Racial Insensitivity

[gtrman66]

Up first... say it with me "Cha cha cha chia"

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/09/chia-pet-creator-shocked-walgreens-pulls-obama-model-shelves/

Give me a huge freaking break.

Pedott said he was so confident the Chia Obama was not offensive he even asked the Rev. Jesse Jackson to screen it when he ran into him recently at a Chicago eatery.

"He said, quote, 'I think this is a fine product,' end quote -- I have three witnesses," Pedott said.


This is just plain stupid on Walgreens part.

Up next...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/09/asian-americans-blast-offensive-comment-texas-lawmaker/

Brown asked Ko: "Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese -- I understand it's a rather difficult language -- do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"

Brown later said, "Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that's easier for Americans to deal with?"

The Texas Democratic Party called on Brown to apologize on Wednesday.


"It's shameful that Rep. Brown's immediate and initial reaction to hearing a legitimate problem with a Voter ID bill was to ask a fellow American to sacrifice his good family name and tradition for the convenience of her partisan agenda," Richie said in a statement to FOXNews.com.

Brown asked Ko: "Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese -- I understand it's a rather difficult language -- do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"

Brown later said, "Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that's easier for Americans to deal with?"

The Texas Democratic Party called on Brown to apologize on Wednesday.


Well, as a matter of fact, a lot of Europeans changed their names at Ellis Island to sound more "American" or easier to pronounce, spell etc...

Racial insensitivity or political correctness run amuck? I think this is ideocracy taking over common sense. If I offend you, let me know and I'll say I'm sorry. Then we move on. We do not need to make a federal case of it.

Maybe it's high time I get offended everytime I am called "right wing" or "conservative" or "white male" or "christian" or "fill in the blank".

[right$pecial]

I can't stand this sort of thing. I have relatives who immigrated from Germany and Ireland during the early twentieth and they where discriminated against. Pardon my french, seriously I don't want to offend anyone, but it is a fact that Catholic Irish where referred to as white ni@@#rs during this time period. My German side had to deal with two world wars during a period where Americans routinely shot daschunds because of their origin. I also have a little bit of Native American and we all know how that turned out. People like me aren't clamoring for apologies, retribution, or handouts. What gives? I've said it before and I'll say it again...no group, race, club, etc has gone it's entire history without some sort of discrimination or misunderstanding. We need to end this PC crap once and for all.

[The G]

We will never run out of dumb people.

[truthteller]

There seems to be some confusion here.

Question: Why did Wal-Greens decide to pull the Obama-themed Chia Pet? Was it because Federal Bureau of Political Correctness sent its jack-booted thugs into corporate headquarters and demanded they be removed from stores? Was it because the ACLU filed suit against Wal-Greens for violating the "Do not offend African Americans" clause of the Constitution? Was it because the White House phoned and asked them to remove it from sale?

The answer: Of course not. The simple truth is that it got pulled because private business executives made a purely capitalistic, profit-maximizing decision. Somewhere along the line a manager realized that the amount of profit Wal-Greens could make from selling the things would be outweighed by the loss of business they would suffer from offending a certain subset of their customer base.

In a free society, which by and large is what we live in, people are allowed to be offended - and moreover, they are allowed to express that fact. They are free to tell companies that if they don't like the way their stores are run, they are going to take their business elsewhere.

What if Wal-Greens San Francisco stores started selling little "Hippies Burning American Flags" diorama kits, complete with scale-model Jane Fonda action figures? Would some people be offended? Of course they would.

The only difference between the two scenarios is, of course, the fact that Conservatives keep trying to pass laws that make buring flags illegal. In other words they want the Government to ban things they find offensive.

But if private business, making their own profit-maximizing decision, decides to remove from sale something that offends some of their customers - they cry like little babies, whining about "political correctness."

[Johnny Dangerously]

But if private business, making their own profit-maximizing decision, decides to remove from sale something that offends some of their customers - they cry like little babies, whining about "political correctness."
Guys, I hate saying this, but unless I am really missing something here I have to agree with TT on this one. Ridiculous? Perhaps, but if a private bidness wants to be politically correct they should be able to exercise that right to the extent they see fit.

Now, that said (here's the catch) this should apply across the board in ALL businesses and circumstance. For example, I read a story one time about a wedding photographer who was getting sued by a gay couple for refusing to photograph their wedding. Wrongo - that person (as well as EVERY private bidness) should be able to reserve the right refuse to serve anyone they see fit.

If I own rental property and don't want to rent to someone just because they drive up in a ghetto cruiser, blasting rap music, wearing shower caps and shower shoes and I don't like their looks I should have the right to do that as well without fear of Government persecution for "discrimination"?

Now here's the REAL moment of truth - TT would you agree that these rights extend in situations like these?

If not, then you are just as disingenuous as you are accusing others of being...

:rolleyes:

[gtrman66]

TT, you are right. Walgreens has every right to sell it or not. I blew that one.

I still think people whining about a BO chia is stupid, but a private business should remain just that, private.

[right$pecial]

I wasn't really bitching about a company...it's their money and they can do what they want to. I was simply commenting on the pathetic state of our society. Perhaps I should have clarified, but I was hammered.

[gtrman66]

Yeah, it's dangerous when I post after 10 PM.

[truthteller]

If I own rental property and don't want to rent to someone just because they drive up in a ghetto cruiser, blasting rap music, wearing shower caps and shower shoes and I don't like their looks I should have the right to do that as well without fear of Government persecution for "discrimination"?

As long as that means you'd refuse to rent to the white kids who show up in the ghetto cruisers, blasting rap music, etc. as well, then you have nothing to worry about.

Most landlords I know usually do a credit and reference check on prospective tenants, and make their decisions based on that. Its generally a better business decision that way.

[nelson]

Fair housing laws do not apply to private individuals with only a few units for rent; these landlords may discriminate without violating fair housing. Personally, in the commercial world, if I get a bad feeling about a prospective tenant for any reason - they have a bad attitude, they appear to feel entitled, they appear to me to behave irresponsibly - I will not lease to them. Whether this makes Truthteller or anyone else feel good has zero effect on my bottom line, while my selection of tenants has everything to do with it. I don't care what color you are, but I also don't give a flying f*** if I end up with a racial distribution that reflects the community. (That's retarded political correctness.)

I think it's stupid that anyone takes offense at the Obama chia pet. Says a lot about that person's self esteem (says they lack it). Some store wants to yank the Obama chia pet, that's their decision.

[nelson]

As long as that means you'd refuse to rent to the white kids who show up in the ghetto cruisers, blasting rap music, etc. as well, then you have nothing to worry about.Instead of spending so much time focused on what color people are, and trying to make sure every misfortune incurred by one color is equally incurred by another, I think we should just get over it.

[Remphoto]

If I don't want to rent my upstairs apartment to homosexuals or unwed couples because it violates my beliefs I should have the right. It's my property.

[MYCAR47562]

i couldn't stand to read tt's ignorant blanter so i don't know if i agree with him or not but people are a little to sensative

since when is the afro something blacks don't like? how would it even be considered racist