CrossFit CEO retires after questionable comments about George Floyd

This one is a doozy.

After a rough four days, CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman has "retired" following an insensitive joke he made on twitter and a Zoom call held on Saturday - literally hours before his tweet - that he wasn't mourning the death of George Floyd.

"Can you tell me why I should mourn him? Other than it's the white thing to do - either than that, give me another reason," Glassman said during the video, which was obtained by Buzzfeed News.

This following a joke he made on Twitter after racism was declared a public health crisis calling it "Floyd-19." The backlash was so immediate that brands like Reebok pulled out of its partnership with the franchise.

It's my personal belief that not every business in the country needs to come out and make a statement about what's going on right now. Sometimes, it can really seem like pandering or a ploy to line corporate pockets.

Why a gym franchise would need to say something on George Floyd's death is something I don't understand. That being said, what Glassman said during the Zoom call and then on Twitter is reprehensible.

It boggles my mind why he couldn't just have a conversation to find out why it mattered to his franchise owners, without the petty attitude. Or at the very least say that he felt like it was subject that his company didn't need to weigh in on it.

Tensions are high right now and belittling your gym owners, who clearly care about what;s going on certainly deserved more than what he gave them.

-Alex

Comments

Democrats introduce overhaul of police reform

Today house democrats introduced t he Justice in Policing Act, which would hold police departments across the nation more accountable for their actions by stripping away some of their protections. The legislation would also c reate a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police chokeholds. The legislation would also revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are knowingly involved in reckless misconduct and seek to provide greater transparency on police behavior according to the AP News. To put it bluntly, as much as I want this legislation to get make ground, it is a long shot pipe dream to get put into law. This is because the senate is majority Republican and will more than likely shoot it down or have it stripped or include poison pill amendments to it, despite Senator Lindsey Graham and Majority Senate Leader Mitch McConnell vowing to look at the issues. What do you think? -Alex

Statehood, the coronavirus and how the U.S. sets the standard for policing

With everything going on in the world, it's easy to lose track of the important issues going on in the world. For this edition of Articles that Make You Smarter, I wanted to share three articles that would give some perspective on three major issues in America. I hope you read and enjoy: Why statehood matters: The House of Representatives approved a bill that would recognize Washington D.C. as the 51st state of the country. While the Senate will more than likely shoot the bill down, here's an article by The Gaurdian that explains everything surrounding the bid for statehood: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/25/washington-dc-statehood-bid-house The United States and Policing: What's going on in America with policing doesn't just happen in a bubble. Here's a great article by The New Republic about how our country sets the standard for policing across the world: https://newrepublic.com/article/158297/america-exports-police-violence-around-world A new surge

Is the dismantling of our police force a good idea?

It seemed like an impossible task, like carrying water in your bare hands up a mountain and trying not to spill any. Still, protestors marching in Minneapolis have started to make massive waves in how the justice system works in their city. As reported by The New York Times , nine members of the Minneapolis City Council vowed yesterday to dismantle the city's police force in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of police officer's two weeks ago. Nine members of the council announced during a gathering that the city's policing system was beyond reform and would instead focus on implementing a community-based system of justice. While massive, it is unclear right now what specifically that will look like. What makes this especially interesting is just before this announcement, the city's Mayor Jacob Frey hesitated and then rejected the idea of abolishing the police department when asked at a rally on Saturday. While the council does control

The Statesmen

Search This Blog