I believe we care as much about immigrants And What To Do About Them as we did decades ago; but they aren't the same groups identified in the song. Need I tell you all where they come from? pc In a message dated 1/27/2013 8:40:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Yes Greg, you're absolutely right. I have that title in a little subset of records reserved for this genre, one in which almost no ethnic group or foreign nationality was safe from being parodied. Not to mention sexism. If I recall, it was much the same with Don Rickles, and other more modern comedians, whose stock in trade was insult humor (not always funny, but it seemed to enjoy a popular revival for a while there). Andrew Baron On Jan 27, 2013, at 5:48 PM, Greg Bogantz wrote: > The fact that Americans were more obsessed with immigrants and nationalities 100 years ago than we are today is well illustrated in the Edison BA record #4083 "The Argentines, the Portuguese, and the Greeks" by Ed Meeker. This is a fun song and one of my favorite BAs, but it also illustrates the popular preoccupation that people had with ethnic and national stereotypes back then. > > Greg Bogantz > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael F. Khanchalian" <[email protected]> > To: "Antique Phonograph List" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 6:54 PM > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison and anti-semitism > > >> You mean you look down on everyone except the Armenians. >> >> Come on now George :-) >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jan 27, 2013, at 8:33 AM, "George Glastris" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Be that as it may, we Greeks look down on everyone else since we are the creators of Western Civilization. As the father in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" said......"Every thing comes from the Greek." >>> >>> Or as my late father would say to his best friends (Mr. Kelley, Mr. Germeroth, and Mr. Freed) "When my people were writing the great philosophical books of the ancient world, your people were swinging from trees." Then again, he would remind my mother that HIS family were Corinthian but that HER family were only Thessalian. >>> >>> -----Original Message----- From: Vinyl Visions >>> Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:12 AM >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison and anti-semitism >>> >>> Honestly, growing up in western Michigan, even as a white male I felt somewhat oppressed by the very nature of the clannish ethnic groups. It didn't matter if you were white, what mattered was whether you were Polish or Dutch. For example, the Dutch had bumper stickers that said "If you're not Dutch, you're not much." Talk about discrimination... you couldn't buy a house in Zeeland, Michigan without going through an "interview" with a Dutch realtor - there were no "For Sale/Rent" signs in Zeeland, even though houses were obviously available. If your last name didn't end with a "ski" or other Polish ending you weren't accepted on the west side of Grand Rapids and the blacks were all located in their own section of town, because to avoid the busing and integration laws each small community that made up the total of Grand Rapids proper, incorporated into their own small towns. Benton Harbor, Michigan is a prime example: in the 1950's it was predominately white, but in the 60 's >> a >>> nd 70's as blacks moved in - whites moved out across the river to St Joseph... the last time I was there, Benton Harbor was referred to as Benton Harlem and St Joseph was almost totally white. >>> >>>> From: [email protected] >>>> Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:44:50 -0500 >>>> To: [email protected] >>>> Subject: [Phono-L] Edison and anti-semitism >>>> >>>> Given when he was born, where he lived, and his own ethnic and cultural >>>> group, I would be surprised if he were either more or less "anti-semitic" >>>> than others in the United States who weren't themselves Jewish. >>>> >>>> It wasn't remarkable for a Christian home owner to want to sell his home >>>> to another Christian; for a Christian employer to want a Christian employee. >>>> What we have here, I think, is a kind of "social distance" felt by one >>>> social and cultural group from another. >>>> >>>> In my own lifetime, newspaper advertisements for houses for sale or >>>> apartments to rent in New York City included clues in their texts about who they >>>> wanted, e.g. --- "churches nearby" --- carrying with it an implication of >>>> who they *did not* want. >>>> >>>> Edison was a man of his time, place, and background. >>>> >>>> paul charosh >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Phono-L mailing list >>>> http://phono-l.org >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Phono-L mailing list >>> http://phono-l.org >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Phono-L mailing list >>> http://phono-l.org >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> http://phono-l.org > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org > _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
