The Stupidity of Some Never Ceases To Amaze Me....

[Nigel Tufnel]

Had a buddy email me this yesterday. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I realize college kids do stupid things....I realize that because of their age they may not be as sensitive to things as they should be....but some things are just unforgivable. Personally, I'm kind of shocked that this type of stuff would go on anywhere, let alone a large city. Disgusting. Insensitive. Stupid. Last but not least, dangerous. They listed this on facebook....could you imagine if a large group of African Americans in SD had found out about this and decided to show up and angrily crash this party? Nothing good would have come from it...

I'm a pretty laid back dude....I try not to let things get to me, but I just can't believe that this type of thing happens on/near a college campus in this day and age. Unbelievable.

http://www.10news.com/news/22588063/detail.html?taf=sand

[blobfan]

Read the article and the invite and can't say there's anything more offensive in there that what you see on many TV shows and in movies, except perhaps for the watermelon crack. It's in pretty poor taste but can't say I'm terribly surprised. How is this different than a white trash party?

[CinciX12]

Hahaha I had a good laugh.

I'm a bad person.

[Fear the Cough]

I really dont think its that bad, its not like they were dressing up in KKK outfits or having mock lynchings. I would say most shows on TV (South Park, Family Guy, etc, ) go way beyond that. Not that it is the smartest thing to do though...

[Snipe]

I would like to go to a party for black people who are all trying to act like stereotypical white people.

White Like Me. (http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/white-like-me/278716/)

"Slowly, I began to realize that when white people are alone, they give things to each other for free."

[Nigel Tufnel]

Well, I guess I must be a little defensive about this type of stuff....hmmm....a basketball message board might have helped me learn something about myself...that's pretty f'in pathetic...maybe its time to step away from the computer.

In all seriousness, I wasn't aware that non white people (covering all ethnics here) had white trash parties....although they could pull it off and it would likely be much ado about nothing. If its white trash parties that are being held by whites, well, I don't think that's the same thing. Making fun of the differences in your ethnicity's different classes is different than making fun of another ethnicity, IMHO. I guess I personally draw a line in the sand at ethnicity.

I get what you say about South Park and other shows. You guys are absolutely right. Still, not sure why, but I'm not sure South Park and a party like this are comparable. The poking fun is the same, but they just seem like totally different situations.

Oh well. Go X! Beat Charlotte!

[Snipe]

I once knew a guy that went out on Halloween as Hitler. He carried it off well. Funny as shit. Offensive to some people too. When you are going for humor the only real shame is not being funny.

The politician who said "The only way I lose this election is if I get caught with a dead woman or a live little boy" was funny. Joking about molesting children is tough, you have a high bar, but even then you can pull it off.

When Dom Imus said "Nappy headed Hos" his major sin was that it just wasn't funny.

Would that party be my cup of tea? No. I don't think I would find it amusing. If you have a career and a job you don't want to be caught at that party. It could cost you. College kids have more leeway. Should white kids be able to mock the stereotypical angry black hoochie mama? Who makes the rules? If you want diversity one of the biggest costs is actually putting up with diversity.

And the stereotype of loud angry black women is based upon loud angry black women. I have met some of them. It is like a role that they play, and many of the women in Cincinnati's illustrious West End can whip that bitch out. The way they shake their heads and wave that finger, no you don't girl.

Sometimes I have gotten the Angry Black Woman when a tenant didn't have the rent. It is not a joy. Woman owes me money she doesn't have, and she figures the best defense is a good offense. Christ almighty she was loud and proud.

[wkrq59]

I've seen part of one episode of Family Guy and one early, very early episode of South Park. Haven't been back since. Thought both programs were childish, loaded with pre-pubescent humor and, frankly, were boring.
I have other, more constructive ways to waste my time. Life's too damned short and the cable and satellite offerings far more worthy of my time. The Discovery, biography, history and Scripps TV channels are far more attractive than that stuff.
But, really, some things just aren't funny, or amusing, or really designed to do anything but stretch somebody's idea of limits or "How can we have a good time?"
It's like hearing a 10-year-old kid yell out in a movie "Get a room," or "When does the fxxking start?" Which is another way of saying, "Hey, look at me! I'm important and you need to notice me."
Sadly, there isn't much that shocks me any more, except te incompetency of some basketbtall referees. After viewing episodes of the three CSI's, NCIS and Criminal Minds, in all their gross glory, nothing seems to be "too much."
BTW, anybody see the notice that Phil Harris, the captain of the Cornelia Marie one of the crabbing ships in "Deadliest Catch" died recently. His sons were part of his crew. His family said his death was the result of a massive stroke. I've forgotten what the illness was that forced him off the ship in the middle of one season, but the real life drama of those shows makes them worth watching even if there is a tendency toward repetition.
You know, regarding those parties? I think it's best to ignore them. :D

[Jumpy]

BTW, anybody see the notice that Phil Harris, the captain of the Cornelia Marie one of the crabbing ships in "Deadliest Catch" died recently. His sons were part of his crew. His family said his death was the result of a massive stroke. I've forgotten what the illness was that forced him off the ship in the middle of one season, but the real life drama of those shows makes them worth watching even if there is a tendency toward repetition.


God rest his soul. Last season, he had a blood clot in his leg that dislodged and travelled through his heart. That was why he missed the majority of the season and he was very lucky he didn't kick the bucket then.

As far as the party goes, I couldn't read the article because it wouldn't open for me, but from what I'm reading here it sounds to be distasteful, but not over the line. I know a lot of schools have some variation of this kind of party, whether it be a white trash party, a "pimps 'n ho's" party or something along those lines.

[drudy23]

Had a buddy email me this yesterday. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I realize college kids do stupid things....I realize that because of their age they may not be as sensitive to things as they should be....but some things are just unforgivable. Personally, I'm kind of shocked that this type of stuff would go on anywhere, let alone a large city. Disgusting. Insensitive. Stupid. Last but not least, dangerous. They listed this on facebook....could you imagine if a large group of African Americans in SD had found out about this and decided to show up and angrily crash this party? Nothing good would have come from it...

I'm a pretty laid back dude....I try not to let things get to me, but I just can't believe that this type of thing happens on/near a college campus in this day and age. Unbelievable.

http://www.10news.com/news/22588063/detail.html?taf=sand

This kind of thing ESPECIALLY happens in this day and age.

Where have you been?

I'll give you a word of advice...expect it...BECAUSE of this day and age, I am no longer shocked and appalled by anything.

[drudy23]

I once knew a guy that went out on Halloween as Hitler. He carried it off well. Funny as shit. Offensive to some people too. When you are going for humor the only real shame is not being funny.

The politician who said "The only way I lose this election is if I get caught with a dead woman or a live little boy" was funny. Joking about molesting children is tough, you have a high bar, but even then you can pull it off.

When Dom Imus said "Nappy headed Hos" his major sin was that it just wasn't funny.

Would that party be my cup of tea? No. I don't think I would find it amusing. If you have a career and a job you don't want to be caught at that party. It could cost you. College kids have more leeway. Should white kids be able to mock the stereotypical angry black hoochie mama? Who makes the rules? If you want diversity one of the biggest costs is actually putting up with diversity.

And the stereotype of loud angry black women is based upon loud angry black women. I have met some of them. It is like a role that they play, and many of the women in Cincinnati's illustrious West End can whip that bitch out. The way they shake their heads and wave that finger, no you don't girl.

Sometimes I have gotten the Angry Black Woman when a tenant didn't have the rent. It is not a joy. Woman owes me money she doesn't have, and she figures the best defense is a good offense. Christ almighty she was loud and proud.

I see what you mean...this was pretty funny.

[XUglow]

My youngest daughter was on a volleyball team here in MS with about a 50/50 ratio of black and white kids. For fun, the black girls gave all of the white girls "ghetto names" like Shawnita, Queenzella, Armitrese, etc. The white girls gave all of the black girls names like Lisa, Beth, Anne, etc. Everyone had practice jerseys made up with their new names, and they had to act like their name when they had that jersey on. The pretend games hit every stereo type in the book, and everyone seemed to enjoy it a great deal. There is a lesson in here somewhere about embracing differences, but I haven't had my coffee yet, so I am not going to attempt to flesh it out.

[GoMuskies]

It seems to me, Glow, that the moral of the story is that we should all look to Mississippi as a model for race relations.

[Nigel Tufnel]

This kind of thing ESPECIALLY happens in this day and age.

Where have you been?

I'll give you a word of advice...expect it...BECAUSE of this day and age, I am no longer shocked and appalled by anything.

Guess I've been hanging out under a rock with my wife and three young children. I guess I feel like this country has become ridiculously hyper sensitive and overly p.c., so a group of people thinking that this would be a fun and great idea is pretty stupid. "Hey, lets throw a party making fun of black people. Great Idea!! Nobody will take offense, its all in good fun," said a group of 20 year old white kids.

[XUglow]

It seems to me, Glow, that the moral of the story is that we should all look to Mississippi as a model for race relations.

It isn't perfect, but It is way better than people think. Work, school, and entertainment environments are well integrated. Social clubs... not so much, but it isn't by any nefarious design. Big Oaks CC is integrated. Tupelo CC is the older established club, and it isn't. There are no rules in place but no blacks apply. Joe Horn, NFL player, was the only black member so far, and he has since resigned and moved out to Big Oaks. He likes the TCC course better, but he said his family was more comfortable at Big Oaks. You see the same thing at the older, established churches as well. Families join a church, stay for a while, and head back to their home church. Nobody frets much about it though. The divisions are much more about social standing in the community than by race. That's just the way it is.

[mohr5150]

I can remember hitting Xavier at about the time The Simpsons was really blowing up as a cult hit. There were so many adults who were appalled by what we were watching and saw it as "classless" and "degrading". I just saw it as funny and new that the idea behind the show was actually making fun of us as Americans. That show pushed the boundaries of what was funny. Richard Prior, "Dice" Clay, Chris Rock, all are comedians who really pushed the envelope when it came to deciding what was and wasn't funny. Remember when Miami Vice was considered very racy and almost too much for television? The line between what is acceptable and what isn't is drawn in sand, and sand is very easy to cover up in order to draw a new line farther down the beach. Instead of The Simpsons, it became South Park, and now Family Guy. Instead of Miami Vice, we had NYPD Blue. And the reality shows of people who live in their own reality really push the envelope on what is acceptable to show on TV. If you don't believe kids pick up on this, then you are very mistaken. It is all around them...in their music they listen to, the shows they watch, the movies they are allowed to see at such an early age. But I know I experienced media that my parents didn't approve of, yet it didn't affect whether I would treat women horribly, screw around on my wife, or treat others disrespectfully. So, what has changed? It's the talk they hear at home. I know this post is more about race relations, but really it has everything to do with what is considered acceptable and what isn't, and that line is so blurred right now in our society that many kids don't really know what is right or wrong, and it has everything to do with their home lives. When don't you hear about someone famous, someone our kids look up to, involved in extramarital affairs, or going to drug rehab? Heck, we've made drug rehab popular by making a freakin' reality show out of it! We've made making fun of stereotypes acceptable by bring the trash of Jersey Shore into our homes. Hell, my parents would kick me out of the living room when they would watch The Golden Girls because they thought it was too racy for me to watch...as a teenager! I now have students in my fifth grade class who have no restrictions on what they watch, and they have no filter on what they talk about. If I use the word "balls" in my classroom or draw a capital B on the board (it looks like a sideways butt or a pair of tits, if you don't know), not only does laughing happen, but they believe it is acceptable to then begin talking about it out loud right in front of me! There really is no line in the sand anymore. The beach is wide open. Swim at your own risk.

[drudy23]

Guess I've been hanging out under a rock with my wife and three young children. I guess I feel like this country has become ridiculously hyper sensitive and overly p.c., so a group of people thinking that this would be a fun and great idea is pretty stupid. "Hey, lets throw a party making fun of black people. Great Idea!! Nobody will take offense, its all in good fun," said a group of 20 year old white kids.

So what's really the issue? The fact that they had this party, or that this country has become OVERLY PC?

I'd argue the latter.

[Snipe]

Guess I've been hanging out under a rock with my wife and three young children. I guess I feel like this country has become ridiculously hyper sensitive and overly p.c., so a group of people thinking that this would be a fun and great idea is pretty stupid. "Hey, lets throw a party making fun of black people. Great Idea!! Nobody will take offense, its all in good fun," said a group of 20 year old white kids.

I don't support them throwing this party. I didn't attend and I wouldn't have thrown that party. I also can't stop them. I am not a gatekeeper. You are not either.

We don't have gatekeepers. We have a first Amendment and people are allowed to say whatever the hell they want. Should I denounce it? If you want I will formally denounce it. That won't change a thing.

We do have an urban poor black culture in this country. Should people be allowed to mock it? They can whether we like it or not by law. I have been critical of the urban black culture. Not in a mocking way, but in a face the facts way. I live in the West End. The black community has problems, and the main problem isn't white college kids in San Diego, it is the black community itself. Destructive tendencies. I get called a racist all the time on here for saying it.

I am glad this didn't happen in Cincinnati. True dat. (that was adopting, not mocking for the PC police).

I like you Nigel and I respect your opinion. In a way I feel your pain. I don't want to offend you, but you did say this:


could you imagine if a large group of African Americans in SD had found out about this and decided to show up and angrily crash this party?

Take this with a grain of salt or whatever, because I know you are a good guy and I am not kidding about that. But you seem to think that if one black man would have caught word of this event they would have formed an angry mob and attacked these people. I don't want to put words in your mouth, which is a stupid thing to say since I just did, but someone could construe that to think that blacks have itchy trigger fingers and are waiting around to form a mob to get some social justice.

We can't stop humanity no matter how hard we try. It is one big ****ed up world. I think those kids could have used better judgement. In the grand scheme of things though I don't think you can possibly do anything about it, and we have bigger problems anyway.

[nuts4xu]

I've seen part of one episode of Family Guy and one early, very early episode of South Park. Haven't been back since. Thought both programs were childish, loaded with pre-pubescent humor and, frankly, were boring.


Odd. Many people say the same thing about this very message board.

And this is why I like Family Guy, South Park, and this message board. I am childish, loaded, enjoy pre-pubescent humor, and frankly I am boring.

[xubrew]

This kind of thing ESPECIALLY happens in this day and age.

Where have you been?

I'll give you a word of advice...expect it...BECAUSE of this day and age, I am no longer shocked and appalled by anything.

it seems to me that in this day and age more people are shocked and appalled than they ever were before. a lot of what you see on tv today is more R rated than it was before, but as far as being more demeaning to ethnicities and cultures....i'm not so sure that it is.

look at television and movies from the 1950s and 1960s. there weren't many minorities on it, and when they were they were often portrayed as being smart, as difficult to understand, and as clumsy as jar jar binks. i'm not kidding. if some of the amos n andy skits, or even jack benny skits with rochester, were to air on tv today exactly as they did fifty years ago people would burn down the network.

was it as R rated as what you see on tv today?? i'd say not. was it every bit as offensive as the party at ucsd?? i'd say even more so.

[blobfan]

...
In all seriousness, I wasn't aware that non white people (covering all ethnics here) had white trash parties....although they could pull it off and it would likely be much ado about nothing. If its white trash parties that are being held by whites, well, I don't think that's the same thing. ...
It might not be best to go by my small and odd group of friends but we did have a sort of mixed-race white trash party a couple of times. The couch got put on the porch, everyone wore cut-offs and belly shirts, the girls put their hair in pig tails or over-teased the bangs. It was really more of a VERY-casual picnic with silly clothes. Did the Pimp and Ho's thing but we had a few guys dress as ho's. We're a pretty homogenous crowd--mostly middle class; mostly white--but we're equal opportunity offenders.

...Take this with a grain of salt or whatever, because I know you are a good guy and I am not kidding about that. But you seem to think that if one black man would have caught word of this event they would have formed an angry mob and attacked these people. I don't want to put words in your mouth, which is a stupid thing to say since I just did, but someone could construe that to think that blacks have itchy trigger fingers and are waiting around to form a mob to get some social justice...
I'm sure Nigel is capable of defending himself so I am not attempting to speak for him. But when I read his comment I took it as a reflection of EVERYONE in society being quick to protest violently when they feel offended. Most people, or at least the most vocal ones, seem more concerned with making sure everyone else is doing what they think is right instead of doing things right themselves. This explains the woman last month that called me a "white b!tch" when I honked my horn at her after she stopped in the middle of the street to drop her kids off at school. It's not that she's a selfish idiot and a careless mother, it's that I'm a racist, right?

I agree with those that don't think the party was a smart thing to do but I'm not shocked by it like Nigel. I'm kind of glad this shocked him. Isn't it nice to know that SOME people raising kids have tighter barriers than the rest of the world? How much nicer would the planet be if people always had higher expectations of behavior and passed those expectations on to their kids? People actually get ticked off these days if you are too polite: speaking to them formally, addressing them as sir/madam, etc. Rather than seeing it as being respectful of others, we get accused of putting on airs and thinking we are better than others.

The world is messed up.

...BTW, anybody see the notice that Phil Harris, the captain of the Cornelia Marie one of the crabbing ships in "Deadliest Catch" died recently. ...
Yeah, I heard that. Very sad. I don't watch the show often but will sometimes cuddle up with hubby when he does and he fills me in on all the back stories. I saw the episode when Phil got tossed around in a storm and had to be taken to the hospital. I really hoped he'd be able to turn his health around. He was a great character to watch.

[ballyhoohoo]

My fraternity used to have a Kent State party. Upper classmen dressed as National Guard Soldier and pledges and girls dressed as hippies. I know, bad taste

[GoMuskies]

My fraternity used to have a Kent State party. Upper classmen dressed as National Guard Soldier and pledges and girls dressed as hippies. I know, bad taste


If you did that today, you'd have a lot of confused college kids.

[ballyhoohoo]

If you did that today, you'd have a lot of confused college kids.

Very true, and I am only 30. It was lost of people after my soph year. We used to have white trash power hour every party starting at 3 am.

[The_Mack_Pack]

So it's ok to dress up in robes and have a toga party but it's not ok to do this? That is Romecism my friends.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Thanks, Blob. Snipe, I take absolutely no offense to your views and completely understand what you're saying. Blob did a pretty good job of explaining my feelings. You seriously offend and piss people off over race and there is a pretty good chance that if large groups of people are involved on both sides, there is going to be violence.

I guess my initial post was just expressing my feelings about reading that article. My feelings could be right....could be wrong...or maybe neither. Sometimes your opinions/feelings about something just are what they are.

On a somewhat related note, I found this article pretty interesting and timing was pretty good with this thread going....

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/family-guy-voice-actor-says-palin-does-not-have-a-sense-of-humor/?no_interstitial

[Chris Knight]

Not to go completely off-topic, but I think the real difference between the 20 year-olds today and those of 10 or 30 years ago, is that everything today's generation does is documented. These kids made a really stupid decision, and now literally thousands of people know about it because facebook is so omnipresent. There's a whole new level of exposure for kids, and, as a result, new and interesting ways to screw up.

I, for one, am glad that a number of my decisions made in college were not captured on social networking sites. Not to excuse their decision, but this stuff has been happening for a while. The Pike kids were just the idiots who made a facebook event out of it.

[blobfan]

Chris, I think it's more than just a matter of documentation. It also gets harder for kids that want to push the envelope to find new and creative ways to do it. Now they aren't just competing with their parents and the other fools in their schools, they have to compete with people across the country.