I haven’t listed to Rewind-A-Wai yet. I would assume if Vince said something problematic during that event, John and Wai would comment on it in reflection of how dated and distasteful it is. I mean, there’s a difference between looking at old content with retrospective and a 2020 lens, versus highlighting it.
Yes, Joe Rogan hasn’t interviewed the Grand Wizard. But Ben Shapiro? Jericho interviewing Trump Jr.? Sure, those guys aren’t actively partaking in cross burnings (that we know of). But, to bring people who have a long history of problematic comments onto your podcast with substantial reach is dangerous. The problems in North America (specifically the US) is in that voices like theirs reaffirm and defend white privilege. ie “All Lives Matter” makes sense to those with white fragility. It affirms “Hey, I’m just as important as anyone else!” Problem? That’s not the point. People like Shapiro or Trump Jr. aren’t going to explicitly show their faces at a klan rally - they are going to use their platform to maintain the status quo. Which in America, is racism, anti-science, and grounded in oppression.
That’s the danger. It’s the same with the police issue you mentioned. People like that twist the “Defund the Police” movement as some idea all cops are bad. While that’s not true, the entire system is bad. Yes, not every cop is out there murdering people, but the issue lies in that, actively partaking in violence or not, the system as a whole allows it. The entire department is culpable. But then, you have the President on Twitter scaring people that “the radical left is taking away the police and you’re in danger!” Again, that’s entirely not the case. And it’s too complex to delve into further, and maybe it’s not entirely appropriate for this forum.
But anyway, yeah, you can make the argument of how deep should it go. I’m not calling to silence anyone who’s done anything wrong. People change, learn, and grow. But, there’s a group of people who will never change and have beliefs grounded in hatred and bigotry. That’s a Ben Shapiro and a Trump Jr. There’s no reasoning, there’s no changing, it’s their way or the highway. They can form any underground movement they want, but when Joe Rogan or Chris Jericho bring notoriously hateful people onto their platform to speak - it only affirms problematic thoughts ingrained into most of the country. I don’t think that deserves a platform. Liberal, conservative, whatever - there’s simply people who have dangerous thoughts that prevent a long overdue change, and I think we know there’s a fundamental difference between a Ben Shapiro and a Justin Trudeau, regardless of the past. Even this week Kevin Steen was in controversy from comments 17 years ago. I’m not the right person to ask if he should be forgiven or should/shouldn’t be punished. But, he’s a different person now. He’s grown and changed. Yet, there’s people who haven’t and won’t.
I do sincerely apologize to anyone uncomfortable with a bit of a political rant. I won’t indulge further. Please, talk shop. I’ll mosey on out.