Liam Neeson

[PatricksRum]

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/liam-neeson-rape-black-man-attack-cosh-cold-pursuit-sexual-assault-interview-a8760866.html

Why is The Independent acting so casual towards this blatant act of racism?

@derxa I was impressed. You're easily impressed. A sneering twit from one of the most privileged places in Scotland.

Nope. I'm judging him on what he said, and the evidence he offered. Novel approach for some.

MrsSmudge He made me ashamed to be Scottish.

It would have taken something very small to set Liam Neeson off. A black man would only have had to look at him funny, or got in his way and Liam would have taken that as a black man 'approaching' him.

The sad truth is that people are willing to tolerate much less from ethnic minorities than they would from their own kind.

I'm a bit gutted. Never thought I'd see the day Liam Neeson calmly regaled us all about that one time he was an unbridled bigoted racist.

@Bombardier25966 yes, that's a normal question from the police who are tasked with finding the culprit. If a friend told you he or she had been raped would your first question be "what colour was he?" If yes, I feel extremely sorry for your friends.

I'm a bit gutted. Never thought I'd see the day Liam Neeson calmly regaled us all about that one time he was an unbridled bigoted racist. Sadly yes

I was pissed off with piers Morgan and the broadcast of this incident on itv this morning. He really sticks the knife in people.
I think Neeson was brutally honest about how he felt at the time.
He asked his friend for a description of the person but she wasn’t able to identify him - then he asked the persons colour. I would do that.
Then he said he carried a cosh for a week and wanted to assault any black person - are we suggesting in a week he didn’t come across a black male? He must have done AND he didn’t assault anyone.
He will pay the price by what he said by his career being over.

@Mary1935 He didn't ask for a description, he asked what colour they were.
That's the second question you'd ask your friend, the victim?
I'm to believe he didn't encounter a black person otherwise this would be a very different article.

Is a footballer really qualified to have a more indepth opinion on this?

Liam Neeson is actually from a persecuted minority himself and he doesn't see it.

Everyone has an unconscious level of bias. Ever seen the film 'Crash'? It was one of the most deserving Oscar winners IMHO. The message I got from it is that we've all got the capability of being racist in certain circumstances and we can only fight racism if we acknowledge that. I don't know why Neeson chose to tell that story but it's a good opportunity to open up the discussion about racism.

Is a footballer really qualified to have a more indepth opinion on this?
FFS

He sticks the knife in people. GMB has become such a nasty negative programme. I always end up switching over.

We stereotype groups (Muslims in particular) due to the actions of a tiny minority of their population, yet we don't apply the same standards to others (mainly white people).

I disagree there. I think lots of people (me included at times) lump people together in one category.

People lump travellers together (white).

They lump polish together (white).

Catholic priests (white).

We can and do as a society group lots of people together, be they black, white, asian, what religion they belong to, what class they are.

Look what happens to the benefit programmes, where people lump white working/lower class 'benefit scroungers' all in one group.

This isn't just about racism, I think it goes beyond that, and talking about it should be a good thing. John Barnes is right, the media are hugely responsible.

And to the PP who asked why my friend who was brutally raped and left for dead by an asian man, avoided asian men afterwards...I don't think it takes much to work out why. And it's not racism.

The fact that John Barnes has come out in defence of Liam Neeson doesn't make Liam Neeson's comments any less racist in my eyes.

John Barnes is just one black man with a different opinion. He is not the voice of all black people.
Just like one black man who rapes a woman does not represent all other black men and make them all rapists.

People lump travellers together (white).

They lump polish together (white).

Catholic priests (white).

Um I hate to be the one to break it to you, but those people can be black as well and it's absolutely true that we don't lump white people together, even though white men commit the most violent crimes!

Barnes' nonsensical comments have not come as a great surprise to many of us within the Black community.

Question he needs to ask himself is would he have this same line of thinking if the attacker was white.

Well he has said he is ashamed of how he felt and he knows it was wrong - it was just anger that he felt at the time. Not a good idea to bare all to a newspaper.

I wonder what his motive was in baring his soul after all these years. I suspect he was expecting to be lauded for his honesty and how admirable it was that he realised he was in the wrong. Who would have thought that even a snake like Piers Morgan would label him a racist.

I also thought it was insulting to the people of NI when Neeson explained away his murderous racist plans as the result of growing up there.

So all black men are interchangeable are they?
Liam Neeson obviously réalises what he said was wrong now but I find it really unbelievable. It is such an illogical reaction.
I could understand revenge on the rapist himself, but not on any random black man.

And i do not understand why he has said this now? I’d be so ashamed if I ever thought similar I would want to never mention it again.

I saw a tweet with the audio of his interview - I must have missed this bit, but he said he "did that for about a week" - ie looked for a black man to murder. That's not what some ppl have tried to say is some "knee jerk" reaction! It's fucking calculated & sustained.

By airing that shit (whether he apologised or not) will serve to legitimise it for certain ppl. It already happens, but now Neeson's given it his stamp of fucking approval, there's more justification.

People lump travellers together (white).

They lump polish together (white).

Catholic priests (white).

But that's kind of the point, because it's about Othering. A white man can't hate other white men because he is white himself so he finds another category to lump the rapist into and say he's "other". In this case, to Liam Neeson, all black people are "other".

Yes, what he's said is honest, but it's always a batshit crazy way of thinking.

We all know what the biggest common denominator of rapist is - yet LN didn't go out seeking to kill any "male bastard" did he?

He's a white man. This won't end his career, in the way that it would have if he were a popular black actor saying he wanted to kill a white man.

Neeson openly mocked the #MeToo movement. Said kids being touched inappropriately by adults was no biggie, just par for the course in childhood.

That's all conveniently overlooked though, when it comes to defending racists.

On all the social media I have seen, there are many more women defending Neeson than there are men. Not that the men aren't equally as bad, but still.

It just goes to show that integrity is selective at best, hypocritically non-existent at worst

@Helendee

To be honest I felt pretty much the same after my son was mugged for the fifth time in as many weeks by guys who happened to be black.*

Another reason why my 16 year old is afraid to walk down his own streets, because white people blame him for everything other people do. And they feel justified in not just blaming him but if he crosses their paths, in hurting/killing him.

Thanks for letting me know. I've been negating his fear but really I should encourage it and applaud him for having foresight not to trust anyone with white skin, because they inherently will not trust him, without even knowing him.