Disrespectful?

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sallycinnamon78

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Have a look at this:

At a banquet Monday night before the MPC Computers Bowl between the Eagles and Boise State, Mike Adkins read a list of the top 10 things Boise and Boston have in common, including, "No one in either city can properly pronounce Mathias Kiwanuka." Adkins mispronounced Kiwanuka's name in the punchline and some Boston College players said later they found the joke insulting and disrespectful.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ls/2005/12/30/bc.fbc.mpcapology.ap/index.html

I'm not too sure about all this hoohah. The guy who made this joke could have been more tasteful, obviously. To cut a long story short, I think he was making fun of residents of Boise and Boston who are too dense to pronounce Kiwanuka's name properly. It doesn't seem (to me, anyway) that he was poking fun at Kiwanuka at all. That said, I guess I might feel differently if it had beem me in Kiwanuka's place - but I'm not sure of that, either.

Here's the rest of the article... what do you think of all this?

The CEO of MPC Computers apologized to Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka on Thursday for making fun of his name during a banquet before the Eagles' bowl game against Boise State.

[Adkins later stated] "The MPC Computers Bowl, whose roots are based on a humanitarian model of service, would never attempt to discredit, humiliate or offend anyone," said Gary Beck, the bowl's executive director. "We again apologize to Mr. Kiwanuka for any discomfort or embarrassment the speech at the event caused him or his family. It was certainly unintentional and without any malice."

Mayor David Bieter acknowledged Thursday that he had ended a welcome speech at the banquet with a plug for the hometown Broncos, who have participated in the bowl four of its nine years. But he didn't believe his remark was out of line.

"As the mayor of the city, a little friendly comment seemed appropriate," Bieter told the Idaho Statesman newspaper.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ls/2005/12/30/bc.fbc.mpcapology.ap/index.html
 
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:lmao: LOL! Wanderer... you're not the Messiah, you're a very naughty boy. :wink:

Anyway. Disrespectful or not?
 
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I saw this article earlier today, and I think it's silly. The joke was funny. It's a shame some people can't laugh at themselves.

I've spent a good amount of time overseas for my age, and a lot of people couldn't pronounce my name. Who cares?
 
Thank God for that... I was getting worried that I was the only one who just found the whole thing silly.

I lived in the States and barely anyone could spell or pronounce my name. It irked me occasionally but, really, it was never a big deal.

Good to see I'm not alone on this one!
 
Maybe he should have said Kiwi is 100x more likely to wind up a convicted felon or just a general thug by attending Boston College.

:hmm:

Bill Romanowski - steroid abuser
Mark Chumura - sexually assaulted his kid's babysitter
Mike Mammula - exposed himself to a group of people

That's not even including the basketball team or general student population. Ah, what a wonderful school BC is.
 
Face it, it no long matter what people were thinking. All that matters to raise an argument is the idea that someone's feelings could have been hurt.
 
DaveC said:
Where's this Kiwanuka guy from, anyways?


a fair question


Boston College players said later they found the joke insulting and disrespectful.
Kiwanuka is the grandson of Uganda's first prime minister, assassinated by mass-murdering dictator Idi Amin.
Adkins apologized to Kiwanuka in a statement Thursday.

or is it easier to go to this place

'these people should be greatful they get a chance to attend college
they could be back in da hood, killen' each other"
 
randhail said:
Maybe he should have said Kiwi is 100x more likely to wind up a convicted felon or just a general thug by attending Boston College.

:hmm:

Bill Romanowski - steroid abuser
Mark Chumura - sexually assaulted his kid's babysitter
Mike Mammula - exposed himself to a group of people

That's not even including the basketball team or general student population. Ah, what a wonderful school BC is.


Well, as an ND grad and, consequently BC hater, I couldn't agree more. :yes:

Besides, the way most people butcher my name (often adding letters - like an "R" - there is no "R" in my last name) makes me realize it was meant in fun. I don't view anyone as "simple-minded" for not knowing how to say a clearly foreign last name. Should I be offended if Kiwanuka couldn't say my name? If so, should I demand a public apology? ;)
 
DaveC said:
Where's this Kiwanuka guy from, anyways?

I really believe most of the Boston fans know how to pronounce his name and who he is.

"Boston College players said later they found the joke insulting and disrespectful."

I think one might defer to his teammates judgement.



First-team All-America selection...enters the bowl game with 243 career tackles (156 solos), a school-record 37.5 quarterback sacks, 64.5 tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions in 48 games over four seasons...earned all-ACC first-team honors at defensive end in 2005...the 2004 Big East Defensive Player of the Year, he was a consensus 2005 preseason All-America selection...has sacked the quarterback more than once nine times in his career; BC has a 9-0 record in those contests...ranked as the number one defensive end in the nation and as the ACC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by The Sporting News...proudly displays a Ugandan flag in his dorm room as a reminder of his African heritage and in memory of his late grandfather, Benedicto Kiwanuka, who was elected Uganda's first prime minister in 1961 and assassinated in 1972 by Idi Amin.
 
A_Wanderer said:
Who cares if its disrespectful - it's funny.

Their names are different than our names :wink:

on second thought
you are probably right

when these people come to America they should take a white man's name like there ancestors did :yes:
 
XHendrix24 said:
Stupid.

Lighten up.

:up:
?

218193.jpeg
 
Now wheres the fun in having a mono-culture?

Joking about not being able to pronounce a name properly is more of a burn on the people that can't pronounce it than the indiviudal with the surname.
 
deep said:

Let me rephrase, I probably wasn't clear in that last post.

Being upset because someone told a corny joke about your name is stupid. There was nothing particularly racist or offending about the joke, and if someone thinks that there is, I really think that they're just looking for things to be offended by. :shrug:
 
Joking about not being able to pronounce a name properly is more of a burn on the people that can't pronounce it than the indiviudal with the surname.

Exactly my point.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all! (It's now 1am here. I'm getting very drunk with my housemates.)
 
nbcrusader said:
Face it, it no long matter what people were thinking. All that matters to raise an argument is the idea that someone's feelings could have been hurt.

I really don't like to offend anybody. When I was younger, I used to get cross with people who criticised what I thought 'political correctness' was, as back then I interpreted the term as meaning not stereotyping people with insulting names and labels. (I didn't realise how satirical the phrase was at that point.) I'm still all for being sensitive and inclusive - that's how society should be. So I'm not arguing with the point you made there, nb.BUT I feel it's all gone too far. As I said before, barely anyone in the States could pronounce my surname. I didn't decide that they were being insulting to anyone of Indian descent because of that. That would have been paranoid and stupid of me.

Seems to me that someone somewhere is going to feel personally offended, for some reason or other, by anything these days. Here are a few examples:
"An Asian officer has complained that using the name "Black Museum" for the Metropolitan Police's famous archive of crime artefacts is racist.

Pc Zahid Malik, from Nottinghamshire Police, said the use of the word black in an article in the police magazine The Sharp End was questionable.

The editor of the publication responded to Pc Malik's letter saying: "There was no intention to offend."

The Crime Museum features gory exhibits from famous cases dating back to 1875.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4569006.stm
Well. The phrase "Black Museum" has traditionally referred to its funereal nature, and is not connected with the ethnic origin of its exhibits! What of the 'Black Country' (the industrial west Midlands)? Its name came from the smoke of thousands of ironworking foundries and forges, not to mention 30ft thick coal seams. Is that offensive now?

I'm of Asian-British descent too, but I can't really understand the complainant's mindset. I know we're all different, but is this really necessary?

Having spent years in Ennis, I never met any Irish people who objected to the common phrase "taking the mickey". I remember, many years ago, using this phrase while chatting with two (very 'English') staff members at the hostel I lived in. I was stunned when one of them told me off. I pointed out that I was used to being called a 'paki', alongside various other charming epithets, because of my skin colour, and wouldn't deliberately upset anyone else. The other staff member solved the problem by suggesting I replace "taking the mickey" with ''taking the piss''. :lmao:

Here's another little gem:
"In 2003 the United Kingdom's Teacher Training Agency advised trainees to use the term "thought shower" instead of "brainstorm" to avoid offending epileptics. The Daily Telegraph was unable to find anyone in the epileptic community that objected to the word "brainstorm." "

My sister is epileptic and she finds the idea of being offended by the word 'brainstorm' hilarious.

Where does this nonsense end?
 
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