[LOCKED] OT: Coach Harbaugh meeting with UM Muslim students today re: American Sniper tweet
This was reported by The College Fix late yesterday, and appears in an Mlive article this morning:
Coach Harbaugh will meet today with a small group of Muslim students who protested the showing of American Sniper on campus, and who were upset by his Twitter post supporting the movie. I take this as further evidence of Harbaugh's character, no matter what your politics. We'll see what comes of it.
MOD EDIT - Locking this because I wouldn't even know where to begin to clean it up to make it politics-free. The search for nice things will continue. Man, you go to one meeting... - LSA
OP EDIT -
It is awesome to see JH is willing to meet face to face any critics he might have with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
everyone just looking for things to be upset about.
That feels like a misappropriation of Stewart, who by and large has criticized conservative jingoism surrounding American Sniper.
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True, but he wouldn't prevent the movie from being seen. He believes to his core in freedom of expression and speech.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslim deaths in the wrong country and it's just, like, my right to force people to become Evangelical Christians and hate gays and brown people and other degenerates is under constant attack in this country and these bitches be whining about nothing.
How about we recognize that JH is a football coach and, insofar as he wants to (mis)use his platform to make political pronouncements, it's his responsibility to answer to Michigan students who are upset about those pronouncements?
What political comment did he make beyond saying he would show the movie anyway? That was a free speech comment more than anything else. And as for the rest of your sentance, that was totally irrelevant BS.
I'm not sure that you understand how free speech works. He's free to say whatever he wants, but that doesn't mean there won't be unintended consequences. A person in his position especially should keep it to themselves.
People should "keep it to themselves?" Good to know, thanks.
Jim Harbaugh is a major figure and a representative of the university. If his opinion is going to offend people, he shouldn't say it.
He has every right, but that doesn't mean there won't be backlash. That's a responsibility that comes with the position he's in.
The assumption there being that it is better not to offend people.
Yeah, people in leadership positions shouldn't take the lead.
Knows precisely what he is doing. His focused goal is to make the University of Michigan's Football program the very best.
Harbaugh is the leader of the University of Michigan's football team. His stance on "American Sniper" is worthy of no more deference than your own.
"If his opinion is going to offend people, he shouldn't say it?"
Listen. Some people deserve to be offended.
Are they the people JH is addressing today? No comment. That's not what this thread is about.
I'm just saying that trying to silence someone because his opinion might offend people is wrong. Super wrong. Big, bad, DPRK wrong.
Silencing by triggered/offended/SJW groups happens all the time on college campuses these days, but that doesn't mean it's not a tyrannical approach that disenfranchises minorities and allows the privileged to persecute the powerless.
"Silencing by triggered/offended/SJW groups happens all the time on college campuses these days, but that doesn't mean it's not a tyrannical approach that disenfranchises minorities and allows the privileged to persecute the powerless."
Could you elaborate on that one?
Abraham Lincoln should have just kept his mouth shut because it offended people.
"If his opinion is going to offend people, he shouldn't say it."
So he should have no opinions, then? Because that's what you're saying.
if they don't want to accept the consequences, then you should keep it to yourself. This is not a free speech issue as no government agency limited any speech.
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what consequences? No one seems to be shirking anything.
If the consequences of free speech are a few ticked off students, I don't know how we'll ever survive.
The consequences of saying this are also that it supports and builds a culture wherein it somehow seems less wrong to kill or harm Arabic people (whether materially through discrimination against or physically) because they are associated with the enemy.
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I've seen plenty of movies about WWII and Vietnam. Nothing about them made me think it was ok to kill German, Japanese, or Vietnamese people outside the context of war.
You mean "Saving Private Ryan" didn't cause you to go out and shoot 20 Germans? That's just crazy talk.
Maybe we're far enough removed from WWII, and I know "made me think it was ok to kill" is obviously hyperbole, but you should hear some of the shit opinions people still have about the Vietnamese. It's not as bad as with people from the Middle East, but it can get downright disturbing at times.
Watch those movies about those wars during those war times and tell me if they could not have been able to get your juices flowin'....
"If the consequences of free speech are a few ticked of students, I don't know how we'll ever survive."
-Dave Brandon
Haha alright, fair. But think about how many students actually cared about this tweet.
Vs. protesting a few hundred strong on the Diag and not showing up to football games.
I guess it's kinda sad that that's where the priorities are for many students but at the same time it's absolutely ridiculous for a few students to cause a movie screening to be cancelled because they disagree with the content.
This statement seems to missunderstand how a college campus works. It's sole purpose is to build character and expose people to all views of life. I fail to see how showing a movie with a conservative tilt* infringes on that belief when the opposite occurs regularly.
*The above statement is not meant to draw attention, nor pronounce superiority, of any political ideology.
Even if we accept your characterization, it is still not the role of Athletic Department employees to make free speech comments. More generally, if there is a political controversy between students on campus--and over this film, there was--it is not the role of Athletic Department employees to weigh in taking sides.
Huh?
I said if it was a political commetn it only was a free speech comment at most. and free speech is not "taking sides" it is a universal standard.
Read his entire tweet. If you can't figure out that claiming to be unambiguously proud of Chris Kyle is a partisan move in this debate, well, read my comment downthread on why the movie is controversial if you haven't already. Beyond that, I really cannot help you.
I did forget that rest of the tweet, you're right. But that changes nothing of my point, which stands, that he has a right to do so. And does nothing to support your post about kiling brown peope and all the other BS you wrote.
I don't see anything wrong with being unambiguously proud of Chris Kyle. He enlisted in the armed forces and did his job very well.
Personally, I'm not "proud" of him because I have nothing to do with him. But if others are, I'm not going to argue.
original post: FULL OF RHETORIC STRAWMAN ANGER NONSENSICAL RHETORIC
next post: (calmly) let's strip away the rhetoric...
I didn't start the rhetoric. ND Sux did. I just amped it way the fuck up because I don't like it when people falsely pretend they're just being commonsensical. And I didn't ask everyone to strip the rhetoric away. I just did it for the person I was replying to, because the rhetoric was causing him to miss the point.
The world would be a better place if people with Michigan-apparel-wearing dog avatars would just get along!
He did insinuate that any American should support the film. Beyond that, the film has only 2 characters who are not terrorists and they are killed almost instantaneously. The main character refers to Muslims as savages throughout the film and they never distinguish between good and bad guys.
This may seem trivial to you but consider that threats and acts of violence against Muslims are increasing (see Chapel Hill and Tennessee from a couple days ago, etc).
Jim Harbaugh is a highly respected member of the community and his comments, unintentionally of course, galvanized many racists in the community to say hateful things on twitter and through emails to the Muslim students association on campus. They received many hateful and threatening messages. I hope that explains the concern to some degree. He has the right to enjoy the movie obviously but people have a right to take issue with him supporting it as a public employee making several million dollars a year with a prominent pedestal.
LOL. Do you think if we looked at it from the Muslim side, the Muslim "soldiers" or "fighters" or whatever would be saying "Aw, shucks. The guy I'm about to shoot is probably a really nice guy and I'm very sad that I must now pull a trigger and put a bullet through his brain. I am having a very bad day but I simply must do this to a great man."? Nope. Anybody who's in a war thinks the people on the other side are f****** a******* who deserve to die. Heck, Michigan players probably think that about Ohio State players and vice versa, so of course it's going to happen in war.
Why the hell would anyone be surprised that American soldiers are calling Iraqi fighters "savages"?
You seem to be proving the points above. I don't believe anything JH said promoted the war or any agenda other than honoring a soldier and his story of triumph, survival, and failure in the service of his country. Anything other than that can be attributed to personal biases.
I would hope that is what JH will explain to the students involved.
I upvoted you anyway. Yes, I just compared myself in this thread to John Adams. You may downvote me again.
They should have played this movie instead of American Sniper. It's fantastic and has Mr. Feeny.
like your posts but don't agree with this one. That, and I'm in a cross mood. Her'es a random gif for no reason.
"and it's just, like, my right to force people to become Evangelical Christians and hate gays and brown people and other degenerates is under constant attack in this country"
Neither the movie nor Jim Harbaugh promote this view. It's convenient when you make up an antogonist to shake your fist at, but it's a laughably incorrect world view.
It was a joke. The point of the joke is that there is a real thing these students were upset about, whether or not you think their ire was appropriately directed.
It's a silly thing to say, and as with many of your political rants, I'm dubious as to whether it really was a joke.
You make a good point about pointless/innocent muslim deaths in the wrong country (and even in the right country), the entire conflict is a world embarassment to my mind. Ongoing for years. But there are multiple views to that side, and inevitably gets political.
Harbaugh is meeting with students who objected when he spoke out about getting a film banned. This is exactly the kind of outreach and discussion that err'body needs to open up their arms and embrace.