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Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
This story actually isn't about me but a guy friend, but it shows just how retarded political correctness can bE when taken too seriously.
About 10yrs ago by now my guy friend went shopping at a shoe store. By the way my friend is white brunette. There were two salesmen in their early 20s working, both very tall, both dark hair, both looked around the same age. Only difference, one was black the other white. The black salesman helped my friend find what he was looking for. He went to the cash register to pay.
The female black cashier asked him "who helped u today so I can get him the commission?" my friend hesitated for a min then said "aw geez I don't know his name, the one over there, oh wait that's both of them isnt it, uh the black one."
The cashier said "ok cool!", finished ringing up the order as usual.
But oh boy my friend got quite the reaction from the stocky, middle aged white woman waiting in line behind him!! She started huffing and sighing in disgust. She told my friend he was "racist" to be referring to people that way!
WTF? The cashier herself was black and she didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. If anything, referring to the salesman by the only obvious distinguishing trait made the cashiers job easier becuz it allowed her to expidite the process instead of trying to figure out exactly which tall, young, dark haired man my friend was referring to. It also made that loser woman's wait in line quicker too. So WTF? It's not like being called "black" is an insult, there's nothing wrong with being another race; it's not like my friend referred to the guy by a trait that is seen to be derogatory or insulting, e.g. "the one with acne" or "the fat one" or "the scrawny one that looks like he's 12". Get the idea? And yea I know some people think it's better to use the term African American, except my having black friends from various carribean areas (Haiti, Jamaica, etc) has taught me that even assuming that anyone who's black must automatically be African American is a tad assumptive (which means African American might not be the most accurate term for a stranger whose background is unknown to me, but then again it's not insulting either, so it isn't that bad)...my friend from Haiti brought this issue up, said "why does everyone assume I'm African American?"
So I think u see my friend meant no harm, nobody was offended in that store but some loser white woman who wasn't even involved. I think this shows just how retRded people can look when they take the whole political correctness thing to a fault?
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Another thing. It's not just racial political correctness I can't stand. Far from it. I also hate the term "little people". Dude if I was a midget or dwarf I think I'd find being called "little person" MORE insulting or condescending. Id feel like its implying I'm a child or something. Whoever thought "little people" was a more flattering term??
Even the term "senior citizen" at times...technically senior citizen age starts at 65. I know orca woman who was a few yrs younger than 65 but due to her all-gray hair pulled back in a granny style bun, people mistakenly referred to her as "senior" a few times. She was not impressed. At least "old" or "elder" doesn't have an age cutoff so that way someone doesn't feel slighted if u mistake their age for being older than they are.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Political correctness can go suck a bag of dicks. Black ones.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
PC has become a joke. For instance a few years ago when I got my job I was late to work because I was pulled over. Meanwhile the cops allowed two men (one black and one white)to fly by me (these cops are known to be sexists). So anyway I was telling this story to me coworkers when my boss called me into his office. Turns out one of my coworkers told my boss I made a racist comment! I told him the story and he asked why I was specific and said that's the way I am, I describe people quite specifically.
Then there was the time I was kicked out of a singles group because I stated I refused to date never married dads. As everyone knows I do not date dads except in very specific cases, like a dad who adopted as a single dad or raising kids not his own (nieces/nephews etc). I may consider widowers in extreme cases but will not under any circumstances consider a man with children who have a living mom. I think never married dads are the lowest of the low in most cases but even if a guy is decent I still don't want to date him. So this singles group kicked me out because I wasn't open to dating never married men saying "most people approve of them". I must be a prude because most I know don't approve. Even if most people see nothing wrong with guys like this why should I have to lower my morals?
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
May I point out the "most people".. I find that people that say this as an excuse either get knocked out of the line cause of it or they are willing to do it.. so why not you..
I understand the problem Kellydancer.. I been kicked out of so many clubs and gathering cause I wouldn't follow others mindset over a cliff...
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Yeah I hate the "most people do" excuses and it bugged me when they said that. Like I said to them the most people excuse would vary depending on the area. In a low income area I'm sure people are more open about that than an upper class area. I'm a big believer in keeping one's views even if it causes problems. I wish there were more free spirited people who spoke up against something they oppose. This is especially true with relationships because if people were honest about things they felt, I think there would be less divorces.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
That could be true. less divorces.. maybe a few more murders but yes less divorces.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
I don't know if this is gonna be perceived as "racist" or not but the most annoying political correctness is when it's forced down ur throat by some generic white person who has grown up in a pridominintly white suburb town all his/her life and hasn't even been around many minorities. They don't even know anything remotely of what it's like to be black, Asian, etc yet they feel the need to correct ur (inoffensive) words becuz of "white guilt".
I have no white guilt; nearly all of my ancestors didn't even come to America til after slavery ended in the us and when they did they settled up north anyway. Also ive always treated people as equals and growing up, even in a particular snooty lily white town, was never opposed to befriending the new kid at school from another country or someone that looked different than me (different race). So I think it's silly to have "white guilt" when I haven't done anything wrong. having it is kinda like the type of people who overapologize too much even when they're nowhere near in the wrong...makes some1 look a pushover and weak. Doesn't help u get respected more by those particular minorities either. My best friend (whos black, some white, and a tad of native American) and I have discussed this before a few times. Granted I think racism and using the n word is never acceptable, but neither is this overdone pol correctness crap either
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Another thing. Ive been on the other side of the fence with the racial minority thing too, where i lived and or worked at places where being white was the vast minority. I still didn't give a shit when I wS trying to locate a particular faceless coworker by name and the staff told me "petite white girl" it made my job alot eAsier since she was the only other white female on shift that day. No need to get mad!!!
Another time a flirty guy (same job) asked me what I was "mixed with". I think he (black, thin, early or mid 20s) thought mebbe I wasn't fully white becuz Im curvy with a big ass, and at the time I dyed my hair a natural lookin shade of black. Lol I thought it was the cutest and funniest thing in the world :D my friends and I got a kick outta it becuz they all knew it was prolly because I got "back" hahahahahahahahahaha. Again no reAson to get offended, the boy meant no harm
So yea uptight politically correct people annoy me :(
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
White guilt isn't about personally having done anything wrong. It's something a lot of white people face once they realize how many unearned advantages they have just because of their race. No one should feel guilty about their race, but I had a hard time not feeling guilty after I began to learn more about the extent of systemic racism and realized how much I'd taken for granted, and what cost that came at. I would get into it but it would be a massive thread jack.
And yeah that woman sounds crazy.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Yeah the woman probably was lol. I only wish I wAs there to see it.
Thing is, the more we dwell on things like "white guilt" and treating minorities like they're "special", the more we hinder progressing towards total integration and acceptance of each other. Treating a group like they're "special" or "disadvantaged" strictly becuz of their color can be a form of discrimination too. I mentioned my black best friend a few times on this site and how she writes angst blogs. Well one of her blogs was about how much she resents affirmation action, since it makes her feel like she wasnt good enough to get a job on her own merits alone. For her, "special" treatment due to her race feels like "special Ed". And she grew up in an inner city neighborhood with not much money, her dad walked out on them when she was 6, so it's not like she was super privileged or had things handed to her either.
I just think the whole nervousness/guilt thing, along with affirmative action stuff, at this point is hindering integration more than helping.
When real racism does happen, it sucks. I have a special type of anger for certain types of characters, including racists. That's one of the reAsons I despise Jesse jAmes and Mel Gibson so much (along with them being dirty cheating WHORES). I go ballistic on people who are racist, no matter what color they are. But I think as a nation, we need to be More accepting of each other but also not overdo things that result in "reverse racism" or frequent racism fAlse accusations either.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
for someone who was so annoyed by someone else making race an issue, you sure do talk about it a lot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kthnx
I don't know if this is gonna be perceived as "racist" or not but the most annoying political correctness is when it's forced down ur throat by some generic white person who has grown up in a pridominintly white suburb town all his/her life and hasn't even been around many minorities. They don't even know anything remotely of what it's like to be black, Asian, etc yet they feel the need to correct ur (inoffensive) words becuz of "white guilt".
I have no white guilt; nearly all of my ancestors didn't even come to America til after slavery ended in the us and when they did they settled up north anyway. Also ive always treated people as equals and growing up, even in a particular snooty lily white town, was never opposed to befriending the new kid at school from another country or someone that looked different than me (different race). So I think it's silly to have "white guilt" when I haven't done anything wrong. having it is kinda like the type of people who overapologize too much even when they're nowhere near in the wrong...makes some1 look a pushover and weak. Doesn't help u get respected more by those particular minorities either. My best friend (whos black, some white, and a tad of native American) and I have discussed this before a few times. Granted I think racism and using the n word is never acceptable, but neither is this overdone pol correctness crap either
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
When I say that white people generally have unearned privileges over black people, I don't mean that every black person is fucked or every white person isn't. It's just that there's so much systemic prejudice that can be really hard to notice if you're white. Take the study testing the frequency of job callbacks between black and white sounding names for example: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...8/ai_97873146/. And the study about racism in the ER: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=12253244. I could find more if you want too.
Racism isn't limited to people who are consciously and vocally racist like Mel Gibson or Jesse James. It can be unconscious, as I hypothesize is the case with many of the biased doctors. People who don't consider themselves racist can also consciously engage in racist acts and rationalize them away. Sometimes people who aren't "racist" are encouraged to act like they are. I'm sure that a lot of people who didn't call the job applicants that had black sounding names didn't think of themselves as racist, but rather they felt on some level or another that they might lose business to people who are actually racist if they hired more black people. Affirmative action exists for this reason.
Also, it's a bad idea to rely on one person's interpretation of their personal experiences as authoritative. Racism extends far beyond the individual and while personal experiences are valuable in a discussion like this, no one can extrapolate the state of the world from one person's life.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kthnx
Yeah the woman probably was lol. I only wish I wAs there to see it.
Thing is, the more we dwell on things like "white guilt" and treating minorities like they're "special", the more we hinder progressing towards total integration and acceptance of each other. Treating a group like they're "special" or "disadvantaged" strictly becuz of their color can be a form of discrimination too. I mentioned my black best friend a few times on this site and how she writes angst blogs. Well one of her blogs was about how much she resents affirmation action, since it makes her feel like she wasnt good enough to get a job on her own merits alone. For her, "special" treatment due to her race feels like "special Ed". And she grew up in an inner city neighborhood with not much money, her dad walked out on them when she was 6, so it's not like she was super privileged or had things handed to her either.
I just think the whole nervousness/guilt thing, along with affirmative action stuff, at this point is hindering integration more than helping.
When real racism does happen, it sucks. I have a special type of anger for certain types of characters, including racists. That's one of the reAsons I despise Jesse jAmes and Mel Gibson so much (along with them being dirty cheating WHORES). I go ballistic on people who are racist, no matter what color they are. But I think as a nation, we need to be More accepting of each other but also not overdo things that result in "reverse racism" or frequent racism fAlse accusations either.
I have several black friends who are against affirmative action. They feel it benefits those who don't try hard to get to a better place, while penalizing those who worked hard and their accomplishments are belittled. I used to be for affirmative action until it cost me several jobs. In particular the Census Bureau, which was hiring less qualified blacks over more qualified whites.
When people say that being white give someone an advantage jobwise I laugh because as a women I am discriminated against just as much as a minority. Look at the top CEOs, how many aren't white males? only a few. Plus, if someone is poor of any race they don't have much chance to get to the top.
I do not feel racism belongs in this society and loathe groups like the KKK because people are people. However, I wish all races treated other races as people and not inferior or superior to them. I don't feel I am better than anyone because I am white, but on the other hand I am tired of being blamed for things my ancestors had nothing to do with.
Btw I am not saying racism doesn't exist, it does. It is evil, but unfortunately other forms of discrimination exist as well, such as sexism or homophobia.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
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Originally Posted by
camille27
for someone who was so annoyed by someone else making race an issue, you sure do talk about it a lot.
Yep...she opened a can of worms on that issue at a time that my friend (same one who told me that affirmative action and other special treatments make her feel like special ed) happened to be over my place. lol so yea couldn't resist venting, hence my starting a new separate thred on it
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
my white friends favor affirmative action. they also understand their privilege in the world by default of having white skin. they also don't describe people as "the black one".
we all have different experiences. perhaps the woman you're calling a "loser" is simply a bit more enlightened than you, has a bigger vocabulary, and thought it a bit crass. the fact that no one else SEEMED to mind is your perception of what happened. did the cashier started talking about you after you left? you have no idea.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Quote:
Originally Posted by
camille27
my white friends favor affirmative action. they also understand their privilege in the world by default of having white skin. they also don't describe people as "the black one".
we all have different experiences. perhaps the woman you're calling a "loser" is simply a bit more enlightened than you, has a bigger vocabulary, and thought it a bit crass. the fact that no one else SEEMED to mind is your perception of what happened. did the cashier started talking about you after you left? you have no idea.
But do they live in a white area? Trust me I used to be for affirmative action until I realized that meant hiring less qualified minorities over more qualified white people, as happened to me. One's perceptive changes if their diverse mixed neighborhood goes from that to low income black as mine did. White people are the enemy of these people as are middle class blacks who worked hard to achieve what they did.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Quote:
Originally Posted by
camille27
my white friends favor affirmative action. they also understand their privilege in the world by default of having white skin. they also don't describe people as "the black one".
we all have different experiences. perhaps the woman you're calling a "loser" is simply a bit more enlightened than you, has a bigger vocabulary, and thought it a bit crass. the fact that no one else SEEMED to mind is your perception of what happened. did the cashier started talking about you after you left? you have no idea.
Did u read the part where I said it was MY FRIEND who went to the shoe store? I wasn't even there, just one of several folks who heard bout it later. So no shit do I know if that nutjob stuck around to talk about my friend afterwards or not. Nor do I think my friend would care.
I already stated that when I myself was in a reverse sort of situation, ie at the restaurant job, I didn't mind if the slightest if me or the petite white girl were referred that way because it's an observation that makes distinguishing people easier and more direct with no harm intended. Another time I mention race is if I'm asked to describe what the person looks like (let's face it, race is a pretty obvious trait), like my friend did at the shoe store, or if I'm discussing a race-relAted political issue where I think it makes a difference if i mention my or someone elses background to make a point bout how a representative person feels on an issue. Hence mentioning my best friends background to illustrate how contrary to popular democrat/liberal opinion, NOT all blacks like or feel helped by things like affirmative action.
Now if someone knew a person's name, and purposely insisted on calling a person out by there rAce, well that's a whole nuther mAtter entirely and yea I wouldn't think that's very respectful to do that. Example, when I was 14 my annoying boss one called me "girl" before dishing out commands, when he well knew my name and I had always been respectful and hard working anyway (not that it should matter, even if one isn't hard working they deserve to be called by there name by folks). So yea calling out "black girl" or "white one" when everyone full knows their name would be messed up. But in my friends case he didn't know the guys name but wanted to ensure the guy got his fair commission and quickly. No malice, no hard feelings intended.
This issue was fresh on my mind becuz of my friend discussing how yet another person online got up in arms about her anti-affirmative action blog rants, saying she didnt want to be treated like charity, at same time of a few threds on here somewhat related. But I'm done here...said my peice in way more words than I wanted, that some of us mean well but the misunderstandings due to lack of 100% abiding of political correctness can be frustrating.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
Quote:
Originally Posted by
camille27
my white friends favor affirmative action. they also understand their privilege in the world by default of having white skin. they also don't describe people as "the black one".
we all have different experiences. perhaps the woman you're calling a "loser" is simply a bit more enlightened than you, has a bigger vocabulary, and thought it a bit crass. the fact that no one else SEEMED to mind is your perception of what happened. did the cashier started talking about you after you left? you have no idea.
Good to know that this is considered a faux pas, I'll keep that in mind from now on. I grew up in a town where 99.9% of the population is white, and it's only been in the past five years that I moved away and even been able to befriend people of other races. I worry about saying something about it that's crass without even noticing, and then I worry more about what this nervousness says about me and how it comes across to my friends. Hell, I feel awkward admitting my background to anyone. White guilt city, maybe. It certainly doesn't affect my relationships with people who are different races on a day to day basis, it's just something that mindfucks me a little on the rare occasions it does come up.
So yeah kthx, you would definitely consider me one of those "generic white people" who don't know what it's like to be anything but white. Although I don't like that your choice of word is "generic," of course I don't presume to know what it's like to be anyone but myself! I don't think that this necessarily makes me ignorant or my thoughts invalid, though, because I spent a lot of time researching the sociology of racial difference, backed up with studies like the ones I linked to, and if it makes you take me more seriously I learned about this from more than one black professor! I may be missing the first hand experience, but I know an awful lot of statistics.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
^ well then, lol1337a, sounds like u have alot more knowledge than the schmuck lady at the shoe store. It's one thing to hesitate on what u say for fear of offending someone; it's another to make a big stink in public over one word that isnt profane nor offended anyone involved in the shoe transaction.
My friends mom suggested that mebbe the lady was actually racist, thus considers "black" or any other color but white to be a "negative" thing, or mebbe she didn't like how my friends description resulted in the right guy getting the commission for his shoe sale. Lol possible?
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
I can't stand extreme political correctness. There's a difference between being respectful of another person's race or creed and being rude. Obviously I am caucasian looking but I am actually Cherokee & Russian Jew.
One of my best friends in the club had a Gestapo death's head and Stormtrooper insignia tattooed on her feet. We laughed about that all the time, I was her "Token Dirty Jew" and she was my "Pet Skinhead." I was one of the last people from the club she talked to before she passed away in January.
And what I miss most about her? She was respectful of ALL races & ALL people, despite the decision she made when she was younger.
I wish people would just relax and simply show others respect, instead of trying to shove their personal views & beliefs down others' throats.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
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Originally Posted by
Anastasia Foxx
I can't stand extreme political correctness. There's a difference between being respectful of another person's race or creed and being rude. Obviously I am caucasian looking but I am actually Cherokee & Russian Jew.
One of my best friends in the club had a Gestapo death's head and Stormtrooper insignia tattooed on her feet. We laughed about that all the time, I was her "Token Dirty Jew" and she was my "Pet Skinhead." I was one of the last people from the club she talked to before she passed away in January.
And what I miss most about her? She was respectful of ALL races & ALL people, despite the decision she made when she was younger.
I wish people would just relax and simply show others respect, instead of trying to shove their personal views & beliefs down others' throats.
This reminded me of an incident that happened years ago. I needed to take a cab to a job as a model and this guy started telling me about the KKK and how he was a proud semite, racist, you name it. He then started telling me about how he was glad the Jews died at Auschwitz. What he didn't know was that my great grandfather was Jewish and his entire family was killed there. It made me very uncomfortable and I never hired that company again.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
awareness and ignorance are choices
:hug:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lol1337a
I don't think that this necessarily makes me ignorant or my thoughts invalid, though, because I spent a lot of time researching the sociology of racial difference, backed up with studies like the ones I linked to, and if it makes you take me more seriously I learned about this from more than one black professor! I may be missing the first hand experience, but I know an awful lot of statistics.
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Re: Extreme Political correctness at its "finest": the loser at the shoe store
The whole racist label is hard to define at times. Being wary of a certain ethnic type because of their cultural upbringing (eg I have found many indians and Pakastani's in the club are always rude and suggest inappropriate things because their culture doesn't respect women) is that racist or using experience to profile prospective clients?
It is also interesting to note that here in Australia if I call someone of non-anglo nationality a rude name I can be charged with being racist/discriminating, but if a non Anglo person was to call me a white scum whorebag slut it's perfectly acceptable. Discrimination can only be carried out on a minority group. Now thats political correctness gone wrong!