Who is to say what is offensive?

[AlteredEgo]

Uncle Ben got a minor tweaking, but Aunt Jemimah got the 50's housewife/Black Betty Crocker make over courtesy of the NAACP.

I was a little girl at the time, and very resistant to change. I especially disliked the earings. Before they gave her a perm and pearls, they made some changes, too. Those were okay to me. She still looked like Aunt Jemima.

I remember, when she just lost the kerchief, playing a game of Ghostbusters with some friends outside. I was a ghost. I was trying to get let into the imaginary house I wanted to haunt. I pretended to ring the door bell. My friend asked who it was, and I responded loudly, "It's Aunt Jemima!" Just then, a woman stepped right in front of me. Stunned and apparently hurt by my outburst she asked with wet eyes and a soft voice, "Do you think I look like Aunt Jemima?" She seemed to feel better when I explained to her that I was Aunt Jemima. LOL

There will always be people who want to escape part or parcel of their heritage. By then, Jemima had had her perm, and gotten her pearls.

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

Don't you blaspheme up in hea boy! :biggrin1:
quote]

Oh LAWD pleez fu'gimme

 

[Osiris]

Don't you blaspheme up in hea boy! :biggrin1:

Oh LAWD pleez fu'gimme

Naughty is going to kill us both when she reads this. :18:

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

IBefore they gave her a perm and pearls,

Again, it was a Press"N"Curl!

Now don't act all tenderheaded - saddown right here & han' me that can of SuperDax so I can tend to YO unruly head...

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

Don't you blaspheme up in hea boy! :biggrin1:


Naughty is going to kill us both when she reads this. :18:

Not me white boy, I'm Black...

 

[AlteredEgo]

Again, it was a Press"N"Curl!

Now don't act all tenderheaded - saddown right here & han' me that can of SuperDax so I can tend to YO unruly head...

Okay. Just be careful around my ears. I remember the last time I heated up that comb for you!

 

[Osiris]

Again, it was a Press"N"Curl!

Now don't act all tenderheaded - saddown right here & han' me that can of SuperDax so I can tend to YO unruly head...

I stand corrected...

Naughty and AlteredEgo are going to kill you when they see this. njqt might throw a rock or two as well. :18:

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

Okay. Just be careful around my ears. I remember the last time I heated up that comb for you!

Be STILL child! Hold them ears down!

*Starts at the nape*
**Blows to cool the hot comb & see thru the smoke**

 

[Osiris]

Not me white boy, I'm Black...

WHOA!! Not remotely white. I thought you read the posts.

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

WHOA!! Not remotely white. I thought you read the posts.

Well I did, but you sure LOOK white in your avatar...

 

[Principessa]

Originally Posted by vinny_spiruccino

Again, it was a Press"N"Curl!

Now don't act all tenderheaded - saddown right here & han' me that can of SuperDax so I can tend to YO unruly head...
I stand corrected...

Naughty and AlteredEgo are going to kill you when they see this. njqt might throw a rock or two as well. :18:


Jus' hush up chil' and hold yer ear out the way so I don't burn it like last time. :tongue:

 

[DC_DEEP]

DC, you are one of the main reasons I love this forum. I love your intelligence, wit, and the occasional bit of sarcasm.:smile:

Thanks, Osiris. I'm glad you understood, but were not offended by, that reference.

Shelby:

A week or so ago (in the firemen thread) weren't you exposing and provoking those who portray themselves as victims?

Here's quote I was thinking of:

Then today you portray yourself as: a victim.

What gives?

Don't axe questions you don't want to know the answer too, Speedo. Or questions you already know the answer to. If it's a queer being a victim, he's just playing victim. If it's a straight white boy, he really is a victim.

Not usually. Perpetual outrage is a deliberate tactic, with political and economic benefits accruing to its practitioners.

I still disagree. I have had a large number of friends, acquaintances, and coworkers of Negro descent; most of them referred to themselves as "black," not the more "politically-correct" "african-american." The same with my deaf or hard-of-hearing friends, relatives, and acquaintances... they are offended by the "PC" term, "hearing impaired."

You mean subservient black depictions. When was the last time you got a good look at those two? They are no longer dressed as servants. Someone must have been offended.

Oh, I do remember the controversy when Aunt Jemimah got her "make-over." I liked the old image better. She had more character, less "homogenized."

I'm sure it's pretty obvious, but has anyone else noticed how McDonald's is so aggressively marketing toward "ethnic" stereotypes now? Almost all of their radio ads anymore prominently feature characters speaking with heavy "urban" or "latino" accents and speech patterns. They figure they've made all the white folks fat enough I guess (or maybe they're just tired of losing them to Atkins and Weight Watchers?), time to find some replacement fatties.

Right. For a few years, they catered to the "wheh-you-at" crowd, very "urban negro" advertising. That phase passed, now they are targeting the cholas.

 

[Osiris]

Well I did, but you sure LOOK white in your avatar...

<---------------------------------- Better?:biggrin1:

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

<---------------------------------- Better?:biggrin1:

"Haaaaaayyyyy boo.... Can I call you Daddy?"

 

[Osiris]

"Haaaaaayyyyy boo.... Can I call you Daddy?"

Sorry Vinny. Ask AlteredEgo, I've reached my daddy quota. Wouldn't you say Altered?

 

[vinny_spiruccino]

Sorry Vinny. Ask AlteredEgo, I've reached my daddy quota. Wouldn't you say Altered?

*Rolls eyes*
*Sucks teeth*
*Smacks gum*

What EVVA

*bobs n' weaves on the EVVA*

 

[AlteredEgo]

...

Naughty and AlteredEgo are going to kill you when they see this. njqt might throw a rock or two as well. :18:

Nah. My mother will have a cow though. She did not believe in relaxers, or press 'n' curl. I asked her why and she said God gave me curls, and she gave me braids, and those two gifts were all a black child needed as far as her hair. She told me a woman's hair was her crown, and her beauty, and that lye would only serve to tarnish my crown, as well as my beauty. As for hot combs, my hair is unmanageable, but also too fine for that route. In reality, I'd be bald in about a minute.

 

[36DD]

I don't see why you can't have whatever damn avatar you want as long as it follows the guidelines here which I believe is no nudity. I don't know if the depiction of violence or an obvious racial slur is admitted but I draw the line there. Personally, I LOVE Shelby's avatar...I wonder does anyone have a photo of Nick Nolte's mug shot? Now that would be funny!

 

[Principessa]

Well since my dad was the Deputy EEO officer for a large Navy base in the 70's and 80's my answer to the OP's question is colored by the cases and stories I heard growing up. ~ The person talking doesn't get to determine offensiveness, it's the person who perceives the statement to be offensive who often starts trouble such as a law suit, flaming, or ranting in a thread.

Usually the person who makes an inflammatory statement doesn't mean to be hurtful or derogatory. That's why they always preface it with, "No offense but." :biggrin1: :tongue: I know when I hear "No offense, but" I am about to be offended and I probably need to pray . . . so I don't kill the stoopid summabitsch. :biggrin1: :tongue:

That said, it kinda annoys me when white people get offended on my behalf when dealing with perceived racism or bigotry. I encounter it sooo much that if I have chosen not to be offended then y'all need to let it slide too. :smile: Seriously, you have to choose your battles and I have assessed the situation and decided that is not the hill upon which I wish to die. Why on earth would you want to raise the ire of a Black Jersey Girl?! Is it because I go off like Julia Sugarbaker? :smile:

 

[BurningVenus]

You spell pretty good for a dumbass.

Is that the best you can do?

Hmmmmm. . . let's see. . . ?

Nazis & Hitler? = offensive to most.

Holocaust museum = good to most.
Does that make sense?


Have you seen a Klan rally? Have you seen their crosses burning?

I have.

Have you seen the look on people's faces who've had crosses burned on their lawn because they dared to move into a 'white area?

I have.

Have you had a dignified black duck down in your car as you drove past a redneck bar because of what the drunken fools might do to him if they saw him with a white woman?

I have. And all of these things happened in the last ten years.