Today I turn to a more serious topic. The new press secretary, Tony Snow. The president has aligned him self with idiot after idiot (after all it takes one to know one). And it didn't take long for Tony Snow to show us what he's all about. A racist idiot. There has been some debate as to whether "hugging the tar baby" is racist or not. Those defending him claim its an old phrase. No one seems to remember hearing it before or know what it might mean. There is an interesting article in The Sentinel discussing this issue.
But let's break it down:
As per wikipedia , "The tar baby is a form of a character widespread in African folklore. In various folktales, gum, wax, or other sticky material is used to trap a person. In Southern black speech in the 19th century, the word "baby" referred to both a baby and a child's "doll." Thus, the expression "tar baby" meant a tar doll or tar mannequin. For an example of such a character in popular American culture see Br'er Rabbit. The term also has a negative connotation. The expression tar baby is also used occasionally as a derogatory term for black people (in the U.S. it refers to African-Americans; in New Zealand it refers to Maoris), or among blacks as a term for a particularly dark-skinned person." (citing Maven's Word of the Day: Tar Baby, February 12 1999, accessed May 16 2006).
I'll leave it up to you to decide.
Here's the video for your viewing pleasure
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2 comments:
Please do not be offended by this comment.
re: Those defending him claim its an old phrase.
This statement shows you are ignorant but I can't and won't blame you. Due to the wonders of the Internet you can leave ignorance behind you.
It is not a sin to be ignorant but it is a sin to remain ignorant.
The Politically Correct crowd forced Disney to remove Songs of the South (which had the Tar Baby story in it) from it's offerings and finding a copy of Uncle Remus in recent years is difficult once again due to the Politically Correct crowd. However the Internet has changed this. - http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2306 -
Joel Chandler Harris spent quite a bit of time traveling and collecting these stories so they would not be lost. - He was not a racist and neither is Tony Snow. -
Chandler died in 1908. So yes, The story of the tar baby has been around for a little while. Long before the words were termed racist by the Politically Correct crowd.
Wikipedia has it listed as a racist term during the slave era but has no references to back up the statement...
Frankly, I don't see how it is ignorant to say that "those defending say it is an old phrase" when that is what people are quoted as saying article after article. It is not an old phrase, it is racist folk lore and republicans are trying to defend the stupid thing that Tony Snow said.
Further, this is issue has nothing to do with what you call "political correctness." The tar baby story, as well as other Uncle Remus tales, are racist. Maybe you should reread some of them. And if you think that it is acceptable to use racist terminology, then you are the one that needs to overcome ignorance.
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