It's Really Not About His Race

^same applies to the quotes in the article. Not racist at all.

 

Exactly. It’s really hard being a white republican and not coming off as a bigot, though I will say I can understand why. The party has been associated with racist a**holes throughout history, and a lot of those racist D bags were quite influential to the older generations back in the day.

For example, when I’m around my grandparents whom were born in the 20‘s and 30‘s (on both sides), will nonchalantly make racist remarks from time to time. Though I don’t use them myself, I can understand that when they were growing up times were completely different. Not that it justifies using such nomenclature, but they’re old and they’re not going to change. With my parents whom were born in the 50‘s, they don’t quite go that level, but make a racist joke every now and then, which still is not cool. Then you have myself, born in the late 80’s. I really think my generation and maybe a little before are unique in the sense that we were first brought up in a time where there wasn’t segregation and post-segregation BS predispositions (which lasted well into the 60’s and even 70’s) for us to be exposed to. This is also the same sort of vibe I get from all races/ethnics groups of my age and younger across the board. Where the problem seems to lie is the older generations who, whether white/black/brown/green will always have some kind of embedded notions of racism instilled within them until the day they die.

I guess what I’d like to believe is that as time passes into the future, and generations pass as well, there won’t be this racist stigma attached to party preferences. It's disgusting.

 

Absolutely I would, though I find it refreshing that his (R)acism is clearly noted. Seriously, this has ZERO to do with his party affiliations and everything to do with his "ignorance" (or should I have used the other synonym?). Maybe you're too young to be familiar with the tar baby slur, but I...and many others...are not.

 

SMH at the defenders of the tar. Just... wow.

I guess y'all go around using it in the "traditional African" manner all the time, huh? "Yeah, that new spreadsheet is a real tar baby! If you start working on it, you'll never finish!"

"Yeah, that chubby white woman I was dating was a real tar baby! Once you get in..."

Yeah, no. No you don't. Nobody does. Just stop it.

 

Yes I am familiar with the tar baby term. Were you familiar with the original "sticky" tar baby term as described in the wiki link?

From your indignation, I could only assume you were not.

You think the congressman actually thinks black people are sticky? From the quote, he clearly alludes to the stickiness of tar - not the dark color of it. The racist connotation of "tar baby" alludes to darker skin pigmentation. The original term alludes to the stickiness of tar.

I agree that he should have known better. I would just attribute this to ignorance rather than racism.

 

this.

 

nsfw (language)

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b0R3OjMcOqg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I don't have a problem with the tar baby comment. I think the boy comment is more problematic.

Despite racial conotations that have some have associated with tar baby, the story it alludes to communicates a a sophisticated idea (a problem you can't get away from and only gets worse the more you try to resolve it) in very short form. It's a pretty efficient term, so it has a useful role in the English language outside of any racial conotation. Honestly, I think it's too bad more people aren't familiar with it. Not only do I doubt he had any intent to offend, I doubt he thought of the phrase in any other terms.

I can see "He's your boy" seeming inoccuous, as in "he's your ally," but saying it's a boxing reference doesn't seem to help matters. Referring to a sport in which men of exploited minorites sacrifice their health to pummel each other in the ring for the entertainment of white audiences who make bets on who might win like it's a dog-fight -- that's probably not an image you want to conjure. Referring to a boxer as "boy" is just as demeaning as referring to a black person as "boy." So, even if he's being honest about thinking about some boxing reference, it still seems to reflect a subconscious racism.

 

Do you feel that rocketsjudoka's example was racist? Chink certainly has racist connotations to Asians.

But that context wasn't used in his example. Nor was the racist connotation of "tar baby" used in the Rep's comment.

SMH at the offended of the tar....grow a spine.

 

LOL. I'm not offended. Just calling it like I see it. Grow the ability to not go ad hominem, if that's at all possible.

My question remains: please let us know all the ways you've used "tar baby" in everyday conversations over, oh, the last decade. TIA, oh you steel-spined manly man.

 

That's all fine, on one level. But, in my 40+ years on earth, I've heard like 20 uses as a racial epithet and zero in this lofty, academic context you describe. And I've spent my life working at universities(!)

Et tu? Have you heard it used in the way you describe? The usage makes the word, is my point.

 

You are offended. You are clearly outraged by the usage of this term. I have never heard of it before seeing that quote, but looking up the origins of the term, it was clear he was using it in the "stuck" context. He even said "stuck".

I can see how it can be a racial slur. That doesn't mean it was used that way.

Just because you haven't heard it used in that context doesn't mean it isn't used that way in other places of the world.

 

no, not about race at all --

Fox Nation Reports On Obama’s Birthday: ‘Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs’



Yesterday, President Obama celebrated his 50th birthday. Politico reported that the president marked the milestone by holding a private barbecue attended by a flock of celebrities, including Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock, Charles Barkeley, Jay-Z, Tom Hanks, and Rita Wilson. Fox’s website Fox Nation offered their own take on the Politico’s report on the barbecue: “Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs”

Of course, nothing says hip hop like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. As blogger Oliver Willis notes, future Fox Nation headlines may include “Obama, While Black, Remarks On Unemployment” or “Obama Blackly Delivers The State Of The Union.”

 

I don't know where I may have seen it used, but I was already familiar with the concept without using wikipedia, so I must have encountered it somewhere. I also remember reading Toni Morrison's Tar Baby, though I don't remember the story itself too well.

I remember using 'tar baby' in a paper in college, probably around the same time I read the Morrison book. Maybe again since, idk. I'm working on a presentation now, and I'll see if I can't work tar baby into it.

I'll go a little ad hominem on you: I had a liberal arts education, and you're in hard sciences, if I recall correctly. I know you're a well-educated guy and all, but it could be you've had less exposure to academic uses of liberal arts concepts given your concentration? Not as bad as an engineer, but I've been surprised by science PhDs at how little sensitivity they had to major concepts in social sciences and the arts.

 

Not the same. Maybe that doesn't bother Rjud, but rest assured if someone said that about Wu it would be in the news for the same reasons, and he is not nearly as well known, or as polarizing, as Obama. He/they should have known better. Using "Your Boy" and "Tar-Baby" when referring to the president who is partially african american should have been preceded with more thought.... or maybe it WAS. The context and connotations should have been a concern. Do I know that he/they meant it in its most offensive form? No. Should he have known better, and assumed that would be seen as offensive and racist by a large percentage of people? Yes.

To be honest, it's so stupid, it seems almost deliberate.

 

Other places in the world? The congressman was from Colorado. What context is the usage of "tar baby" acceptable in Colorado?

 

One of the manager's at my job said tar baby in a meeting once. I'm black and it made me feel uncomfortable even though i know he didn't mean it in a bad way.

 

so how is "tar baby" offensive to blacks? Is there history to that term?
For sure Sharpton overreacted and got ultra sensitive....

it's amazing how people get offended so freaking easy just by name calling and label it "racial".