Stolen from another group: Fox News

Well, they are Fair and Balanced...

"hachiroku ????" ...

I can't believe you think that's funny.

Natalie

I thought hard about you before I posted it, Nat. You certainly don't fit the category...

That's not the point - it's pretty racist in and of itself. There are certainly plenty of minority-dominated programs in which they're not criminals.

This crosses a line, IMO.

Natalie

Sorry.

But, I have said before, I am slightly racist. Especially when it comes to Hispanics. Ask your husband if he'll ever visit his hometown again!

You mean like "Cops" and "Americas most wanted?" The sad truth is most black victims of crime were victimized by our back "brothers."

I figured you didn't mean any harm, which is why I replied :-)

My mother-in-law certainly is prejudiced against Puerto Ricans. She used to rail against them all the time, when my kids were little, and we had to undo the damage after each visit to her house, by re-explaining why disliking someone based on what they are, instead of what they *do* is wrong. Drives me nuts when she says stuff like, "My neighbors are Puerto Ricans, but they're nice." - Like they shouldn't be nice. That's one of the (very) few things I don't like about my MIL, but she's a product of her upbringing, just like the rest of us.

Natalie

That's the way it is if you have anything to do with that area. I wasn't nearly as bad before they stole my "Hachiroku"...and then broke into it again after I spent a month putting it back together.

They just had a big bust, something like 30 members of La Familla there. More filth off the streets, unless the judges let them out again (Google Chief Anthony Scott)

If you think that's bad then what do you think of some of the material I send you?

You bastard! LOL!

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

There are two ways you could have chosen to take it - one way as a racist comment, the other as a jab at Fox News. Choices...

Besides - black comedians make precisely the same kind of jokes to 90+% black audiences to howls of laughter all the time with nary a protest.

To get some perspective and a sense of humor on this, listen to Mike Birbiglia's "You can call me crack*a*, but you can't call me crack*er*" routine.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Just because they laugh, doesn't make it right. I don't laugh at any of that stuff, and I'm certainly not PC-obsessed.

Natalie

"Jeff Strickland" ...

I think I have a pretty thick PC skin, but this one just struck me as overly rude.

Natalie

hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote to Wickeddoll(R):

Why be racist if you know that you're racist?

"Jeff Strickland" ...

I'm a black woman in an interracial marriage - it's either have thick skin, or be miserable. LOL

Look at it this way, suppose someone complained that their weren't enough working-class whites on Fox, and they said,

"OK, we'll play more of "Cops" and "World's Dumbest Criminals"

I think that would piss off more than a few whites.

Natalie

Actually, I think that's even funnier! You have to take into account the element these shows exhibit.

No one can offend me because I refuse to take offense at anything anyone says to or about me. You see, I am in control of being offended and I refuse to cooperate with idiots. I can chose to be offended, insulted or humiliated or I can chose not to be. You can't insult me if I refuse to be insulted.

The side benefit to this is that I'm in a good mood most of the time and I can get a good laugh at the ones who carry a chip on their shoulder. Life is good when you can laugh.

Jack

Same here!

For the joke to be funny, it has to play on the perceived stereotypes. You have to admit that some in the black community are to blame for the image that they portray and that some even seem to be proud of. I'm talking about the rap/hip hop industry and how they portray themselves on certain TV shows and comedy acts that supposedly are made for their own entertainment, and also certain antics of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the NAACP. Indeed, what does the term "gangsta" mean - what image is that attempting to portray?

Case in point: The Bill Cosby show got canceled because some of the more vocal in the black community were offended at how the family was portrayed. It wasn't nasty enough.

I have to think that if I was black, I would be furious at the crap that the black community has dumped onto itself in the way of public image.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')