Link to original post: [drupal=4085]What really bothers me about the racist UCLA girl video.[/drupal]
Recently, this video went viral all over the net. It spawned some outrage, and plenty of hilarious response videos. Why wouldn't it? A girl chose to take a reasonable generic issue, people being too loud in the library during finals week, and attach that to a specific race. Thats racism plain and simple and it is appalling, but that is not why I am writing this blog.
I am writing this as a warning about and critique of modern online culture. Soon after this video went viral, the girl's real name was discovered and the entire online world knew who she was. I googled her name and of course a slew of pages regarding the incident and its backlash appeared. She mentioned in her video that her major is political science. A short 3 minute video has ruined this girl's future. Her name will forever be etched into the internet as the "racist white UCLA girl."
Her degree will be useless. She won't be able to get a real job especially a highly public relations centric field like Political Science. A normal step in the employment process is to google a person's name. (My own office has passed over interviewing people based on what is public on their facebook page). The first page that appeared after I googled it was about how the dean of her college decried the statement. Her social circles will most likely view her as a black sheep. People will recognize her. The next few weeks her public life will be the target of jeers and pointing and laughing. She can apologize, but it won't change the damage done.
Before this incident, I imagine her youtube channel probably had less than 100 views. She never intended to release it to the world. She never intended to offend so many people. She wanted to make a video to her friends. She made a supremely bad judgement call. She was angry and used youtube to rant, a situation that has happened countless times on the internet. I've seen smashers do it on occasion. It just so happens that her rant was filled with racism.
I've honestly heard much MUCH worse racist speech from people I have encountered. However, the forums for their speech allowed these people to go on living their lives normally. She foolishly released it to the web and subsequently ruined her life.
What she said was wrong. No reasonable person can condone it. However, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. The consequences from this will haunt her forever. While she feels this backlash, there are politicians who feel it is right to protest Muslim charity events calling the attendees terrorists (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSgirNjyiRo). These people hold public office and aren't receiving nearly as much backlash. They encourage a message of hate while this girl harbors nothing more than annoyance, yet she will feel the resounding consequences of her moderate folly for much longer and will have it much harder than those who actually deserve our scorn.
The internet as a community is fickle. Some videos get massive attention while similar videos fail to make the mainstream. Your video could be next. The internet doesn't forget anything and all that information is readily available to your dates, friends, parents, grandparents, employers, coworkers, and peers. So all you avid facebook users, bloggers, vloggers, and anyone who puts public opinions on the internet, heed this story as a caveat to "think before you post".
Recently, this video went viral all over the net. It spawned some outrage, and plenty of hilarious response videos. Why wouldn't it? A girl chose to take a reasonable generic issue, people being too loud in the library during finals week, and attach that to a specific race. Thats racism plain and simple and it is appalling, but that is not why I am writing this blog.
I am writing this as a warning about and critique of modern online culture. Soon after this video went viral, the girl's real name was discovered and the entire online world knew who she was. I googled her name and of course a slew of pages regarding the incident and its backlash appeared. She mentioned in her video that her major is political science. A short 3 minute video has ruined this girl's future. Her name will forever be etched into the internet as the "racist white UCLA girl."
Her degree will be useless. She won't be able to get a real job especially a highly public relations centric field like Political Science. A normal step in the employment process is to google a person's name. (My own office has passed over interviewing people based on what is public on their facebook page). The first page that appeared after I googled it was about how the dean of her college decried the statement. Her social circles will most likely view her as a black sheep. People will recognize her. The next few weeks her public life will be the target of jeers and pointing and laughing. She can apologize, but it won't change the damage done.
Before this incident, I imagine her youtube channel probably had less than 100 views. She never intended to release it to the world. She never intended to offend so many people. She wanted to make a video to her friends. She made a supremely bad judgement call. She was angry and used youtube to rant, a situation that has happened countless times on the internet. I've seen smashers do it on occasion. It just so happens that her rant was filled with racism.
I've honestly heard much MUCH worse racist speech from people I have encountered. However, the forums for their speech allowed these people to go on living their lives normally. She foolishly released it to the web and subsequently ruined her life.
What she said was wrong. No reasonable person can condone it. However, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. The consequences from this will haunt her forever. While she feels this backlash, there are politicians who feel it is right to protest Muslim charity events calling the attendees terrorists (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSgirNjyiRo). These people hold public office and aren't receiving nearly as much backlash. They encourage a message of hate while this girl harbors nothing more than annoyance, yet she will feel the resounding consequences of her moderate folly for much longer and will have it much harder than those who actually deserve our scorn.
The internet as a community is fickle. Some videos get massive attention while similar videos fail to make the mainstream. Your video could be next. The internet doesn't forget anything and all that information is readily available to your dates, friends, parents, grandparents, employers, coworkers, and peers. So all you avid facebook users, bloggers, vloggers, and anyone who puts public opinions on the internet, heed this story as a caveat to "think before you post".
