this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024
224 points (95.5% liked)

News

23030 readers
3977 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler said he was sorry Thursday after the New York Times obtained photos of him wearing blackface about two decades ago at a college Halloween costume party where he dressed as Michael Jackson.

The images emerged as Lawler, a first-term Republican, is locked in a competitive reelection fight for his congressional seat in New York’s Hudson Valley.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lawler described himself as a lifelong Jackson superfan who was attempting to pay homage to the pop star.

The Times reported that the photo was taken in 2006 when Lawler was 20. In an image posted by the newspaper, Lawler can be seen wearing a red jacket and posing with an outstretched arm in one of Jackson’s signature dance moves. He used bronzer to darken his face.

top 37 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 59 points 23 hours ago (5 children)

The Times reported that the photo was taken in 2006 when Lawler was 20.

How was it that I was 29 in 2006 and yet I knew full well that blackface is fucking racist and don't ever wear it even if you're racist because there's a thing called the internet while this dumbfuck didn't?

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 38 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

GOP don't come to their politics because they're intelligent and thoughtful.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 13 points 22 hours ago

I realize I shouldn't be, but I still get surprised at how fucking stupid these idiots are.

[–] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 25 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I was 23 at that time. Went to college and was in Lambda Chi fraternity at a pretty popular school. Went to tons of parties for about a decade. Never once even heard or saw black face ever in my life until recently hearing about all these politicians that did it. It’s so bizarre.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

I don't ever remember seeing any blackface in college. Did I see bigoted stereotypical bullshit regarding Mexicans and Indigenous Americans? Absolutely. But even in Indiana, I didn't see blackface.

Also, I used to emcee comedy nights at a local club back then, so I saw a lot of college students in Halloween costumes. I don't ever remember blackface. I do remember seeing a group of girls dressed as all the main characters from The Dukes of Hazzard get up and sing Jesse's Girl at the karaoke night that came after the comedy night ended. That was fun.

[–] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

College was awesome without widespread internet use or camera phones. Feel bad for the kids now.

Regarding Mexicans, my Mexican stepmother sent me this video lol

https://youtu.be/IT2UH74ksJ4?si=0AWfK11mfI1IPoKF

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Your stepmother watches Prager U? I'm sorry.

[–] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 2 points 56 minutes ago

Pretty sure she sent us a Facebook version so I just searched for it.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 11 points 21 hours ago

Back in the 70s my mom went to a Halloween party as Aunt Jemima. It was in poor taste even back THEN.

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 8 points 21 hours ago

Oh, he knew.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 4 points 23 minutes ago

I was in high school in the 90's and I knew it was wrong. Nobody gets a pass beyond the 60's.

[–] Woht24@lemmy.world -3 points 37 minutes ago (1 children)

Do you really give a fuck he painted his face 18 years ago?

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 points 22 minutes ago

Yes. Because unless he later came out and apologized and demonstrated that he's changed then it speaks to his character.

[–] solidgrue@lemmy.world 37 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

From the thumbnail you'd think he was wearing Vanceface. Zoom in, remain unconvinced.

It's a distinction without a difference, I guess.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 22 hours ago

I honestly thought it was Vance at first.

[–] Myxomatosis@lemmy.world 10 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

They like beards because it hides the double chins and makes them look “masculine and alpha.”

[–] jewbacca117@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I was going to say something in defence of beards. But after looking at the picture, you are absolutely right.

[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 6 points 20 hours ago

I don't think these double chin hiders that look like they were drawn on with a sharpie count as beards

[–] simplejack@lemmy.world 30 points 22 hours ago (3 children)
[–] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 15 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Ok but he did kinda go for it

[–] protist@mander.xyz 13 points 21 hours ago

It's not tasteful, but you're right

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 13 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

Looks much closer to Freddy Mercury really

Either way— super fucking racist

[–] Wiz@midwest.social 1 points 9 minutes ago

He could have easily been Freddie Mercury, but then he decided to go to extra trouble to be racist.

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 2 points 34 minutes ago

I have seen multiple "news" articles today about photos where they don't include the photo. What the fuck is going on with these news sites?!? If there is a photo lead with that.

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 21 hours ago

Guess his party affiliation without opening his link. You'll be correct.

[–] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 19 points 22 hours ago (4 children)

Where in the United States was blackface OK in the 90s and 2000s? That kinds of photos seem to turn up pretty regularly.

[–] ysjet@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago

Nowhere. Nowhere was it acceptable.

If they did acceptable things, they wouldn't have been republican in the first place.

It was a time before everyone had a camera with them 24/7. The racists didn't have to worry as much

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago

New York's Hudson Valley apparently.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 2 points 16 minutes ago

Backwoods areas and Christian/Libertarian Universities that catered to conservative students.

[–] recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca 19 points 23 hours ago

he's sorry he got caught

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 7 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I'm glad there aren't any photos of me when I was 20

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 27 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

There are plenty of photos of me at 20. And I'm doing dumb shit in plenty of them. I'm doing dumb racist shit in precisely zero of them.

It really didn't take any effort to not be racist.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 6 points 20 hours ago

We were fucking abhorrent and the entire point was to show your friend group you trusted them.

going to this much effort isn't that of course but America likes to dial these things up to 11 so who knows, could be a Skull and Bones thing.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 points 15 minutes ago

I will say growing up where I did it took some effort, but not that much. Once you know whose racist and not to be listened to it's a lot easier. It's that time before you figure that out that's dangerous.

[–] jmsy@lemmy.world 6 points 11 hours ago

great. now his popularity will increase with republicans

[–] eran_morad@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago

lol. Of course, (R).