more so the trade/resale value likely plummeted, thats probably my only gripe.
it arrives tomorrow.
That was my fault sorry.
However if we need to get back on the racist topic Iām a Hungarian Jew so someone could take a shot here and get us back on track.
Just kidding everyone, 100% racism is not cool
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Most of us are wholesome and canāt fathom hate for long
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Racists suck and should be called out.
People should get a chance for growth and redemption.
If this person has a history of making controversial comments maybe he shouldnāt be āthe faceā of a major retailer in a sport/hobby known for being inclusive.
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I think some posts on yyf insta page or a flood of emails can really get the message across. I for one, am not a fan of yyf (I only have a sage from them) and I am not going to stop buying their products since I have never started in the he first place.
If you are bothered you can make your voice heard nowadays more than ever. The rest is just ācancel hysteriaā in my humble opinion.
As far as the āvaluable sponsorā part I have to say two things:
- Noone is irreplaceable.
- Not a chance yyf will stop supporting contests. They throw a lot of marketing money and they focus more on promotion than any other company.
Withdrawing from sponsoring just does not seem logical to me.
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Even without the racism Iāve always found him to be oddly standoffish for someone who owns a toy company. I remember emailing YYF about an issue with a Protostar in like grade 6 (my fault in hindsight tbf) and getting a pretty rude response.
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Common occurrence to be honest. Customer service is not Benās strong point. Chris is great at customer support though. I love dealing with many of the other yyf folks.
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The old guys hanging out at the bar has been a yo-yo contest staple forever.
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After the remarks made during the Evan incident, learning about YoYoJoeās (on YT) signature getting dropped without a word from YYF, and now thisā¦Itās safe to say Iāve bought my last new YYF throw.
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I know what happened with Evan and everything, but what are these āremarksā? I only really know the general thing that happened
The most relevant to this conversation is this message from Ben. Like others have said, if this was one-off tasteless humor, thatād be one thing. But itās become a pattern at this point.
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Thatās fairā¦ I see no problem with a few drinks after 8pm when most of the young kids are being ushered off to bed but this all happened like at noonā¦ thatās not cool. But hey who am I to judge
I also donāt think folks need to smoke the devils lettuce around contests but I may be getting near a fight with some chill folks with my straight edge views over hereā¦
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Iām just keying off your post because you got the ball rolling downhill on this one>
It has been said that stupidity follow ignorance.
People are ignorant first. If they are enlightened and still repeat their errors, then they are just plain stupid.
Now, based on what I just stated, some would immediately conclude that Iām talking about Ben. Talking about Ben because we had the Evan āeventā about a year ago and Ben obviously didnāt learn by doingā¦.
Incorrect. That is not what I was saying. Because I donāt see a connection between these two āmisstepsā at all.
Of course, some people are going to make that connection simply s so easy.
No lifting, no preaching, no door to door flyer handouts, no joining a Club to validate your position, no extra calorie burning movementsā¦. Nothing>
Just go back a year, point out the same person (Ben). And using incomplete information, make a āconnectionā between the 2 events and conclude they are both Straight forward examples of blatant Racism. Yupā¦ no doubtā¦ take that to the Bankā¦ Big Ben McPhee/white kinda privileged, outspoken, Racistā¦
Incorrect again.
The majority of responses in this thread are just hands down full negative towards Ben. Here he goes again, just like last year, he hasnāt/doesnāt change, blah, blah, blah.
Sorryā¦. No real connection exists except in the Mob Minded that just love crushing souls on anything that would Never hold up in Court.
As one of the responders already mentioned, āCancel Cultureāā¦. Pretty much in Full effect here. Just sit behind those keyboards in the comforts of your homes and use the force of numbers to put somebody in a hole that has been helping keep yo-yos rolling for over 30 years. Ben has been an integral part of going since before many current yo-yo enthusiasts were even born.
But Mo, you are way off base here. Ben dragged Evan under the Ethnic bus just last year. And when added to this Beckford saga, the Dude is a Flat out Racist, is the?
Uh. Incorrect again.
We should at least by now, all be on the same page about the blessings and curses available using social media.
ā¦.Example(fabricated for function)> my neighbor mows his lawn on Sunday mornings at 3:30amā¦ every week. No muffler, just straight out blast mode. The year is 1958. I walk across the street and ask him to stop. Iām trying to sleep. Itās way too early. He spits on my shoes. So I punch him so hard, he is on the ground about 8 feet from his shoes.
EVERYBODY on the entire block hears the story. They hear every detail about the āeventā and decide the trouble maker looks better with no shoes on.
The News travels one square block. No police, no newspaper, no social media, itās water under the bridge.
Now,mhere we are decades later. A guy slugs his neighbor for being a grade A Punk. Only 2 other neighbors know about it. Oh, I forgot the guy that filmed the incident on his Pro 15 IPhone. He isnāt from the block or possibly even the entire surrounding vicinity. But he certainly feels compelled to share it with the international community. He needs no plane flying a Banner. He doesnāt need a bull horn to gather a large crowd. He doesnāt need to do anything but post up here or there. And then count on the assistance of others to join in and push the Stake through the guys heart. People love it. Yes, letās get that Sucker. Donāt let him up. You donāt even need to know him or all the facts. Just hold him down until he stops moving.myes, we Done gudd didnāt we?
Incorrect again.
Is there anybody within reading distance of this post that is actually aware of the traditions evolving along with Juneteenth. Does anybody āknowā that is is considered a ātraditionā on Juneteenth to eat/nd/or/share Red foods?
Has anybody considered that Ben actually admires and respects Colin as much as anybody?
That Ben would,have to totally be a Monkeysā Uncle to deliberately and directly INSULT Colin to his face at a National Event?
Did anybody even consider that Ben is obviously Aware of the red foods on Juneteenth Tradition and was simply voicing his awareness of the red tradition?
It does seem a foregone conclusion that Ben unwittingly made an error in judgement for probably not really considering his āgestureā would have such unintended consequences.
Just for a minuteā¦. Yes, just a mere 60 seconds, that Benās gesture was heartfelt?
I am in no way trying to draw a picture of Ben as the most loving, save the World kinda guy with no negative thoughts in his head.
But I am telling you guys that I have Known Ben for about 30 years now. And if I wanted to join a little social media mission to bury Ben by discussing personality flawsā¦ā¦ one thing that Ben is ānotā, is a Racist. I am in no way saying the World is Racist freeā¦.
But, you folks that seem comfortable tagging Ben as a Racist have seriously flawed logic/based on untrue information, leading to erroneous conclusions.
ā¦ā¦ psā¦ā¦ take a minute using your favorite search engine and type in āred foods/Juneteenthāā¦ā¦.or whatever wording pulls up some results? You will be AMAZED how the red foods tradition has come to be. Yes, almost anything edible that is redā¦. Even Lolipopsā¦
ā¦
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Yes, please forgive us for jumping to very reasonable conclusions based on his past behavior. Iām CERTAIN that Ben McPhee, the African-American history scholar that he is, was merely educating a black member of the community about the age-old tradition of offering red-colored foods in celebration of Juneteenth. Thank you for enlightening us.
Honestly surprised that the old boysā defense brigade showed up this late to the discussion.
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If I ever get old and jump to the defense of someone who has proven themselves to be very clearly racist at this point, regardless of what good theyāve previously done for the yoyo community, I politely request that the YoYoExpert moderation team straight up ban me
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By definition a racist is someone who believes that one race is inherently inferior to another. Do you really think that Ben thinks people of a certain race are by default inferior or do you think he was just being an insensitive jerk as usual?
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Benā¦ you seldom post anymore.
But you are always āaroundā.
And it is no surprise whatsoever that you appear suddenly to respond to my posts.
You would t agree with whatever position I take on a subject.
You say that I took some time before I jumped into this thread. Yet, how much useful content did you contribute before responding to my post?
And youā¦. That pretends to wave the flag for those without the nerve to speak up. Has little difficulty using Ageism in your description of me. So you are basically an Age Racist?
Iām an āOld defenderā. I canāt just be a defender.
I have to be identified as an Oldā¦. Defender.
Does my age alter the validity of my position in this matter?
Soā¦ Ben has a history of missteps?
And you have an easy to document history of suggesting how wrong I am about eveything based on your own convoluted thoughts?
Thanks for showing up. Just as easy as shaking a bag of dog food.
You are the hero of the people.
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Just to boil down what you said so I can try to understand your thoughts on this:
Ben, a white guy, approached Colin, a black guy, in a public way, on one of the biggest, most visible stages of yoyo, out of the blue, to offer a red lollipop and show his earnest solidarity with Juneteenth and honoring the end of slavery?
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ben: says something racist to an upstanding pillar of the yoyo community who is also a black person, in public, with witnesses
yall: hey are we sure he is being racist? are yall even considering his feelings?
yall cant be serious on god
edit: also, for clarification. theres no need to āassumeā here, colin (the victim) has directly stated he is not okay with this, and that this is an actual grievance towards him, regardless of whatever āintentā could possibly be behind it.
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