or being portrayed as racist? First we had the Rudyesk, "Gay isn't natural" conversation, and then, did anyone notice when he was talking about lazy bones, he said he wanted to karate chop him?

Just wondering what you guys think - is he being set up as a bad/racist guy, or am I reading too much into things?

• RE: Is Roger racist?,dabo, 04:12 PM, 03-03-03
  • RE: Is Roger racist?,DeadInTheWater, 01:16 AM, 03-04-03
    • RE: Is Roger racist?,dabo, 02:01 AM, 03-04-03
• RE: Is Roger racist?,dajaki, 04:52 PM, 03-03-03
  • RE: Is Roger racist?,ivoryElephant, 00:30 AM, 03-04-03
• Playing Devil's Advocate,SurvivinDawg, 07:37 AM, 03-04-03
  • RE: Playing Devil's Advocate,ElroyJetson, 08:01 AM, 03-04-03
    • RE: Playing Devil's Advocate,SurvivinDawg, 08:25 AM, 03-04-03
• Everyone is racist...,ElroyJetson, 07:54 AM, 03-04-03
  • RE: Everyone is racist...,SurvivinDawg, 08:23 AM, 03-04-03
• This sums it up,SurvivinDawg, 09:34 AM, 03-04-03
  • RE: This sums it up,dabo, 09:50 AM, 03-04-03
    • RE: This sums it up,SurvivinDawg, 11:07 AM, 03-04-03

Roger is a homophobe, definitely, though in the intollerant range of the spectrum rather than the hateful extreme. As far as racism goes, Roger grew up with the Vietnam War, and a lot of anti-Asian racism was fairly common back then, so it may be unconscious on his part that "karate chop" had racist implications. I'm more concerned about his being so violence-prone, you know. But no, you are not reading too much into things, Roger is an ism-matic player, and a bit of a B.B. as well as Rudyesque.

ARRRRRRR!!!!

According to Roger's bio, not only did he grow up with the Vietnam War, but he served there during his military career. That leads me to think his comment was racist in nature.

uhh.... Yeah, that's what I meant! Demonizing the enemy during war was/is SOP, really, and the longer the war the more ingrained it seems to become. Not that that is any excuse, but it is a different context than being genuinely racist (with which it can coincide, obviously). Clearly, then, Roger is a warmonger as well as being an ism-matic homophobie and bossy. And that's on his best behavior .... Where does MB find these guys!!!

ARRRRRRR!!!!

I also think that Roger, being in a camp largely full of younger, stronger, taller men, is trying to stay as tough looking and sounding as possible. He doesn't want anyone to doubt that he could open a serious can of whoop-a$$ if he wanted to do so.

I don't think he's necessarily a racist, but he is a doofus.

Roger=Racist

"To the other three out there, break a leg.... and I mean it." - Helen Glover

Congratulations Alex winner of S6

First of all, I really think the word "homophobe" is a misnomer. The "phobe" part means "fear", and I don't think Roger *fears* homosexuals. He just thinks that homosexuality is wrong, in accordance to the religious values he obviously holds. In fact, his attitude that sex is only for procreation reinforces my evaluation of his values and attitudes.

Second, I don't care to start or get into a huge debate on homosexuality here, as that has already happened here and elsewhere. Having said that: Call Roger a bigot if you want, but last I checked he's an American and has as much right to his opinion as the rest of us.

Third, yes I think MB is portraying him in as bad a light as possible. Since MB doesn't have any black men to abuse in this fashion, he goes for Roger.

Fourth, as to the "kung fu chop" statement: While some of you see that as an ugly, bigoted statement, and while I do think Roger said it with the knowledge that Daniel is Asian, I think Roger was actually meaning it as a half-humorous, half-frustrated play on words. Now if YOU (yes YOU reading this) hear the words "kung fu" and you DON'T think of Asians, then you obviously haven't seen any movies that clearly "stereotype" Asians as being practitioners of the martial arts, from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan. So while I'm not defending Roger, and he may be predjudiced against Asians, I don't think it can be automatically assumed from that one statement.

Fifth, and last, someone suggested they were worried about Roger being "violent" because of the kung fu chop remark. Come on, all of us have gotten angry at someone and thought "I just wanna kill that guy!" or "I just wanna slap the crap outta that person!", etc. Of course, very few of us act on the principle. Roger was just expressing frustration with Daniel's laziness and refusal to work with the group. So let's not paint Roger with a wide brush as a homicidal maniac just yet...


Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Amen to your second point SD. Roger only has to tolerate homosexuality. He doesn't have to accept it or condone it.

To nit-pick: He doesn't really have to tolerate it being thrown in his face, either. And he clearly didn't in the show by expressin his beliefs and arguing with Alex about it.

What he does need to do is look after his own molehill and let the mountains take care of themselves.

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

...to some degree. It is genetically encoded in us to be comfortable around those that are like us and to distrust those that are different. From the days of the barbarians, celts, visigoths, american indians and britons thru the middle ages to today. People will go to war and kill each other JUST because they are different. Look at Bosnia.

Not to condone Roger's behavior since in polite society we should look beyond our differences and not point them out. However, we are KEENLY aware of our differences. Its what defines us and makes us individuals.

If you think you are not racist, you are kidding yourself. How do you feel when you are in a strange neighborhood? How do you feel when you walk into a room full of people that aren't your race? You see, its programmed. And unfortunately, no amount of congressional legislation can change how we are wired. But its up to us to try to look past it.

Again, there are degrees of racism. Maybe we can call Roger a "blatant racist" or an "over-the-top racist." But we are all racist.

Just my two cents....

I think you mean to say that everyone is "predjudiced" in some way.

Racism is defined by Merriam-Webster Online as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

Predjudice is defined as "an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics" (among other definitions in a more legal sense).

So the two are slightly different.

And what I think you're REALLY trying to say is that everyone discriminates in some way. When we go to the store and buy one product over another, we have discriminated. When we buy one model of car over another, we have discriminated. When a boss hires one person and not another, be it for experience, merit, family ties, or ethnicity reasons, that boss has discriminated. Obviously, some discrimination is better than other types.

I am not a racist, I don't believe that Georgia Bulldogs are inherently better than everyone else (but on the merits they are ). Okay, more seriously, I don't think that one race of people is "better" or "worse" than others. But I do have strong prejudices against anyone who refuses to work and/or refuses to use his human mind for productive work or the betterment of himself and his life. (Note: "his" being non-gender-specific there).

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

LAST EDITED ON 03-04-03 AT 09:36 AM (EST)

I think this pretty well sums it all up:

Edited to add: I meant this to be a link to the pic, not the pic itself. Sorry about that. Credits to GalacticCowGirl, whose site is really hilarous.

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Way too big, can you just describe it for those of us who find the download drag a major bummer?

Like I said, I meant for it to be a link, not the actual pic. Sumimasen.

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged