The math question begins: "Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300-foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second...." This question appeared on a practice test for a math final at Bellevue Community College. Some students complained and the TEACHER HAS APOLOGIZED AND HAS REQUESTED CULTURAL SENSITIVITY TRAINING!!!!!!!! WHAT!?!?!?!? Somebody throwing a watermelon up in the air is offensive????? Why??????? The students need insensitivity training!!
I second the motion for insensitivity training. Sensitivity (and political correctness) has gone way too far. Just because a black person handles a watermelon doesn't mean they are being done an injustice. It's really starting to get annoying how over-sensitive, and ultratolerant people are becoming.
And exactly what did he say that was insensitive? Where does him saying blacks like watermelon become harmful? It's not like he said "haha, black people sure do love sucking cock" or some crap. Big wow, they like watermelon. Offensive? Gimme a friggin' break. What about chicken? Hell, tell a black person he likes chicken and he'll say hell yeah and won't be offended by it. And then if you would have picked another type of food, you would have gotten PC responses of "OMG, WTF, a black person would never eat that shit! Whatcha tryin to do? Racist!" What the heck is so offensive about it? It fits the question. I mean if you're gonna have another math test about a Mexican, you aren't gonna say "Jose eats one cornish hen and two brautworsts, how many items of food did he eat? You're gonna say he ate some tacos and enchilladas to make the question fit. Damn PC Police. They're part of the problem with this world. Hey Roman, Italians sure do like their pizza and spagetthi. Hahaha, uh oh, the PC Police are gonna come after me. Oh wait, Italians aren't a minority so that makes it alright. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! - N
Well, Neildo, since what Roman said is not offensive, find a group of big black guys (assuming you are not black), walk up to them real nice and slow, and say, "Wow, you guys really like Watermelon, huh?" If they laugh, then it wasn't too offensive. If they beat the shit out of you, then it must have been offensive. It's a matter of perception. Not your perception, or Roman's. But the person that it is being said about, and what they think you are implying by saying it. If you are white, and I walked up to you and some of your friends who are also white, being black myself, and said, "Shouldn't you guys be getting back to the trailer park by now?" what would you do? Honestly.
Not if you wouldn't mind me saying the same thing about any ghettho. And that's what I would say in respond. If someone says something, I respond back with a similar style and level of response. Make a comment about race, get a comment about race back. Make a comment about where you live, receieve a comment back about where you live. Make a comment about a food, receieve a comment about a food. I'm not gonna all of a sudden respond to a comment about a food and then respond back about slavery or some shit as that's not the same level of response. The comment is about foods. Being white, I don't know what a white person primarily likes, but go ahead and pick something and I won't be offended. It's friggin food for Christ's sake! Do you think an Indian is gonna be offended by you saying they sure do love their curry? How about a Brit sure loving their fish 'n chips? Or how about Japanese sure loving their sushi? Italians with their spaghetti? Hawaiians with their Spam? Germans with their sauerkraut? French with their escargot? Gimme a break. And by the way, yes, I have mentioned chicken 'n grits with a side of watermelon before to black people. Nothing wrong. You know why? We know how to have fun and not take petty things so seriously. And more often than not, they respond with a "hell yeah we love that shit" because well, they do love it and it's good stuff. A comment like that is more along the lines of stupid than it is offensive. You'd just get laughed at for making a comment like that, not offend em. People these days can't even joke back and forth to one another without gettin all ass hurt. I guess I'm supposed to cry whenever someone calls me a cracka or a Nazi all for being white or talk with a Tiger Woods/Eddie Murphy impersonation of a white voice or your redneck/trailer park comment. And those are more serious than some silly food comment, but I don't have a problem with that either. A joker is a joker and well, people don't take jokers too seriously and hold them in high regards. You guys really need to learn what insensitivity means. Joking about the Holocaust to a Jew is being insensitive. Saying [insert group] likes [insert primary food they DO eat] isn't. That's more along a stereotype which is more often than not true. Stereotypes exist for a reason because more often than not, they're true. Nothing insensitive about it talking about a friggin piece of food. Now go make a comment about all blacks being slaves or something, then you'll get your ass whooped for being insensitive. Talk about chicken and they'll defend their love of it proudly and they'll also more likely than not insert their own jokingly comment about your type of food to continue the game. Heck, stereotypes are how people of different races do their most common way of joking with another. Everyone I know cracks stereotypical jokes to one another about their various cultures. We don't have a problem with it. You guys must not be getting laid by your spouse or are living in a hellhole or something so you're all disgruntled. Lighten up and learn what is and isn't sensitive, unless you're all a bunch of nuns or something. God, America used to be made up of a bunch of tough people, now they're all pansies. I guess mother's these days don't teach their kids the rhyme about sticks 'n stones anymore. It's more along the lines of: Sticks 'n Stones May Break My Bones [and only getcha a month in jail] But Names Will Hurt Like Hell [and getcha life in prison] - N
I can (sort of) see where you are drawing the line between sensitive and insensitive, but is that line the same for everyone? Are you saying that it should be? Don't get sensitive now.
Listen cunt. Not that it matters, but I am white. I was referring to myself as black for illustrative purposes. Now, you putrid little piss-ant, you have made my shit-list. I don't know why I even try with little fuckwads like you.
Your buttons are too easy to push, Cotton. Why is it so hard to accept that everyone's racist? What makes blacks so special that precludes them from hating white people?
Black people constitute about 12 percent of America's population. Textbook editors have to take special care to ensure that they are more or less proportionately represented. You can bet that several editors reviewed this particular decision. There are, oh I don't know, several hundred different kinds of fruit that are commonly eaten in America. Many of them would make a really big SPLOT after falling 300 feet. I can see an editor with a sense of humor wanting to engage the students by choosing the biggest SPLOT he could think of. But once again, many people reviewed this decision. It's impossible that at least one of them didn't say, "Whoa now, you've juxtaposed a black person with a watermelon. Are we sure we want to do this?" Finally, who decided that the site of the experiment would be the Federal Building and that the experimenter would be Condoleezza Rice? Both of those were real stretches. Why not use a school building or a movie house or a mall, something the kids would be more familiar with? Why pick Condoleezza instead of someone younger, someone with a more developed sense of whimsy? This looks like the setup for a Saturday Night Live joke, not a textbook. Deliberately making fun of Condoleezza for doing something a little bit naughty and completely out of character, and deliberately putting a watermelon in her hands. This didn't just happen. It was deliberate and it was reviewed by several people before it went to the printer. Frankly I'm rather surprised that at least one of those people wasn't black. Every American corporation jumps through hoops to support Affirmative Discrimination. Oops I think I said that wrong. Anyway they all have black, latino, female, gay, people with disabilities, people from every conceivable religion on staff, to review everything to make sure it won't educate or entertain anyone. Oops I screwed up again, I mean to make sure it won't offend anyone. There's something wrong here. Is it even true or just an urban legend? I notice there's no source link.
Yes, they're watching out for Affirmative Discrimination which is why that question about a black lady and a watermelon was used so as to not leave out black people. We gotta represent them fairly, ya know. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! - N
Hey now, don't be stereotyping Gallagher and his love for watermelon even though it's true much-like the stereotype of blacks loving chicken and watermelon, Italians and spaghetthi, Asians and seafood, Brits and their fish 'n chips... - N
Really is Neildo being an idiot. Or is he just pointing out something. Many stereotypes are true, usually the harmless goodnatured ones. Just about everyone loves fried chicken and watermelon so it is no insult to claim our pigment gifted friends (oh god how PC is that?) love them.
As they say, the truth hurts. However, I don't know how pointing out the primary food of a certain culture is hurtful. Hey Japanese, I'm gonna drop a bigger bomb on you than Nagasaki. YOU LOVE FISH! HAHAHAHA! Hey Italians, don't beat me up or break my ankles, you spagetthi eaters! HAHAHAHA! Hey Brits, I hope you find this very offensive. Yo Momma eats Fish 'n Chips! HAHAHAHA! Gimme a break. Cry me a river. - N
