Black Lives Matter

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CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman’s George Floyd tweet sees Reebok and Rogue drop sponsorship
Greg Glassman’s ‘FLOYD-19’ Tweet has caused Rogue and Reebok to drop CrossFit but both will fulfil their 2020 obligations
By Mark Agnew
8 Jun 2020

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default...D&v=1591590712
Greg Glassman’s latest Tweet has seen mass condemnation from the CrossFit community. Photo: Ruby Wolff

CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman has come under fire after publishing a tweet appearing to compare the death of George Floyd to the coronavirus, with sponsors pulling their support for the sport.
Reebok, one of the sport’s two main sponsors, has dropped its affiliation with CrossFit. The sportswear brand were in discussions over a new agreement, but said: “in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ,” in a statement, adding that they remain passionate about the CrossFit community.
CrossFit CEO sorry for ‘Floyd-19’ tweet – ‘a mistake, not racist’
The sport’s other main sponsor, Rogue, has removed the CrossFit logo from The Rogue Invitationals and threatened to cease association completely, depending on how CrossFit moves forward.
Froning condemns George Floyd tweet, athletes boycott CrossFit Games
Replying to a Tweet by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that called racism and discrimination “public health issues”, Glassman wrote “It’s FLOYD-19”, referring to George Floyd, the black man killed by a white police officer in the US, and the global pandemic Covid-19.

He added in another Tweet: “Your failed model quarantined us and now you're going to model a solution to racism? George Floyd's brutal murder sparked riots nationally. Quarantine alone is “accompanied in every age and under all political regimes by an undercurrent of suspicion, distrust, and riots.” Thanks!”
Glassman plays a very visible role in the sport. He has rarely shied away from controversy, weighing in on topics such as supporting trans-athletes and their right to compete under their chosen gender.

But his recent tweet has brought swift condemnation.
The Rogue Invitationals, one of the biggest events of the year, will no longer carry the CrossFit logo, the company stated on Instagram.
“Rogue will work with the CrossFit Games leadership to determine the best path forward. We will fulfil the 2020 season for the athletes and the community. The future is dependent on the direction and leadership within CrossFit HQ,” the post read.

Mat Fraser, four-time winner of the CrossFit Games, published a post thanking Rogue for their decision. He added support for his former gym, NCFIT, which said they were no longer a CrossFit affiliate.
Katrin Davidsdottir, the 2015 and 2016 CrossFit Games champion, posted on Instagram that she was “ashamed, disappointed and angry”, before suggesting she could withdraw from the sport.

“I haven’t had much time to process this, organise my thoughts or speak to those involved so for the time being I am going to keep it at this. I don’t know what this means for myself or the sport. But for now: I know this is NOT RIGHT and that needs to be said,” she added.

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THREADS
CrossFit
Covid

Do we need a BLM thread?

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The Head Of CrossFit Has Stepped Down After Telling Staff On A Zoom Call, “We're Not Mourning For George Floyd”
In a recording obtained by BuzzFeed News, Greg Glassman can also be heard sharing wild conspiracy theories about Floyd and the coronavirus.
Ryan Brooks
BuzzFeed News Reporter
David Mack
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on June 9, 2020, at 8:27 p.m. ET
Posted on June 9, 2020, at 5:33 p.m. ET

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-st...ut-format=auto
Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images
Greg Glassman, CrossFit's CEO and founder, in 2015.

We may all be at home, but that hasn’t stopped our reporters from breaking exclusive stories like this one. To help keep this news free, become a member. You can also share tips with BuzzFeed News securely.
Hours before he posted a controversial tweet on Saturday night that has sparked backlash against his company, Greg Glassman, CrossFit's CEO and founder, told gym owners on a private Zoom call, “We're not mourning for George Floyd — I don't think me or any of my staff are,” according to a full recording of the meeting obtained by BuzzFeed News.
“Can you tell me why I should mourn for him? Other than that it’s the white thing to do — other than that, give me another reason,” he asked a Minneapolis gym owner who had questioned why the brand hadn’t posted a statement about the protests across the country after the death of George Floyd.
On Tuesday night, shortly after publication of this story, the company released a statement from Glassman saying that he had "decided to retire" and was stepping down as CEO.
"On Saturday I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members," Glassman said. "I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ’s or affiliates’ missions. They are too important to jeopardize."
The 75-minute Zoom call, which was sent to BuzzFeed News via its secure tipline, was part of an initiative that CrossFit had started after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered gyms across the country. CrossFit affiliate owners who spoke with BuzzFeed News said they were invited at random to the check-in calls over the past three months with Glassman and other staffers from CrossFit's corporate headquarters.
The call was held hours before Glassman responded to a tweet on Saturday night that called racism a public health issue, writing, “It’s FLOYD-19.” His tweet drew immediate backlash from gym owners and caused Reebok to end a partnership deal with the company. CrossFit subsequently posted an apology on Glassman’s behalf, calling his words “not racist but a mistake.”
“Floyd is a hero in the black community and not just a victim,” he said in his public apology. “I should have been sensitive to that and wasn't. I apologize for that.”
But during the Zoom call hours earlier, which had been between 16 affiliates and staff members, Glassman repeatedly expressed doubts about whether systemic racism existed and questioned the motives of protests around the country.
“I doubt very much that they’re mourning for Floyd,” Glassman said on the call about protesters and CrossFitters who were looking for the company to speak out. “I don’t think that there’s a general mourning for Floyd in any community.”
He also recounted unfounded conspiracy theories on the call that included speculation Floyd was killed to “silence him” due to a purported, baseless role in a criminal conspiracy involving counterfeit money.
Glassman speculated that the nightclub where both Floyd and his alleged killer, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, worked has “been under investigation by the FBI for over a decade for laundering money.”
“It's very interesting that George gets popped with counterfeits, and who comes but the head of security from the dance club? Watch: This thing's going to turn into first-degree murder,” he said. “That's what it's going to turn into. And it's going to be because I'm predicting this. We have friends in the FBI in your neighborhood, and they're of the view that this was first-degree murder and it was to silence him over the counterfeit money. That's the belief. That's what the cops think.”
Glassman and representatives for CrossFit did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story, until hours after it was published. Then, CrossFit released the news of Glassman's "retirement" and a public statement titled "Why Didn't CrossFit Just Say Something?"
"We disappointed you," the company said. "It hurt you and us. We need to talk."
The letter called Glassman's comments "incredibly insensitive and hurtful," but said he should not be judged on those comments alone.
"Greg believes in equality," the statement added. "Greg made a mistake. His communications will have to be reconciled with the person we know. He is being put on trial online, and we challenge you to be thorough in your review of a man who is imperfect but sincere in his love of helping others to become better while creating opportunities for others to do the same. He does make mistakes, but he has done more than anyone for this community and created unimagined opportunities for others. If you measure Greg Glassman, do it thoroughly."
BuzzFeed News is publishing select clips from the call with Glassman, but not the full audio, in order to protect the identity of the source who shared it.

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continued next post

follow the link above to hear the recording.

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Listen to clips of Glassman on the call, edited together by BuzzFeed News to protect the identity of the source who shared it.

During the call, Glassman also complained about looting and buildings that had been set on fire. He questioned the legitimacy of the protest movement that has gripped the nation in the three weeks since Floyd’s death.
“Moved to action? Burning the city down, is that the action? Destruction of Black- and minority-owned businesses, is that the action?” Glassman asked while speaking to a gym owner from Minneapolis who detailed what their members had been doing to help the community in the aftermath of nights of looting and protests.
“I would prefer a trial of a murderer rather than burning the city down. I think that the law has a better response. I think burning your city to the ground and burning a police station to the ground because a cop killed what was very likely going to be a coconspirator in a counterfeit ring — I just don't get the burning thing. How about the Black cop that was killed?” Glassman said later in the call, adding that he wasn’t going to “fund antifa” — another conspiracy theory — because “a guy got killed.”
Glassman told the owners on the call that “killing George was wrong” before adding that “burning the town down was wrong, killing the Black cop was wrong, and the Black-on-Black murder every weekend in every one of our cities is a tragedy.”
He told the Minneapolis gym owner on the call that he thought the city’s plans to defund the police department were “terrifying” after they outlined how their community was trying to rebuild from Floyd’s death.
“It sounds like more of the same. It sounds like punishing the cops. It sounds like blaming the police for all of the problems in blighted communities, and I don’t think anything could be ****her from the truth. Have you ever done a ride-along with cops in a rough neighborhood?” Glassman said. “You don’t have to answer, but I have many, many times, and that is crazy tough work and almost all of the men and women are professionals.“
During a lengthy discussion on the coronavirus, Glassman again shared more unfounded theories. “The Chinese let this virus get out of the laboratory, and that indeed did happen,” he said. (US intelligence officials have said they have not formally concluded whether the virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.)
Glassman also trashed epidemiology as “a social science,” said upstate New Yorkers should secede from the rest of their state due to the strict lockdown measures in New York City, and urged gym owners to only pretend to comply with health precautions when they reopen.
“It was a panic. Absolute panic right from the start. And I think it's inevitable that it's going to turn out that this has cost way more lives than have been saved. Way more,” he said. “At some point, you've got to do what's right, and it may not come with approval. It may not be seen as the right thing to do, but you still have to do it. It's the burden.
“I was asked by the Italians, 'What would you do, coach?' And I said, 'I would agree to any restrictions put on me by the health authorities, and I would open my gym, and then 10 minutes later I would do whatever the **** I wanted. That's what I would do.'"
Mike Young — the owner of a fitness facility in Morrisville, North Carolina, that contains a CrossFit affiliate — was one of the people on the call. He’d had the franchise for more than a decade and had been excited to speak with the CrossFit CEO and owner. “I get to meet this guy who’s probably been the biggest influence in this field,” Young told BuzzFeed News, “and then it turned into a ****show, really, where the guy is just — conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory.
“My first thought was, I thought maybe I was being punked, but I knew how he was and I thought this is just bat**** crazy. I’m sitting there, like, my jaw is dropping. Is this happening? What is this guy saying?
“It was just surreal,” he said.
Young, whose audio had not been working for most of the call, said he had to leave early to attend another meeting. He said he later wrote to the Minneapolis gym owner to apologize for not being able to defend them on the call.
“It was beyond awkward,” he said. “The way I would describe it, I was privy to information from a private conversation that the world should know about. This guy has a couple thousand of these CrossFit affiliates, and he’s the figurehead, and he’s speaking like a lunatic at a time when things like COVID-19 and George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, are basically already causing unrest. And the things he’s saying are unsubstantiated conspiracy theories — inflammatory nonsense, really.”
Young said he went to bed on Saturday night with the conversation weighing on him. When he woke up on Sunday, he decided to take a stand and publicly announce he would no longer work with CrossFit. He prepared a post on Medium, but Glassman had already written his “FLOYD-19” tweet. But because Young did not record the call, he said, he tried to not go into specific details in his Medium post about what Glassman had said in order to avoid a potential lawsuit.
“The tweet is bad. It’s insensitive,” he said. “But as someone who listened to the call, you know the tweet is nothing compared to the phone call."
Near the end of the call, when a gym owner suggested they were considering dropping their affiliation with CrossFit, another CrossFit headquarters staff member spoke to defend Glassman. “You’re not even approaching this with any compassion. You’re approaching this strictly with your agenda,” they told the gym owner. “Do you know how many Black people are going to be saved by CrossFit?”
CrossFit’s days of backlash started when Alyssa Royse, an affiliate owner from Seattle, posted an email that she had received from Glassman in response to a letter she wrote detailing why her gym would be leaving the brand.
“You're doing your best to brand us as racist and you know it's bull****,” Glassman wrote back. “That makes you a really ****ty person. Do you understand that? You've let your politics warp you into something that strikes me as wrong to the point of being evil. I am ashamed of you.”
Glassman went further on the call with affiliates that did not include Royse, saying that her letter had “all of the class, all of the moral value of putting a sign in someone’s yard that says ‘known pedophile.’”
“It’s a horrible ****ing thing to do to someone, to call them a racist when there’s no evidence, when there’s not one scintilla of evidence to suggest anything like that, and that’s what she did to me. And what I sent her back was a ‘**** off!'” Glassman told the members of the Zoom call. “You call me a racist and I'mma tell you, ‘**** you!’ You tell me to spin around twice or I’m a racist and I’ll go, ‘**** you!’ We can get to '**** you' a bunch of ways. What it leads me to believe is that this isn’t about race.”

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We really should launch a BLM thread in the OT forum.

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America Reckons With Racial Injustice
Oscars: Future Films Must Meet Diversity And Inclusion Rules

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/202...-s1200-c85.jpg

June 12, 202010:36 PM ET
Vanessa Romo

Although it provided few details Hollywood's motion picture academy said new measures will "develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31."
Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday announced a new initiative to expand diversity and inclusion within the filmmaking industry, as it faces renewed criticism over a lack of diverse representation on screen and behind the scenes.
The latest effort to de-white-ify the film community, called "Academy Aperture 2025," includes a plan to require Oscar nominees to meet certain diversity and inclusion standards.
"While the Academy has made strides, we know there is much more work to be done in order to ensure equitable opportunities across the board," Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement Friday. "The need to address this issue is urgent. To that end, we will amend — and continue to examine — our rules and procedures to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated."
Although it was light on details, the Academy said it is creating a task force of film industry leaders "to develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31."
The new rules are expected to "encourage equitable hiring practices and representation on and off screen," according to the statement.

Additionally, the pool of Best Picture nominees will be permanently set at 10 beginning with the 94th Oscars in 2022. In recent years the number of films in the category has fluctuated between five and 10.
The new measures come on the heels of a sweep of protests against institutional racism that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer on Memorial Day.
But the changes also follow years of conflict between filmmakers of color and the Academy, which they accuse of decades of exclusion of non-white directors, writers and actors in the competition for film's most prestigious prizes. In 2014, a complete shut-out of any non-white Academy Award nominees in the more prominent categories prompted the Oscars So White hashtag.
As a result, the following year the Academy tried to broaden its voting membership, inviting over 300 new members. It also launched A2020, a plan designed to promote inclusion within the organization.
As Yahoo reported:
"In the more than 90 years of the Oscars, no Black director has ever won the Best Director award, no Black women have been nominated in that category, and only two films by Black directors have been awarded Best Picture: Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave and Barry Jenkins' Moonlight."
Earlier this week, a record number of women and people of color were elected to the board of governors, including Whoopi Goldberg and Ava DuVernay.
Moving forward, all Academy governors, branch executive committee members and Academy staff will be required to attend unconscious bias training.
"To truly meet this moment, we must recognize how much more needs to be done, and we must listen, learn, embrace the challenge, and hold ourselves and our community accountable," said Academy President David Rubin.

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I've been meaning to start a thread on this. I've copied a few posts above.


Threads
Crossfit
The-Academy-Awards
Black Lives Matter

Might this affect the martial arts?

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BUSINESS NEWSJULY 2, 2020 / 3:41 PM / UPDATED 18 HOURS AGO
Exclusive: JPMorgan drops terms 'master,' 'slave' from internal tech code and materials
Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
3 MIN READ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) is eliminating terms like “blacklist,” “master” and “slave” from its internal technology materials and code as it seeks to address racism within the company, said two sources with knowledge of the move.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market index listed company JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is seen in Los Angeles, California, United States, in this October 12, 2010. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
The terms had appeared in some of the bank’s technology policies, standards and control procedures, as well in the programming code that runs some of its processes, one of the sources said.

Other companies like Twitter Inc (TWTR.K) and GitHub Inc adopted similar changes, prompted by the renewed spotlight on racism after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis in May. here

The phrases “master” and “slave” code or drive are used in some programming languages and computer hardware to describe one part of a device or process that controls another.

“Blacklist” is used to describe items that are automatically denied, like a list of websites forbidden by a company’s cybersecurity division. “Whitelist” means the opposite - a list of items automatically approved.

Floyd’s death has sparked a re-examination of words that might carry racial overtones. For example, some realtors are no longer using the term “master bedroom,” and Universal Music Group’s Republic Records stopped using the word “urban” to describe music genres and internal departments or roles.

JPMorgan appears to be the first in the financial sector to remove most references to these racially problematic phrases, and it comes after the bank has said it is taking other steps to promote Black professionals and anti-bias culture training for staff.

Columbia Business School programming professor Mattan Griffel said such terms have long been controversial and can be difficult to change.

The technology that underpins bank operations is often a spaghetti-like mess that results from merged companies, decades-old code and third-party systems, and any change can have cascading effects that are difficult to predict, Griffel said.

Changing these terms within the bank’s code could take millions of dollars and months of work, Griffel said.

“This is not a trivial” investment by the bank, Griffel said. “This kind of language and terminology is so entrenched. It has to (change) and now is as good a time as any.”

Reporting By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall in New York; Additional reporting by Paresh Dave in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis

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Threads
Black-Lives-Matter
Eliminating the term "Master"

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Originally Posted by GeneChing

Might this affect the martial arts?

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Master as in Master/Apprentice has a different meaning than Master as in Master/Slave.

But ok, in the code they could change it to Spartan/Helot.