4 Apr
2016
4 Apr
'16
9:55 a.m.
Hello Ron:
Your statement "we're comparing our having fun traveling to various dances to
the widespread persecution of an ethnicity (the worst being the Holocaust)."
was an intentional, malicious, misguided personal attack on every contradancer who
speaks the words "dance gypsy," who uses the word "gypsy" when
teaching a dance, who has a T-shirt or bumper sticker with those innocuous words, or who
converses about "gypsy" figure--no matter how much socially consciousness that
dancer may be in thought and in deed.
You probably should not participate in any public forum about even a mildly controversial
topic, if you take personal affront at someone who, with an accompanying explanation,
refers to an idea you expressed as absurd.
Maybe you need a more specific example. In the past 6 months I attended two dance
weekends which featured a particular well known caller. The first weekend this caller
used a surrogate for "gypsy." The next weekend, several months later, this
caller used the term "gypsy." Any suggestion that this caller was now
"having fun" with "the persecution of an ethnicity (the worst being the
Holocaust)" will strike most people as absurd--whether you think so or not.
And your associating with the Holocaust any aspect of contra dancing seems six million
times more tasteless and inappropriate than someone referring, with explanation, to an
idea of yours as absurd. You owe everyone on this list an apology
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 5844
4 Apr
4 Apr
10:22 a.m.
New subject: [Callers] here it is - sorry
Hi Michael,
The article made these points, not me. I didn't actually introduce any
ideas that weren't in the article. My post said I found 3 points
"interesting", and listed the three points. I didn't even link the article
on Shared Weight in the first place.
Ever hear the phrase, "don't shoot the messenger "?
Should Amy be chastised for linking that article here?
Of all people, are you the one in a position to chastise about bad behavior
on this list?
As an aside, I worked in my previous career on a year-long project with the
US Holocaust Memorial Museum. My former partner was a child of a Jew who
suffered in the Holocaust. I am quite extensively versed in the subject.
When I read an article written by a Roma, who is a Roma scholar, and a
dancer, and on Voice of Roma, I was interested in what she had to say about
the use of the term "gypsy" in dance. So was Amy who posted the link, so
were others.
I don't think that censorship of examining this kind of evaluation of dance
and dance terms ought to be on our agenda.
Ron
On Apr 4, 2016 11:03 AM, "Michael Fuerst via Callers" <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
Hello Ron:
Your statement "we're comparing our having fun traveling to various
dances to the widespread persecution of an ethnicity (the worst being the
Holocaust)."
was an intentional, malicious, misguided personal attack on every
contradancer who speaks the words "dance gypsy," who uses the word
"gypsy"
when teaching a dance, who has a T-shirt or bumper sticker with those
innocuous words, or who converses about "gypsy" figure--no matter how much
socially consciousness that dancer may be in thought and in deed.
You probably should not participate in any public forum about even a
mildly controversial topic, if you take personal affront at someone who,
with an accompanying explanation, refers to an idea you expressed as
absurd.
Maybe you need a more specific example. In the past 6 months I attended
two dance weekends which featured a particular well known caller. The
first weekend this caller used a surrogate for "gypsy." The next weekend,
several months later, this caller used the term "gypsy." Any suggestion
that this caller was now "having fun" with "the persecution of an
ethnicity
(the worst being the Holocaust)" will strike most people as
absurd--whether you think so or not.
And your associating with the Holocaust any aspect of contra dancing
seems six million times more tasteless and inappropriate than someone
referring, with explanation, to an idea of yours as absurd. You owe
everyone on this list an apology
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 5844
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
10:57 a.m.
New subject: [Callers] here it is - sorry
On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 7:55 AM, Michael Fuerst via Callers <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
You owe everyone on this list an apology
And that's the problem right there. Demanding apologies or insisting people
will change their mind if you just reword things slightly is how the very
recent Facebook thread on gypsies piled up well over 100 messages per day.
At least till the thread's originator presumably deleted the entire thread
in exasperation.
Despite one's strongly held beliefs, there are others on the Internet who
hold contrary beliefs, and you're not guaranteed to change their minds. Or
any on-lookers, who after a certain point have abandoned the flame war's
sinking ship.
Contra is a folk process anyways, with not everyone even agreeing on
whether it's a "neighbor swing" or "corner swing" or "swing
the one below."
And yet, people still contra dance.
-Chris Page
San Diego, CA
https://xkcd.com/386/
2956
days inactive
2956
days old
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2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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Chris Page via Callers -
Michael Fuerst via Callers
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Ron Blechner via Callers