Easter egg hunt at the White House

[Enzo]

Apparently the mayor of Los Alamitos, CA sent an email to friends with this image, and the massage "no easter egg hunt at the White House."



Unfortunately, on his list of email addresses was a local black businesswoman who didn;t find it so amusing.

As a black person receiving something like this from the city-freakin'-mayor - come on."

In his defense, the mayor says he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons.


REally? SO the photo is then funny because?

[Lonewulf]

Hahaha, we're discussing this on the JREF. Pretty much the whole consensus (it's hard to find one on the JREF) is "moron, or racist, or racist moron".

[troubleagain]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that, Wulf. Because I'm white, and in the South, I've heard WAY too many racist digs at the Obamas. Fucking rednecks (my family included, damn it.)

[Arneb]

Can someone explain the racist moronic joke to me?

[Мастер]

Can someone explain the racist moronic joke to me?

That the darker-skinned folks around this way like watermelon is a common stereotype. I think the idea is, it's supposed to be the food of the plantation workers, not the plantation owner.

[Lonewulf]

Can someone explain the racist moronic joke to me?

Dose black folk like dem some watermelon and fried chiken!

[Dragon Star]

Can someone explain the racist moronic joke to me?

Dose black folk like dem some watermelon and fried chiken!

And purple* koolaid...

*(because black people seep to always identify flavor to color, for some fucked up reason...)

[Arneb]

Errm, thanks, folks. I'd NEVER have got it by myself. This is seriously arcane for an outsider...

[troubleagain]

Be thankful you don't have to deal with it.

[Lonewulf]

Errm, thanks, folks. I'd NEVER have got it by myself. This is seriously arcane for an outsider...

What, that the North would have stereotypes about the South? That's essentially what it is (it's moved onto the slaves since they were mostly owned in the South).

As for the "watermelon" stuff, that IS pretty arcane, even for us. I think it's because eating watermelon is messy or something; it's hard to eat it in a dignified way.

Overall, it's arbitrary racist garbage. ALL racist garbage is arbitrary. Just take Nazi personification of the Jews.

[MM_Dandy]

I like watermelon, but apparently, my recent ancestors absolutely loved it. From all I've been told (mostly by my dad), my grandmother's family would have lived entirely on watermelon if they had had the choice. Well, perhaps that's an exaggeration, but at every family reunion, everybody had plenty of watermelon, at least.

Oh, well. Hope this guy realizes by now that the joke isn't all that funny.

[KLA2]

HEAVEN is where:
The police are British
The chef’s are Italian
The mechanics are German
The lovers are French
and it's all organized by the Swiss

HELL is where:
The police are German
The chef’s are British
The mechanics are French
The lovers are Swiss
and it's all organized by the Italians!!

Should anyone who laughs at that “racist” joke be ashamed?

In stereotypes we find humour.

Some such humour can be vicious, demeaning and cruel. That is destructive and must not be tolerated.

Some such humour is simply poking fun at attributed characteristics that any reasonable person realizes are a gross and unrealistic characterization of a race or culture, whose members hopefully find wry humour in the joke as well.

I get kidded on this board all the time about my “robot” persona, or being Canadian, and rarely cry myself to sleep over it.

I must admit, I found the “Watermelon hunt” image kind of satirically amusing. A watermelon is not intrinsically offensive, and an Easter egg hunt is itself somewhat silly.

I am aware of the absurd (and racist) association made between black people and watermelons. I do not see, however, where that is particularly insulting, any more so than connecting Italians and spaghetti. Something that does offend me is when black people refer to each other as ‘Nigga”, and think it cool. That is what? Satirical?

There will be some very sensitized black people who are offended by that graphic. They have a right to be, having earned it the hard way.

I would love to know how President Obama feels about it – angry, hurt, or … wryly amused. I hope, the latter.

Every important politician worldwide is lampooned, often unfairly. Had that graphic been of peanuts when President Carter was in office, would it have been denounced as racist? To exempt President Obama from all such satire might in itself be considered racist.

I guess it comes down to the intent of the joke teller, and the perception and vulnerability of the joke subject(s).

Humour is a wonderful thing. Where to draw the line is a slippery and moving target.

[Enzo]

Humor is a delightful thing, and if you pick on everyone, then the sky is the limit.

We like to pick on Canadians, they are so much fun when they try to fight back. "Hey, quit picking on me, eh?"

If they showed peanuts in Carter's WHite House lawn, I wouldn;t find it racist, he was a peanut farmer. I wouldn;t find it particularly amusing either, since it doesn;t lampoon any stereotypes, it would merely imply Carter brought his work with him.

In the watermelon case, the message is that now that black people live in the White House, they will of course be planting watermelons. I doubt Obama himself would care a whole lot. I think he would think like a lot of us that it was not an appropriate thing for a town mayor to spread around. But i also think he would leave the outrage for others.

Speaking for myself, I am not "outraged" by the cartoon, I just think it is stupid. I think it was also stupid for a man in his position to have sent it out. DUH! Might this possibly come back to haunt me? APparently that thought never occurred. The humor I find in it is watching the moron shoot himself in the foot. Like when Jon Stewart puts up side by side clips of Karl Rove contradicting himself.

KLA2, did you know that the WHite House Easter Egg Hunt has been a tradition for many many years in Washington? They let a certain number of kids on the WHite House lawn and turn them loose to hunt eggs. I don;t recall how the lucky were chosen, but down there it is a big deal.

Italians are associated with spaghetti, but it is a positive thing. Ooh, I love italian food, and thanks to the Italians for bringing us pizza and spaghetti. Watermelon on the other hand is not meant to be a flattering or endearing association. Growing up I would hear them referred to as "jungle plums." Jungle plums were the favorite food of "porch monkeys."

If you don;t think watermelon is an offensive stereotype, walk up to a black man you don;t know next time you are in a grocery store and ask him, "So, how come you aren't buying any watermelons?"

[Мастер]

We like to pick on Canadians, they are so much fun when they try to fight back. "Hey, quit picking on me, eh?"

Canadians are funny, with their beady little eyes and detached heads...

[KLA2]

I pretty much agree with you, Enzo, up to the last couple of paragraphs.

Watermelon on the other hand is not meant to be a flattering or endearing association.

I know a lot of people who like watermelon. Few of them are black.

If you don;t think watermelon is an offensive stereotype, walk up to a black man you don;t know next time you are in a grocery store and ask him, "So, how come you aren't buying any watermelons?"

That is not fair. I would no more say that then "Who are YOU looking at." If I said, "Oh, you LIKE that caviar, do you?" it would probably earn me the same punch in the mouth.

My post was not a sly attempt to promote racism. Please read it again.

ETA:: No, I never heard watermelons referred to as "jungle plums", just watermelons. I never heard people referred to as "porch monkeys", but I did hear Italians referred to as G**D*** Wops. Never cared much for the term, or the people who said it.

[Enzo]

I know a lot of people who like watermelon. Few of them are black.

Well, that doesn't address the issue. There is for that matter nothing at all wrong with black people or anyone else liking watermelon. The issue is the stereotype, not the melons.

So it is not a matter of, "Oh I see the new people in the White House like watermelon." It becomes a slur when the message is "Oh, I see some melon-eaters have moved into the WHite House."

And I wasn't suggesting anyone ACTUALLY walk up to a black person in the store and say that. It was a thought experiment. But if you walked up to a white neighbor on a summer day and asked why they were not buying watermelon, they would probably say, Oh we decided on ice cream. I doubt a racial or any other inference would be in their thoughts.

My post was not a sly attempt to promote racism. Please read it again.

KLA2, NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would I accuse you of promoting racism. I grew up in Maryland and Washington DC, and I am old enough to remember "white only" signs on business entrances. The farther south you go the more prevalent racial tension exists (still) and such stereotypes exist. My thought is more that you may not have experienced it where you are. At least not to the extent we have. I don;t endorse jungle plum etc, but I certainly heard it often enough growing up. They built the interstate highway around Washington DC - I-495 - it is a ring road surrounding the city. The locals promptly labelled it the "Congo Bypass." If you never lived with it, it can be hard to imagine the depth of it.

[troubleagain]

KLA2, sweetie, you just have no idea. I love you, but you don't. The watermelon cartoons and jokes are MEANT to be ugly and hateful and demeaning to blacks. Trust me on this one.

[Мастер]

KLA2, sweetie, you just have no idea. I love you, but you don't. The watermelon cartoons and jokes are MEANT to be ugly and hateful and demeaning to blacks. Trust me on this one.

I think the capitalized word is the critical one here. So much of these things depends on context and intention, or perceived intention. The exact same words can be completely innocent spoken in one context, but create a firestorm in another...

[Arneb]

Wow, folks. Reading this thread sure teaches me a lot. What a great thing to be here.

[troubleagain]

All we're doing is shining a light on the ugliness that is racial prejudice in the US. Not that I think other countries are completely without racial prejudice--there's enough to go around, of course, but this is one of OUR particular uglinesses.

[Arneb]

Absolutely. My point was you are doing it so well.

[troubleagain]

:)

[Мастер]

I think it has a lot to do with watermelon being regarded as an "unsophisticated" food. In the stereotype, a watermelon eater is likely to be barefoot, uneducated, etc.

[Blue Monster 65]

Like a woman should be!

Hoo boy ... I'm in for it now ...

Scott :wink:

(it's a joke - I don't really believe that! Quit throwing things! Not in the face - not in the face!)

[troubleagain]