[ad_1]
This article is republished here with permission from The Associated Press. This content is shared here as the topic may be of interest to Snopes readers; however, it does not represent the work of the fact-checkers or editors of Snopes.
SEATTLE (AP) – Seattle indie rocker and podcaster John Roderick has apologized for a story he told online about his young daughter spending six hours learning how to use a can opener.
The musician, the most famous of The Long Winters, wrote on Twitter last weekend about refusing to open the can of beans for the 9-year-old when she was hungry and frustrated to the point of cry.
Roderick faced an outcry from people who described his actions as emotionally abusive. He initially defended himself, noting that six hours is a typical time between meals and that his child was fine. But as criticism mounted under the hashtag #BeanDad, he deleted his Twitter account.
He said on his website on Tuesday that it was a mistake and that he should have responded to criticism head-on. He wrote that he told the story wrong – omitting that his wife was present, that there was a lot of laughter and frustration, and that they ate a hearty breakfast and shared pistachios while ‘she was working on the box.
He said it that way because he’s his sarcastic, comedic character, and he expected people to recognize him as a “bit,” he says. His experience as a straight, middle-class white man who did not live in an abusive situation made him misjudge the effect of his words, he said.
“Much of the language I used reminded people very viscerally of the abuse they had experienced from a parent,” Roderick wrote. “The idea that I would take food away from her, or force her to solve a puzzle while she cried, or tie her to the task for hours without a break, all were images of child abuse that took place. deeply affected many people. By rereading my story, I can see what I did.
“I was ignorant, oblivious to the message that the comic character of my ‘pedantic father’ was indistinguishable from the way abusive fathers act, speak and think,” he added.
Roderick also apologized for using racist, anti-Semitic and other slurs in tweets years ago, saying he did so ironically to mock those beliefs, but later realized that it was not for him to appropriate such terms.
“I continued to believe far beyond the point that I should have known better that because I was a hipster intellectual from a diverse community, it was okay for me to joke around and use slurs in this. context, ”he wrote. “It was not.”
Some of Roderick’s friends and peers have come to his defense, including “Jeopardy!” wiz Ken Jennings, who co-hosts the “Omnibus” podcast with Roderick and is temporarily starting to host “Jeopardy!” next Monday.
The founder of podcasting platform Maximum Fun HQ, which hosts Roderick’s “Friendly Fire” podcast, also defended him, but the platform then suspended Roderick indefinitely without pay, the Seattle Times reported.
Another popular podcast, “My Brother, My Brother and I,” announced that it will no longer use the Long Winters’ “(It’s a) Departure” as the opening song.
Roderick said he was taking a break from public life to let the lessons of the past few days prevail.
“My language was not appropriate then or now and thinking about that is part of my continuing education as an adult who wants to be a good ally,” he said. “This education is ongoing and this experience will have a profound effect on the way I conduct myself throughout my life.”
[ad_2]
Source link