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jorgelito · 04-14-2005, 06:47 PM

If you cannot understand why you would owe them an aplogy, then it would do no good to do so. It would be more beneficial to make an effort to understand why "blackface" would be offensive to someone. Ridiculing or accusing them of being overly sensitive is evidence that we have not come a long way and need to work on racism.

Don't apologize if you don't feel like it. However, it would appear that there is a deeper more critical problem: your lack of understanding why someone would be offended by blackface.

In the example you provided, I don't see where the "misunderstanding" occurred. Blackface is pretty starightforward. If it was unintentional, then an apology would still be in order because "you were sincerely sorry that you offended them but it was unintentional. In theory a lesson is learned and communication made.

If it was intentional, then an apology would be still in order because if it was intentional, then the offending party wouldn't be "sorry" at all cause of their intent.

I don't know man, but I would appeal to people to stop and put yourself in another's shoes first before we dismiss them as whiner's or idiots or overly sensitive. It's not our place to tell someone else that they can oo cannot be offended. I think at the end of the day, we all just need to mutually respect each other. The golden rule is always good too. Treat others how you would like to be treated.

You know, this kind of reminds me of the time Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg did a number at theTasty Pudding Theater at Harvard. Ted Danson hot in some hot water for his blackface routine. He insisted it wasn't meant to offend and apologized for his poor judgement as did Whoopi. They explained as a comedy routine etc but conceded it was in poor taste and offensive. Good example. I would have thought we had made some progree since then.

Or when Sinead O'Commor got a lot of flack for saying stuff about the Pope on SNL. Or even in the Pope thread, people got their panties in a wad because they had a "misunderstanding" and misperceived people's casual speech as disrespectful to the Pope. MOst people acquiesced to the complainants and did not make a fuss. That's a good compromise you know. Sort of respecting others, giving a little etc. There's nothing wrong with a bit of conceding and courtesy.

My two cents.

04-14-2005, 06:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	If you cannot understand why you would owe them an aplogy, then it would do no good to do so. It would be more beneficial to make an effort to understand why "blackface" would be offensive to someone. Ridiculing or accusing them of being overly sensitive is evidence that we have not come a long way and need to work on racism. Don't apologize if you don't feel like it. However, it would appear that there is a deeper more critical problem: your lack of understanding why someone would be offended by blackface. In the example you provided, I don't see where the "misunderstanding" occurred. Blackface is pretty starightforward. If it was unintentional, then an apology would still be in order because "you were sincerely sorry that you offended them but it was unintentional. In theory a lesson is learned and communication made. If it was intentional, then an apology would be still in order because if it was intentional, then the offending party wouldn't be "sorry" at all cause of their intent. I don't know man, but I would appeal to people to stop and put yourself in another's shoes first before we dismiss them as whiner's or idiots or overly sensitive. It's not our place to tell someone else that they can oo cannot be offended. I think at the end of the day, we all just need to mutually respect each other. The golden rule is always good too. Treat others how you would like to be treated. You know, this kind of reminds me of the time Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg did a number at theTasty Pudding Theater at Harvard. Ted Danson hot in some hot water for his blackface routine. He insisted it wasn't meant to offend and apologized for his poor judgement as did Whoopi. They explained as a comedy routine etc but conceded it was in poor taste and offensive. Good example. I would have thought we had made some progree since then. Or when Sinead O'Commor got a lot of flack for saying stuff about the Pope on SNL. Or even in the Pope thread, people got their panties in a wad because they had a "misunderstanding" and misperceived people's casual speech as disrespectful to the Pope. MOst people acquiesced to the complainants and did not make a fuss. That's a good compromise you know. Sort of respecting others, giving a little etc. There's nothing wrong with a bit of conceding and courtesy. My two cents.