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Liam Neeson denies racism after hunting black men to attack after friend was raped

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Trauma not withstanding, it seems someone has been blurring their revengeful fictional roles with reality too much.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Liam, I'd start looking for a new publicist. I'm pretty sure the current one is going to stop returning your calls.

You're promoting a fantasy action movie about a snowplow driver out for revenge. Why the hell would you think it was a good idea to mention anything about real life rape and your desire to murder??

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Luckily no innocent or guilty parties were injured by Mr Neeson and that is a relief!

7 ( +8 / -1 )

What he wanted to do of course was clearly not a good thing. Fortunately, he didn't end up doing anything other than harbor some morbid feelings. To me, it sounds like he is talking of this as something he is ashamed of, and knows it was not right. So I applaud him on being open, and opening himself up to the types of attacks he is now receiving.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

@strangerland

He brought this story up during a press tour to promote his current Hollywood action revenge movie.

Should he have publicly told this story? Maybe. I think his therapist would have been a better choice to unburden himself on, but that's just me.

Should he have done it during a movie promotion trying to relate the movie to his personal story of a week long hunt for revenge on any random black person? God no.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

If someone close you to is attacked by a person of a specific race or ethnicity, it's quite natural to want revenge against one of them.

Wanting to go out to provoke a fight with one of them isn't that hard to understand, albeit immature.

People need to chill out with this racism spiel.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Actually, I would have thought that Mr Neeson’s contentious comments might be

positive for promoting his latest film....

5 ( +5 / -0 )

If someone close you to is attacked by a person of a specific race or ethnicity, it's quite natural to want revenge against one of them.

Why is it "quite natural" to frame people or divide them up by what they look like?

It can only be natural if we have a racist world in which people are being raised to have racist feelings, whether they want them or not. I'm white like Liam Neeson, but I am with anyone who finds this story abhorrent.

The person who raped Liam Neeson's friend, assuming there is any glimmer of truth in this story, was a man. Why didn't he just attack a man, e.g. himself?

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

I'm not a fan of his. But those who now condemn him seem to be missing something: He said that he realised he was horribly wrong, he went to a priest to seek help, and he changed his thinking.

If someone has racist thoughts but abandons those thoughts and changes his/her thinking ... well, isn't that what we want? Isn't that what people who claim to be against racism want racists to do? To change their attitude?

Well, Neeson did change his attitude. If he was a racist 40 years ago, he isn't one now.

So instead of condemning his 40-years-ago racism, just be glad that he isn't like that anymore.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

While I don't doubt that he isn't racist, Liam is certainly foolish for uttering such a statement. How did he think it would go over? I swear, these celebrities and high profile figures truly need to engage their brains before shooting off at the mouth. Some things are truly better left unsaid.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Well, that was dumb! He's lucky he's alive. Just curious, where exactly did he go? Did he cruise on down to Chiraq? Seems like he really wanted to burn Gotham to the ground. I understand some things in life can literally make your blood boil but no one should ever go out looking for vigilante justice. A Time to Kill was a great movie and we can relate to the main character but an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. If he had done anything violent his actions would have been misunderstood......kinda like what he's experiencing now.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

What Liam Neeson said wasn't racist at all. He's been taking way out of context typically by the PC leftists who want to play the race card. I have no idea why black people are feeling "hurt" or looking for an apology except for many their own guilt?

If you believe he was being racist you need to stop and ask yourself: "why was it racist?" And you will start to realise that there isn't anything racist about it at all. When people are angry and their primal instincts surface they look for someone to blame. He was told that the perpetrator was a black man, and therefore went out looking for vengeance believing that all black men are to blame and that any unprovoked attack from a black person would warrant his actions. The same principle would have applied vice-versa and with any other race for that matter. This doesn't constitute as racism, it's simply the act of narrowing down your target group to focus your anger.

It makes you wonder: would this story have come to light if it was white guys he was hunting instead? His story is about avoiding the perils of revenge and checking all the facts before you act on them. Liam Neeson provides valuable life wisdom, he gets called a racist for it. That's modern PC culture for you.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

I think most are taking this out of context. There are some key takeaways from this.

seek help should you have these thoughts

crimes can increase the hate against a race but look at things objectively

speak up if you feel you have issues keeping it in can cause you to make irrational decisions
-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I think people area also forgetting that this was during the Troubles... Rational thinking went the way of wind and violence was pretty much a daily occurrence for people living in Northern Ireland. Basically being part of a war zone for the majority of ones life is going to lead to some violent thoughts some of the time. This isn't racism, its want to for revenge against a certain group of people because one of them committed a heinous crime and he had no way of knowing which one. The want for revenge and hate can paint all people, regardless of race, with the same brush. It just so happened that this case ended up painting black people with the same brush.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If someone close you to is attacked by a person of a specific race or ethnicity, it's quite natural to want revenge against one of them

What? No it's not. It's absolutely not natural to want to take revenge against any random member of a certain ethnicity because another member of that ethnicity did something wrong.

And besides that, the fact that Liam Neeson was told by his friend that she was raped and his instinct is to ask what colour the attacker is belies his racist thinking.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

If Liam Neeson's friend told him that she had been raped by a black man, then isn't it natural that Neeson would have been looking for a black man rather than a white man, a Hispanic man or an Asian man?

Racist? Not by a long shot.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

You mean the Schindler I saw on the big screen wasn’t the real Schindler? Only an actor who may from time to time actually play himself with all the faults that might include?

Assuming what he said is true and not part of a movie promotion which some on this site suggest, it has followed him for 40 years. A true racist would have felt no guilt and not have consulted a priest or feel the need to confess that desire publicly years later.

Good on you, Mr. Neeson.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"If she had said an Irish or a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian I would -- I know I would -- have had the same effect. I was trying to show honor, to stand up for my dear friend in this terribly medieval fashion,"

There doesn’t seem to be any racial intent here. Just a misled desire to enact revenge on a group rather than an individual.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

As a black man, I can agree how he went about it was wrong. However, it takes strength to admit something like that in this day and age. This was a story he could have kept to himself. Also, with the way things are today, I cannot view this as a publicity stunt. He was able to acknowledge what he did was wrong and he was remorseful. I don’t see it as him being racist. He simply had a bad moment.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

> There doesn’t seem to be any racial intent here. Just a misled desire to enact revenge on a group rather than an individual.

But would he have targeted 'any midget/ fat bloke/ punk/ skinhead ' etc if his friend had been raped by a dwarf, skinhead...?

Would be simpler if the 'was he black?' had been followed by ' ok, was he small/tall, did he have a fro, dreadlocks, what was he wearing etc' questions.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Admitting to something scary deep inside can shed light on the motivations of people, cops for example who choose someone random off the street to seek revenge on.

In that sense this was brave of him and helps us shed light on lynch mob mentality. 'Natural' perhaps, but 'humans' should be capable of rising above that ugly part of their nature.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The real message is, if you're a white male you must follow the script, that you're always going to be considered potentially racist, if you speak out you must be on-message or else.

The comments in this thread would show that assumption to be incorrect.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

KangaesugiToday 10:10 am JSTIf someone close you to is attacked by a person of a specific race or ethnicity, it's quite natural to want revenge against one of them

What? No it's not. It's absolutely not natural to want to take revenge against any random member of a certain ethnicity because another member of that ethnicity did something wrong.

And besides that, the fact that Liam Neeson was told by his friend that she was raped and his instinct is to ask what colour the attacker is belies his racist thinking.

I dated a woman long ago who was kidnapped and raped, by a black man. Did I want to go out and bash some black men's' skulls? No way, Jose. Did I want to separate the head from the neck of the dirtbag who raped my girlfriend? You better believe it!

*A rapist is a rapist is scum. I don't care if that person is black, white, yellow or red. I don't like their kind!

Hate the offender, NOT the race or color. That's stupid!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Gotta ask, for all of the people who think that considering black people interchangeable to the point of going out with the intent to kill a black person at random for a crime committed by another isn't racist...

What do you consider to be racist?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

What Liam Neeson said wasn't racist at all. He's been taking way out of context typically by the PC leftists who want to play the race card. I have no idea why black people are feeling "hurt" or looking for an apology except for many their own guilt?

Neeson (who I admire as an actor) said he wanted to kill a random black person.

Whatever his reasoning, this is how racism happens.

Would be the same as someone saying they want to kill a random white person because of something horrible happening to a friend that was perpetrated by a white person.

It's illogical, irrational and racist.

Whether one is PC or not, there is not one doubt that his desire to kill a black person was/is racist.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

I think people area also forgetting that this was during the Troubles... Rational thinking went the way of wind and violence was pretty much a daily occurrence for people living in Northern Ireland. 

Yes it was and still is. Ballymena is a loyalist hotbed and the violence meted out against Catholics then and (in some cases) now is inexcusable. Those who post here (not you) with loyalist avatars that glorify sectarianism do so because the demographic here is unaware of the history and context of such triumphalism. It's very important to do some research in this area.

And that said, Neeson came from an oppressed Catholic background. He should know better. And also, this incident did not happen in the occupied 6 counties.

It's a shame that a man from somewhere that experiences such hate, allowed hate to guide him, albeit briefly.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Well, he clearly had some issues. Which is why he is the last person who should be lecturing others about racism. It's like a recovered alcoholic warning responsible drinkers about the dangers of beer. The issues are his, not some generic problem with white people.

I was also victimized by some black guys, and I really wanted to kill one of them afterwards. If I had the chance, I might have. But that's the difference. I wanted to kill the guy who was the most happily violent, not just anyone of his race. That's bizarre. And racist. I didn't even want to kill his criminal partners, just the one sadistic coward.

So Liam the recovering racist can only speak for himself. He doesn't represent anyone else.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

So Liam the recovering racist can only speak for himself. He doesn't represent anyone else.

Agreed, he doesn't.

There's nothing brave about what he said. Or what he wanted to do.

Plenty of Irish people (here in Japan) who don't want to commit violence against those who raped and tried to erase Irish culture.

Acknowledge the wrongdoing but don't pick on random people. Makes you no better than the oppressor.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Liam Neeson shouldn't get a pass - not for stalking the streets for a black person, but for stalking the streets for a human being, even if the human is a despicable one

His anger blinded him - and that blindness not only blinded him to color, but more importantly it blinded him to humanity

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I have to admit I am surprised by the people here who claim that the desire to hunt and kill any black man that crosses his path because of a crime committed by a specific black man is anything but racist.

It makes you wonder: would this story have come to light if it was white guys he was hunting instead?

Except he didn't, and he wouldn't. And it's simply absurd to think he ever might. For one reason, because he is white himself. The charge of racism is thrown around a lot these days, usually without any basis whatsoever. But this is a textbook example of racism. The New York Times writer quoted in the article (Charles Blow) is another racist. But for different reasons.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Would this matter have attracted so much attention if he had have said that he felt like killing a White Man?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Would this matter have attracted so much attention if he had have said that he felt like killing a White Man?

Why would it? He's white. If he were black it would make news.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Would this matter have attracted so much attention if he had have said that he felt like killing a White Man?

If a Hollywood star admitted he or she once felt like murdering someone, I imagine it would.

This case garners even more attention because the star in question wanted to murder someone on the basis of their skin color. Think about it. He wanted to pick a random black man and kill him.

That's called racism.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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