Current Events > TIL HP Lovecraft's cat's name was "N***** Man"

(+) Yeah! (+)

Roxborough4Ever posted...

Zikten posted...

Roxborough4Ever posted...

so how do we erase this racists work from history completely?

his influence is all over modern horror. you'd have to destroy almost all horror from most of the 20th century, and up to now

thats fine with me. Destroy racism.

That doesn't destroy anything except historical fact. Since when was whitewashing history the answer to problems like this?
---

The problem with eradicating the work of racists is that there would be very little to look back on to understand the context and lived experiences of minorities. If theres no evidence of bigotry and oppression, it becomes incredibly easy to invalidate and diminish what others have gone through.
---

Lol you can appreciate a persons work without liking the person
---

Ving_Rhames posted...

Lol you can appreciate a persons work without liking the person

You can but sometimes what the person stood for or put into their work is so ingrained and toxic it can be mighty difficult to even want to engage with it.
---

Destroying books because we don't like their ideas, wait hasn't this happened before? Something's tickling at my memory

https://www.dw.com/image/16792630_303.jpg
https://literaturerun.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/burn.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/5f/42/fe5f42cefc89401351db8b33fb3608b8.jpg

Oh yeah, the destruction of literature is a classic hallmark of fascism since antiquity and it has always been justified under the banner of making society a better and more moral place
---

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.
---

What people seem to forget is that the American history is filled with immigration waves where people left their homes in hopes of getting a life where they would not starve, where they were protected by the law and/or not being killed for lulz.
And each wave is the same. Poor people comes to USA, they are forced to fill a small area with multiple people, they are working hard for minimum pay, doing dirty work that the average American wouldnt touch.
The American respond is the same, hate and fear. Spreading lies, claiming that they are all criminals, that they beat up young Americans and steal their jobs, etc.
And it ends the same way, after a while the immigrants are accepted into the American culture and becomes a part of it.
And then the hate and fear for the next immigration wave starts.
---

Rika_Furude posted...

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.

He was literally considered overly racist even then.
---

Lovecraft was definitely a massive racist, but those sorts of views definitely weren't uncommon or even weird. Reminding ourselves that even Churchill was originally a fan of eugenics.
---

MorbidFaithless posted...

Ving_Rhames posted...

Lol you can appreciate a persons work without liking the person

You can but sometimes what the person stood for or put into their work is so ingrained and toxic it can be mighty difficult to even want to engage with it.

I'm black and have no issue with his work.
---

Lmao
---

pinky0926 posted...

Roxborough4Ever posted...

Zikten posted...

Roxborough4Ever posted...

so how do we erase this racists work from history completely?

his influence is all over modern horror. you'd have to destroy almost all horror from most of the 20th century, and up to now

thats fine with me. Destroy racism.

That doesn't destroy anything except historical fact. Since when was whitewashing history the answer to problems like this?

He's trolling
---

ultimate reaver posted...

Lovecraft was incredibly racist and terrified of everything that wasn't milquetoast white New England culture.

Thats pretty much how New England is today tbh

Can't say I've ever read anything by him. I CAN say that I do like media that is inspired by his work, so I'm glad he existed in that regard. Bloodborne comes to mind, along with the influence his work had on magic the gathering.
---

Fun video all about Lovecraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmdzptbykzI" data-time="
---

It doesn't matter. He said a WORD. He needs to be removed.
---

CrimsonRage posted...

pinky0926 posted...

Destroying books because we don't like their ideas, wait hasn't this happened before? Something's tickling at my memory

why do people always jump to "you want destroy/burn books!" no one is saying anything remotely close to that (except roxborough who is clearly trolling)

people are just saying hp lovecraft was a great writer, just be careful about idolising the man himself.

I was replying directly to roxborough only and I wasn't sure he was trolling initially, poe's law etc.
---

I purchased the Barnes and Noble complete fiction of HP Lovecraft a few weeks ago. I'm enjoying it so far, even though his stories feel very similar to one another.

I forgot the title of one of his earlier works, but it involved a trip to Africa and was almost an allegory to the shock of finding out his great grandmother was black.
---

Roxborough4Ever posted...

Zikten posted...

Roxborough4Ever posted...

so how do we erase this racists work from history completely?

his influence is all over modern horror. you'd have to destroy almost all horror from most of the 20th century, and up to now

thats fine with me. Destroy racism.

Erasing the past just means we cannot learn from our mistakes and frankly we would throw our a lot of good ideas simply because the authors were racist. Soeciety builds upon itself every generation. If Racism, and other evils required us to throw away cultural achievements for being tainted we would have nothing left. Virtually every country was founded with violence. Every country has racism, hate and exploitation in its past.

Inb4 deflections to confederate statues or whatever
---

Rika_Furude posted...

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.

1. Even back then, people were starting to turn against such blatant racism.

2. What is you opinion on the Prophet Muhammad's 9yo wife?
---

CrimsonRage posted...

pinky0926 posted...

CrimsonRage posted...

pinky0926 posted...

Destroying books because we don't like their ideas, wait hasn't this happened before? Something's tickling at my memory

why do people always jump to "you want destroy/burn books!" no one is saying anything remotely close to that (except roxborough who is clearly trolling)

people are just saying hp lovecraft was a great writer, just be careful about idolising the man himself.

I was replying directly to roxborough only and I wasn't sure he was trolling initially, poe's law etc.

roxy is a career troll, you should know better pinky. :p

True :(
---

troll, character, gimmick....."poe"......whatever you need to tell yourself to escape the reality of the situation.
---

Roxborough4Ever posted...

troll, character, gimmick....."poe"......whatever you need to tell yourself to escape the reality of the situation.

So you're a ghost from OoT? Better than a Redead at least.

Roxborough4Ever posted...

troll, character, gimmick....."poe"......whatever you need to tell yourself to escape the reality of the situation.

The reality of you being a shit poster who is just saying ridiculous stuff for no reason other than to pretend how you think "the other side" thinks
---

jfc it's almost impossible to make a topic that doesn't get derailed by trolls these days.
---

I really hate the modern interpretation of him just being a terrible racist. His views on other people (including white foreigners) stems from his legitimate xenophobia. His views weren't political. He was a secluded guy that didn't really get along with anyone and was literally terrified of going outside or seeing people not like him. Actual racism was only a part of his particular neurosis and it's also one of the most important factors in his work. It's so reductionist to just say "This old dead guy was racist i don't like racists bad man"; especially when people bring up that fucking cat as their strongest supporting evidence every time. He had a lot of issues and his life sucked but we wouldn't have the stories we do without it. His views were taboo but they greatly enhanced his story telling.

specialkid8 posted...

I really hate the modern interpretation of him just being a terrible racist. His views on other people (including white foreigners) stems from his legitimate xenophobia. His views weren't political. He was a secluded guy that didn't really get along with anyone and was literally terrified of going outside or seeing people not like him. Actual racism was only a part of his particular neurosis and it's also one of the most important factors in his work. It's so reductionist to just say "This old dead guy was racist i don't like racists bad man"; especially when people bring up that fucking cat as their strongest supporting evidence every time. He had a lot of issues and his life sucked but we wouldn't have the stories we do without it. His views were taboo but they greatly enhanced his story telling.

I don't think you've read this topic. Or Lovecraft, for that matter.

btw, Lovecraft wasn't really a fan of New England culture but ENGLAND culture. he was a huge anglophile. he was reported to have said he wished he had been born during the time when England ruled the world. and he thought America should never have rebelled.

tbh lovecraft was just a product of his time its no big d-

https://tinyurl.com/oy6pb3w
---

Solar_Crimson posted...

1. Even back then, people were starting to turn against such blatant racism.

No they weren't. He was in his prime during the 20s and 30s when the KKK were at peak membership.

God forbid you do some actual research instead of talking out of your ass
---

Solar_Crimson posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.

1. Even back then, people were starting to turn against such blatant racism.

2. What is you opinion on the Prophet Muhammad's 9yo wife?

1) keyword: starting
2) pretty horrific and anyone who follows that religion today is just as horrific
---

He was horribly racist but his stories were still good.
---

Zodd3224 posted...

He was horribly racist but his stories were still good.

---

Lovecraft's works are severely overrated. They're mainly loved by Emo children who like to pretend they're literate. And here's a shocker, you can say the same thing about scifi nerds and H.G. Wells.
---

Was he legit in the kkk and killed black people?
---

BeyondWalls posted...

Lovecraft's works are severely overrated. They're mainly loved by Emo children who like to pretend they're literate. And here's a shocker, you can say the same thing about scifi nerds and H.G. Wells.

Maximum EDGE
---

BeyondWalls posted...

Lovecraft's works are severely overrated. They're mainly loved by Emo children who like to pretend they're literate. And here's a shocker, you can say the same thing about scifi nerds and H.G. Wells.

Lovecraft is mainly liked by emo children? I don't think most emo children would know who he is.

Lovecraft is possibly overated, but that doesn't change the fact that he popularised a style of story.

H.G. Wells on the other hand doesn't get enough praise.
---

Rika_Furude posted...

Solar_Crimson posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.

1. Even back then, people were starting to turn against such blatant racism.

2. What is you opinion on the Prophet Muhammad's 9yo wife?

1) keyword: starting
2) pretty horrific and anyone who follows that religion today is just as horrific

But by your logic, we can't judge him for that because back then, taking such young wives was seen as normal.
---

Lovecraft's books were shit

People took some of his themes and modernized them via movies/tv/games etc which are good

Lovecraft himself is irrelevant.
---

Solar_Crimson posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

Solar_Crimson posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.

1. Even back then, people were starting to turn against such blatant racism.

2. What is you opinion on the Prophet Muhammad's 9yo wife?

1) keyword: starting
2) pretty horrific and anyone who follows that religion today is just as horrific

But by your logic, we can't judge him for that because back then, taking such young wives was seen as normal.

Yes we can
---

IloveJesus posted...

MorbidFaithless posted...

Ving_Rhames posted...

Lol you can appreciate a persons work without liking the person

You can but sometimes what the person stood for or put into their work is so ingrained and toxic it can be mighty difficult to even want to engage with it.

I'm black and have no issue with his work.

Same here. Also the cat's name is hilarious.
---

Rika_Furude posted...

Solar_Crimson posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

Solar_Crimson posted...

Rika_Furude posted...

he was a product of his generation. kinda unfair to judge him by todays standards.

1. Even back then, people were starting to turn against such blatant racism.

2. What is you opinion on the Prophet Muhammad's 9yo wife?

1) keyword: starting
2) pretty horrific and anyone who follows that religion today is just as horrific

But by your logic, we can't judge him for that because back then, taking such young wives was seen as normal.

Yes we can

So, we can judge H.P. Lovecraft by today's standards of what's right and wrong.
---

IHeartRadiation posted...

IloveJesus posted...

MorbidFaithless posted...

Ving_Rhames posted...

Lol you can appreciate a persons work without liking the person

You can but sometimes what the person stood for or put into their work is so ingrained and toxic it can be mighty difficult to even want to engage with it.

I'm black and have no issue with his work.

Same here. Also the cat's name is hilarious.

What do you guys think of his piece "On the Creation of ******s?" Is that funny too?
---

Unless his actual books spout racist shit in them why should anybody care?

He's dead and his books are radical. Just enjoy the books.
---

_Squirtle_ posted...

Unless his actual books spout racist shit in them why should anybody care?

He literally has a story called "On the Creation of [N-word]s".
---

smoke_break posted...

IHeartRadiation posted...

IloveJesus posted...

MorbidFaithless posted...

Ving_Rhames posted...

Lol you can appreciate a persons work without liking the person

You can but sometimes what the person stood for or put into their work is so ingrained and toxic it can be mighty difficult to even want to engage with it.

I'm black and have no issue with his work.

Same here. Also the cat's name is hilarious.

What do you guys think of his piece "On the Creation of ******s?" Is that funny too?

Those are shitposting alts, not real people
---

Lovecraft was an awesome writer.

And if you're going to stroke your breast in offense at him, then also get pissed at Tolkien who made elves the Aryan dream.
---

_Squirtle_ posted...

Unless his actual books spout racist shit in them why should anybody care?

They do tho.
---