Ken wrote:
>
> We tend not to be as sensitive to slurs made against some groups as to those
> made against others. Since we're more attuned to the racism directed at
> Af.rican Americans, consider Fred's remarks as if they were made in the
> dialect of what a racist would use for Black dialect. Maybe now you see it?
Ok, Ken. I tried changing Fred's punchline to : "Sho 'nuff Massa, jes'
cain't do thet. But I'se sho' sorry 'bout not unnerstandn yo'all."
I still don't see anything racist about it.
Racism implies judging someone on the basis of their race. Fred was
judging the shopkeeper on the basis of his ruining Fred's carpet and
trans tunnel. There's an important distinction there, IMO one that is
frequently missed.
Further IMO Fred's attempt to reproduce what he heard the shopkeeper say
was not "the dialect of what a racist would use for <fill in the blank>
dialect" and it was both underhanded and highly inflammatory of you to
imply that it was.
I'll also offer some advice to the list (which I shall endeavor to take
myself <g>) : Just ignore Ken's attempts to start fights. He's
obviously turning into a classic USENET 'troll', the only known cure is
to ignore him. Trolls _want_ you to flame them, they enjoy it. Like a
dog that makes messes on the carpet to get the attention. See
http://www.netmeg.net/jargon/terms/t/troll.html
Last, to all those people to whom I've defended Ken : I was wrong.
Randall
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