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Former Miss Alabama Suspended Calling Dallas Sniper a ‘Martyr’

antiquity

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Kalyn Chapman James, the first black Miss Alabama, has been placed on administrative leave from her job at South Florida PBS station WPBT2 after posting a video in which she called Dallas sniper Micah Xavier Johnson a “martyr.”

“I’m dealing with a bit of guilt, because I don’t feel sad for the officers that lost their lives — and I know that that’s really not my heart,” James said in a video made Sunday via Facebook Live, referencing the five Dallas police officers shot and killed by Johnson at a demonstration against police brutality.

Ex-Miss Alabama Calls Dallas Sniper a 'Martyr' (Video)

Do you agree with her and if you do....why?
 
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Do you agree with her and if you do....why?

Hells no he wasn't a martyr. And if you want to be in the public eye and stay there as part of a profession, then you shouldn't make dumbass comments like that.
 
Do you agree with her and if you do....why?

While she's free to express her opinion her employer should be equally free to sever ties with her if they believe that her publicly expressed opinions might damage their brand and business.
 
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Do you agree with her and if you do....why?

No, I don't sabre with her. He wasn't a martyr. He was a cold-blooded murderer. Too bad she was just suspended. Ought to be fired.
 
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Do you agree with her and if you do....why?

Hell no I don't agree with her. Killing innocent policemen who did nothing wrong does not make him a "martyr". It makes him a cold-blooded murderer.
 
So, I was all ready to condemn her but then I went and watched the video. While she says she feels that way she feels guilty for feeling that way, knows it is wrong to feel that way, and doesn't WANT to feel that way. And seems pretty distraught over her lack of sympathy. That is a level of introspection most people don't have. It is hard for me to be too upset with her.
 
And as for martyr? I never really viewed the word as having a moral conotation. A martyr is just someone who gives their life for a cause. The cause can be just or unjust.
 
So, I was all ready to condemn her but then I went and watched the video. While she says she feels that way she feels guilty for feeling that way, knows it is wrong to feel that way, and doesn't WANT to feel that way. And seems pretty distraught over her lack of sympathy. That is a level of introspection most people don't have. It is hard for me to be too upset with her.

I feel pretty much the same way. I've been known to have certain thoughts that immediately made me feel guilty and torn and hating myself for them, so I can't judge her too harshly. That said, actions and the things we say have consequences. She chose to put that on Facebook for the whole world to see and I have no issues at all with her employer's decision to suspend her.
 
So, I was all ready to condemn her but then I went and watched the video. While she says she feels that way she feels guilty for feeling that way, knows it is wrong to feel that way, and doesn't WANT to feel that way. And seems pretty distraught over her lack of sympathy. That is a level of introspection most people don't have. It is hard for me to be too upset with her.

Recognizing a failing, yet doing nothing about it other than recognizing it, does not make that failing acceptable. She still feels and thinks the same way, that the murderer is a martyr, which is not acceptable, regardless of how she supposedly dislikes the fact that she feels and thinks that way.

I could tell you I didn't want to shoot you in the head, and that I know it's wrong for me to do it, and that it pains me, and hurts me, and makes me cry... but if I still shoot you in the head, nothing else matters at that point. And, nothing she says to equivocate or mitigate her thoughts, feelings, and words, matters at this point. She thinks the murderer is a martyr for black people by murdering and maiming white police officers, and that overshadows and outweighs everything else she may say in an attempt to mitigate her saying he is a martyr.

She is a racist by such declarations, and should be fired, not just suspended.

If someone would say the exact same things she said, but said them about James Earl Ray, what would be the result?
 
I feel pretty much the same way. I've been known to have certain thoughts that immediately made me feel guilty and torn and hating myself for them, so I can't judge her too harshly. That said, actions and the things we say have consequences. She chose to put that on Facebook for the whole world to see and I have no issues at all with her employer's decision to suspend her.

Fully agree. I sympathize with her internal struggle. But she seems smart enough to know that making that public could affect her public career. I don't have a problem with the suspension.
 
Well...she does not even seem to know what a martyr is.

'Simple Definition of martyr
: a person who is killed or who suffers greatly for a religion, cause, etc.


Martyr | Definition of Martyr by Merriam-Webster

He did not die for a cause. He died because he was killing people and the police had to stop him...totally different reasons.

Clearly, he just killed out of hate...not because of some higher reason.
 
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So, I was all ready to condemn her but then I went and watched the video. While she says she feels that way she feels guilty for feeling that way, knows it is wrong to feel that way, and doesn't WANT to feel that way. And seems pretty distraught over her lack of sympathy. That is a level of introspection most people don't have. It is hard for me to be too upset with her.
Regardless our collective empty rhetoric regarding freedom of thought and speech*, we sure don't act like we hold the concept to be valid. I believe it is actually helpful to encourage people who have conflicting thoughts like this to come forward so we can talk them out in an adult manner. Shaming and bullying people into silence is part of why we are having the societal problems that we are.

But that might require introspection of ourselves, too, and well... we just can't have that.

* - Yes, I know, for government, not private enterprise.
 
Recognizing a failing, yet doing nothing about it other than recognizing it, does not make that failing acceptable. She still feels and thinks the same way, that the murderer is a martyr, which is not acceptable, regardless of how she supposedly dislikes the fact that she feels and thinks that way.

I could tell you I didn't want to shoot you in the head, and that I know it's wrong for me to do it, and that it pains me, and hurts me, and makes me cry... but if I still shoot you in the head, nothing else matters at that point. And, nothing she says to equivocate or mitigate her thoughts, feelings, and words, matters at this point. She thinks the murderer is a martyr for black people by murdering and maiming white police officers, and that overshadows and outweighs everything else she may say in an attempt to mitigate her saying he is a martyr.

She is a racist by such declarations, and should be fired, not just suspended.

If someone would say the exact same things she said, but said them about James Earl Ray, what would be the result?

But how do you change how you feel or don't feel? All you can do is examine your feelings and perhaps talk about it. She is specifically asking help from others in how they have dealt with such things. I'm not sure what else she can do, other than bottle it up or lie about it, which certainly isn't going to help her be the person she is trying to be.
 
So, I was all ready to condemn her but then I went and watched the video. While she says she feels that way she feels guilty for feeling that way, knows it is wrong to feel that way, and doesn't WANT to feel that way. And seems pretty distraught over her lack of sympathy. That is a level of introspection most people don't have. It is hard for me to be too upset with her.

That could be just a double speak so she can attempt to get away with saying messed up.
 
Well...she does not even seem to know what a martyr is.

'Simple Definition of martyr
: a person who is killed or who suffers greatly for a religion, cause, etc.


Martyr | Definition of Martyr by Merriam-Webster

He did not die for a cause. He died because he was killing people and the police had to stop him...totally different reasons.

Clearly, he just killed out of hate...not because he was persecuted for his beliefs.
It is you that doesn't know what a martyr is. Or, did you miss the reports of who he was narrowly targeting and why?

You post the definition, and still missed it.
 
But how do you change how you feel or don't feel? All you can do is examine your feelings and perhaps talk about it. She is specifically asking help from others in how they have dealt with such things. I'm not sure what else she can do, other than bottle it up or lie about it, which certainly isn't going to hel her be the person she is trying to be.
Seems most people want exactly that.
 
It is you that doesn't know what a martyr is. Or, did you miss the reports of who he was narrowly targeting and why?

You post the definition, and still missed it.

What are you going on about?

I said he killed out of hate - not out of some religious belief.

So he was not a martyr.

And how is that wrong?
 
Regardless our collective empty rhetoric regarding freedom of thought and speech*, we sure don't act like we hold the concept to be valid. I believe it is actually helpful to encourage people who have conflicting thoughts like this to come forward so we can talk them out in an adult manner. Shaming and bullying people into silence is part of why we are having the societal problems that we are.

But that might require introspection of ourselves, too, and well... we just can't have that.

* - Yes, I know, for government, not private enterprise.

She doesn't need a radio station. She still has access to social media. She can spread her ignorance, hate, and disrespect for the dead public servants there anytime she wants. Stuff like that happens here all the time.
 
Reminds me of Charles Barkley's famous comment that "Twitter is where stupid people go to feel important".
 
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