Sunday, August 23, 2009

Is "Stupid is as stupid does" still permitted by the Nanny State?

Quangos blackball ... oops, sorry ... veto ‘racist’ everyday phrases

Among the forbidden phrases: black sheep, black day, right-hand man, master bedroom, or the verb "to master".

So is "ethnic minority".

THERE IS NO RIGHT NEVER TO BE OFFENDED, OKAY?

I used to have to drive past a billboard I found offensive beyond words. But it was the right of the abortion proponents to put it up and the right of the billboard company to allow them to purchase space to advertise their opinion that it helps families to if you kill some of the kids in-utero. Offensive to the max. But I'll defend to the death their right to say it.

This tyranny of the thin-skinned has got to end.

8 comments:

army_wife said...

Amen to that. Sometimes I think that people intentionally look for phrases that they can claim "offend" them (even if they have to do some serious twisting of words/intent to get to that conclusion).

OperationCounterstrike said...
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army_wife said...

http://www.snopes.com/racial/business/cuddlewithme.asp

Speaking of being easily offended... I don't know why the term "monkey" is so offensive, but people had a cow about a doll (of african-american coloring) which was sold with "lil' monkey" clothing. The same type of "lil' monkey" clothing sold for REAL babies. I didn't see anything about the doll that would make me think it was a racial statement. I never even would have thought of a "racial" connection at all if it were not for other people freaking out about it. I call my kids "little monkeys" all the time (we're caucasian).

So is the "panda bear" clothing sold with other versions/ethnicities of this doll (african-american versions included) considered offensive to asians since pandas are native to Asia and are a cliched symbol of the region? To caucasians? Pandas are black and WHITE in coloring, should white people be offended?

I really don't see what the fuss about the "little monkey" doll clothing is all about. People buy that stuff for their REAL children.

Christina Dunigan said...

People used to justify slavery on the grounds that Blacks weren't human, they were more like hairless monkeys. (Which would have meant that the slave owners were committing bestiality if they raped their slaves, but I guess the slaves were human enough to abuse, just not human enough to respect.)

army_wife said...

OK, I see now.

I actually don't think that the company that made the dolls probably did that on purpose but I guess anything is possible. I guess that to know for sure we'd have to track down whoever made the decision to put those clothes on the doll, and try to get an honest answer out of them. I don't think that will happen because if you ask companies about stuff like that, you'll get a politically-correct answer that is mostly damage control.

Racism is rediculous. We are all the same inside, and if we were all the same color then a crowd of people would be boring to look at. :-) It makes life interesting to have different cultures and colors of people.

Christina Dunigan said...

When I was teaching in Korea I had one student look up into my face and in a trembling voice he said, "Teacher -- your eyes.... green.... WHY?" Another, older, student told me my eyes "looked wrong", and "like cat eyes, not like people eyes."

army_wife said...

Aww, poor little fella. I guess when you see someone that looks a lot different than what you're used to, it's a bit shocking to you.

Kathy said...

When reading this article I immediately thought of this post & conversation. So true!