i have no idea why he would call her mammy, so heres a picture of a rabbit with a pancake on its head

FarkmeBlind
Joined the thread late. There's no sushi joint downtown Miami called Hiro's. However, there's a terrific place called Hiro's Japanese Restaurant on Sunny Isles Boulevard in North Miami Beach. I used to hang at their sushi bar on a regular basis when I lived down there. this might help (pops)

When I was a kid in the 1940's our local supermarket had "Aunt Jemima" cooking pancakes and promoting their product. My mom took me down there for breakfast. The person they used was pleasantly plump, and dressed exactly as the image on the pancake flour box. It was a big deal, and people were having their pictures taken with her. I'd felt I'd met a movie star or something. She just happened to be black, which didn't mean a thing to me, she was "Aunt Jemima".

Try that promotion today. I'm amazed they can still use the name and image.

I took the train home last week from Boston to Minneapolis ( my wife's idea, flying would have been 3 hours, this took 33 hours ). We were having breakfast in the dining car, and the woman across the table remarked how the porter "George" did such a nice job of making her trip enjoyable. The woman did not realize that, back in the 1930's and 1940's, all black railroad porters were called "George", and they earned one-half what their white counterparts did. HBO did a great film about that, called "10,000 men named George".

WWJD? (What Would Jolson Do?)

At least this guy brings a certain historical perspective to his racism, which is always nice to see. Why go for the obvious offensive marks when you can go for the more obscure reference? Dude has achieved just like a perfect level of ignorance to make this situation happen -- ignorant enough to somehow not realize that calling a black woman mammy is a bad idea, but not so ignorant that he's never heard of the term.

Hmm. I came here to be incensed by idiot rednecks' whines about supposed Political Correctness, and got an interesting discussion on wealth, culture, and Disney instead. Thanks! That was fun...

don't apologize by saying that you love Aunt Jemima.

/ Ok you big pancake butt.

// Word to yo butter buns

'As most everyone knows, a `Mammy' (including Aunt Jemima) is a derogatory persona invented by whites to represent the black female servant,'' Colella-Battista wrote. ``The Mammy epitomizes servility with exceptionally natural cheerfulness. For many blacks, this sort of sentiment is as ridiculous and demeaning as any pickaninny.''

Ummm I don't think the vast majority of people know this...and wtf is pickaninny?

It's not like she called the biatch a porch monkey.

What a doof...this story has caused a shift in my priorities...

Number 1 is no go out and get some pancakes.

I'm startin a lynch mob.

Have no idea why I'm posting a pic of Betty Crocker.

You know, I often wonder how many of the bitter "social conflicts" of our day could be obviated by the simple exercise of plain old fashioned good manners. My grandmother, a simple East Texas farm woman, who, as far as I know never read a book in her life with the exception of the Bible, taught me that a racial epithet is not something that ever comes out of a gentleman's mouth - and that I was honor bound, as a man, to always endeavor to BE a gentleman. That simple piece of country wisdom has managed to spare me these controversies for my entire life, so far.

hi! i think the super nova is just peachy keen.

oh, wrong thread? well, i think the biatch is RACIST!

this article is a great example of the latent feelings held by certain classes in America.

FarkmeBlind

I wish I agreed with you. What I actually think is going to happen is that as minorities become the majority, they have been so trained in "might is right" that they will go on to perpetrate a couple hundred years of anti-white bias.


faethe

This concerns the living shiat out of me too. I mean - I can see the trend in discrimination cases. I think this is a matter of education, though. Even on fark you see where people assume that because you are white - this means you are not entitled to the same protections as minorities, or to the same protections concerning speech. On sites that list 'hate groups' - more and more are incorporating different minority groups, which is encouraging. The Southern Poverty Law center (which is kinda the nexus for discrimination statistics) has listed different Black groups as hate groups.


stop making love you two. lol insiteful posts. look at liberia. the same classist stuff has been going on over there for a century, a true case of american colonization. i wish i could visit but cia.gov world factbook said even the _dirt_ is contagious. my old college professor is now a cabinet level official. i really _wish_ i could go over there. however, the violence and instability is scarey as hell, not to mention the healthcare.

white guilt is real. i benefitted from it. however, the political pendulum swing is moving away from it. i fear the american political climate may swing far enough from center that black folk are more villi-fied than before. i for 1 welcome our new black overlords! even though the old government will be the same as the new government, a la orwell's animal farm. however, barring some unifying person/force, how can anyone stop the natural swing (opposing reaction to past actions) of historical political cycles? as we minorities gain power, here comes retribution. it is what tom jefferson feared. boy oh boy, i rub my hands with glee at the thought of reparations! you thought tax refund time was good under bush! pretty soon, i will be in the perfect position to benefit, fully. look granddad, i have some money to help your retirement! if the opposite happens, then oh well, looks like my bags are packed and i will try to make a peaceful exit, and hopefully my savings will be enough. if nothing happens, then i am in the same position i was in before which isn't so bad. the only thing left is violence, and i gots 5 kids to feed, man, a la bennie from the running man.

to be sure, i have put on my tin foil hat, polished my guns, and renewed my licenses. come what may, my papers will be in order, bumping tupac shakur in the meantime.

/too early/late for caps.

I don't see what the problem is -- some of my best friends are pancake mix manufacturers.


(image links to page)

In Slave in a Box, M.M. Manring addresses the vexing question of why the troubling figure of Aunt Jemima has endured in American culture. Manring traces the evolution of the mammy from her roots in the Old South slave reality and mythology, through reinterpretations during Reconstruction and in minstrel shows and turn-of-the-century advertisements, to Aunt Jemima's symbolic role in the Civil Rights movement and her present incarnation as a "working grandmother." We learn how advertising entrepreneur James Webb Young, aided by celebrated illustrator N.C. Wyeth, skillfully tapped into nostalgic 1920s perceptions of the South as a culture of white leisure and black labor. Aunt Jemima's ready-mixed products offered middle-class housewives the next best thing to a black servant: a "slave in a box" that conjured up romantic images of not only the food but also the social hierarchy of the plantation South.

planes

HBO did a great film about that, called "10,000 men named George".

I saw that on the tv guide station. I assumed it was about George Foreman & his sons.

"You don't gotta like it, but you can't pass laws preventing speech."

No one in TFA said anything about making the word illegal (not that I recall, anyway), but you've gotta admit it's in REALLY poor taste, especially for a white boss to say to a black assistant. I would be within my legal rights to tell one of my supervisors just how flaky she is, but it would be a REALLY dumb thing to do for a variety of reasons.

Legal =/= good idea.

What does Uncle Ben have to say about all of this?

The article says that the woman felt sad when she thought of how "her grandmother earned the family's money by rearing white children."

The sentence stuck in my mind. First of all, the fact that she made money means it wasn't slavery. Therefore her grandmother wasn't being coerced. Second, her employers weren't making her grandmother do anything truly repugnant like prostituing herself. The fact that the children were white seems to be at the center of the thought that makes her so sad.

Someone please explain what was going through this woman's mind. I'm baffled.

I guess there really must be more than just one isolated name-calling incident going on here. But rather than getting all high-and-mighty about free speech, why doesn't the existing body of settled law about simple assault apply here? Why do we have to frame it as a speech issue?

A little bit of useless knowledge. When the Aunt Jemima brand first came out it was called "Slave in a box".

No...really it was.

Most people in this thread have been coming at this from the angle of either not actionable in court, free speech and such and such.

First of all, the victim (that's right, victim) has not spoke of any legal action at this time. The victim has also complained of working in an "intimidating" environment for the last four months. It is embarassing as a black person, to be a professional and spoken to in a manner meant to humiliate. Wouldn't be so bad if she was called incompetent or unprofessional. But her employer did not choose to criticize her professionalism. Instead she attacked her racially. Yes, attacked. I assume that we can all agree that if the person that the employer was speaking to was white, the word "mammy" never would have crossed her lips, correct. Of course not. And to have the audacity to say this insult in front of other employees was just plain retarded.

The employer may have the right to free speech (not touching that debate) the employer certainly lacks professionalism and common sense and her judgment should be questioned at this point.

I'm so sick of this crap it's killing me. It's becoming PC again to insult people racially and I can't stand it. I am responsible for my own feelings and nothing can hurt me unless I choose to let it upset me. However, the trend that's going on right now is dangerous.

Not everything has to be racist hilary and havesometea

'-------' ^
|slave| /\
'-------' --

Jamieboy

Have no idea why I'm posting a pic of Betty Crocker.

Change the "O" in her name to "A".

How about some Uncle Jemimas Malt Liquor?

Funny, that blacks can get away with calling whites whatever they feel is appropriate, and then laugh it off....but anyone else is a racist.

thedarkshadow

I doubt that if I called my employee a "cracker" in front of other employees, it would be laughed upon. Stop trying to turn this situation into something that it isn't. This is about professionalism or in the case of the employer, lack of professionalism and her using a racist term to humiliate an employee.

Speaking of stereotypes...

its amusing how mnay people in this thread who obviously didn't read the article think the manager is male...

You know, I often wonder how many of the bitter "social conflicts" of our day could be obviated by the simple exercise of plain old fashioned good manners. My grandmother, a simple East Texas farm woman, who, as far as I know never read a book in her life with the exception of the Bible, taught me that a racial epithet is not something that ever comes out of a gentleman's mouth - and that I was honor bound, as a man, to always endeavor to BE a gentleman. That simple piece of country wisdom has managed to spare me these controversies for my entire life, so far.

I have found in life that the simplest people are often the most intelligent. And often the happiest.

Meanwhile I know people with masters and phd's who somehow manage to fark up their lives at every turn, somehow, and fill it with all kinds of self-made "drama"

I feel the black lady was treated poorly and in a racially insensitive manner.

If a kind Farker would let me know if they can see this post, I would appreciate it. I just got a new keyboard and I don't know if it allows typing for internets purposes. Thanks in advance.

If a kind Farker would let me know if they can see this post, I would appreciate it. I just got a new keyboard and I don't know if it allows typing for internets purposes. Thanks in advance

New cliche?

n an attempt to apologize, Wilbanks-Free then told her assistant she ''loved Aunt Jemima,'' Tarasenko said.

Heh. Reminds me much of "I'm not racist, I have a black friend!".

I wish I agreed with you. What I actually think is going to happen is that as minorities become the majority, they have been so trained in "might is right" that they will go on to perpetrate a couple hundred years of anti-white bias.

I dunno, a hundred years of making poor white people work shiatty jobs doesn't sound too bad. My stance on any (if it ever actually happens) upcoming anti-white sentiment is pretty much "its about damn time". Everyone gets a spin on the majority wheel, you should all be happy you got off after all the slavery/genocide/ethical cleansing.

UltimaCS: My stance on any (if it ever actually happens) upcoming anti-white sentiment is pretty much "its about damn time".

If it exists? Are you filling in for DRO?


Everyone gets a spin on the majority wheel, you should all be happy you got off after all the slavery/genocide/ethical cleansing.

Ethical cleansing? Did somebody kill all the lawyers?

GoSurfing: The existance of affirmative action perpetuates the idea that your race is inequal.

The existence of Affirmative Action is proof that people of certain skin colors still can't get a break in this world. I do like, though, how you turn an effort to even the playing field into the cause of inequality. You seem to miss that the inequality was already established; it's Affirmative Action that works against it, undoing what the racists have done. But hey, if the "shoot the messenger" approach works for you...

If the white race is the majority, you better be damn sure you understand we do the majority of the work

Ha! You're the majority of managers. Most poor white folk will watch Springer before deigning to get their hands dirty alongside Los Mexicanos...I've seen it myself, so stop blowing smoke out your ass. You're proud of nothing except being white.

Can someone post the real pancake rabit head picture thingy. I'm having a bad day and that picture makes me laugh. I think I'm going to make it into a business card to give to people I don't want to give a business card to.

well said allanhowls

Sounds like whitey put his foot in his mouth once again. Quick, someone call Jesse Jackson - this sounds like a job for the supper extortionist.

allanhowls: Ha! You're the majority of managers. Most poor white folk will watch Springer before deigning to get their hands dirty alongside Los Mexicanos...I've seen it myself, so stop blowing smoke out your ass.

This is as false as the "everybody is equal" business. There are lazy people in every race. If the illegals were kicked out today, the net effect would be that the economy would be delayed only so long as it took white people to fill those jobs, which would not be long at all. Most poor people I know will work just about any job, and they're hard workers. They're just that poor because they turn around and spend it on beer and a pickup that they can't afford.

GoSurfing

I don't think that you want to believe that racism is alive and well in America and it does keep people down and it is a negative and ugly stain on our society. Basically, you just pointed out that all black people are lazy, smoke swisher sweets and want handouts. I submit that you are racist in denial and you are part of the problem.