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Uh. You step aside. You say "Please don't" or "Let's talk, what's happening here?" If your friends are backing you up with taunts and jeers, say, "Be cool, guys. You're not helping." There is no rule that you stand and smirk and escalate. Unless you get off on it (Cont'd)
...And have grown up knowing that you won't be punished for being an aggro fight picker, and in fact have been rewarded for it. But let's take the most charitable explanation and suggest the guy didn't know WHAT to do, Sure (cont'd)....
There was a lot of bad energy in that moment. He and his friends had just been called some bad names. They all had their fight up and were egging each other on. He made a bad call and couldn't get over his big smirk energy. I honestly would understand BUT (cont'd)
...the NEXT thing you do, if you are not an asshole, is you say: I made a mistake. I stood my ground because I panicked and didn't know what to do, but.... (cont'd)
....I totally get why a young white guy staring down a Native American, smiling at him like he's a thing, while the rest of my all-but-one white guy posse cheers me on, might look bad. (Con'td)
It might even look like the embodiment of the long history of dehumanizing the native population of this continent that led to their near extermination at the hands of young men who looked like me... (Cont'd)
Maybe you don't need to say all that. Maybe you just need to say: it was a bad situation, I made a bad call in the moment, I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable, and I apologize to Nathan Phillips, whatever his intentions were. What you DO NOT do, if you are not an asshole..
Is hire a PR firm to argue in bad faith that you were, in fact, The Real Victim, and no one actually saw what they saw, and none of it happened except for silent prayer for peace my PR guy and I agreed was what I should say was happening in my head.
So yeah, there were a lot of other options both before, during, and after the encounter. (Cont'd)
Indeed there were MANY MANY options available after the encounter to a young white man with access to power and money, INCLUDING hijacking the news with this doesn't-pass-the-smell test victim/hero story that would NOT be available to someone without those privileges (Cont'd)
Because if a group of non-white-dudes pulled this same stunt, their only option would be to branded as thugs and criminals, or if they were women, hysterics, and every one on this dumb website calling Sandmann an innocent would be calling for their incarceration or worse...
And if you dispute that, then I shall quote MOONRISE KINGDOM and say, "I love you but you do not know what you're talking about." And if you truly don't see what is objectionable about all their behavior overall, well, I'm not sure I love you.
I abuse threading, I admit it, but twitter gave me this tool. I don't like arguing here; mostly it's a waste of the universe's time. But this is something I feel strongly about, and I see you follow me, so I am answering your question in the fullness of my convictions...
I have said everything I need to here, so if it displeases you, just please unfollow me and we'll call it a day between us. Signed: JOHN HODGMAN.
