[78-L] I don't get the "joke."

[Taylor Bowie]

Thanks for the explanation...but it brings to mind Mark Twain's old adage 
about three kinds of lies:  "Lies,  damn lies,  and statistics."

I am sure it was a very frustrating experience to have your stuff tossed 
out,  but it seems dangerous to somehow turn it into some racial issue.    I 
live in Seattle and have daily contact with people of various races.   There 
are good and bad to be found in each group,  and I think you know that too. 
It is dangerous to try to draw conclusions about any group of people based 
on just a few unpleasant encounters.

Taylor



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven C. Barr" <stevenc at interlinks.net>
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2009 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] I don't get the "joke."


> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Taylor Bowie" <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
>>> If anyone wants to murder my landlady...and the two Jamaican-wannabe
>>> negroes
>>> who were hired for the so-called "clean up"...you would have my eternal
>>> gratitude
>> Just curious about this remark...would you have preferred to have her 
>> hire
>> white people to throw out your stuff?  If not,  what was the purpose of
>> mentioning "negroes"?  Or was this an attempt to be "funny"?
>>
> To answer your question...
> First, her hiring Black guys to "clean up" (AKA throw away as much of my
> belongings as possible?!) created an extra and, IMO, unnecessary level of
> tension! The harsh realities of 21st-century racism have left many, if not
> most, "Black" individuals with an inherent anger directed toward we white
> people...so that an opportunity to over-rule a "honky" as to what went
> into the dumpster (or not?!) was an opportunity for revenge against all of
> us white oppressors...?!
>
> Second, my experience with those of Jamaican descent suggests that
> their main goal in life is to smoke as much "ganga" as feasible...and 
> these
> "hired help" guys spent every opportunity they could arrange to sit out
> on my front verandah and enthusiastically "smoke up" on joints about
> the size of Ohio!
>
> Realize that I was raised (oddly enough?!) to NOT be "racist?!" (NOT
> common in Chicago in the 1940's?!). However, the more I am made
> aware of "current events," the more I grudgingly see a rationale for
> what is now called "racism?!"
>
> I don't have the sociological/anthropological background to accurately
> identify the details; however, each day's "current events" seem to 
> identify
> Black individuals as perpetrators...?! I will agree that there exist past
> events which explain this; however, when I speak as a city-dweller, hoping
> to continue living, I HAVE to run headlong into statistics-justified
> realities...?!
>
> Comment ca va?!
>
> Steven C. Barr
>
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