Is this racist?

[sarge]

So you are saying when I say Pimp, even though I never visualize a black man as a PIMP I'm lying when I say I think of Harvey Keitel in Taxi Driver with his pimp hat. You know 100 percent what goes on in everyone's brain around the world.

That's pretty cool.

I am saying that the image of a large hat wearing pimp is so universally that of a black man, and that if this image is invoked about a black man, that it is not credible for the person making the comparison to claim that the man's blackness had nothing to do with selecting that particular image.

I am not saying that you are lying when you say you have been so insulated from pop culture for the past 3 -4 decades that you have never been exposed to the universally recognized (in America) image of the black pimp with outlandish hat and multi-colored suit.

 

[slingblade]

I am saying that the image of a large hat wearing pimp is so universally that of a black man, and that if this image is invoked about a black man, that it is not credible for the person making the comparison to claim that the man's blackness had nothing to do with selecting that particular image.

I am not saying that you are lying when you say you have been so insulated from pop culture for the past 3 -4 decades that you have never been exposed to the universally recognized (in America) image of the black pimp with outlandish hat and multi-colored suit.

I think the word you wanted there was "ubiquitous," since we all know America's not the universe. (really, I am just teasing.)

And yes, in media we get this image. In real life, not so much if you live out west. Out west, there just aren't enough black people to form such a stereotype. Western pimps are white or Mexispanitino. (sorry, I always get the various terms confused, so I mean no disrespect with that portmanteau.)

 

[MaGZ]

A friend on Facebook recently posted that, in light of the recent sexual harrassment allegations, Herman Cain was "just another smooth talker wearing pimp hats..." I mentioned that this was a tad racist, asking if he would have said that if Cain were white. The "friend" said that by mentioning racism I had made a bold statement, and that his comment was a joke meant to show that politicians are never what they say they are.

Truthfully, this matters to me very little, but what do you think of his original comment?

Young Obama dressed as a Jamaican Drug Lord in NYC. Maybe he did a little pimping on the side.

Our future president. This country is messed-up.

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/File:Obama_young.jpg

 

[MaGZ]

So you think he woudl've said the same thing if speaking about Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich? The fact that Cain is black and my friend used the word pimp means nothing? It seems to me he made the association first.

OK, so you friend’s a racist. What are you going to do about it?

 

[MaGZ]

Googled, "Bill Clinton is a pimp" (in quotes).

Results: Over seven thousand.

Including Youtube videos titled exactly that, as well as a t-shirt you can purchase should you so desire, but which I cannot link to because it contains a naughty word.

Has Bill Clinton gone black? 'Cause then he'll never go back...

Yes he has, here’s his son.

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Danny_Williams

 

[MaGZ]

IMHO your comment was the racist one. You basically made the connection between Cain being black and pimps.http://

To think of Cain as a black candidate is racist.

 

[psionl0]

"Racist" (like most "-ist" words) is just a label that gets attached to someone when their argument can't be refuted by legitimate means. It is basically a way of stifling free speach.

The real question is, "Is this politically correct?"

 

[pipelineaudio]

People who immediately associate pimps with dark skin calling others racist. Funny but typical.

precisely

 

[slingblade]

"Racist" (like most "-ist" words) is just a label that gets attached to someone when their argument can't be refuted by legitimate means. It is basically a way of stifling free speach.

Goodness, and your poisoning of the well there doesn't tend to have any sort of chilling effect, I'm sure.

The real question is, "Is this politically correct?"

It's one of the questions, surely, but the "real" question? What qualifies it as being more "real" than the original question?

 

[Cain]

I used to stop reading when I got to the first typo. Now I stop when I get to "Facebook."

 

[psionl0]

Goodness, and your poisoning of the well there doesn't tend to have any sort of chilling effect, I'm sure.

Just look at the OP again:

"A friend on Facebook recently posted that, in light of the recent sexual harrassment allegations, Herman Cain was "just another smooth talker wearing pimp hats..." I mentioned that this was a tad racist, asking if he would have said that if Cain were white."​

No "why do you believe that"? It didn't even matter that pimps come in all colours. Just "you are a racist". (It is politically incorrect to criticize anybody who is not a christian anglo-saxon).

It's actually even more chilling than that. In an increasing number of "democratic" countries around the world, a remark like that could see you charged with a serious "hate crime".

It's one of the questions, surely, but the "real" question? What qualifies it as being more "real" than the original question?

Because the term "racist" has been so overused as a blunt instrument in the cause of political correctness that it has no meaning any more.

 

[slingblade]

Just look at the OP again:

"A friend on Facebook recently posted that, in light of the recent sexual harrassment allegations, Herman Cain was "just another smooth talker wearing pimp hats..." I mentioned that this was a tad racist, asking if he would have said that if Cain were white."​

No "why do you believe that"? It didn't even matter that pimps come in all colours. Just "you are a racist". (It is politically incorrect to criticize anybody who is not a christian anglo-saxon).

It's actually even more chilling than that. In an increasing number of "democratic" countries around the world, a remark like that could see you charged with a serious "hate crime".

None of which addresses your comment about "racist" being just a label. That comment attempts to denigrate the word even further, tries to remove any meaning or impact it might have and make it meaningless. That a word can be used in ways that lessen its impact, can be used inappropriately, doesn't then mean the word has itself become a meaningless term.

Because the term "racist" has been so overused as a blunt instrument in the cause of political correctness that it has no meaning any more.

I disagree. That you assert such doesn't make it so, either. However, to assert such does help drive racism underground, so to speak, so that it's harder to fight.

 

[Darat]

...snip..

It's actually even more chilling than that. In an increasing number of "democratic" countries around the world, a remark like that could see you charged with a serious "hate crime".

...snip...

Any examples of that?

 

[citizenzen]

Just "you are a racist".

The OP's statement was, "this [the pimp statement] was a tad [a very small amount or degree] racist."

That's a long way from saying, "you are a racist."

 

[Daald]

I have heard the term used in describing how one is clothed or one's financial situation.

The first is used if someone is well dressed.
The second is used if someone has an income source without doing much.

I haven't heard it used to describe a black person.

 

[gumboot]

It is an undeniably racist statement.

Quite a few people (including myself) have pretty firmly denied it. So you're wrong.

The statement was made the way it was because Cain is black.

Really? Amazing. So you can read Nursedan's friend's mind? Incredible. Even Nursedan doesn't claim that ability. How is it you came by these remarkable powers?

The stereotypical image of a strutting pimp in an outlanishly big hat is invariably of a black man.

Do a Google image search for "pimp". Go on, I dare you. On the first page there's over twice as many white "pimps" as there are "black" pimps.

Maybe the stereotype in your head is a black man, but don't project your prejudices onto the rest of the world.

It isn't credible that the person making the statement did not intend to evoke exactly this image.

So not only can you read Nursedan's friend's mind, you have no problem with saying they are a liar? Because Nursedan's friend explicitly stated that they did not intend to invoke a racial image. Is Nursedan's friend a liar? Are they lying about their own intentions?

Again, how did you come by this remarkable superpower?

Will you be applying to the 1 million dollar challenge?

 

[gumboot]

This is what I hate about "political correctness". The people who are so quick to scream "prejudice" are total and utter hypocrites. They don't even realise how prejudiced they are being.

Prejudice exists when you hold a particular stereotype about a group of people. If someone says something that could conceivably relate to such a stereotype, and you automatically assume that it is the stereotype they are attempting to invoke, you are in fact revealing your own prejudice. You also hold to that particular stereotype about a group of people (if you didn't, you wouldn't be able to see the other person's prejudice without some sort of pointer from them that they mean it that way). You also are prejudiced.

Even if Nursedan's friend were trying to invoke the racist stereotype, anyone who recognises that racist stereotype is themselves, by definition also racist. And therefore in no position to criticise Nursedan's friend.

 

[citizenzen]

Even if Nursedan's friend were trying to invoke the racist stereotype, anyone who recognises that racist stereotype is themselves, by definition also racist. And therefore in no position to criticise Nursedan's friend.

Ridiculous.

Does my saying "those damn money-grubbing Jews," make you anti-Semitic?

 

[RedRatSnake]

Is this thing still going ?

You know what Racist is, it is living through forced busing in the 70's and hating people just cause of there color, no other reason, just a hate that was blind and came from not knowing one another, here we are so many years latter with so many barriers broken down, today's kids don't think the way us old timers did and cause of that most of the hate is gone and the little that lives just don't stick all that well.

We are way past all this crap and everyone ( the world ) needs to stop using it as a TOOL

This has been a RRS rant please carry on ~

 

[Information Analyst]

I think of an ethnic Albanian, actually but that's beside the point.

Ouch! I would have just said, "mostly east of Austria...."