As much as we expect our players, college or professional, to resist responding to whatever is said to them, can you imagine being an Afghani immigrant living in the USA? I have not walked a mile in his shoes, but shudder at the thought of what a big man like him faces. Any very large man knows that they get picked on in bars and gather attention merely from being 6'5 or whatever. Being an arab looking man who towers over others would be an incredible exercise in restraint. I have no doubt that coach Madsen will handle this appropriately, and would personally hope that there are no consequences at all besides a good conversation. It reminds me of the restraint we expect all people of color to show in the face of blatant racism. King was right that we gain more through non-violence than angry responses, but how little caucasian America understands about the Zen and self control and sublimation we so easily expect of those who face hatred and mistreatment because of their skin color. That fan who purportedly said those things is a dumpster dwelling asshole, and I can't help but wish when he said those things that some other fans who share his skin color beat the crap out of him, or at least picked him up and threw him outside.
I hear you and it's why I reference King and the wisdom of non-violence. However, the world we live in is full of petty violence and it bothers me when on a micro level a bully race uses their power to denigrate another and we only expect the people offended to be pacifist. Don't we wish that more Germans stood up to the Nazi's, more people in power standing up to Putin, more white dudes confronting other white dudes if they are being jerks? Standing up need not mean physical violence, but sometimes it means physical approaches. I'm horrified by the rise of political violence in our country, and don't condone it in the public sphere either. It's somewhat a rage against the machine for me, and the machine is the expectation that bad people should be ignored or treated gently and the oppressed must be meek. What Fardaws did was an expression of real disgust and calling him out, person to person, and I just think it's a shame that he had to do that, and there were not instead three of the random white people around him to got in his face and just said some truth like "Shut the hell up and keep that sick shit to yourself". So that Fardaws didn't feel the need to defend himself...because he was being defended by the community at large.
I wasn't aware from the initial alert that what precipitated the confrontation was overt taunts and attacks on his ethnicity. My initial reaction was to shake my head and hope he learns restraint. I still believe this but it makes it far more understandable. It's tough because most of us adults (i.e. in our 30's plus) don't make the right choices in a confrontation and we are expecting kids to endure that? Suffice it to say that one wishes he had just ignored it - but I cannot say I would have behaved any better enduring that sort of verbal abuse.
Nov 23, 2023·edited Nov 23, 2023Liked by Rick Chen
Well, that’s not good. I hope there is additional context. Not sure what additional context could explain it though… Hopefully he escapes with some temporary repercussion and learns from this.
Edit: sounds like there was context. Hopefully everyone can just move on.
There is indeed. A fan -- unclear if it’s the white shirt-wearing fan in the video -- was allegedly shouting abusive language at Aimaq throughout the game
Of course, all we see is his response to some likely provocation. Hard to imagine he went out of his way to climb up the aisle to approach some guy to create an issue. However, he should be told to keep to himself when knuckleheads try to provoke him into a twitter video. This is surely blown way out of proportion.
yeah, Coach Madsen provided a statement that Aimaq was the victim of things beyond heckling, including personal insults about his ethniticity. There has been an update to the original piece to now reflect this.
In addition to this fan being a racist jackass, shame on the fans around him and tournament officials in the stadium for allowing that to take place throughout the game.
As much as we expect our players, college or professional, to resist responding to whatever is said to them, can you imagine being an Afghani immigrant living in the USA? I have not walked a mile in his shoes, but shudder at the thought of what a big man like him faces. Any very large man knows that they get picked on in bars and gather attention merely from being 6'5 or whatever. Being an arab looking man who towers over others would be an incredible exercise in restraint. I have no doubt that coach Madsen will handle this appropriately, and would personally hope that there are no consequences at all besides a good conversation. It reminds me of the restraint we expect all people of color to show in the face of blatant racism. King was right that we gain more through non-violence than angry responses, but how little caucasian America understands about the Zen and self control and sublimation we so easily expect of those who face hatred and mistreatment because of their skin color. That fan who purportedly said those things is a dumpster dwelling asshole, and I can't help but wish when he said those things that some other fans who share his skin color beat the crap out of him, or at least picked him up and threw him outside.
Though I understand the frustration, please withhold the want for violence to be enacted on individuals.
I hear you and it's why I reference King and the wisdom of non-violence. However, the world we live in is full of petty violence and it bothers me when on a micro level a bully race uses their power to denigrate another and we only expect the people offended to be pacifist. Don't we wish that more Germans stood up to the Nazi's, more people in power standing up to Putin, more white dudes confronting other white dudes if they are being jerks? Standing up need not mean physical violence, but sometimes it means physical approaches. I'm horrified by the rise of political violence in our country, and don't condone it in the public sphere either. It's somewhat a rage against the machine for me, and the machine is the expectation that bad people should be ignored or treated gently and the oppressed must be meek. What Fardaws did was an expression of real disgust and calling him out, person to person, and I just think it's a shame that he had to do that, and there were not instead three of the random white people around him to got in his face and just said some truth like "Shut the hell up and keep that sick shit to yourself". So that Fardaws didn't feel the need to defend himself...because he was being defended by the community at large.
So the jerk kid needs to be beaten to a pulp and stomped because he (allegedly) called Amiaq a "terrorist"?
Beaten, no. Made aware of the old adage of 'f*** around, find out'? yup
Whom is going to curate the 'lesson' delivered?
I must have missed something above, I wasn’t aware that any physical contact took place. Can you expand further?
There wasn't. My reply was in response to the comments that the fan should have been 'dealt a lesson' or others "beat the crap out of him...."
I wasn't aware from the initial alert that what precipitated the confrontation was overt taunts and attacks on his ethnicity. My initial reaction was to shake my head and hope he learns restraint. I still believe this but it makes it far more understandable. It's tough because most of us adults (i.e. in our 30's plus) don't make the right choices in a confrontation and we are expecting kids to endure that? Suffice it to say that one wishes he had just ignored it - but I cannot say I would have behaved any better enduring that sort of verbal abuse.
Well, that’s not good. I hope there is additional context. Not sure what additional context could explain it though… Hopefully he escapes with some temporary repercussion and learns from this.
Edit: sounds like there was context. Hopefully everyone can just move on.
There is indeed. A fan -- unclear if it’s the white shirt-wearing fan in the video -- was allegedly shouting abusive language at Aimaq throughout the game
I’m glad there was additional context. Security should have dealt with the fan.
My experience with UTEP fans online has been less than pleasant. Wouldn't be surprised if they weren't better in person.
My nephew plays OL for UTEP football. This incident makes me curious about his take on UTEP fans and the culture of the fan base.
A racist in Orange County- there’s a first.
If coach Madsen is reflecting what really happened (not just what some twitter user posted wo context), then I support our player.
If just simple heckling, then the reaction is too much.
Overall, Sounds like free speech was confronted by free speech.
Of course, all we see is his response to some likely provocation. Hard to imagine he went out of his way to climb up the aisle to approach some guy to create an issue. However, he should be told to keep to himself when knuckleheads try to provoke him into a twitter video. This is surely blown way out of proportion.
yeah, Coach Madsen provided a statement that Aimaq was the victim of things beyond heckling, including personal insults about his ethniticity. There has been an update to the original piece to now reflect this.
In addition to this fan being a racist jackass, shame on the fans around him and tournament officials in the stadium for allowing that to take place throughout the game.
Tone down the rhetoric and this is considered strike 1 in our community policy.
Ok. No disrespect intended.