I've gotten a few questions regarding the whole John Galliano saga dominating the press of late, so I will (not) address them here. I am in complete agreement that the racist remarks John Galliano has allegedly made against the Jewish and Asian peoples are unacceptable. Hatred of any sort, whether against a religion, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or any other affiliation is despicable, and I regret that prejudice and discrimination are so prevalent in some form in the vast majority of societies around the world.
However, I refuse to make a judgement on the character of John Galliano or this situation at the present time. While I do not condone the words that he said in the video, nor the alleged racism he displayed at La Perle which brought about his arrest, there are always at least two sides to every story. I don't think that Galliano's side of events should be given any less weight than his accusers' simply because he drunkenly uttered some admittedly grotesque phrases on a different occasion.
As for firing Galliano, I think it was the best decision Dior could have made in the circumstances. Regardless of whether the incidents at La Perle were unprovoked or not, they need to distance themselves from Galliano's name to preserve their brand's reputation. It's just good business.
I have some questions for you all to contemplate though, while you wait for the materialization of my own opinion on the matter. There's no need for you to answer them at all, but I would encourage you to think about them anyway; it might help you think more critically about the situation at hand:
1) Can you judge a person based on one isolated incident? Or indeed, two?
2) How does one define a racist person? Can you be classified as racist if there are only limited examples of you having made racist comments or had racist thoughts?
3) Is there a difference between a person who simply thinks racist thoughts, one who speaks those thoughts aloud, and one who acts on those thoughts?
4) Is it right to cast a person from society because they have made a mistake? Can we forgive a mistake if an apology is forthcoming?
I have related before how I am taking psychology classes at university, and things of this sort (reasoning, judgement, prejudice, etc.) are all things that we have studied recently (Indeed, John Galliano's case has come up as a topic of discussion in my Social Psychology class not infrequently in recent weeks). Analyzing the different arguments for and against everyone involved in this from Galliano to Natalie Portman has been an interesting experience, especially given it's correspondence to my course material. I find the situation incredibly sad, but there is also something to be said for its value as a case study of social and cognitive psychology, political science, and the French legal system, not to mention the economics of the fashion industry.
Because I find this entire topic so interesting, I will continue writing on it as new information becomes available, and as I pick up on things. I would encourage you all to participate in the debate yourselves, but if you choose to do so, please respect each other's opinions: criticize constructively, or not at all.
My next topic in this series will be regarding Dior, their show at Paris Fashion Week, and such things. I cannot guarantee a date when this will be completed, as I am about to head into a second slew of midterms at school, but I will post it as quickly as I may.
Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford
However, I refuse to make a judgement on the character of John Galliano or this situation at the present time. While I do not condone the words that he said in the video, nor the alleged racism he displayed at La Perle which brought about his arrest, there are always at least two sides to every story. I don't think that Galliano's side of events should be given any less weight than his accusers' simply because he drunkenly uttered some admittedly grotesque phrases on a different occasion.
As for firing Galliano, I think it was the best decision Dior could have made in the circumstances. Regardless of whether the incidents at La Perle were unprovoked or not, they need to distance themselves from Galliano's name to preserve their brand's reputation. It's just good business.
I have some questions for you all to contemplate though, while you wait for the materialization of my own opinion on the matter. There's no need for you to answer them at all, but I would encourage you to think about them anyway; it might help you think more critically about the situation at hand:
1) Can you judge a person based on one isolated incident? Or indeed, two?
2) How does one define a racist person? Can you be classified as racist if there are only limited examples of you having made racist comments or had racist thoughts?
3) Is there a difference between a person who simply thinks racist thoughts, one who speaks those thoughts aloud, and one who acts on those thoughts?
4) Is it right to cast a person from society because they have made a mistake? Can we forgive a mistake if an apology is forthcoming?
I have related before how I am taking psychology classes at university, and things of this sort (reasoning, judgement, prejudice, etc.) are all things that we have studied recently (Indeed, John Galliano's case has come up as a topic of discussion in my Social Psychology class not infrequently in recent weeks). Analyzing the different arguments for and against everyone involved in this from Galliano to Natalie Portman has been an interesting experience, especially given it's correspondence to my course material. I find the situation incredibly sad, but there is also something to be said for its value as a case study of social and cognitive psychology, political science, and the French legal system, not to mention the economics of the fashion industry.
Because I find this entire topic so interesting, I will continue writing on it as new information becomes available, and as I pick up on things. I would encourage you all to participate in the debate yourselves, but if you choose to do so, please respect each other's opinions: criticize constructively, or not at all.
My next topic in this series will be regarding Dior, their show at Paris Fashion Week, and such things. I cannot guarantee a date when this will be completed, as I am about to head into a second slew of midterms at school, but I will post it as quickly as I may.
Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford
