As I wrote, some things are a matter of opinion. I think the term “politically correct” is imprecise and loaded and unhelpful, but people do vary in their sensitivity to offense, and some are so sensitive they cause a burden for others. This is not that.
Blackface is objectively racist. The racism is not imputed by the observer, it does not depend on the act of perception. Al Jolson singing Mammy is a racist image. People do not impute offense to it; it is, in itself, offensive. Now context and relationship can make offensive acts tools of resistance, or excusable ignorance. But nothing changes the inherent racism. If a really old German said something like: “Boy it’s hard to keep up with what is and is not OK. When I was a kid back in the early 1930s we used Swastikas to decorate kid’s birthday parties, and now it is politicallly incorrect to just fly a Swastika flag in your front yard” everyone would, appropriately, call bullshit on that. What Kelly said is exactly like that. I am sure lots of people remember when they could dress in blackface without condemnation, or use the word nigger in polite conversation. The appropriate observation about that is not “gee, people have become so sensitive these days” but more like “gee, I guess we were really fucking racist in those days.” On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 9:21 PM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm not sure when you mean "honestly say it was not racist." In my case, > we did a school play when I was in fourth or fifth grade, maybe third (I > was in the east wing of the school at the time) and it included a survey of > entertainment. There was the obligatory reference to Al Jolson so they put > a kid in black face and had him sing a few Al Jolson lines. To be honest,. > I'm not sure we understood that we were caricaturing black people. My town > had one black couple. The woman worked in the post office and part time in > the high school library in a near by town. When I got to high school I > actually had a black classmate. I won't speak for either of them but I > never saw overtly racial remarks towards them., I'm sure they were made. > But everyone was pretty mellow. > > On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 9:00 PM Kevin M. <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I grew up around racists... no black face... not ever. >> >> I’ve stated over on my own social media that, growing up in my >> neighborhood in Pomona, one could not be racist and have friends. My group >> of friends never thought much about it. When our respective moms told us to >> “go outside and play,” we played with whichever kids were in the street. My >> oldest brother was the only white guy on his high school football team. It >> wasn’t weird to us; it was normal and no big deal. Nobody I knew would have >> worn black face either as a gag or to be offensive. >> >> When I went to high school in Corona, I attached myself to the group of >> kids who hung around what was called the “scholar bench,” and they were >> even more diverse (I brought down the grade curve significantly, yet they >> remain my closest friends to this day). Again, black face would not have >> been contemplated. >> >> College up in the state of Washington, most of the campus was white. >> That’s how much of Western Washington was at the time. But even surrounded >> my mostly white folks, no black face. >> >> I wrote this not as some sort of humblegrag; my story is not unique. If >> you are any age and remember with any degree of nostalgia the racist >> behavior of the people you knew when you were younger, you need help. >> Racism certainly existed all around me growing up, but the bigots were not >> overt about it. If anything, racists kept it to themselves. >> >> On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 10:36 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> If you are under 60 and at anytime in your life you can honestly say >>> that it was not racist for white people to put on blackface when you were >>> growing up, we know only one things for sure; you grew up around racists. >>> >>> Lots of things about race are complex and subject to POV. This is not >>> one of those things. >>> >>> Of course, lots of people grew up around racists, so... >>> >>> On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 3:45 PM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> I'm a decade older than Megyn Kelly. When I was a kid, black face was >>>> still okay, although that was a reflection of a being in a rural mining >>>> town. I called Brazil nuts nigger toes until I got into college. >>>> Of course I learned to be more culturally sensitive. That seems to be >>>> where Kelly is lacking. >>>> I wonder if this will show up as an SNL skit? >>>> >>>> On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 2:30 PM Chris Neuman <ch...@neuman.ca> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Patton Oswalt tweeted that same sentiment: >>>>> >>>>> https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/1054759947114672129 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 1:50 PM Kevin M. <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> How old is Kelly that, as a kid, black face was an acceptable form of >>>>>> dress-up? I’m in my mid 40s... I’m almost certain Kelly is younger than I >>>>>> am, and at no point in my life was black face ever acceptable. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 11:33 AM Tom Wolper <twol...@gmail.com> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 11:04 AM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> NBC lets her have it. Other networks ignore it. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/24/media/megyn-kelly-blackface-al-roker/index.html >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> As I get more of my news through Twitter I am following more >>>>>>> journalists of color and feminist journalists in order to get different >>>>>>> points of view than my own reacting to events. The African-American >>>>>>> journalists I follow and the people they retweet all say that Megyn >>>>>>> Kelly >>>>>>> has a long history of racist remarks at Fox News and NBC knew what they >>>>>>> were getting when they hired her. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>> send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Kevin M. (RPCV) >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> -- >>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> -- >> Kevin M. (RPCV) >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
