[BLOG-LIKE POSTING] On Buju Banton, homophobia, and racism

[rfmcdpei]

Buju Banton, a Jamaican reggae star perhaps best known outside reggae fandom for homophobia, whether the murderous sentiments expressed in songs like "Boom Bye Bye" ("World is in trouble/Anytime Buju Banton come/Batty bwoy get up an run/At gunshot me head back") or for his joining in a mob assault on gay men in Jamaica, has been arrested on cocaine

Comments

[talktooloose]

No. Bullshit. I can call Buju Banton a homophobic scum without that comment being racist. I hold everyone to the same standard of behaviour, and that is a demonstration of my belief in the equality of all.

Just because racist supporters of gay rights act in a racist manner does mean that my condemnation is racist.

[absinthe_dot_ca]

This. No argument from this quarter.

[rfmcdpei]

But it does to a notable extent: racist gay-rights supporters form part of the same movement as non-racist gay-rights supporters.

[rdi]

That doesn't imply a direct correspondence between support for gay rights and support for bigotry.

Some Xs are Y. Some Xs are not Y. Therefore: if X, then Y and not Y. reductio ad absurdum.

[rfmcdpei]

There isn't a correspondence for many people, but there is a correspondence between support for gay rights and bigotry, at least among the commenters at Joe. My. God, hence in the gay rights movement as a whole.

[rdi]

"Some Xs are Y" does not imply "All Xs are Y".

I just scanned the comments and counted less than a dozen anti-Jamaican comments out of 156; some of those were anonymous and one commenter was responsible for more than one.

Also, I wouldn't say the commenters on that topic at JMG are representative of the queerosphere as a whole. It's too small a sample to generalize from.