Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site rtech.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!umcp-cs!gymble!lll-crg!dual!unisoft!mtxinu!rtech!jeff From: jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) Newsgroups: net.jokes.d Subject: Re: 3 lies Message-ID: <514@rtech.UUCP> Date: Mon, 24-Jun-85 03:12:21 EDT Article-I.D.: rtech.514 Posted: Mon Jun 24 03:12:21 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 02:39:26 EDT References: <1058@ihuxn.UUCP> <5878@ucla-cs.ARPA> <139@SCINEWS.UUCP> <2084@sdcrdcf.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: Relational Technology, Alameda CA Lines: 46 > In article <139@SCINEWS.UUCP> todd@SCINEWS.UUCP (Todd Jones) writes: > >> > >> > >> I think the 3 biggest lies were > >> > >> The check's in the mail > >> Black is beautiful > > > > You disgusting racist pig. > > > Huh?? Saying 'Black is beautiful' is a lie, is racist?? Common sense > tells one that racial generalizations such as 'Black is beautiful' is > what is racist, not pointing out that it is an invalid racial > generalization!! > > Todd Jones, through his reply, is seen to me to be a hypocritical, > bigoted racist pig! > > sdcrdcf!alan Al Algustyniak I've had about enough of this. Evidently, few people know what "black is beautiful" means, or the origin of the phrase. There was a time when blacks in the U.S. were taught that they didn't measure up to the standards of white beauty, that is, that black was ugly. The leaders of the civil rights movement during the sixties realized this, and so invented the phrase "black is beautiful" to help counteract the low self-esteem that blacks had. The point is that black is as beautiful as any other skin color. You may choose to accept or reject this argument, but I see no reason to call Todd Jones a "hypocritical, bigoted racist pig" simply because he believes that to call "black is beautiful" a lie is racist. To say that "black is beautiful" is a lie is to imply that black is ugly. You may argue that the original statement is a generalization about race, and is therefore untrue (and a lie, if you want to be uncharitable), but is this what the joke was really about? I doubt it. Jokes are usually meant to be immediately funny without a lot of analysis. The thing that the joke immediately implies is that, since everyone knows that black is ugly, the statement "black is beautiful" is a lie. Mr. Algustyniak, I think you owe Todd Jones an apology. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) aka Swazoo Koolak {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff