"telling them that, genetically, many of them are not much from Artie ... might rub some of them the wrong way"

That's odd. People say that about my relatives all the time.

Sadly we live in an era where we're out to get offended. I'm sure this offended someone, just in the writing.

Used to be, you were nice to someone because they deserved it. Now you're nice to them because there's hell to pay if you're not.

"That's retarded" -- whoa, there are real retarded people who ... well they aren't offended, they are smiling and having a great time, but it pisses off their family.
"That's gay" -- hold up a moment, there are a ton of gay people who don't like their word of pride being used as a derog.
"You fag!" -- See above.
"That guy is a midget" -- I'm never quite sure what we're allowed to call these folk, it used to be midget, then dwarf, now I think it's "little people". Mark my words, eventually they will get tired of "little people" and want to be called "midgets".
I still have no idea what the appropriate term for a black person is. Black is beginning to seem like you're treading into a bad zone nowadays. "Colored" is a great statement to make if you're looking to lose your job. Anything else is career suicide.

Native americans are pissed that Osama bin Laden's codename was Geronimo. That's a negative reflection of Indians. er .... no it's not.... It's a marking of a very difficult target, who's been a challenge to bring to justice for a very long time... like Geronimo (which was actually not his real fucking name either. it was "Goyaałé" meaning, "One who yawns").

The issue for me, is I grew up in Oregon, which doesn't lend itself well to this "Let's all wear pink and jump rope while whistling a happy tune" shit culture I find myself in now. I tend to think of things a lot more bluntly, and in most cases more barbaricly. I believe the solution for the middle east is an automatic death sentence for any Jihadist. I don't believe there should be a trial, it's a war, a holy war according to them, and I don't see peace as an option when they go to heaven for killing us.... I was so proud of the bin Laden op, I can't begin to tell you. The spirit behind it is the American way, and something I haven't seen us display in forever. "We're doing this, fuck you if you don't like it". I had to stand up and salute that.

I feel more and more like a "Patton" type citizen who was simply born 50 years too late.

"Black Women Are Less Attractive"

Two words: Tyra Banks

"I still have no idea what the appropriate term for a black person is. Black is beginning to seem like you're treading into a bad zone nowadays. "Colored" is a great statement to make if you're looking to lose your job. Anything else is career suicide."

I think black is still OK. African-American is the term the media tends to use, but a couple of weeks ago I heard a hockey announcer refer to P.K. Subban as "African-American." He's Canadian. And "African-Canadian" sounds like an oxymoron.
Two personal anecdotes (there are always personal anecdotes with me, aren't there?):
1. In college, pickup basketball session. There's a threesome that has next: Me, another white guy, and a black guy. We're looking over our prospective opposition, a team of four white guys and a black guy. The other white guy and I are trying to describe the black guy on the other team in as generic terms as possible ... "The guy with the red shorts ... the guy with the headband ... the guy with the Air Jordans," etc., until the black guy we're sitting with says: "You mean the black guy?" So I haven't really had a problem referring to black guys as black guys since then.

2. Old Fart baseball. Driving home with my buddy Rene, who is black. We somehow get lost and end up in Codman Square in Dorchester, which is the most dangerous area in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Boston. This is the mid-'90s, when a shooting in Dorchester was almost a nightly event. It's a summer night, but it's not too warm, and since we left the ballpark we had the windows open instead of the a/c. It's getting later by the minute, we're stuck in traffic, and I'm noticing people starting to notice that I don't fit the profile of the neighborhood. I'm starting to get a little anxious, but I figure since I've got a black guy in the passenger seat, I'm OK, until Rene says to me "We might want to roll 'em up and lock the doors ..."

Last edited by artie_fufkin (5/18/2011 9:14 am)

artie_fufkin wrote:

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"Black Women Are Less Attractive"

Two words: Tyra Banks

HALLE BERRY!!!

I think one of Halle's parents is white. It doesn't make her any less gorgeous, mind you, but Dr. Kanazawa may attribute her beauty to her whiteness.

You know you're a racist fuckhead for saying that, don't you?

artie_fufkin wrote:

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

"Black Women Are Less Attractive"

Two words: Tyra Banks

HALLE BERRY!!!

I think one of Halle's parents is white. It doesn't make her any less gorgeous, mind you, but Dr. Kanazawa may attribute her beauty to her whiteness.

Seriously, Halle Berry is fucking gorgeous that my WIFE would leave me for her given the chance.  I have never met a man or woman who isn't infatuated with her looks.

Her white parent is of small consequence, as black americans have white genes, although not quite to the extent of native americans, as far as i have been led to believe.  the average 'black' american might have about 2/3 african markers and 1/r caucasian markers.

Last edited by Max (5/18/2011 9:51 am)

It seems to me we're the only group of morons on the planet that put "-American" on someone.

I'm Jewish-American. No you're not, you're Jewish, and also an American. "American" is not a race.
I'm African-American. Technically this is an impossibility. No such "race" exists, and you can't be from two different continents. A second generation immigrant of a white family from South Africa could also claim this title, but nobody will ever call him such. He's not black, so now this impossible title refers to a race that doesn't exist, with a specific color, somehow being from both hemispheres of the planet at once. Only in America would we do something this "retarded" (hell yes I said it, and I mean it literally!).

"the NAACP hasn't changed its name."

What, and then have to throw out perfectly good stationery?

The National Association for the Advancement of African-American People is a mouthful, and when you use the acronym, it looks like you're turning in for a long NAAAAP.

"It seems like "retarded" is getting the most attention these days.  I've seen a couple of stories talking about people using the "r-word."  I guess the appropriate term now is "special needs," which, IMO, actually sounds worse."

I don't know about the rest of the country, but around here "retarded" has been part of the lexicon as a synonym for stupid, and it's become perjorative at least partially because if you say it with a Boston accent it comes out in about 11 syllables: "Sully, you gave the chick at the donit shaup a hunred daullah bill fuh a crulluh and a caufee. Ahhh you reeetahhhhhhhhdid uh sumthin?"
The school system in the town I work won't even refer to people in wheelchairs as "handicapped" anymore. The preferred term is "differently-abled."

BTW, how did a Gamecrap thread veer toward homosexuality? Did the Cardinals sign Mike Piazza?

"I'm Jewish-American. No you're not, you're Jewish, and also an American."

However, there is a species known as the "Jewish American Princess." Their primary characteristic is their ability to distinguish cubic zirconia.

"colored still gets used all the time, but most often as a blanket terms that covers everybody but white people"

Is referring to anyone of Hispanic origin as "Puerto Rican" a Boston Townie thing, or do you guys hear that in other parts of the country?
I assume the reference originates from back in the day when most Hispanics living here were actually from Puerto Rico, but I've also heard people from Mexico and Guatemala, and even people from non-Spanish speaking countries like Brazil and Haiti, referred to as "Puerto Ricans."