"50 Cent donates $100,000 to Autism Speaks After Mocking Allegedly Autistic Airport Employee"

[As sweet as-pie]

This story angered me due to his ignorance as no one should be mocked, whether neurodiverse or neurotypical. However, this just takes it one step further and shows another level of ignorance. If he really wanted to "turn his misunderstanding into an understanding" as he said, he wouldn't donate to an abhorrent organisation such as Autism Speaks who definitely do not in any way speak for autistic people of any kind.

As soon as I saw this I had to see the reaction it was getting and much to my dismay most people were praising him for his "kindness" and his "awareness" of autistic people. Most comments were from the parents of autistic children who supported Autism Speaks. We don't need awareness, we need acceptance.

I have seen another thread on this relating to a news article, but I just wanted somewhere to vent my opinion and frustration at this.

Any thoughts are very welcome.

 

[David Larson]

The fact that it was a donation to Autism Speaks in particular tells me he just told his PR people, "hey throw some money at the most prominent autism organization". Anyone who so much as dips their toe into the actual autism community knows that as a whole we generally have no love for that particular organization.

 

[As sweet as-pie]

That's exactly what I was thinking! He obviously just did it to get rid of the negative feedback he was getting, for a lot of people (most of them neurotypical) it will be enough of an "apology" but as you said, no one who is actually autistic will see that as a valid or right thing to do, as well as any neurotypical's who know even the slightest thing about them as an organisation.

 

[David Larson]

Also, 50 Cent sucks in general. Anyone who knows anything about rap knows 50 Cent and two quarters don't add up to a dollar. Oh yes I di-id.

 

[Tom]

Never support the first charity you see.

 

[Professori]

Yep, he blew it and tried to cover up, but in doing that blew it again. He really does not know or care two cents for autistics, but instead has tried to use his personal prejudice and resultant 'cock-up' as a propaganda/matketing campaign. Talk about attempting to capitalise on your ignorance!

 

[Judge]

Whatever his intent was, he ultimately lost me at "Autism Speaks".

Though it appears to have been little more than PR damage control that simply added insult to injury. What he did hurt the autistic person in question. But supporting Autism Speaks hurts many more of us IMO.

 

[the_tortoise]

The article I linked to below suggests the autistic guy's family asked 50 Cent to donate to Autism Speaks.

It also reports a previous incident involving 50 cent publicly using "autistic" and "special ed kids" as insults and offering the same generic "no offence intended" apology afterwards....

.....So I doubt that there's any sincere remorse or understanding happening.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/04/rapper-50-cent-publicly-mocks-autistic-teen-then-apologizes-after-outraged-reaction/?utm_term=.5548f5877392

 

[hutchie]

Will he get credit if they find the cure for autism?

 

[Butterfly88]

I think he tried to do the right thing but failed.

 

[Judge]

Will he get credit if they find the cure for autism?

As a charitable deduction on his income tax return, absolutely.