You do realize that assuming people of color automatically speak improper English OR that poor people automatically have heavy accents and spew slang is from whence this problem comes, right? That it’s racist in and of itself?

“Ghetto-speak”? Ooooooookay.

Missing from your “excellent” thoughts on excellence is the fact that people don’t get punished in the same way when they are (or sound) white and uneducated.

Yep, you definitely sound caucasian!

Before the next time you feel like harping on “uneducated, poor English,” would you like some grammar pointers? Literally every sentence you wrote has a red flag.

Not disagreeing with what you’ve said here, but it also stands to reason that there is or should be a distinction between speaking proper English and speaking with Caucasian inflections. Many ESL speakers work to not only lose accents but to sound more “mainstream” - ie white American English - usually Midwestern... -…

Although delivered poorly, I don’t think it’s bad advice. Code switching has been necessary for a lot of people, even poorer rural white people. My husband had a strong Kentucky twang as a kid, but he forced himself to get rid of it in college because of the treatment he received from people when he spoke. It sucks (I…

It’s news as a reminder to those who didn’t hear this during the campaign. And it’s still horrifying.

I’m picturing a Saw-type setup, and I like where this is going.

Ok so we could get 45 and Kim Jong Un in a room, would have to be a secure one with locks and keys. I see value in this.

I think it’s news every time the lunatic president of the United States says nice things about tin pot dictators.

Not to mention, not everywhere is an non-chalant about LGBTQAI issues as, say, San Francisco. There are still many places where being non-straight (and non-cis isn’t even a glimmer on the horizon) is a real fear of retribution, sometimes in the form of violence.

I’ve seen him in concert 3x. I loved him since I was 7.

He writes the songs, motherfuckers!

I’m sorry, it’s not OK. Barry Manilow has been writing his own checks on his career for over three decades. Furthmore if he came out in the 80's it would have been much more worthy of respect, rather than waiting until nobody remembers that they cared that he hadn’t come out yet.

It’s nobody’s business. It’s his private life. The operative word in there is PRIVATE. That’s like DEMANDING that survivors of childhood sexual abuse speak up earlier, as to make it okay for others in that situation to speak up, too. Yes, I know that is a very harsh comparison, and I’m drawing it very consciously. It.…

Please don’t blame Barry Manilow for the suicides of gay youth. It is not any one gay person’s responsibility to come out for the sake of others. It’s not his fault that parents and society failed those kids.

Furthmore if he came out in the 80's it would have been much more worthy of respect, rather than waiting until nobody remembers that they cared that he hadn’t come out yet.

Every person comes out (or doesn’t) on their own terms. You can’t force someone to be a gay role model, even if they’re a celebrity. You admit in your own comment that it requires courage to come out. Also, people are entitled to privacy if they so choose, I would say especially in regard to their sex life.

Good for Barry.

Yeah you said it well when you mentioned “the unique burdens gay people continue to face” because the older us gays are, the further back our sense of “it’s not safe to come out” is, the harder to come out it is. I didn’t come out until I was 35. There’s a lot of burden of mental health on older gays. Even when you’re…