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Video: Racial Insult Claimed For Use of "Black Hole"
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by PEP | July 10, 2008 at 04:11 pm
1204 views | 32 Recommendations | 22 comments
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UPDATE: I've added the video of the incident, including the demand for an apology. Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg notes: "Obviously, there’s something to be said for ignoring the childish grievance-peddling that motivates so much of this nonsense. But the simple fact is that ignoring political correctness has done remarkably little to combat it. Meanwhile, people who make a big deal about it are often cast as the disgruntled obsessive ones.
The only people allowed to take political correctness seriously are the writers for “South Park,” “Family Guy,” “The Simpsons” and the like. Of course, they take it seriously because it’s their bread and butter to mock the absurd pieties of daily life. But nearly everywhere else, the rule of thumb is that we should either defer to this stuff or quietly ignore it."
Goldberg, who wrote Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, wrote those comments as part of his excellent article here.
UPDATE: This story is taking off now in the MSM. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price has also declared, in later interviews, that terms such as "angel food cake" and "devil's food cake" are racist.
Original post follows.
Scientists, take note: the PC crowd will soon be after you for your terminology, such as "black hole". As a vertically-challenged person of Native American ancestry, allow me to be the first to complain about "Red Dwarf stars". Nah, never mind.
A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.
County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."
That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (22)
at 16:13 on July 10th, 2008
PEP, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 18:39 on July 10th, 2008
Silly, isn't it? Thanks for the falg, Cao. :)
at 16:31 on July 10th, 2008
Dumb.What about Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon?
at 18:43 on July 10th, 2008
These word police types make me sick.
at 02:20 on July 11th, 2008
Big T, I must protest the use of the word "sick" and your cultural insensitivity in referring to those who may be described as pale, as noted here: "lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble; "the pale light of a half moon".
Other than that veiled attack on those who have lighter skin tones, insidiously implying that they may be "dim"wits, thanks for the flag. ;}
at 18:46 on July 10th, 2008
Another thin skinned, fight picking Jesse Jackson wanna be. What I truly don't understand is why the black community puts up with guys like this again and again.
at 18:52 on July 10th, 2008
Why do all the avatars for us Anonymous' look like goofy men? I'm suing since NowPublic/Truemors is obviously a sexist empire!
at 19:21 on July 10th, 2008
Why is everyone becoming more and more uptight by the day? Good stuff!
at 02:22 on July 11th, 2008
The prize may go to my white southern male friend who declared that any comments about anything being like a prize out of a Cracker Jack box had to cease or he would sue. Thanks for the flag.
at 20:10 on July 10th, 2008
PEP, I like this story. It's good stuff. Let's just hope Britain's PC crowd get wind of this, or there will hell to pay
at 02:26 on July 11th, 2008
I presume that they will immediately rename the Black Sea, which is suffering from toxicity and pollutants. Thanks for the flag.
at 22:22 on July 10th, 2008
A black hole in astronomy is a place where gravity sucks....extremely so much that light itself cannot escape so nobody knows what's inside one. The white fella seems to have picked a very appropriate and non racist metaphor. The black gentleman should learn a wee bit more science, before beaming his opinions up....
at 23:35 on July 10th, 2008
This story would be enough to raise Molly Ivins from the dead, she'd have loved to have a chance to write it!
at 02:27 on July 11th, 2008
The world's not the same without Molly's tart, but accurate, tongue. Thanks for the read and the comment.
at 00:12 on July 11th, 2008
PEP, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Wow, racial tensions must be really high, I'm guessing Obama's presidential campaign is having an effect, bringing simmering tensions to a boiling point. Maybe I'm naive* but I am rarely witness to racism in Canada. Not that it doesn't exist, but it doesn't seem to have an impact on society the way it does in the US.
*I probably am
I'm all for respecting people's feelings but this is just ridiculous. A black hole is a black hole because the gravity is so strong, light doesn't escape. It isn't a derogatory term for black people. What scares me is that these people are commissioners and judges, and they can't figure it out.
The same goes for angel's food and devil's food cakes. Angel's food cake because it's light and fluffy, and devil's food because it's, well, delicious. We all know anything enjoyable is a sin :D
Wow, I don't think we have one single dissenting opinion in the comments! It's a nowpublic miracle!
at 02:32 on July 11th, 2008
James, yes, indeed, it's a scientific term. The only thing I'll slightly disagree with you on is that it's due to Obama's campaign. I think this is part of the long-term and increasing nuttiness of PC. In 1999 an official in Washington, D.C. wound up losing his job for correctly using the word "niggardly."
Thanks for the great comment and the flag.
at 00:40 on July 11th, 2008
you should watch how Mr Price is defending his position to a reporter. He really should be sueing the nature for being racist. When he wins that fair and square then i will acknoweledge his stupidty as a fact.
at 02:46 on July 11th, 2008
Judge Thomas Jones is the guy who jumped in with Price (view video to get the whole thing). As Eric Berger, the Sci Guy at the Dallas Morning News pointed out: "Judge Jones should be very glad that the central collections office has not become a white hole, a theoretical object that ejects matter from beyond its event horizon, rather than sucking it in. It wouldn't be fun for Dallas to find itself so near a quasar."
But chess remains a game of black vs. white. Someone needs to get sued, apparently.
at 02:39 on July 11th, 2008
I wonder if the two complainers have ever read Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Ian Fleming, and many others who write books involving black ops.
And what the heck are they going to do about the racism of black holes as uttered by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse-Tyson? Whoa, now there's a problem. Will he become the next Bill Cosby-style victim of accusations of racism by some members of the black community?
at 02:50 on July 11th, 2008
PEP, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 07:42 on July 11th, 2008
Hi Rhonda, thanks for the read and the flag!
at 09:08 on July 11th, 2008
Definitely all in the context.