October 9, 20215 yr I like Kaat but he's an old man. I appreciate he didn't go with "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" and stuck to "I used hurtful language and I'm sorry".
October 9, 20215 yr 20 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said: I like Kaat but he's an old man. I appreciate he didn't go with "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" and stuck to "I used hurtful language and I'm sorry". I'm closer to his age than yours, so I can relate a little bit to a slip of the tongue that harkens back to older usages. (I still trip up and say "stewardess" when "flight attendant" has been the preferred term for decades now.) But honestly I have no idea where in his memory banks he pulled that phrase - I chalk it up to a casual racism in his youth that would have been a bit shocking to encounter even by the time I arrived on the scene 15 years later. Because I feel like Kaat's basically a good human being, I'll be an optimist and say that maybe it shows we have made some progress as a society in his lifespan. But that doesn't excuse the words he used, and his apology seems to reflect that he understands how ugly they were.
October 9, 20215 yr Author Is what he said s*****? Yes. Am I also used to "old" people calling me "Oriental" instead of "Asian"? Also yes
October 9, 20215 yr 46 minutes ago, ashbury said: I'm closer to his age than yours, so I can relate a little bit to a slip of the tongue that harkens back to older usages. (I still trip up and say "stewardess" when "flight attendant" has been the preferred term for decades now.) But honestly I have no idea where in his memory banks he pulled that phrase - I chalk it up to a casual racism in his youth that would have been a bit shocking to encounter even by the time I arrived on the scene 15 years later. Because I feel like Kaat's basically a good human being, I'll be an optimist and say that maybe it shows we have made some progress as a society in his lifespan. But that doesn't excuse the words he used, and his apology seems to reflect that he understands how ugly they were. Same. I also ran that phrase through various scenarios and came up with no even remotely justified usages of it. It's probably a holdover because let's face it, Kaat was well into elementary school by the time Jackie donned a Dodgers uniform. He surely has a head full of truly unfortunate phrases and thinking. But he apologized and it seemed real. Hopefully he's a touch more careful from now on and we can all move on instead of trying to crucify an 82 year old man who grew up in a wildly different era. He seems like a genuinely decent guy so I hope this doesn't spiral out of control.
October 15, 20215 yr On 10/9/2021 at 12:02 PM, Brock Beauchamp said: I like Kaat but he's an old man. I appreciate he didn't go with "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" and stuck to "I used hurtful language and I'm sorry". Another age reference. Might want to be a little more nuanced.
October 15, 20215 yr 8 hours ago, Linus said: Another age reference. Might want to be a little more nuanced. I’m in my 40s and have a bunch of super problematic language bouncing around in my skull because that’s the era I grew up in. Kaat is no different, except even more so. Acknowledging those exist is the only way to progress.
Create an account or sign in to comment