Chief Wahoo

[speedracer]

Originally posted by U2Bama:

And for that reason, I choose to refrain from "digging up dirt" on the North or Michigan in order to justify stereotypes of the inhabitants up there.

huh huh...hey Beavis, I hear cool stuff happens when you tip a cow...

 

[U2Bama]

Yes, all Texans, including Beavis & Butt-Head, get their kicks at night going out cow tipping.

 

[melon]

Originally posted by erper:
political correctness i think is way to extreme. we force others to watch what they say or how they say what they say, when they dont really mean anything offensive because they're innocent or ignorant enough to not know that it can be offensive or perhaps they know but they make money off it anyway lol.... but the point is
people vote with their wallet, and if you dont like it, dont watch their baseball team or dont root for them... let others decide on their own free will without forcing the management of the team to change because we dont like what they named their team.

erper, I would agree in some respects. However, this is a matter of mutual respect. The "buck-toothed hillbilly" remark has proven a point; when the stereotype is thrown at you and your ethnicity, you might not find it so funny. You may argue that American Indian groups are blowing this stuff out of proportion, but it is their right, since it is their ethnicity being caricatured and branded.

You may think that simple supply-and-demand can fix this, but the majority opinion is not always the correct one. If it were up to simple supply-and-demand, we'd still be populated with products that insult African Americans. "Aunt Jemima" syrup is one of the last living reminders. The original "Aunt Jemina" image was a plump, ugly slave woman stereotype. White people sure enjoyed products like that, but black people were still being silently insulted all through the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century with products like that. It's not about political correctness, but about making a stand that everyone should be mutually respected. If American Indians are insulted by these baseball teams, then we should find other names. If Southerners are insulted by "buck-toothed hillbilly," then we shouldn't use it either. This is a matter of common sense.

Melon

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"He had lived through an age when men and women with energy and ruthlessness but without much ability or persistence excelled. And even though most of them had gone under, their ignorance had confused Roy, making him wonder whether the things he had striven to learn, and thought of as 'culture,' were irrelevant. Everything was supposed to be the same: commercials, Beethoven's late quartets, pop records, shopfronts, Freud, multi-coloured hair. Greatness, comparison, value, depth: gone, gone, gone. Anything could give some pleasure; he saw that. But not everything provided the sustenance of a deeper understanding." - Hanif Kureishi, Love in a Blue Time

 

[Angela Harlem]

The little mascot is just a caricature. A caricature as far as I knew, was just a visual exageration of something's appearance.

If however there are Native Americans who are offended, then it makes little difference. It shouldn't stay.

Is it though an insult to address or identify someone by their ethnicity? An Asian person after all is Asian. Is it wrong to call them that when it is most often handy as its the most obvious descriptor of a person's physical appearance?

My sister and I used to cop a lot of racial crap off people. If I ever bothered replying I say something along the lines of "You are such a little boy" to which they'd reply "Duh, what a stupid comeback!" I always thought, honey, it isnt a comeback, Im just stating the obvious like you were with your comments about skin colour.

 

[Klodomir]

On the racist food issue, I was wondering if you in America also have dodgy Chicken Tonight commercials, or if we only get them in Europe? I'm thinking about a very stereotypical Southern black woman that's used in TV ads here.

 

[Klodomir]

I find it really hard to decide on this issue. On one hand, I really understand why the logos and the name Redskins could be offensive to some people, but on the other hand I do not agree that any reference to a particular minority group should be avoided. The names Indians and Braves seem positive enough to me.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that you have to be sensitive to peoples feelings, but you can also go too far. For instance, there has been a call in the Netherlands for the removal of the word "negro" from the dictionaries because some people find it offensive. That's going too far, IMO.

 

[dream wanderer]

I am a card carrying reservation born tribal member and find this whole thing rather amusing.

First...the idea of the 'fighting Irish' and other similar terms are self identification. It is what you call yourselves among yourselves. It is not a tag someone else put on them. If blacks want to call themselves the 'n' word among themselves...that is their business... not ours. We do not call them that. Deal with it. For once they are calling the shots about something...

In Asheville NC a woman's basketball team called themselves the "Squaws". The nearby Cherokee tribe knew of it but had the attitude "They know what the word means...if they still want to use it...knowing full well what it means and that it can be offensive... that is their business. We have more important issues on the table...like diabetes and unemployment"

A group that had nothing to do with the reservation...a bunch of wannabes (people who claim to be Indians but cannot prove it or just declare themselves as such) were the ones who kicked up the stink...threatned lawsuits etc etc...and kept dragging the unwilling tribe back into the mess. The team finally changed its name.

Btw...the reservation teams are the "Braves" and the "Lady Braves"....

The words are offensive...but there are more important things to worry about in Indian country. Like suicide rates...maybe from people not getting enough respect...who knows?


dream wanderer

 

[ocu2fan]

Originally posted by speedracer:

Ironically, though, my reaction to such slurs ends up reinforcing Asian stereotypes when I scream "Sho-Ryu-Ken!" and administer my Super Dragon Punch to the kid's chin.

Quite possibly the funniest thing I have read this month! That was hilarious!