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who knew "tar baby" was an offensive term?


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I think the question that begs to be asked is 'can people really afford a tar baby on minimum wage'?

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"medical marijuana tar baby"

 

 

you know they're referring to scraping your bowl to get the resin, right? :pirate

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"tar baby" was always a slur around these parts as well.

 

i don't think "jungle bunny" has any non-racist connotations, but there's still a few months until the election. perhaps there will be some initiative to save rainforest rabbits or something. sigh.

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I grew up in a little town where the Klan pretty much ruled politics until the '70's ,believe it or not.

All of these slurs piss me off,regardledss of their intended humor.

Oh & btw,Huey for Prez B)

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I grew up in a little town where the Klan pretty much ruled politics until the '70's ,believe it or not.

All of these slurs piss me off,regardledss of their intended humor.

Oh & btw,Huey for Prez B)

 

I live in a town where the Klan still rules politics. But Tar Baby? That's just ridiculous.

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Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor knew it back in 1975.

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The word "nigger" did not have negative/derogatory implications or meaning originally, either. The root word being "Niger," and being Latin for "black." The word was acceptable in print and speech as synonymous with Africanners/ African-Americans and was not considered hateful. It obviously evolved into a nasty connotation to describe someone, though.

 

This happens to words occasionally with time, of course, and it happened with "tar baby." As a politician/public speaker he should have selected his words more wisely.

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As a politician/public speaker he should have selected his words more wisely.

 

Absolutely, but it doesn't change the context. I hope the Klan never uses the word 'lozenge' in a negative manner, because that may be one of the sexiest words in the english language and I just love it to death..

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again, considering the context, i'd say biden's for sure. are you kidding me?!

 

If we're talking about context, go back and read Biden's full quote. He was bragging about the influx of Indian Americans and the support he enjoys from them. Sure, it was a bad soundbite but since you mentioned context...

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If we're talking about context, go back and read Biden's full quote. He was bragging about the influx of Indian Americans and the support he enjoys from them. Sure, it was a bad soundbite but since you mentioned context...

 

C'mon now, D. The question was which was worse...

 

Bragging about the influx of Indian Americans and the support he enjoys from them...

In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian-Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I am not joking.

Or

 

Talking about how it would have been better to avoid a politically sticky situation

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I think it's perfectly appropriate to cut Gov. Romney some slack on this. I totally believe him when he says he didn't know tar baby was a derogatory term. Hell, the poor guy grew up thinking Mitt is a first name! What'd he name his kids? Cup, Batting Helmet, and Spike?

 

And by the way, there's no way to put a positive spin on Joe's Indian comments. He's not touting, he's complaining. I'm disappointed too, but really.

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to answer my own question, i'd have to agree that both are pretty bad. i'd tend to agree that biden was more boneheaded, but romney was ignorantly insensitive using such a loaded word.

 

now if romney had been bragging about the support he has amongst tar babies...

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