- comment
CR UVa - body
- Wait a second, would it be inaccurate to call someone with a brown skin tone a brown person? When someone asks me what someone else looks like if they wish to identify someone, would it be wrong of me to say an African American was black or a caucasian white? And in particular, if a person is unsure of the actual heritage of someone (Indian or Arab? African or Caribbean? etc.), would it be so awful for someone to be described physically by their skin tone?
Anyway, I think NLS is taking this a bit far. I suspect that he interpreted Allen's word incorrectly, and is only trying to find something to use to get Democrats to vote only to vote George Allen out of office (again, a mistake; they should vote FOR Webb, not AGAINST Allen). I feared that this race would take a dirty turn somewhere, knowing how much the Democrats geared up for this election wanted George Allen out of office.
- comment Shaun Kenney
- body
- Since we don't have the video, we can't be sure. Of course, no one at the event has spoken one way or another (nor do we know which event).
As to the "brown" comment, I don't even like calling people white or black, not least of which because it's not true, and second because it reduces the person to their skin tone. What does that have to do with anything at all?
Better to be called African-American, Arab-American, Irish-American, etc if you have to categorize because that speaks to culture.
Better still to leave it at American and not mention background at all. We all carry diverse backgrounds, but our skin color should never factor into that equation.
- comment CR UVa
- body
- Better not to use physical appearance? I'll remember that the next time I view a crime and have to describe the perp.
- comment Vivian J. Paige
- body
- In my lifetime, I've been colored, a Negro, black and now African-American. Others may disagree but I prefer black. Why? African-American assumes that my culture is somehow different from other Americans (and I really disagree there - after all, my family has been here 200+ years - my heritage is AMERICAN) and that is the only part of who I am. In addition to being part African, I am also part American Indian and part Scot-Irish. Wanna try to hyphenate all of that?
I have no trouble with black and white - it's easy and descriptive - and rarely does it alone carry any connotation (positive or negative).
I can't comment on the brown thing - I honestly hadn't seen it before. (Guess I need to get out more :) )
- comment Jason Kenney
- body
- First time I heard "brown" was on the Daily Show. A journalist being interviewed said it and it even caught Jon Stewart off guard.
- comment Shaun Kenney
- body
- I just don't understand the fascination with stereotypes.
- comment Dvt guy
- body
- I have friends who are brown people who love being called brown people and refer to themselves as brown people.
it's not our place as white people to really make a judgement on this...
- comment Dvt guy
- body
- Let me add that (ironically) I think the first step in moving towards a color blind society is acknowledging colors and ending taboos!!!
- comment Dvt guy
- body
- Mark -
That a boy! George Allen can call anyone a monkey that he wants!
- comment Shaun Kenney
- body
- it's not our place as white people
See? Assumptions again...
- comment Dvt guy
- body
- What are you talking about Shaun?
People can call themselves what they want to call themselves.
We're white people, therefore I'm stating that we shouldn't have any part in naming another ethnic group.
- comment Shaun Kenney
- body
- Irish-Lebanese here pal.
So am I brown, or tan in your worldview?
- comment ....
- body
- Allen called a kid the N word just becuase of the color of his skin!!! Will you be GOP Blogger #5 to tell him he F'ed up?
- comment Charles
- body
- Actually, this seems like another case where democrats used the circumstances of their own people to "protect" them from criticism, just as Ann Coulter pointed out in her book.
Webb could have sent any volunteer to tape Allen, and Allen would have called attention to that volunteer and made fun of Webb's campaign in the process.
So Webb sends a person of color, so that when Allen DOES point him out, the democrats can go apoplectic about "singling out the non-white in an all-white crowd" (something by the way that the Post didn't verify factually, they just took the guy's word for it).
The point being that they knew Allen would single him out, and were ready with the "racist" charge, even before they had any idea what Allen was going to say.
Allen of course apologized for the way his words could be misconstrued, really for just getting the kid's name wrong.
You shouldn't make fun of people's names, something the democrats are screaming loudly about right now but will forget tomorrow when they go back to making fun of "felix".
- comment Karen Duncan
- body
- Shaun, the first time I heard "brown" was actually when George HW Bush (the first one) introduced his grandchildren (Jeb's kids) as "my little brown ones."
Jeb Bush is married to a Mexican woman and his children look Hispanic.
A bunch of people criticized HW for it, but it didn't stick and rightly so because it was obvious from the tape that he meant it affectionately. And, indeed, to have your grandfather refer to you as "my little brown ones" with such love and affirmation in his eyes and his tone of voice was a compliment. To me, it told them that he loved them for exactly what they were.
Color blind is nonsense. Part of who you are is everything you are and every single ethnic group and ethnic culture has strength, beauty and value to contribute to the American mosaic. Brown, black, Irish, and Jewish people, among others, don't want to melt in a pot. They want to be valued and accepted for all that they are.
We are all like the dots in the mosaic tile. Each remains an individual and each also contributes to the whole picture.
What Allen did was make a derogatory remark about a young man's ethnicity. He actually did it for a cheap laugh because Allen is mean. Maybe not racist, but definitely mean.
- comment James Young
- body
- I think Democrats still haven't gotten over George's comment about "kicking their soft teeth down their whining throats." Hence, he's "mean."
It's refreshing to see one Lefty commenter not buying into the "racism" BS, though.
- comment Jason Kenney
- body
- lontlont - I think the point was more that Allen would have pointed out ANY Webb staffer that was in the crowd. That he was a minority was moot, until the Webb campaign decided to highlight that fact and say that was why he was pointed out.
17 Comments:
Anyway, I think NLS is taking this a bit far. I suspect that he interpreted Allen's word incorrectly, and is only trying to find something to use to get Democrats to vote only to vote George Allen out of office (again, a mistake; they should vote FOR Webb, not AGAINST Allen). I feared that this race would take a dirty turn somewhere, knowing how much the Democrats geared up for this election wanted George Allen out of office.
As to the "brown" comment, I don't even like calling people white or black, not least of which because it's not true, and second because it reduces the person to their skin tone. What does that have to do with anything at all?
Better to be called African-American, Arab-American, Irish-American, etc if you have to categorize because that speaks to culture.
Better still to leave it at American and not mention background at all. We all carry diverse backgrounds, but our skin color should never factor into that equation.
I have no trouble with black and white - it's easy and descriptive - and rarely does it alone carry any connotation (positive or negative).
I can't comment on the brown thing - I honestly hadn't seen it before. (Guess I need to get out more :) )
it's not our place as white people to really make a judgement on this...
That a boy! George Allen can call anyone a monkey that he wants!
See? Assumptions again...
People can call themselves what they want to call themselves.
We're white people, therefore I'm stating that we shouldn't have any part in naming another ethnic group.
So am I brown, or tan in your worldview?
Webb could have sent any volunteer to tape Allen, and Allen would have called attention to that volunteer and made fun of Webb's campaign in the process.
So Webb sends a person of color, so that when Allen DOES point him out, the democrats can go apoplectic about "singling out the non-white in an all-white crowd" (something by the way that the Post didn't verify factually, they just took the guy's word for it).
The point being that they knew Allen would single him out, and were ready with the "racist" charge, even before they had any idea what Allen was going to say.
Allen of course apologized for the way his words could be misconstrued, really for just getting the kid's name wrong.
You shouldn't make fun of people's names, something the democrats are screaming loudly about right now but will forget tomorrow when they go back to making fun of "felix".
Jeb Bush is married to a Mexican woman and his children look Hispanic.
A bunch of people criticized HW for it, but it didn't stick and rightly so because it was obvious from the tape that he meant it affectionately. And, indeed, to have your grandfather refer to you as "my little brown ones" with such love and affirmation in his eyes and his tone of voice was a compliment. To me, it told them that he loved them for exactly what they were.
Color blind is nonsense. Part of who you are is everything you are and every single ethnic group and ethnic culture has strength, beauty and value to contribute to the American mosaic. Brown, black, Irish, and Jewish people, among others, don't want to melt in a pot. They want to be valued and accepted for all that they are.
We are all like the dots in the mosaic tile. Each remains an individual and each also contributes to the whole picture.
What Allen did was make a derogatory remark about a young man's ethnicity. He actually did it for a cheap laugh because Allen is mean. Maybe not racist, but definitely mean.
It's refreshing to see one Lefty commenter not buying into the "racism" BS, though.
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