Liam Neeson (1952- ), a White US actor, was Schindler in “Schindler’s List” (1993), Michael Collins in “Michael Collins” (1996), Kinsey in “Kinsey” (2004), and also Zeus, the voice of Aslan, and, now, an aging action hero.
“Schindler’s List”, a film about the Holocaust, is easily one of the best films on the nature of racism. Since it was about racism in an enemy state of the English-speaking world, there was no attempt to gaslight it, to make excuses for it, to tell us we were imagining things. Neeson himself grew up as part of a violently persecuted minority (Catholics) in his native Northern Ireland.
This week Neeson gave one of his most memorable performances, this time as himself.
On February 4th 2019, in talking to the Independent about his latest film, “Cold Pursuit” (2019), he said of a friend’s rape:
“I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.
“I went up and down areas with a cosh [a kind of club], hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some ‘black bastard’ [in air quotes] would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could [pause…] kill him.”
The next day on US television he repeated the story:
“there were some nights when I went out into black areas in the city looking to be set upon so I could unleash physical violence. … And I did for … I’d say maybe four or five times until I caught myself on, and it really shocked me, this primal urge that I had.”
and then added:
“I’m not racist.”
Huh? How is he not racist? At that rate the Klan and all those lynch mobs were not racist either. Nor Hitler. What, only because he failed to kill anyone? Racism now requires a body count?
Actress Michelle Rodriguez explains:
“Dude, have you watched ‘Widows’? His tongue was so far down Viola Davis’s throat. You can’t call him a racist ever. Racists don’t make out with the race that they hate, especially in the way he does with his tongue – so deep down her throat. I don’t care how good of an actor you are. It’s all bullshit. Ignore it. He’s not a racist. He’s a loving man. It’s all lies.”
Huh? At that rate Thomas Jefferson and all those other White slave masters who went way beyond sticking just their tongues into Black women, are not racist either.
Even some Black people have come to his defence.
Whoopi Goldberg was the worst (so far):
“I’ve been around a lot of real bigots. I can say this man is not one … You can’t be surprised that somebody whose loved one is attacked is angry and wants to go out an[d] attack.”
Which misses the whole point of what made it racist: Neeson was not seeking revenge against the rapist himself, but against anyone Black.
– Abagond, 2019.
See also:
- gaslighting
- The r-word
- The term “racially tinged”
- Was Hitler racist in his heart?
- Racist Uncles – uncles can be racist, but not someone as mainstream and accepted as Liam Neeson.
- Viola Davis
- Schindler’s List
- “stereotypes have some truth to them” – mainly as psychological projections
- Black Brute stereotype
- White Brute stereotype – not a stereotype
- Jefferson
- The Chronicles of Narnia – Aslan’s realm
582
“Neeson was not seeking revenge against the rapist himself, but against anyone Black”
Exactly.
But the good people know what’s in his heart.
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Neeson publicly baring a dark part of his soul, seeking absolution from a White person’s deadliest sin: Racism. His confession poisons the air.
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Here’s some first-rate racist bullshit I’m about to share with you. White people are racist overtly and not so overtly. I like Liam Neeson, but not once did I believe he wasn’t racist. He’s never acted with Black folk. His movies are geared toward the broader whiter audience. PLEASE FOR FUCK’S SAKE STOP THINKING THESE PEOPLE LIKE US. You are free to admire their body of work or whatever but stop with your feelings being hurt, because they say something so casually callous and are lost to the implications of what they said.
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“Neeson was not seeking revenge against the rapist himself, but against anyone Black”
So, how hard was it for him to find somebody Black to exact revenge?
“Huh? How is he not racist? At that rate the Klan and all those lynch mobs were not racist either. Nor Hitler. What, only because he failed to kill anyone? Racism now requires a body count?”
It makes a huge difference. He failed to kill someone because he wasn’t committed to the task, the same can’t be said of Hitler, lynch mobs or the Klan. If you can’t see the difference then you should seek help.
Compare his action to that of Ben Chaney, the younger brother of James Chaney, one of the three civil rights workers murdered during Freedom Summer by members of the Ku Klux Klan near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Mr. Chaney joined “the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. In 1970, he went to Florida with two friends to buy guns; the two friends killed men in South Carolina and Florida, and Chaney was also convicted of murder in Florida. Chaney served 13 years and, after gaining parole, founded the James Earl Chaney Foundation in his brother’s honor. Since 1985, he has worked “as a legal clerk for the former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the lawyer who secured his parole”.” If every racist acted like Neeson I wouldn’t have a problem with them.
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“I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person…”
Why would he ask the color of the rapist and not for a description of the rapist? Sounds like intent/desire to direct his anger towards someone of color if there was a chance.
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Why is all these white folks shenanigans happening during Black History month?
Why can’t we have some joy for just a little while. First all the black face idiocy, and now this. I really liked Neeson as an actor and i really could have lived my life not knowing about his dark, racist revenge a**holery.
Many a black person has died because of actions like this. Since we are in the culture of canceling celebrities when they say or do something we disagree with or don’t like, I will have to give serious consideration in the future of supporting his work. It’s a shame because i liked him as an actor.
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When he asked “What color was the attacker” this sent him into a frenzy. If the attacker had beenwhite would he have gotten his weapon, A cos. I had to google that. So a cos is like a steel baton. So he was going to go out in the streets and attack random black men. I guess I should not be surprised that an white Irish man of his age would be harboring racist thoughts like that.
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Michelle Rodriguez is a clown. And Whoopi Goldberg who was dating Ted Danson who showed up to a Hollywood event in black face, another clown stick.
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This post is painfully ignorant. People change. I myself have gone through cycles of hatred towards white folks. He was speaking about an incident from forty years ago for Christ sake! At least he has the courage to speak his truth. I respect that ten x’s more than the racist supremacist PC troll culture that uses code words and backwards logic to cover up their blatant bigotry.
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Interesting to see the reaction to Liam Neeson’s unsolicited acknowledgment of his racism and his expression of shame and remorse for it at the same time as so many activists and pundits are saying that Northam should have “come clean” about his use of blackface before being caught at it. Yes, Northam should resign, and his handling of this scandal has been pitiful to see, but does anyone really think that he would’ve been met with anything but shaming and shunning if he’d stepped forward before getting caught?
In a society built on and permeated with white supremacy, white people who haven’t harbored racist ideas and impulses will be a distinct minority. If we want to eradicate racism, instead of just picking off individual racists one at a time, we as a society will need to come up with a path of rehabilitation that doesn’t coddle whites, but leads to real reconciliation. Shaming and shunning seems to drive racist ideas into hiding, but does little to actually change the systems that keep supremacy in business.
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I often think, what if institutionalized white supremacy got as much of our attention, as individualized white supremacy does? If the individual act comes from an entertainer, then our attention is off the charts. I will yield to the attention and comment on this issue.
Can thoughts make someone a white supremacist? Absolutely they can.
This dude had some violent white supremacist-driven thoughts, which he says he did not act on. Would he admit it, if he had? No way. Having the thought of engaging in race-based violence, but not practicing (as far as we know) those thoughts gives Neeson an out for some people. Whether his white supremacist thoughts influenced other actions apparently does not matter to those people, who obviously do not know Neeson’s entire history.
Would Neeson have dared to reveal these thoughts 10-15 years ago? I doubt it.
The elephant in the room people are not discussing is how the overall racial climate in the United States is influenced by the white supremacist backlash which escalated with the election of Trump. Trump did not start it, but he has clearly exacerbated it. Many white people feel emboldened to say and do things within the context of white supremacy. Add Neeson’s name to the list.
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If his twisted, rage-induced logic was to inflict violence on a person who had some physical similarity with the rapist, why not look for “some rat-bastard man”? Or “some rat-bastard 30-year old man”? Or “some rat-bastard man about 5’10″”? Why is the only physical characteristic that mattered to his decision to sort humans into potential targets, or not, the color of the alleged rapist’s skin?
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Again, not surprised.
Ok, he said he didn’t actually kill.
Perhaps a few other like-minded people (aka a mob) might have helped?
Anyway, call me a cynic but he’s doing publicity tours for his movie and he repeated this story multiple times. He’s getting exactly what he wanted: attention.
IMO, he wagered that such an admission would not be enough to seriously hurt him in the current climate and would get people talking. Mission accomplished because people are talking and celebrity friends are rushing to confirm that he’s still “good people”.
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[…] Liam Neeson wanted to take revenge on any black person because one black man raped his friend. Yes, that’s racist. Would it be okay if black people took revenge against all white people for all the white men who raped black women with impunity all throughout history? So much so that most African-Americans are part white from white males? What about the rape of black women by white men today? If it would be unacceptable and wrong to blame all white men for raping black women, so it’s unacceptable and wrong for Liam Neeson to do that to black men. I’m tired of all black people being made to pay for the wrongdoing of a small minority, while white people get the luxury of being individuals. via Liam Neeson […]
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@kngjah91
He’s using the incident to rile up hate which somehow coincides with promoting his movie. You are saying people do not have a right to be angry and concerned?
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The way Neeson describes, I’m guessing Ireland, with it’s black areas is why disdain for people of color who have to settle in Europe. You have no political rebuttal other then if your country or countries were colonized and exploited. You are pretty much at the ultimate mercy of Europeans (white).
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An SOS, plain and simple. The only thing to debate is the degree to which they are a white supremacist, which they all are to varying degrees.
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Black man white woman then white man’s rage, seems like a familiar story.
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Goldberg was already confirmed a coon when she talked about wanting “Song of the South” to come back.
Its funny how he wanted any random black guy to go at him just so he could have an excuse to kill him. That’s how a lot of these white supremacists think. They instigate a situation to have an “excuse”.
Neeson told a lot more about himself than he thinks. 😛
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@Herneith
“An SOS, plain and simple. The only thing to debate is the degree to which they are a white supremacist, which they all are to varying degrees.”
Absolutely.
That’s my take too.
Any black person who has ever felt their self-esteem challenged in the tiniest way by the prevailing attitudes should understand this. White people are immersed in the same culture except that from their perspective the negatives pertain to “those people” not themselves. Those beliefs should take root much more easily in that case.
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Listen, folks, stop using acceptance by whites as a barometer of self-esteem. The only vindication you need from them is if they are signing your paycheck or providing you with an income or source of income. An honest white person will admit their white supremacist leanings and try to counteract them, not lie or try to talk themselves out of it… I’m referring to anti-black white supremacy of course, that is the direst, and is something they have spread throughout the world via colonialism slavery etc.
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The context within which he made those comments speaks volumes. Was he expecting a trophy?
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