Comments by "JLH" (@Kyarrix) on "The New York Times" channel.

I have so much compassion and sorrow for the black man who is talking about how he is treated in stores and in the market. I feel anger on his behalf. This country has so much it needs to fix, this is a good indication of something that should be a priority.
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This might come across as unkind but the video seemed unnecessarily melodramatic. Not the underlying story but the way it was recounted. I should be feeling empathy but instead I found myself thinking "tone it down a little please." I recognize that the emotions are almost certainly real but the word choice and the overly emotive style did not resonate. This is unfortunate because I think it is an important story and it would have been better if it had been told in a way that didn't cause at least some of the viewers to feel the way I did. Part of it is the editing, the music choice, the tone of voice of the person speaking, the cadence. It is possible to convey emotion without veering into hushed melodrama. Less can be more. Something to consider.
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And yet they all checked the box. Every single one of them checked the box. I'm glad they're speaking up now but it would be so much better if legacy students didn't check the box. They probably wouldn't have gotten in without it. I used my privilege but now I want to make sure that others don't do the same. What happens when it's time for your kids to apply and you want to ensure them a successful career? Will you tell them not to check the box? How will you explain to them that you did?
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"How many strokes of the cane?" That seems an awfully prurient question. How does it add to our understanding for you to question them that closely and intently? They are being beaten. That is horrible. It doesn't add to our understanding for you to press them on how many strokes, how often and what kind of stick. It makes you come across as salacious in a way that is distasteful and off-putting. These are traumatized children. The little boy you were questioning visibly shrunk away as you leaned in to ask him questions about the beatings that added nothing other than revealing a depth of interest that is unseemly.
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They believe in it after they benefited. They all checked the box. They all got in through legacy admissions. Railing against it afterwards doesn't carry as much weight. It's good that they're speaking up, but each one of them benefited before they spoke up.
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Why are you an apologist for violence against children in schools? Could it be that you don't see a 17 or 18-year-old black male as worthy of protection? Do you think he's more inclined to be violent because of his race? I don't expect an answer here but it would be useful for you to interrogate that in the silences of your own mind. We have a problem in the US with racism and gun culture. Whether he should have been disciplined for declining to participate in a school activity is a different question. Violence against a child, resulting in real world consequences against that child cannot be the answer. Ever.
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Why does this start with watching some guy peeing for 30 seconds? This is only a minute or two in and it doesn't bode well. It is a serious topic. I don't understand how the first minute of the video where we watch a presumably naked guy in the bathroom peeing helps convey the seriousness or anything in the message. * It's been explained that he wasn't peeing that a bucket was shown at the very start. I'm still not clear as to how this helps with the story. The water/ bucket/mimicking peeing doesn't do anything for explaining the overdose that changed his life. If anyone has an explanation or a point of view as to how it does further the story I would be interested in your perspective.
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Unfortunately the person who responded to you is right. There will be those who can overcome bad teachers and bad schools and make it anyway but for many sports is one of the few ways out. You're right that there are other ways and I agree with your underlying point but for many music and science art and education are out of their reach through no fault of their own.
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@anenglishmanplusamerican7107 Thank you, I appreciate the agreement. I debated posting that comment because it felt unkind but I thought in the end it might be worthwhile. I doubt they will look at it or weigh it but I still felt it worth the time to post.
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@ladypoetess This is a perceptive comment and you are probably right. That unfortunately doesn't change the fact that it was difficult to watch. I think they could have conveyed the intensity of it without being so heavy-handed. If your audience is rolling their eyes rather than empathizing you aren't accomplishing your goal. Or maybe you are? It was everything, the choice of music, word choice, tone, it all veered into melodramatic territory. For me that detracts from real empathy.
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When someone starts a video by saying I'm kind of confused they're being disingenuous almost by definition. You're not confused at all. Within 10 seconds of the start of this video I formed a dislike for the guy. The wide-eyed "should I be afraid" and odd emphases struck me. He repeats the "I'm confused" line a few times. "Huh, what? I'm just so confused!" No, you're not. You're a 34-year-old man who calls himself Johnny, a journalist and contributor to the NYT and Vox. You aren't remotely confused. Why not make videos with a more genuine approach? The faux wide-eyed gosh I'm so confused thing is distasteful. It's not just that, the music, the rhetorical devices, all of it was subpar and not what I expect from the NYT. I guess they're trying to reach a different audience but I can't imagine who this appeals to. Who is the audience that is both interested in politics but also finds someone like this appealing? That isn't turned off by the disingenuous approach, the wide-eyed pretense? I don't know if an audience like that exists and frankly I hope it doesn't.
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@GoodToGoIndustries thank you for clarifying. What is the point of it in any case? How does it further the story of an overdose? No snark intended I genuinely don't get it. If you explain I will be happy to delete my comment.
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@marcya4428 Why would they "lie" about what? When you check the box indicating that you are a legacy student you do so with the knowledge that this will almost ensure that you are accepted because the university wants to continue to benefit financially from your family. If you feel very strongly that legacy admissions are wrong, and they are, have the courage of your convictions and refrain from taking advantage. They did not. They checked the box, got into ivy League schools that they probably would not otherwise have been accepted to. It isn't lying to refrain from taking advantage of unearned privilege.
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 @jocelynleung3111 unfortunately well said
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@marcya4428 Yes, it should be about systemic reform but that does not negate the point that individual students, all of them, can decide to be ethical and refrain from checking the box. This is not an either or situation.
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@AccidentallyOnPurpose Okay, I appreciate the clarification but how does that help the story of what they are conveying? Other people thought he was peeing also, that's entirely my fault for not paying attention to the bucket of water but the question remains, what's the point of the intro with the water/bucket/mimicking peeing?
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You're okay with what? With children being harassed and beaten by police in schools? Or with the New York Times bringing it to light?
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I have lived in other countries where healthcare is not a for profit industry. We should be talking about joining the rest of the world and paying for healthcare with taxes. Our taxes pay for necessary infrastructure and services. Roads, bridges, police and firefightes, schools, the postal service. Basic healthcare is a societally necessary service. In the US we spend twice as much per capita on healthcare as the next nation and we come dead last in results among the 11 wealthiest nations and 17th in general. Why? Because most of our healthcare dollars don't go for healthcare, they go to insurance companies, third parties and huge profits. How is this still the way we allow things to be? How much suffering are we willing to endure in the name of unfettered capitalism and "freedom?". Other countries practice capitalism but do so with far more protections. When will we join the rest of the developed and sane world?
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Show this to all of your friends. Show this to everyone who thinks that it's just the flu, that it won't hurt them, that it won't harm anyone they care about. It will. It does. It's inconvenient to mask up, do it anyway. These are people's lives that are lost. This is irrevocable, it's incomprehensible to me how people can push for unmasking in the face of this tragedy.
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@marcya4428 I'm going to assume that you or someone you know is a legacy student. I got into Yale law school without being a legacy student. I decided not to go because it was too expensive. I went elsewhere and I'm glad that I did.
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@gretchenpike4990 sorry, I don't entirely understand what you mean. Do you think they missed the mark? Someone else pointed out that they could have used that style intentionally to convey how they were feeling and I understand that but I still think the style missed the mark a little for me.
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@Clownlife432 You do realize that for many young black boys sports and specifically football is often the only way out? Sure, they are susceptible to societal pressures and they aren't immune from buying into the idea that sports equals glory but if you don't have a good school or mentors sports will frequently be the only path out. I didn't see that noted in your comment.
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LadieKatie they're not forced to participate? You do realize that for many impoverished minorities there is no other way out? You can talk about music and other sports and science and education but if those things aren't available, what are they supposed to do? No, they're not forced to participate but if they want a way out frequently that is the only one available. Where is acknowledgment of that awful truth in your comment? Nowhere because you don't seem to care much.
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I'm not a fan of you mocking so-called lefties. Lefties like Bernie Sanders would be the answer to so much that is messed up here. The same insulin from the same factory costs nine times more here than it does in Canada. A cancer drug that is lifesaving costs 50 times more here than it does outside of the country. Corporations and profit rule this country and unallayed capitalism is in fact a death spiral. Why? Because wealth concentrates in an ever fewer number of hands. This means no middle class. It also means that people are far more susceptible to the manipulation of politicians. The whole Trump movement, Qanon, all of this stems from the belief of people who are being squeezed that progress is a zero-sum game. That if minorities and women are making advances, that it will come at the expense of the working class, modestly educated white man. And unfortunately under the system as it exists right now, they're not entirely wrong. There is no justification for one person to have 50 billion dollars. No one earns that money. The people who earn that money are those who are being paid a minimum wage so low that they are eligible for food stamps. The loud left that you are scolding by implication? In any other country these lefties would be considered extremely moderate centrists. Get your act together please, videos like this have a certain influence and that influence should be used to educate. Not indoctrinate.
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This doesn't help us. It hurts us because it reassures people and makes them think the Trump can't be re-elected. He absolutely can be unless people get out and vote. Talk to your friends and family, give people a ride to the polls, give out masks, volunteer, vote.
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