the English football team went through? The work Lewis Hamilton has been doing in Formula 1 to combat racism in Formula 1 - which is in Europe. As well as the racist comments online made towards him after his incident with Max last race where , surprise surprise, the n-word was used in derogatory comments about him. All of those Europeans also didn't know what it meant?? But still knew to use it in hateful comments towards him?
Lets be clear. To exonerate them of ANY responsibility shows a lack of appreciation for just how offensive and hateful the word "Nigga" is. They both claim to have grown up with racial abuse so you would have thought having been the victims of racial hatred would have taught them something?
And I'm sorry but please, claiming you don't know what the word means given the amount of racial hatred we have seen in the last year alone is utter garbage, and as is my right, I don't believe that for a second.
We are quick to jump on anyone and everyone for riding without a helmet (BMX) but some of us think it's OK to post a content that is racially offensive now?
Lets be clear, I don't believe Amaury and management are racist. I do believe he can be obviously be f*ckin stupid sometimes though. So I pray he has learned something.
Before you praise him for being a great rider, writing this story off because of that, and then down-vote those who are rightfully offended, maybe have a think about the context and effect his post has on others.
Maybe one day, humans will stop judging and hating based on literally the colour of someones skin...
The song was not the issue. Those focussing on the song used are deliberately ignoring everything else about the post and shifting the discussion onto the use of language by others instead of the use of language by those in this story. Its subtle but it is deliberate and it is harmful.
The song itself is a fun joke by the original artist and using it in an instagram story as background music to some riding footage or similar would be a bit weird and jarring but would not have caused this reaction.
@zstover: Didn't recognize sarcasm there since absolute majority of Pinkbike users literally thinks this way. Amuses me when people say it's okay for private platforms to censor opinions and push political agenda, while some of these platforms have much more influence than government has in terms of media reach. That doesn't sound liberal and democratic either.
If you think it's acceptable for people of a certain race to use a word in a particular context, but not okay for someone of a different race to use the same word in the same context, you are discriminating against that person on the basis of their race - which makes you a racist.
Their apologies seem very generic. Maybe these people should think before they open their mouths abs post racist shit. They are in a position where lots of younger kids look up to them.
Does anyone listen to hip hop/rap music? It's full of racist & misogynistic lyrics. Amaury didn't write the song FFS. All these social justice warriors and their fake outrage/virtue signaling. Pathetic.
Nice braids Amaury! Straight corn rows are Ok, but next time spend some time in the chair and get some designs! I used to get some crazy patterns when I lived downtown Toronto.
Spanish rap is another story, it fights against racism, against capitalism, against machismo and against murderous religions. Simplifying, fighting for human rights. In other countries the word rap has been corrupted
If we are so ignorant to what these words mean please enlighten me to what you believe Niggation means? Because you must have based that conjugation on something.
Didnt knew what niggation exited. found its meaning on urban dicionary. Does that mean i am rascist by ignorance. Funniest part i initially wrote nigation with one g and its a synonyme of negation. Does it makes me an antisemit? Hopefully i am no public person paied for selling downhill bikes.
Yay more young adults acting like children. Take your "social media" beatdown and just be happy you didn't get an actual physical beatdown like most young adults should get at some point.
I can drive to the gas station and here the dreaded N-Word over and over again. So f-bomb boring having skin tone agendas pushed on one group and not another,
Why are we reading this kind of "news" here?! Political correctness is a virus that infect almost every aspect of human life, even Mountain Biking. Sad times...
Racist comment much? How would it sound and what would the reaction be if I said: Black, Asian, Jewish people: braids are not and have never been a good look for you....
Wokebike at it again, they will be publishing their trigger warnings and preferred pronouns next week. that park guy needs to resign before this MTB website goes full activist mode.
Where exactly do you see PB team's or in particular Brian's opinion on this? Am I missing something? Literally all they did was repost some third party Instagram posts without a single word of their own take on the situation. Where's this activism you talk about?
Yeah I mean there's tone deaf and making a joke in bad taste... but the choice of song and caption are really too over the racist line to be forgiven easily. " reposted a picture, a song, and a term for which I don’t understand the true and painful meaning." Is this something lost in translation of the word maybe since he's a native French speaker? Claiming you don't know what the N word really means in 2021 is a bit... wow
There's also quite a bit of "I"'s in that apology IMO.
@bsavery: Its a generalization, but the French are not exactly the most open culture to outsiders. Its a well documented issue that if you're a french citizen but a POC you're a second class citizen...not surprised by this behavior. A couple of dummies..if MTB was a bigger sport these guys would be dropped immediately for this kind of shit.
@bridgermurray: Please do not come near the trails...you will not be able to handle it. I can not recall there being a "Safe Space". It will be okay, I will order you a Barney doll and stuffed Unicorn on Amazon if you need (the Unicorn is very good at absorbing tears).
@JustAnotherRiderHere: I spent 20 years in the Army defending this country and I agree with him completely. I definitely don't need a safe space. I spent twenty years providing yours.
@bridgermurray: Yes, it should just be "common sense" that a young French citizen should know the historical weight of a word in a country they didn't grow up in, right. It's completely ok to not only assume, but actually *demand* that they be well versed on such topics so as to not offend anyone, even in a different country, ever, even by mistake. /s
What I find coming from (mostly) American commenters here is the absolute intolerance for a person who grew up in a different culture. Not condone usage of such language? Sure, most would be on board with that. But you use the phrase "condemning someone". Gross. Step down off your high-horse and take your hate with you. Thanks.
@scary1 No, what your troll buddy was saying was not all factually true.
I think it is important to practice engaging with pathetic human feces while smiling. Not offended by ignorance and racism, just sad to imagine kids growing up with ignorant, hateful parents/families. Do you have kids?
...The USA as the economic superpower was founded on slave labor. Do you want to argue this? But sure if your buddy means founded as the founding fathers, a bunch of old white dudes coming together to write the constitution of the country, yeah slaves were not at the table to share their point of views on the constitution unfortunately. With that being said, you can't ignore that the 13th amendment of the US constitution to this day makes slavery and involuntary servitude legal against convicted criminal serving their time. So, maybe the US was founded on a little bit of slave labor? Just a tad.
...Micro aggressions don't exist. Maybe not against him. He should go ask someone from a visible minority if they don't exist for them.
...and the United States was made much poorer because of slavery. AHAHAH... and the slaves much richer, right? The country was made much richer, not most of the population in the USA.
....The only people that profited from slavery were the rich 1% of the country (with significant non-white overrepresentation, ironically), and blacks in Africa that sold other blacks into slavery. ...Sure, slavery disproportionately profited the richest 1% (like capitalism today) most of which were white like Isaac Franklin and John Armfield (the richest slave traders). Did Africans do the Europeans dirty job in Africa to enslave other Africans, yes about 90%, so what? Does that make slavery more palatable to you?
...Poorer whites and the middle class had to compete with slave labor (impossible), and much automation/mechanization was delayed. ... Do you feel bitter about slaves competing unfairly against your great great great grandpa in the labor market? This was the first wave of white grievance. The rich landowners fueled racism and reinforced the message to poor whites that at least they were white, they were part of the dominant group as a strategy for the poor whites to hate the Black slaves instead of the white rich landowners who were f*cking them straight up. And to this day, the Republicans play the same strategy of white grievance and tens of millions of freedumb sheeps vote to keep the same structure of power where the rich through politicians, corporations and the media set the narrative for the white poor and middle classes that the woes of their white existence is to blame on BIPOC and immigrants, not rich who decide to keep them poor and ignorant.
Dude, you’re rather wordy. And ranting from every corner of your self hatred does nothing but prove you’ve been successfully converted. Congrats on that. You’ve been convinced and converted that the melamine content of your skin is the very definition of good or evil and now you’re a good little brown shirt , spreading the message of self hatred for free with vigor and venom.
That is conspiracy theory levels of nonsense. You are taking some truths and stitching together a narrative and claiming that it is all true. But what you are saying is so broad that it can't actually be disproven. There is so much nuance you are missing there. There are lots of reasonable arguments that could refute much of what you claim, but again they are broad and unprovable. Having the courage to admit that some of the things you are saying might be wrong and some of the things the "freedumb sheep's" are saying might also be valid would be a good step in not ripping your society apart.
It also involves humility and understanding though which people like you don't seem to have though. Posts like yours are a tour de force of ignorance and self righteousness.
@wburnes: Please do not confuse "childish" with ignorant. People who believe that the US was founded on racism are simply ignorant. Not to even mention the brutal and ruthless "indigenous tribes".
I mean, he is french. That word and all the feelings associated with it are almost exclusively tied to american culture. I think it's a little hard to blame a french person for use of a word he really truly doesn't fully understand the weight of.
I can give an extra comment being the "only" French guy here: 1. You all assume that the rest of the world is fully fluent in English and knows language specificities, while we are not. 2. Sorry but "for me" = my culture, my French roots and obviously my big lack of American history knowledge (BTW, what about American knowledge about other countries' history....), I did not even know that the so-called "N-word" was not to be used. You can call it a lack of culture, but I bet many of us here do not know much about other cultures after all.
Frankly, I could have done exactly the same story on Instagram (unfortunately my hair is short and ginger) without having any clue of how offensive this could be for other people... So, you can blame him, but I'd very much like to see the "average American guy" behavior is similar situations in other culture... Bye
@MaxMellier: America is great about being hyper-offended about things and ignoring the fact that the rest of the world can believe different things and have had different histories that led to those attitudes and beliefs.
You are right though, Americans as a whole lack knowledge of many countries histories. We only learn the approved curriculum from our particular state. Example - I grew up in the north east of the USA and learned very different things about slavery and the civil war than a friend who received their education in the american south.
@MaxMellier: You are so full of shit !!! EU is so racist it’s not even funny .. are you claiming as a French man you ha e not seen the racism at soccer games??? Please GTF out of here with that blind eye crap !
@530220: is there really any country on earth that isn't racist? That's just the human condition, it's literally how we've evolved. It's terrible but I doubt it will ever go away. Luckily in the western world we've gotten pretty damn good at creating a fair situation for all races.
@MaxMellier: I have to call bullshit here. in just about any language, if you refer to a person by the color of their skin, it's not in a good way. Amaury made a bad joke but to act like he doesn't know what racism is because 'racist words are uniquely american' is a weak excuse imo.
Sorry, but the UCI have to sanction him. This won’t stop until it’s made totally clear that this is unacceptable. Exactly the same thing has happened in football and the authorities have finally started to act and sanction players who have used similar arguments and apologies. ‘Oh I didn’t know ‘is lame and not an excuse, ignorance of the law is not an excuse. I don’t think the UCI have the balls to do anything to be honest so perhaps sponsors should think about their position. Commencal- how do feel about this? It’s highly likely that Olympic athletes are going to take a knee on the podium in the next few weeks and all hell will break loose. Wouldn’t it be great if the UCI and the biking world could get ahead of the curve on this. Sorry Amaury, yes you made a mistake, but mistakes have to be punished ,otherwise no one will ever learn.
@CaSentLeTabarnakMonHomme: The Republic of Niger, obviously. It's the largest country in West Africa. However, my settlement of Gaylord is uncharted on Google Maps due to insignificant size. However, there are namesake cities in Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Oregon and Connecticut.
@CheryBomb: Great, you point that out and now the Snowflakes will want the city names changed...I sure hope there are no "inappropriate" team names in the schools...you know, like "Indians".
Bunch a cowardly racists at it again eh? With the same lame excuses white people have used for decades. Cowards. Maybe listen and learn, instead of weak AF apologies…
Unfortunately this will linger for a while. If it was a simple misunderstanding he would have posted the N word or some other rap lyrics withOUT the braids in his hair. He knew what he was doing. Defend him all you want but if any sponsors stick with him... They lost my business. There is ZERO tolerance for this behavior in todays world. Especially from a citizen of a first world country.
Stop being so judgemental. In other countries there’s a different history with racism, particularly compared to the US. Amaury’s action were dumb in his case but have you seen him speak english? It’s getting better but it’s definitely not the best. You can not expect the whole world to be on the same line with the US regarding what is culturally appropriate to say and what not. I mean, are you aware of any french words which would severely be frowned upon or which would get you canceled right away?
This is very American. People all across the globe are exposed to the culture, but have no idea about embedded meanings.
You say, “it’s 2021, there’s no excuse.” Typical close minded American. The world doesn’t revolve around us and the bull shit that goes on in America. “But BLM is global.” Really, most people around the world are engulfed in their regional happenings.
Way to show your ass, Mr. America and its history are the center of the world.
@pastaman23: There are black people in France and they fought bloody wars to maintain their colonial possessions in Africa until the 1960's, that is bullshit
@pastaman23: “But if you're talking about a blast of pure racial hatred, the true equivalent of "n- - - - - " in French, the unutterable insult is actually "negro.’” -https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130970738
There you go. But it’s less about what words he used, it’s the cultural appropriation displayed that is harmful, as well as the subpar apology. Also, I ask you to find one French person of color that says racism doesn’t exist because it absolutely does.
@pastaman23: come on man! Have you ever been to France? Racism is a huge topic and everyone knows about it - especially in France. It's also been a topic in many french movies in the last couple of years. Do you even read news? Have you been following what's happening in most EU countries except HU and PL? WTF is wrong with you?
@McKai: “cultural appropriation” and other funny terms inherited from the French postmodernism…
If such thing is true how North American people can just live as they are the mix from a lot of different cultures? Or are you just saying one person shouldn’t use a word or a haircut due to the color of his/her skin?
It’s just like trying to fight racism with more racism
@pastaman23: let me explain it to you simply. In America after our last presidency you can now be an open self proclaimed Nazi and half our country will give you a pass but use the N word and you're canceled. We have a society where the majority of the people haven't traveled outside their sphere of a 100 mile radius yet most people here are experts about everything.
343 "comments" and nobody has mentioned, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me"?
C'mon, folks, we all learned this in kindergarten and it still rings true today. As was mentioned earlier, we are all human, we are all susceptible to the "human condition" and whatever bias we were raised with (here's a little secret: we were all raised with some bias). The solution is not to ban people or words or speech, it is to hold ourselves accountable to overcome the human condition and better ourselves each day. Strive for perfection but allow tolerance for our imperfections. Cannot legislate any of that, it is an inside job. To bicker back and forth is absolutely insidious as can be witnessed in this and many other PB threads.
"Sticks and stones..." applies to someone calling you a doo doo head. Not to someone using language which was created to dehumanise and oppress a whole race of people over hundreds of years to make a joke.
There is no way if he had stopped and thought about it that he wouldn't have realised that this was not ok.
Nobody has mentioned sticks and stones in this context because it is not an appropriate argument.
Get over it, it is a vile word. It is vulgar. It is not right. It is wrong, we ALL know it, but what ya gonna do about it? Create division and angst on a MTB forum? Great! Real mature.
As I said above, there is not a single thing you can do about it. Censorship doesn't cure anything and causes more problems than it could possibly solve. Just like guns, drugs, bank robbery........it's the human condition, it is not going away. The vast majority of the world has established that word is wrong, yet it is impossible for it to disappear.
Get over it.
The concept that it is okay for a person of color to use it (rap, hip-hop, etc.) but not someone else is ludicrous and will only serve to let it remain relevant.
@Patrick9-32: is 'doo doo head' not supposed to dehumanize and ridicule someone? south park was right, either it's all ok or none of it is. You don't get to choose what is offensive.
@TotalAmateur: The self-righteous left makes their own rules according to how they feel on any given day. I was going to point out to Patrick that doo doo head is very much meant to dehumanize and ridicule, but apparently that term does not trigger his micro-aggressions, so to him, it is different. He's been drinking the kool-aid that taught him which words are supposed to trigger him and which ones do not. It looks as though he is well on his way to earning his PHD in wokeism....
@PACNW-MTB: The idea that children's playground insults could possibly be equated with hundreds of years of violence and oppression is so stupid that if I wasn't used to people like you believing the absolute stupidest things you can find as if it is a game of some kind to find the most ridiculous position possible and stand behind it I would assume you were joking.
I do seem to have triggered you though. Did I invade your safe space in the pinkbike comments where you thought you could say overtly racist things without being called out on it? What's the matter snowflake? Does thinking black people should not be oppressed not fit your world view? (or should I say your flat earth view)
@Patrick9-32: I'm the farthest thing from a racist or a snowflake that you will ever know. You couldn't be more wrong. The fact that you are simply projecting your woke beliefs onto an unknown person on the internet is very telling of your own short-sighted, self-righteous, wokeness. I'm sorry you can't see the forest for the trees because your exalted leaders told you it doesn't exist.
@Patrick9-32: ok so who gets to decide when things are offensive and people need to apologize? are black people the only group that has been marginalized?
@Patrick9-32: That's what I thought. No substance to back up your shouty words!
So typical of the shouty, virtue-signaling SJW's these days. Ask them to justify their shouting with something of substance and they can't. The silence is golden!
@PACNW-MTB: Sorry that replying to people on pinkbike isn't my whole life....
You aggressively attesting that people who have repeatedly and concertedly told you throughout the past 50 years that white people using the N word is unacceptable should just get over it, that they should just accept that its human nature and the way of the world and that "sticks and stones may break their bones but words will never hurt them" is a racist attitude. You are discounting the lived experiences of the people who are telling you that they are not ok with people like Amoury using those words because you don't share their experiences, you are saying that because you think it isn't a problem that nobody else should think it is a problem.
As Total Amateur says, we don't get to decide what is offensive to others, we also don't get to decide what is not offensive. Black people have been telling white people for many decades that us saying the N word is offensive, how hard is it to listen to them?
Literally NONE of what you said is true, just more of your virtue-signaling BS.
I said it is a vulgar word and should not be used. People are shitty and will still use it.
You said that poo poo head is not the same. You have not shared my experiences, are you saying because you don't think poo poo head is a problem that nobody should?
You just proved how hypocritical your belief system is. You totally jumped my shit for the sticks and stones thing (TWICE) and then went on to say that I don't get to judge what others deem offensive?
How hard is it to listen to me when I say I am offended if someone calls me a poo poo head?
Get off your f*cking SJW, self-righteous, virtue-signaling throne and quit telling others how to live. The world will be a MUCH better place for it.
"...I am offended if someone calls me a poo poo head?"
Which is it? People's feelings don't matter and people should say whatever they like and its those who get upset's responsibility to deal with it or you are so fragile that playground insults send you into a spiral of despair and we should all be on eggshells around you? Or, as is my point here, that the real situation is somewhere in between and there are some things which are generally known to be offensive and some things that are only offensive to some people in some situations and some things it is unreasonable to be offended by?
There is a big difference between different words based on their historical context. If you actually are genuinely offended by the term doo doo head because of some past childhood trauma then I am sad for you but I don't think that's the case here and it is not reasonable to expect strangers on the internet to know about it if it is. However it is reasonable, given the well documented history, to expect people to know that the N word is going to cause offense especially among a sample size of 138,000.
You have whipped yourself up into such a frenzy over some comments on a mountain bike website you aren't even consistent with your dumb points of view. To use your own words "aannnddd.....TRIGGERED!".
@Patrick9-32: I also just realized that you slipped this little doozie in there: You said, "white people using the N word is unacceptable". I've NEVER been told that it is only white people that shouldn't use that term.
That, in and of itself, is racist. The belief that black folks can use the N word, but no other race can? RACIST.
If it is a vile and offensive word (and it obviously is), it should be used by nobody.
@Patrick9-32: If you do not understand the written word, you should stay off of internet forums. Just because you do not understand them, does not make them inconsistent. They are as consistent as the sun rising and setting.
Insults are insults. Insults are intended to put a person down. PERIOD. It is the INTENT that is evil, not the freaking word itself. Words cannot harm you, the intent can. You are so stupid you do not even understand the whole sticks and stones thing becuase you were indoctrinated as a liberal snowflake, likely with helicopter parents, who insulated you from the truth in order to spare your feelings. Get over it!
@Patrick9-32: I like how you won't respond to my point because you know it touches on the root of this whole issue: who then gets to make the rule? I identify as trans sexual and trans racial and have both questioned by strangers on the daily. Would YOU be the person to evaluate what slurs are appropriate towards me? What if someone called me a *ag as a trans woman? what if someone called me n*gger after I've identified as trans racial? Who gets to decide which of those is real? something tells me some college kids with weird hair and a penchant for shouting will.......
@TotalAmateur: It is par for the course for the petulant, shouty snowflake types. They completely disappear when asked to have a discussion and actually justify their opinions.
Dumb move but why is ok for black rappers to use the same language? Rappers still promote drug dealing, pimping, gun violence too! The double standard is garbage...
Reclaiming harms afflicted onto one group by another is a pretty common, especially with language.
Think of it as building your house of the bricks thrown through your window.
In this situation, I don't recommend you start throwing bricks.
@pmhobson: You missed my point. Not excusing this action, but the original bricks thrown as you put it. If black people find the N word offensive, then maybe stop using it themselves.
uhhh because it's a slur against black people may be why black people can choose to say it and white people can't. The content of some portion of rap music has nothing to do with race relations, and is a pretty fucking racist argument.
@suspended-flesh: Not in agreement. Most money made by rap artists comes from middle class white boys. So it's kind of made for whitey. Kind of sending mixed signals. It's ok for whites to buy and listen to songs with the N word. But don't say sing or post it.
@jsobrie: how about not being born in US? why you assume people all over the world will somehow know history and language specifics of one particular nation?
@vemegen: I think it is reasonable to assume anyone who speaks English well enough to frequent a solely English speaking website and get involved in the comments understands that the N word is racist and you don't say it, even if they don't understand the full context behind that.
Are you going to pretend you thought it was ok to use that word until you read these comments?
Same way I know not to joke about the holocaust even though I wasn't born in Europe. You're ignorance doesn't absolve you of guilt, it just makes you ignorant as well as lazy, because it takes 10 seconds to learn about a word before using it.
Your not entitled you are living your life having a good time; not focusing on negative theory. bitch empowers women and nig empowers blacks, brown pride empowers U.S. latin culture. Well at least you didn't say white pride. Ha. ....... Best of luck navigating this bullshit.
Dumb and Dumber... lesson learned. He'll probably commit 8 volunteer hours for Grow Cycling to help salvage his image. Or he can take a page from Charles Barkley's "I am not a role model" campaign... just dated myself...
From 5 years old I knew never to use that word and the offensive nature of it, this can’t be something that only Americans learn? This is so disappointing, I was a huge fan.
While absolutely not justifying their actions, I believe it is a language issue. Anyone that is brought up with English as their first language often learns the words and why we do not use them. Amaury speaking French, and having previously stated his English is not very good likely didn't know the definition and complex history of the word (also based on his apology).
Let this be a lesson to all of us not to use words we do not know the context and definition of. Also Amaury's apology came off way better than Charlie's...
There actually are some very similar words in other languages that are (or were until VERY recently) the most appropriate way to address this demographic, making it easy to slip up. Don't discount the (cultural) language barrier here, even if someone seems to speak English very well. I do believe this was not meant in an offensive way, even if it may be presented as such. I think it is good that he followed up and apologized, learned a lesson along the way, and probably taught many others who may not know the offensive nature - although frankly in that regard the message is perhaps a little too vague. Don't forget that these words are still very common in music and movies, and don't always present the negative connotations. To be clear: I'm not trying to make excuses on behalf of the people involved, just explain that it can be difficult to learn this - and many other nuances - of different languages and cultures. Sharing this widely is probably the best way to help educate others; I do expect better from public figures on this level!
5years old? - What a liar! Go back to your Woke hole. Much of this depends on context. I have been on the bart in San Franciso where shall we say people of colour call each other the "n" word; not to mention all the black rap songs that use that word in their songs. This is just Amaury having a bit of fun with his friend. I remember being pinned against a wall and spat at for dating a coloured girl in Liverpool in the 90s. Thank god things in the UK are better now. The more you kick off about petty shit like this the more division you create. Meanwhile, true racism continues to fester.
@Prof: I remember walking through Manchester in the early 80's with my cousin and his friends, and they would threaten, spit, or hit every person of colour we walked by. I was 13 and horrified. I couldn't even tell my parents why i did not want to hang out with them anymore.
I was absolutely oblivious to racism before i went there that time. I grew up in a small village that had African Americans as well as many many first nations, as well as being a melting pot of European immigrants, and up to that point i had honestly never seen or heard anything about people being different. I feel lucky to have grown up in such an accepting environment.
My thoughts on the N word. I think if you truly want to work toward true equality, this word has to disappear from everyone's mouths, not just white people. Black people using just promotes its continued use and does not promote a positive future.
@fabwizard: I lived in Manchester after Toronto. I remember the arndale shopping centre - it was horrendous. You were never gonna get knifed or shot but keep you learnt to keep your eyes to the floor, don't eyeball anybody, if you wanted to avoid a kicking. The N words been politicised and I agree with you there. I think if you want to create real change then work towards equality of education and then opportunity. Manchester is a much nicer place now - you would not believe how it has changed!
@Prof: Yes 5 years old. I came home from school and on my way home some friends dared me to knock a neighbors door and run, they referred to it as “N-word knocking” and when I told my Mother what we did and what it was referred to as my she looked mortified and explained why we didn’t use that word. So eat it, maybe you should get a little more woke.
Uh. Typical "I didn't know it was that bad response." BS Take some goddamn responsibility. No f***ing way he "didn't understand the true and painful meaning" he was just forwarding stereotypes, cultural appropriation, and gross, offensive behavior. Definitely not cheering for him ever again.
@chris-adam-media: I may be wrong, but I am not sure if Ken means that if the N word is considered offensive, no one should say it regardless of race. I agree that if offense is taken to the degree of the N word for another particular word, term or phrase then all should avoid using it rather than it being acceptable to for some and not others.
@Louh73: I agree to the extent that I can see how it would be confusing to people outside the outside the USA. "Wait, im confused. Is this a bad word or not? I hear it being used by the very people that its offensive to."
american with a black father. I experienced all sorts of real racism growing up in Tennessee and this isn't it. I don't believe in bad words, I look for context.
Poorer whites and the middle class had to compete with slave labor (impossible), and much automation/mechanization was delayed.
Pinkbike Noon Meeting: "Let's bathe ourselves in Clicks"
Trolling was the charge.
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Everything he said is factually true, believe it or not. Too bad you don’t know that
A few Jewish people participated in African slave trade to the Americas, but something like a few dozen and they made up a tiny portion of those participating in slave trade.
If you want to sling wild conspiracy theories, this isn't the place for it.
Weird
I can think of a Patti Smith song that might make these modern folks uncomfortable. Do you only listen to male singers, though?
Every culture on earth had slaves at one time or the other. There’s a giant slave trade right now
I support your argument and I’ll let whoever be whoever, however they want. My position will remain the same.
The amount of arrogance and ignorance on hear is utterly staggering.
You should probably stop talking.
Do some research on the history of the American economy and the origins of real estate. The american economy was absolutely founded on the slave trade, and the original land deals and mortgages hinged on how many slaves an owner had and could trade.
Cotton. Look into it.
That being said, nothing makes me want to be less a part of pinkbike than a bunch of defenders of poor little “POC” like me… that work so hard to prevent racists that they end up acting like ideological dictators that want anyone who disagrees banned. Way to make the comment section an echo chamber.
Perception of history is a different thing, most history is written from the point of view of the winners and therefore written from the winners perspective. Choosing to learn history from known peddlers of false narratives and conspiracy theorists, is not a matter of perception.
I'm not trying to defend anyone at all, just trying to counter known false information.
That is the trouble with all platforms that have users contributing through comment sections. If people are able to keep vocalizing falsehoods and lies then those can become the truth for some people. I'm sure a person could link several articles that claim exactly what he said as the truth, then a person could speak down a terrible rabbit hole of fake information.
It is though harmful to try and claim Jewish people were in control of slave trade to the Americas, or that indigenous people were better off for being colonized. This is a type of thinking that needs to be called out when seen.
I'm also glad to have a civil conversation with someone online, pretty rare these days unfortunately.
Yikes. Google Patti Smith: Rock and Roll Ni**er. everyone needs to expand their horizons.
I am going to put the internet down right now for the day, because you made my day and I don't want some f*cktard to come along and screech about oppression and whiteness, and have my mood go to shit. Have a good day, sir!
Agree completely. Dr Dre 2001 is one of the best albums ever made, but it’s also one of the most offensive. If people listen to this over and over so they end up knowing the lyriks (see what I did there) then it is going to sanitise how offensive it is in their mind.
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Stop defending it as if they are ignorant to the reality because honestly, you and anyone else defending it like that is utterly stupid and absolutely in the wrong.
Furthermore, he has actually acknowledged his mistake and apologized, and if people are going to refuse to accept an apology and continue complaining afterwards then they're simply unreasonable people. I understand that people want to campaign against bigotry, but wanting to crucify people even after they've admitted to their error, apologized and made it clear that it won't happen again... well what else were you hoping they'd do? Is it because using a particular word is such a cardinal sin that it can never be forgiven? Or is it more about people being annoyed that they can't continue to hold the moral high ground if they accept an apology?
just testing to see if they'll sensor it.....they didn't
I agree with you. we either destigmatise it entirely, eliminate it's use entirely, or....status quo until the race wars start in 4.....3....2....
huh!???
again, for your little pea brain, all I'm saying is that if you don't want society to do 'insert behavior' then you should minimize how much you do 'insert behavior'. Hopefully one day CNN will do a cartoon special and you'll get it.
The word has more than one meaning. It means brother, homie, friend… it means fool, punk, mf-er. White people used the word as part of a dehumanizing campaign, but now it’s a black word. After hundreds of years of it being used as a pejorative, they have rightly seized ownership, and can use it however the hell they want. The community can also disagree within (they do). You and I can have an opinion about it, sure, but it doesn’t and shouldn’t factor into the conversation. It’s their word, and nobody can say shit about how to use it.
this isn't really hard to understand, hopefully you'll see the loop soon enough so we don't have to keep going around, you'd think you're old enough but...
And again, if they really hate hearing the word so much, why are they popularizing it? You don't see jews dressing up as Nazis and saluting each other while demanding nobody else does it. It's a metaphysical fact, one you are really struggling with, that if you want to see less of a certain behavior, then reducing the behavior is the only way it can be done.
By your rationale, are you ok with black on black violence? Or just upset with white on black violence? if despicable behavior is acceptable as long as it's within a homogenized community, then you're obviously ok with gang violence right?
I get what you're saying, there is history behind the word, history of the culture, etc. But it doesn't change the fact that demanding people not do something you do every day and insisting you are ALLOWED TO BECAUSE OF YOUR SKIN COLOR, is stupid and racist.
I think you're unintentionally ousting yourself as a racist lol.
And before you accuse me of equating jews with black people, it was an analogy.
Now no offense but if you can't come to terms with these facts, and that's what they are, then we needn't continue this discussion. just keep believing everything you're told and don't critically evaluate information.
If there were whites who enslaved whites and called them by that name too, using it for hundreds of years to dehumanize them, they’d own it too. But it didn’t go down like that, did it?
Though it doesn't matter in the grand scheme really, everyone had a part in it, the first legal slave owner was black, and quite a few white people owned slaves.
Slavery sucks, but most people on this planet has owned slaves or been enslaved at some point in history, most have been on both sides of it.
The whole racism debate in USA currently, is a distraction so won't go out and lynch the people making EVERYONE into slaves now, the 0,01% want people divided, that way the aren't at the pointy end of the pitchforks.
A Racism debate exists in almost every country. Here in the US there were so many racist policies and activities for hundreds of years that it was institutionalized. This lasted long after slavery was made illegal, for instance it was okay to discriminate based on race just over 50 years ago on housing and the practice continued long after it was made illegal in 1968. This massively changed the opportunities available for some and was a large driver behind the fact that the average black family was 1/10th the wealth of the average white family.
You're trying so hard to say the truth without actually saying it so you keep dressing it up like I'm ignoring history when I'm not.
Bottom line: you can't use the N-word if you aren't black, and being black is the only requirement. Furthermore, black culture repeatedly telling people to not use the word while they continue to use it in every day speak, is counter productive. personally I don't care bc it's like someone punching themselves and complaining about being punched. People who don't accept it are just dumb.....
The only 'us vs them' mentality we should have shouldn't be on racial, ethnic, or sexual lines, it should be the people vs the corrupt gov officials and the businesses (apple, Nike) that are actively promoting slavery everyday. Side note, isn't it funny that even with Nike essentially being known for using child/slave labor and they're still the most sought after shoe? Really shows you the depth of our priorities.
Does Boeing make drones? Yes.
Have we bombed Syria? Yes.
Have bombs been used and killed people that they shouldn't? Yes
Is a 10x wealth difference(171k vs 17k) between white and black families a "little difference"? No.
Do things like the 1921 Tulsa race massacre still matter today? Yes
Does the fact that people if color were not allowed to live wherever they wanted to, by law, 53 years ago, still matter? Yes.
Is there any debate over who has been marginalized more in the US? No. Does it even matter? Shouldn't we just not marginalize anyone and try to right the harm caused by previous marginalization?
I am definitely not saying that this is a "us vs them" thing at all, so why are you quoting that? It is exactly the opposite of that. You need to understand that tons of really terrible crap went on, that we need to hear people that are still being effected by those things that have happened in the past and are still happening today. Boeing, Nike, a government appointment, Syria, and weddings have nothing to do with that crap that happened, or how it effects people.
What I'm saying is that we have the most racial tension/outbreaks/riots during election cycles. Democrats are notorious for visibly exciting and encouraging racial tension/rioting (protesting if you believe robbing a store is some form of protest), and Republicans don't do a good enough job at integrating communities in the more urbanized areas. However, the biggest threat to the people at large is still the government promoting division amongst it's people. We have essentially monetized political influence, and turned politicians into celebrities, all while ignoring that the system of legislation and judicial enforcement are being corrupted from the top down. People THINK that shit happened 100 years ago to their ancestors affects them more than the shit happening today, which is pretty ridiculous when you think people are more upset about slavery that didn't affect them, than the slavery they are helping affect.
Big companies mostly steer our policies and therefore our government. Public opinion has nearly no influence on policies, it is nearly completely dictated by the money and organization of the largest companies and industry groups. Many Republicans have taken a firm stand on making sure that it is harder to reduce big companies influence of companies on our government. Citizens United case is now 11 years ago and our political landscape has been changed quite a bit since then.
It is definitely to the biggest companies advantage to try and create division by pointing out what a person doesn't have and create a need to try and get it.
I happen to agree with you that things would be better off without it entirely, even among the black community, but you in particular are proof that people who can be called a "n***er" can call the shots about who says "n**ga". You have zero understanding.
How about this: go find 5 black people and tell them that they need to stop using that word in order for them to reasonably expect others to stop using the word. See how that works out for you. I'm done.
And you keep trying to make it about the 'history' of the people, but you're evading the point.
how about this:
IN A PUBLIC SETTING, HOW WOULD ONE DETERMINE WHO IS SOCIALLY ACCEPTED TO USE THE "N-WORD" AND WHO ISN'T, WITHOUT KNOWING THEIR FAMILY HISTORY?
you keep avoiding answering my question bc you know I'm right, the rule is if you're black it's fine if you're not its not. And I'm not saying black people shouldn't use the word, I don't care. I'm saying they shouldn't use it IF they don't want to hear it. Pretty ground breaking huh?
That is the single most racist comment I have read on Pinkbike, ever.
You are indirectly calling black people violent savages, while pretending you're not a racist, wow dude.
Your whole premise is flawed. Of course, the easiest way to identify who owns the word is by skin color, but only because it's pretty damn safe to assume that in America, the a black person is very a descendant of a slave and/or has faced racism as a result of their skin color. People don't call Latin Americans that word - it was reserved for black people. I can't believe I have to spell that out.
Skin color defines a particular historical experience for black people in this country. It's that simple.
What other way would anyone take that?
It's the same as the typical "Do X and see what happens" people say before starting fights.
just put your fingers in your ears and stomp your feet like every other middle aged white savior already. you can't fathom that you're wrong so you just insist I'm lying. rich.
Haha you mean like every news station ever on the spreading misinformation
Even if you're not lying (which you most definitely are, and you know it), that I gave you a shitty anecdotal test doesn't change the fact that you and I are outsiders and our opinions don't mean shit.
Your insults are boring as hell.
Once more: I'M NOT NOR WAS I EVER ARGUING THAT USE OF THE WORD IS HOMOGENOUS ACROSS ETHNICITIES, NOR AM I ARGUING THAT THERE IS NO INHERENT HISTORY BEHIND THE WORD.
and did you really get upset that I used the word bitch in an analogy because they 'didn't have the same history' then use ginger in yours? lol, once again, zero awareness of your own ironic idiocy.
Unless you or kurt are going to demonstrate how you can discourage and diminish unwanted behavior by maintaining/increasing participation of said behavior, then you guys aren't arguing anything that I care to discuss, you're just trying to argue against some right wing talking head that you think is arguing against black people having rights. which again, i'm not.
I can’t wait for your next 5000 word essay on how you’re super totally not a racist. Go on.
Jesus I'm such a f*cking hippy.
Your argument boils down to ignoring skin color to determine equal and fair rules of conduct, and that it will solve the ills that racism has brought upon our society. That's pretty not racist, as I understand it. But yeah, it ignores all context, which is pretty ignorant. Why is the onus on equally on black people to stop using a harmful word that white people coined, when white people won't stop using it? You're not wrong that it would probably help a little if black people stopped too (again, I agree with you), but it's a dumb thesis to endlessly argue when a certain sect of white people will never stop. Imagine being black, forbidden to use the word, while oppressors continue. They're fully within rights to own the names given to them and use them for their own purposes.
@ROOTminus1: a love song
youtu.be/k1BneeJTDcU
I think he is really a mud troll. The hair is where he hides his secret gold.
Suspended is one of the posters that's well aware of what's going on in the world around him.
I do know white folks with hardcore ghetto passes that can say it with their black homies and tons of Latinos in my neighborhood use it, but they are far from being middle class honkie ass mountain bikers like us and AP.
I honestly hadn't heard the Ginger song before or realized the rearranged letters spelt Nurga when someone posted the sentence above.....sue me.
You could always make another one.
So what, a (for me still fantastic) french guy who obviously likes hiphop or rap a lot, thus having heard the n-word a million times in songs is being stupid about his hair and tries to be funny - not knowing that the world has forgotten to take bad jokes that weren’t even remotely meant the way that it resonated with today’s overly “politically correct” mindset.
off camera we’re all the same and i’m 100% convinced that we all know that he’s a guy with no disrespect to anyone and like all of us - a stoked community member.
For me personally. The use of a word in songs regardless of the colour of the skin of the artist is the same as I don't discriminate based on skin colour.
Nobody has the right to use the word.
Also AFAIK Amaury is from rural central France, not the most up to date region^^.
He could be blamed for his music tastes though :p
Its a highly emotive word for the reasons we all know and shouldn't be used.
Maybe I am a little PC, new age in my old age and think everyone should be equal, treated equal and held to the same standards and accountability.
And while there surely is racism in France, it would be most primarily visible against north african/maghreb people (or french people of north african/maghreb origins). For instance the war of Algeria is still taboo in France, kinda like slavery is in the US.
Your social currency manifests itself if you're offended and/or speaking sanctimoniously.
Any conflicting facts or views can f*ck off as we have been reduced to emotional reactionaries.
In this particular case I am outraged. Outraged that it happened in the first place in 2021. However I am not angry, especially since despite the naivety (benefit of the doubt) and at worse wilful ignorance initially displayed, it’s very clear that both have learned a very valuable lesson and that no true harm was intended.
Also as has been said here and there in these comments, in France we may be exposed to the N word in hip hop culture a lot, but we may not be much exposed to the whole weight that comes with it in US culture, and consequently the link between the US N word and its french equivalent is not that clear, as eventually we end up being exposed to the US N word more than to its french translation.
It's exactly the same in France.
Was the intent to be racist and massively offensive though? The faux pas is so insanely dumb, I can't believe there was any ill intent behind it. Just a total lack of awareness of _why_ it is so offensive.
Also guys, as a general note, keep in mind there are cultural differencies between the US and France : We can show tits on TV.
Do you mean "white kids" from Belorussia? Northern Spain? Croatia? Estonia? Do you mean ethnically French? Your point rests on the validity of cultural overlords dictating who's allowed to do what. It's wrong to do that.
There are a lot of sick black riders coming up. Look at skateboarding these days to see the future 'extreme sports'. I'm super proud to call myself a (old, former) Skateboarder.
What I don't get is how the same people will make arguments about how awful the elitism and supposed tribalism of these white gate keeping mountain bikers is will simultaneously defend black people using the N word or excluding people of other races. Tribalism is tribalism and I don't care if you are white or black it still applies. You can't defend one form of tribalism and then attack another. It's beyond hypocrisy.
As far as Amaury and Commencal team manager, can't claim ignorance or naivety anymore. IIRC there have been protests in France about worker's rights, immigrant rights, and police brutality so I'm not buying their apology. More like they knew what they were doing at at least some level and just didn't care.
"There is no racial bigotry here! You are all equally worthless!"
I know, let's publicly write something massively racist and completely tone deaf, sure to get us likes & shares through the roof!
Maybe I'm wrong and they are a bunch of Nazis, but I just can't see it.
Why?
Because they don't bother doing anything of value to support any of these causes IRL, the only energy they expend is to type comments and share posts in attempt to cancel someone, only to make themselves feel woke and important.
I literally work full time for one of the largest bicycle brands in the world working DAILY to make a difference in regards to racial issues SPECIFICALLY within the bike industry.
But keep telling yourself that you're in the right by going against those who stand up for others because you're 2 cool 2 b woke
I don't speak for my employer in anyway, but feel completely supported by them when standing up for what's right
It's just a word, it's not going to actually hurt anybody.
We can agree it's in bad taste to use it without overreacting. Try it out.
It's a compliment - Because they are intrepid travelers
Thanks for the laugh inside this dark thread.
In this day an age
Ignorant an non malicious I'm 100% sure of that.
But still inexcusable
Like fuuuuuuck
For those who downvoted my post, what do you want to do? Condemn him forever? Boot him from UCI racing? Or maybe you can find it in yourself to accept his apology, considering there isn't a specific person he's harmed and there was no ill-will intended? IMO if you can't forgive this you need therapy.
The actual point being that some things are just unforgivable.
As a professional, sponsored athlete in todays social media world he should've known this was a fkng stupid thing to do. Especially in a new era of inclusion and attracting people who wouldn't usually consider a sport like MTB or cycling as being for them, stuff like this just re'enforces that stereotype.
Doesn't really matter what we think.. but how this will effect Commencal, sales an marketing. As an ambassador for the brand he should've known this...
Yes it's a crazy world where one person can say a word and another can't regardless of context.
He should also know in todays social media world, this will follow him.. forever.
A UCI fine? A slap on the wrist?
I guess we'll just have to wait an see if he's still on a Commy next year.
Hence the Fuuuuuuck part of my original comment
I would 100% like to think He's not racist an this was a all a bit of fun, lost in translation maybe, a continental sense of humour but still... even I f*cking face palmed hard for the numpty....
Is he sorry for the people he upset or sorry for himself an what he could loose. If it was the first, he would've had enough common sense not to do it in the first place.
If you want people to believe and support you, you need to take real action.
Action speaks louder than words on a temporary 24 hour instagram story.
PS. Racism is unequivocally bad (and just plain dumb).
Racism may be tolerated more or perceived differently in different parts of the world but it’s pretty ubiquitously understood. This incident isn’t exactly nuanced, nor should it take an “American perspective” to understand it’s wrong.
A lot of what Americans call racism the rest of the world, including people of all different races, thinks is complete nonsense and a sign of bullshit academics gone crazy with influence.
Common sense would dictate that you take 10 seconds to learn about a word that you use especially if it's not in your first language
With just as much respect as you expressed in your post, feel free to f*ck off yourself.
It appears you should do a bit of research on this.
Or are you talking about the French government that is extremely suspicious of anything that isn't French?
Google search: "difference between racism, prejudice, and discrimination"
They know is “bad” but they also hear it every day in songs, films, YouTube videos…etc. They admire and want to emulate a lot of these hip hop artists. You can see white teenagers in Europe that are into hip hop calling each other the n word. Is that stupid? Yeah it is. Are they racists?. Don’t necessarily think so.
Are they aware of what they are doing? Yeah somewhat, but nothing like an American kid who raised in the middle of that struggle. It is good to educate and raise awareness towards important important topics, but it’s also important to contextualize before passing judgement.
True. However the history racial oppression in France is different than in the US. I bet there are derogatory terms that someone can use in there towards black people, that carry a tremendous weight in terms of cultural nuances. I just don’t happen to know them. He used a term that is intrinsically linked to the black struggle in the US (in addition to all the other cultural ramifications, that we could spend a lifetime discussing).
I moved to the US from Europe, and was educated on topic upon arrival. I still see friends back home say things that would not be acceptable in the US, and I know for a fact that they are not trying to be malicious.
I am not trying to tell anyone how to feel about the incident, I am just trying to offer some cultural insight for fellow Americans that (understandably) may be shocked by it.
He is not the first athlete to say/do something offensive and stupid and not the last. Let's not forget that he is paid primarily to go as fast as he can from A to B down a mountain on a bike.
Expecting athletes to be role models in society means for the most part setting the bar very, very low.
Something else more folks in the USA need to better appreciate is that for the rest of the world (you know 7.3 Billion people) many words do not carry the same weight or level of offensiveness than in their country because these words do not have the same history elsewhere. As an example, in France (where I was born and spent 27 years) and I can tell you that people use the word c*nt like they use a period or a comma in a sentence. And, telling someone they are a c*nt is the most common insult, for which people are really unlikely to be offended. Maybe it is because France is less puritan than the USA and that for most of the society is not constructed on an "honour-based" system. To the contrary, you say c*nt to someone in one of the "proud southern states" in the USA, you are pretty likely in trouble, immediately.
I hope he learned something.
In this day an age of online outrage....
when some body operates on that level there's no legitimate conversation to be had with that person other than a f*cking good insult. It's all they understand
If you ever want to test whether somethings worth posting on Instagram, I always suggest standing up and saying it on top of a table in a crowded bar. If you get your a** kicked (as anyone with ironic cornrows yelling I'm next level n*nation rightfully should) its probably not going to play well.
Warmest regards,
CJ
1. You all assume that the rest of the world is fully fluent in English and knows language specificities, while we are not
2. Sorry but "for me" = my culture, my French roots and obviously my big lack of American history knowledge (BTW, what about America knowledge about other countries' history....), I did not even know that the so-called "N-word" was not to be used. You can call it a lack of culture, but I bet many of us here do not know much about other culture after all.
Frankly, I could have done exactly the same story on Instagram (unfortunately my hair is short and ginger) without having the clue of how offensive this could be for other people... So, you can blame him, but I'd very much like to see the "average American guy" behavior is similar situations in other culture...
Bye,
Point well said.
For those who don't know, US military is famous for constantly distributing razors etc to rural bearded Afghan men, in a country where the length of the beard is considered as a symbol of faith. I think it took them almost 10 years to understand this was considered as an offensive gesture
Max Commencal and the sponsors know he is not racist, saw him many times in Europe / Whistler, Amaury is a nice guy. That is why I am a bit pissed that Pinkbike is turning into a cheap tabloid.
He apologized and I am sure he is pretty sad at the moment.
(I make the distinction between doing a well dumb racist thing and being a total racist, I think this one is closer to the former).
Or were you asking why Pinkbike isn't covering those aspects? In which case, I'd respectfully suggest that it's outside the remit of an MTB site.
I have not heard a single word about its inappropriateness on any mainstream media - and personally, I reckon the treatment of women in most of this music is a bigger issue. The whole culture around this music has become mainstream popular culture, and is seen as cool. And what happens with popular culture? People want to be cool too, so it's hardly a surprise that people are mindlessly copying something they think /are repeatedly told is cool. I think everyone is barking up the wrong tree attacking Pierron. He's human. We all stuff up every day.
There aren't many turtles cruising around normally. Probably why there aren't many squashed. I suspect they are aware of Mario, so stay hidden. I bet Pierron will be on the hunt for them now whenever he's out riding.
But hey if a guy makes a joke all of sudden they became the defenders of human rights, civilization and culture.
It's a global trend, but i've never experiences such an hypocritical and stupid public opinion as nowadays.
Take some responsibility and apologize for saying and doing offensive shit
He f*cked up, admits it, and hopefully will learn. What else do you want?
“I want to apologize to all the people who felt offended by my story last night with my friend Amaury Pierron”
You're arguing in bad faith. You cherry picked words to construct a 'gotcha!' statement that was never made. If you can't give people the benefit of the doubt who seem to be trying to own their mistakes, you're a greater problem than ignorance.
Unfortunately in current modern societies, most people are racist by default until they educate themselves and deliberately choose not to be racist.
I appreciate the community is stepping out and is saying it's not ok and I hope we'll keep progress as a more inclusive and respectful society. There is still lot to be offended about daily, just look at how POC or women are being stereotyped or objectivized in the media, movies, music. Some will say it's free speech and the political correctness dictatorship but I beleive being offended help set some values and it's not antinomic to the concept of freedom.
Pierron may not be a racist, but the hurtful message of his post shows we are still a racist society.
Downvote away-holes in your linens shitsmears.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
That’s not me projecting insecurities, it’s me annoyed at the mediocrity and vacuity of PB commenters.
As for the racism, maybe-just maybe it pisses me off. If that’s what I’m putting out there, I’m okay with that. Wish more people got mad about racism, not when their racist views were exposed.
Hey, this internet thing is fun!!
AP is also known to be a not so bright guy. Not exactly surprising he posted this shit, and not surprising as well he doesn't understand why his "apology" is wrong as well. Doesn't excuse anything though
In French the equivalent word is "Negre" which also means ghostwriter. It is used by almost nobody (including for its other meaning) because it's has a clear negative connotation.
In French rap/hiphop, they usually use the word "negro". It's also not considered ok for white people in France to use this word.
If that what you think . Feel free to come to Any city and use that word around black people
and let’s see how it pans out for you bordn21 .
: a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race also : behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice
Imagine that aye?!
But yeah, blame it on the word and the people here for example (America), where less than 3% of the population of pre-CW colonies owned slaves.
P.S. My family, white as white can be, were INDENTURED SERVANTS during that time, no better than slaves and in fact treated like scum all the more by the ruling families of what is now Mississippi.
Wacky.
What is racist is meaning you are better than someone by your origin. What Amaury and his team manager did was not to prove that they're better than Black people in any way or making fun of their culture.
Even if you think this was dumb from them, then you have a problem with thinking everything is racist. Now if you think I'm racist because I'm French, European, male and cisgendre I recomend you to watch this video and be satisfied to live in this kind of world : www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIYGFSONKbk
This reeks of people wanting to be offended.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=15HTd4Um1m4
Didn't France colonize a whole lot of Africa?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cmj34zmwx21t/racism
www.lefigaro.fr/sports/scan-sport/actualites/racisme-dans-le-football-evra-s-en-prend-violemment-a-le-graet-1016204. I also suggest looking into the racist abuse the English players who missed penalties at the euros have been subjected to.
Go even farther back and realize most Europeans descendants were serfs.
Sure it was the Euro finals, but still…
Such oversimplifications result in repugnant, ill-conceived conclusions and hateful rhetoric.
Comment that I replied to: In what way are Africans culturally subjugated to the French?
I replied that France had colonized a whole lot of Africa.
Then you stretch that into me blaming millions of regular French people at that time. Sorry but clearly, that was not what I wrote or what i implied with that statement.
Ignoring that France had colonized many parts of Africa would be a massive oversimplification that could help a person come to ill-conceived conclusions though. Also blaming people today for those actions would be the wrong thing to do. Instead facing ones countries actions from the past head on and acknowledging them is what all people of the world should choose to do.
If you lack the ability to use more careful and accurate words then it's understandable to some degree, but it's really just a matter of adding a couple more words. Otherwise it's extremely poor discipline of words which is the fuel divisive organizations use to keep the machine of division growing stronger.
Who were the major players at the end of WW2, generally refered to as the Allies and Axis?
It's not hard to write "French colonial powers" or "the French expansionist powers." It's 2-3 extra words and does a lot to keep things precise. Like, why not do that?
Do we have to blame Americans that wears Tatoos from Pacific islanders ?
Afterwards, yes, a few complete pricks made pathetic racist comments. But after that a shed load more people spoke out in support of Rashford and co, including the rest of the team, Southgate, other sports people, politicians, people all over social media etc etc. Hundreds more people went and put messages of support and hung England flags on the Rashford mural wall and the police went after the people making the racist comments. And it's kept people talking about racism everywhere. Obviously that doesn't make the racsim ok, at all, but the way the rest of the country reacted to it was pretty good to see.
Maybe you could read about the whole thing before making comments like that.
And to be honest, I get it to some degree. European countries are not just borders, which have moved over time, but ethnicities and cultures, with long histories. The US is almost all immigrants, and not very old, relatively speaking. We have a history of abusing the latest wave of immigrants the way whatever group we belonged to were when they arrived.
Unfortunately, US soccer team is nowhere so we don’t get to feel that. It must have been heart breaking, but no excuse for some people’s reaction.
And Trump lost the popular vote - twice.
Cheers!
Just don't try too hard
-Michael Bruce Leavy
Being offended is a personal choice, and in that it is an individual's responsibility to acknowledge that being offended is a reflection of themselves and not of the offender. It all boils down to the filters that each of us have developed to view and interpret the world around us, and nobody can tell you what that should be unless you let them.
What drives me crazy about all this stuff is that it is so obviously hypocritical. I was watching a documentary recently which had a white girl who grew up in Kenya and was the only white girl in the village. She would talk about how the locals just wanted to touch her hair all the time and that she usually felt welcome but certain things would be uncomfortable to her, they had some names for her which were because of her skin colour etc etc. Pretty much the same story as any outsider would have when trying to fit in with a majority. She seemed relatively happy though. However, in the west we have this whole cohort of people who have convinced themselves that this type of behaviour is full of micro aggressions and is exclusive to white people. Some of the worst racism in America is between Mexican and Black gangs. Many of them literally despise each other and there are dozens of surveys showing very high levels of racism between non white groups towards each other. But because this doesn't fit with the white saviour complex some people have they ignore and pretend it doesn't happen. It's almost like people want to point out the bad guy, ie someone else who looks like them as there is no risk of being called out on it, and then make a huge point about how they are not like that person. They are better and morally superior and an ally to all of you minorities. But they actually don't care about the issue of people treating each other differently because of skin colour.
That's people like you jsobrie.
P.S. Every single nation on earth has been fought over, warred for, and bled while being lost by someone's tribe. I'm not responsible for one single bit of that, and I will never be cowtowed into saying so.
I used to think the concept of original sin in Catholicism was mental. Why would anyone claim that someone is born a sinner when they have never done anything. But that's what you are saying. We are all born sinners and should repent for the crimes of our white ancestors. It's mental and further proof that this wokeness is basically a religion of its own. Right down to making people kneel to show their devotion to it.
Living in Japan for 20years I don't even know the phrase, "woke"!
ahhahahha
I don't understand what you are saying and I don't use any instagram at all!
Sorry!
The n word means nothing to me and means nothing out of context.
It only has implication when you are belittling someone else.
So saying the n word on the internet has not meaning at all!
Its just a word!
sure this is being cause and being blown out of proportion due to the Internet!!!
I don't know how old you are but before the internet or better said social media platforms we had no
problem bro! People talked things out and had live discussions, it was a much better time than just being canceled from a platform for one word and no discussion!
So, the big question is how are we raising our kids to evolve into this internet world in civil manner?
This is a question no one is really addressing!!!
I too think there's to much racism in the world but over-reacting to this kind of things is not going to solve the problem. Judge people on how they act towards other people in day to day live, not on de music they like / sing.
Your answer is fascinating. Instead of attacking any of the facts I listed, you make it personal. You sound cornered and rather defensive. I am just trying to have a conversation with you (now that troll buddy is gone).
The words you are using like good, evil, converted, combined with your identity/location details (male, 51, in Scottdale Arizona) lead me to believe that your are religious and probably have a fairly Manichean view of the world (i.e. not nuanced) hence you are finding the complexity of reality unpleasant. Do you believe in god? If so, I can trash your religion for a bit to see how it makes you feel.
Do you know that your (white) self hatred comment is a white supremacist talking point?
Is the brown shirt comment a reference to nazi soldiers?
I feel no guilt about the color of my skin or the privileges I am benefiting from as a white, educated cisgender male. You probably feel the same. Where we likely differ is that I am aware that I am benefiting from a colonialist society that protects white supremacy and has some systemic racism all over, and because I am benefiting from this system, I have some responsibility to make this system and society more just and less oppressive for visible minorities that are under-privileged.
If a large proportion of African Americans find it deeply hurtful for non-Black people to use the word n*gger because of its long and painful history for them and their community/family, I can easily make the effort of not using that word. Everybody is better off and that's not political correctness, that's just a little bit of respect and self-awareness.
We can laugh and talk about everything but not with everyone. If as an atheist dude I make a joke about jews and jews laugh with me, that's fine but if it is the nazis that are laughing (and not the jews), that's not. Same principle applies with other oppressed/historically oppressed communities.
Sorry, which parts were conspiracy theory nonsense?
The history of the USA about racism and slavery?
White grievance being used as a tool to divide society, scapegoat visible minorities so the historical power structure is kept intact?
Can you summarize some of the reasonable arguments you are referencing?
I have no issue ripping apart the disgusting aspects of the western society. They need to go and that starts by recognizing the facts.
People who feel white grievance like @scary1 seem to feel, they really feel it, we must acknowledge and recognize that. There is no denying that the USA has left behind a massive number of white people, poor and middle class that are getting poorer. The problem is the narrative feeding the white grievance. Believing that their lives sucks because of BIPOC and immigrants (who have little political/economical power) is false and wrong (and by the way, that's white supremacy ideology). These folks need to understand that they have been played by their conservative politicians (left and right, labelled republican or democrat) and their rich buddies so they (politicians and rich) can stay in power and keep the system working disproportionately in their favor.
Just look at the number of white people in the USA who vote directly against their own (financial, health, social and family) interest because they would rather stay in the hole with whites controlling power than being lifted out of the hole with other people who do not look like them.
The only grievance I have is how far we’ve fallen from the greatest generation to now.
I’m not black, or a racist, I treat everyone equally poorly . I’m sorry that displeases the masses, but if we all developed a bit thicker skin and a lot more of “ I don’t give a shit” we’d all grow to where micro, macro, made up aggressions don’t even bother us. We’d be stronger .
I swear to god if you come back at me with slave ships and systematic oppression , I will find you! The answer is still the same.
Dumb people make dumb choices, it is a fact of life. And naturally, like everyone else, he now has to face the wind blowing into his face. What I do not understand is the apologists here. For me, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t fully understand the derogative and racist meaning of the word he used or if he is no „real“ racist (whatever that is), he made a really stupid choice and now gets to pay the piper…
If you genuinely do not understand, stay well away from the subject and don't post, its that simple.
If you don’t give a shit, they lose theirs.
Why even post this stuff PB? I'm sure you can get better content than this.
How far do you want to take it? I've only every met one black guy mountain biking and aside from my initial realisation that he was the first black mountain biker I'd ever met I don't think it affected my relationship with him even for a moment. What exactly is this discrimination that you think black people are experiencing in mtb?
There is no two-way street and you don't get to pick and choose. Either you're with the mob or you're on the end of the pitchforks.
And I'm sorry but please, claiming you don't know what the word means given the amount of racial hatred we have seen in the last year alone is utter garbage, and as is my right, I don't believe that for a second.
We are quick to jump on anyone and everyone for riding without a helmet (BMX) but some of us think it's OK to post a content that is racially offensive now?
Lets be clear, I don't believe Amaury and management are racist. I do believe he can be obviously be f*ckin stupid sometimes though. So I pray he has learned something.
Before you praise him for being a great rider, writing this story off because of that, and then down-vote those who are rightfully offended, maybe have a think about the context and effect his post has on others.
Maybe one day, humans will stop judging and hating based on literally the colour of someones skin...
The irony is strong with this one.
"Maybe one day, humans will stop judging and hating based on literally the colour of someones skin..."
is clearly an after thought as it would obviously be nice if racism died a death don't you think?
Nice braids Amaury! Straight corn rows are Ok, but next time spend some time in the chair and get some designs! I used to get some crazy patterns when I lived downtown Toronto.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4mN6OjkPes
Funniest part i initially wrote nigation with one g and its a synonyme of negation. Does it makes me an antisemit?
Hopefully i am no public person paied for selling downhill bikes.
f word
t mot
Why do people still think it's a good idea to complain about people based on skincolor or any physical attribute?
How would it sound and what would the reaction be if I said: Black, Asian, Jewish people: braids are not and have never been a good look for you....
There's also quite a bit of "I"'s in that apology IMO.
What I find coming from (mostly) American commenters here is the absolute intolerance for a person who grew up in a different culture. Not condone usage of such language? Sure, most would be on board with that. But you use the phrase "condemning someone". Gross. Step down off your high-horse and take your hate with you. Thanks.
I hope this helps: lmgtfy.app/?q=instagram&iie=1
I think it is important to practice engaging with pathetic human feces while smiling. Not offended by ignorance and racism, just sad to imagine kids growing up with ignorant, hateful parents/families. Do you have kids?
...The USA as the economic superpower was founded on slave labor. Do you want to argue this? But sure if your buddy means founded as the founding fathers, a bunch of old white dudes coming together to write the constitution of the country, yeah slaves were not at the table to share their point of views on the constitution unfortunately. With that being said, you can't ignore that the 13th amendment of the US constitution to this day makes slavery and involuntary servitude legal against convicted criminal serving their time. So, maybe the US was founded on a little bit of slave labor? Just a tad.
...Micro aggressions don't exist. Maybe not against him. He should go ask someone from a visible minority if they don't exist for them.
...and the United States was made much poorer because of slavery. AHAHAH... and the slaves much richer, right? The country was made much richer, not most of the population in the USA.
....The only people that profited from slavery were the rich 1% of the country (with significant non-white overrepresentation, ironically), and blacks in Africa that sold other blacks into slavery. ...Sure, slavery disproportionately profited the richest 1% (like capitalism today) most of which were white like Isaac Franklin and John Armfield (the richest slave traders). Did Africans do the Europeans dirty job in Africa to enslave other Africans, yes about 90%, so what? Does that make slavery more palatable to you?
...Poorer whites and the middle class had to compete with slave labor (impossible), and much automation/mechanization was delayed. ... Do you feel bitter about slaves competing unfairly against your great great great grandpa in the labor market? This was the first wave of white grievance. The rich landowners fueled racism and reinforced the message to poor whites that at least they were white, they were part of the dominant group as a strategy for the poor whites to hate the Black slaves instead of the white rich landowners who were f*cking them straight up. And to this day, the Republicans play the same strategy of white grievance and tens of millions of freedumb sheeps vote to keep the same structure of power where the rich through politicians, corporations and the media set the narrative for the white poor and middle classes that the woes of their white existence is to blame on BIPOC and immigrants, not rich who decide to keep them poor and ignorant.
It also involves humility and understanding though which people like you don't seem to have though. Posts like yours are a tour de force of ignorance and self righteousness.
Have you just fell from a strawberry?
Get out of here!
I can give an extra comment being the "only" French guy here:
1. You all assume that the rest of the world is fully fluent in English and knows language specificities, while we are not.
2. Sorry but "for me" = my culture, my French roots and obviously my big lack of American history knowledge (BTW, what about American knowledge about other countries' history....), I did not even know that the so-called "N-word" was not to be used. You can call it a lack of culture, but I bet many of us here do not know much about other cultures after all.
Frankly, I could have done exactly the same story on Instagram (unfortunately my hair is short and ginger) without having any clue of how offensive this could be for other people... So, you can blame him, but I'd very much like to see the "average American guy" behavior is similar situations in other culture...
Bye
You are right though, Americans as a whole lack knowledge of many countries histories. We only learn the approved curriculum from our particular state. Example - I grew up in the north east of the USA and learned very different things about slavery and the civil war than a friend who received their education in the american south.
I don’t think the UCI have the balls to do anything to be honest so perhaps sponsors should think about their position. Commencal- how do feel about this?
It’s highly likely that Olympic athletes are going to take a knee on the podium in the next few weeks and all hell will break loose. Wouldn’t it be great if the UCI and the biking world could get ahead of the curve on this.
Sorry Amaury, yes you made a mistake, but mistakes have to be punished ,otherwise no one will ever learn.
With the same lame excuses white people have used for decades.
Cowards.
Maybe listen and learn, instead of weak AF apologies…
A: More hate????
idea about embedded meanings.
You say, “it’s 2021, there’s no excuse.” Typical close minded American. The world doesn’t revolve around us and the bull shit that goes on in America. “But BLM is global.” Really, most people around the world are engulfed in their regional happenings.
Way to show your ass, Mr. America and its history are the center of the world.
There you go. But it’s less about what words he used, it’s the cultural appropriation displayed that is harmful, as well as the subpar apology. Also, I ask you to find one French person of color that says racism doesn’t exist because it absolutely does.
If such thing is true how North American people can just live as they are the mix from a lot of different cultures? Or are you just saying one person shouldn’t use a word or a haircut due to the color of his/her skin?
It’s just like trying to fight racism with more racism
C'mon, folks, we all learned this in kindergarten and it still rings true today. As was mentioned earlier, we are all human, we are all susceptible to the "human condition" and whatever bias we were raised with (here's a little secret: we were all raised with some bias). The solution is not to ban people or words or speech, it is to hold ourselves accountable to overcome the human condition and better ourselves each day. Strive for perfection but allow tolerance for our imperfections. Cannot legislate any of that, it is an inside job. To bicker back and forth is absolutely insidious as can be witnessed in this and many other PB threads.
There is no way if he had stopped and thought about it that he wouldn't have realised that this was not ok.
Nobody has mentioned sticks and stones in this context because it is not an appropriate argument.
Get over it, it is a vile word. It is vulgar. It is not right. It is wrong, we ALL know it, but what ya gonna do about it? Create division and angst on a MTB forum? Great! Real mature.
As I said above, there is not a single thing you can do about it. Censorship doesn't cure anything and causes more problems than it could possibly solve. Just like guns, drugs, bank robbery........it's the human condition, it is not going away. The vast majority of the world has established that word is wrong, yet it is impossible for it to disappear.
Get over it.
The concept that it is okay for a person of color to use it (rap, hip-hop, etc.) but not someone else is ludicrous and will only serve to let it remain relevant.
I do seem to have triggered you though. Did I invade your safe space in the pinkbike comments where you thought you could say overtly racist things without being called out on it? What's the matter snowflake? Does thinking black people should not be oppressed not fit your world view? (or should I say your flat earth view)
Please quote where I said anything remotely racist.
Does making shit up about someone really make them a racist in your mind? Are you insane?
So typical of the shouty, virtue-signaling SJW's these days. Ask them to justify their shouting with something of substance and they can't. The silence is golden!
You aggressively attesting that people who have repeatedly and concertedly told you throughout the past 50 years that white people using the N word is unacceptable should just get over it, that they should just accept that its human nature and the way of the world and that "sticks and stones may break their bones but words will never hurt them" is a racist attitude. You are discounting the lived experiences of the people who are telling you that they are not ok with people like Amoury using those words because you don't share their experiences, you are saying that because you think it isn't a problem that nobody else should think it is a problem.
As Total Amateur says, we don't get to decide what is offensive to others, we also don't get to decide what is not offensive. Black people have been telling white people for many decades that us saying the N word is offensive, how hard is it to listen to them?
Feelings....whoa, whoa, whoa, feelings......
Literally NONE of what you said is true, just more of your virtue-signaling BS.
I said it is a vulgar word and should not be used. People are shitty and will still use it.
You said that poo poo head is not the same. You have not shared my experiences, are you saying because you don't think poo poo head is a problem that nobody should?
You just proved how hypocritical your belief system is. You totally jumped my shit for the sticks and stones thing (TWICE) and then went on to say that I don't get to judge what others deem offensive?
How hard is it to listen to me when I say I am offended if someone calls me a poo poo head?
Get off your f*cking SJW, self-righteous, virtue-signaling throne and quit telling others how to live. The world will be a MUCH better place for it.
"...I am offended if someone calls me a poo poo head?"
Which is it? People's feelings don't matter and people should say whatever they like and its those who get upset's responsibility to deal with it or you are so fragile that playground insults send you into a spiral of despair and we should all be on eggshells around you? Or, as is my point here, that the real situation is somewhere in between and there are some things which are generally known to be offensive and some things that are only offensive to some people in some situations and some things it is unreasonable to be offended by?
There is a big difference between different words based on their historical context. If you actually are genuinely offended by the term doo doo head because of some past childhood trauma then I am sad for you but I don't think that's the case here and it is not reasonable to expect strangers on the internet to know about it if it is. However it is reasonable, given the well documented history, to expect people to know that the N word is going to cause offense especially among a sample size of 138,000.
You have whipped yourself up into such a frenzy over some comments on a mountain bike website you aren't even consistent with your dumb points of view. To use your own words "aannnddd.....TRIGGERED!".
That, in and of itself, is racist. The belief that black folks can use the N word, but no other race can? RACIST.
If it is a vile and offensive word (and it obviously is), it should be used by nobody.
Insults are insults. Insults are intended to put a person down. PERIOD. It is the INTENT that is evil, not the freaking word itself. Words cannot harm you, the intent can. You are so stupid you do not even understand the whole sticks and stones thing becuase you were indoctrinated as a liberal snowflake, likely with helicopter parents, who insulated you from the truth in order to spare your feelings. Get over it!
Are you going to pretend you thought it was ok to use that word until you read these comments?
Same way I know not to joke about the holocaust even though I wasn't born in Europe. You're ignorance doesn't absolve you of guilt, it just makes you ignorant as well as lazy, because it takes 10 seconds to learn about a word before using it.
myself...
Let this be a lesson to all of us not to use words we do not know the context and definition of. Also Amaury's apology came off way better than Charlie's...
To be clear: I'm not trying to make excuses on behalf of the people involved, just explain that it can be difficult to learn this - and many other nuances - of different languages and cultures. Sharing this widely is probably the best way to help educate others; I do expect better from public figures on this level!
I was absolutely oblivious to racism before i went there that time. I grew up in a small village that had African Americans as well as many many first nations, as well as being a melting pot of European immigrants, and up to that point i had honestly never seen or heard anything about people being different. I feel lucky to have grown up in such an accepting environment.
My thoughts on the N word. I think if you truly want to work toward true equality, this word has to disappear from everyone's mouths, not just white people. Black people using just promotes its continued use and does not promote a positive future.
But holy shit: gotta drop the guy. Can't have it. Simply cannot have it.