Create your own South Park Character

MorganGrayson · 11-12-2005

I think it was the L&O:SVU about the Neo-Nazis that caused my sweet, gentle, totally clueless husband to shake his head and say "how on earth can you work up that much hate for an entire group of people based simply on the color of their skin?"

The "what planet are YOU from?" was out of my mouth before I could stop it. Not my finest hour, admittedly. But, he truly doesn't get it. The young man that shares his office and has become like a son to him is black. He used to work in hotels and country clubs and his "kitchen Spanish" is excellent because in California a lot of the kitchen workers all have the same social security number. He's one of those wonderful people who goes through life forming opinions on a person-to-person basis, one of the major reasons I married the guy.

When we lived in Louisville, Kentucky, our car broke down and my husband had the hood up and was tinkering. I watched a young black man hesitate before offering to help. (His mother was right behind him and gave him a good poke in the ribs. One helped people in need, one didn't stand there and worry about getting shot for being the wrong color helper in her world.) But the look on this young man's face stayed with me. He offered help and soon he and my husband were having fun under the hood tinkering while I chatted with Mom. Louisville was an education in racisim, though. I got to see it in action. It was...horrifying is the only word that could come close to describing it.

Racism is alive and well and still just as ugly. Just watch the news. A "male suspect" is white. Nobody ever says "a white male suspect." But the race is *always* mentioned if the person is of color, any color. That isn't to help in the spotting of the suspect, either. It's to inflame the audience. If they wanted to help in the spotting, they'd save it for that little "description" screen they always show on the local news. (What the hell does "dark skinned" mean in a country like America? Italians have dark skin as far as I'm concerned.)

We're a "melting pot," we're a "stew," we're totally fucked. The freedoms afforded all of us allow some of us to have legally protected bigotry.

Dravyk...please calm yourself. Like I said previously, we don't get to decide when when someone else has the right to be offended. The offended person gets to decide that. I've known you for a very long time and would have bet my last nickel that you aren't now, nor have you ever been, a racist. But, as Timon said - quite fairly - he *hasn't* known you since 1997. (I'm paraphrasing there.)

He's really not either a racist or insensitive, Timon. What he is is a man who enjoys his sense of humor and playing with the South Park character maker. He made characters for a lot of people. Leaving you out would have been rude. He attempted to play off the running gag you have with voodooman by adding a dildo. (I didn't even know that was a dildo until you pointed it out, Drav.) The joke fell flat...just like a lot of mine have a regrettable tendency to do. I was recently on the receiving end of a one liner that caused the board to erupt. The poor individual who delivered the line had absolutely NO idea why everyone was upset...because he had intended it to be funny and gave it no further thought. Apology given, apology accepted, onward we all went back into the groove. (Note: an apology was given for hurt feelings accidentally caused because he is a gentleman, not because he "owed" me an apology. It is debatable whether or not apologies are "owed" for acts that are not deliberate. They're nice, though.)

When you put up the photo of you and your wife, I was happy because I do like to see the people to whom I speak. I saw a damned fine looking man. Yes, I noticed the difference between you and your wife. I thought to myself "ah, yes...big man, smaller woman." (I've known a lot of big. gentle bears - as in "teddy" - that have much smaller wives. I notice because I've always been too damned big to be swept up in a man's arms and carried up the stairs ala "Gone With the Wind" and have a wistful admiration for women who can be.)

You are all now returned to your previously scheduled programming....

11-12-2005	#11
MorganGrayson None $100 for every ImLive sign-up Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 4,321	Re: Create your own South Park Character I think it was the L&O:SVU about the Neo-Nazis that caused my sweet, gentle, totally clueless husband to shake his head and say "how on earth can you work up that much hate for an entire group of people based simply on the color of their skin?" The "what planet are YOU from?" was out of my mouth before I could stop it. Not my finest hour, admittedly. But, he truly doesn't get it. The young man that shares his office and has become like a son to him is black. He used to work in hotels and country clubs and his "kitchen Spanish" is excellent because in California a lot of the kitchen workers all have the same social security number. He's one of those wonderful people who goes through life forming opinions on a person-to-person basis, one of the major reasons I married the guy. When we lived in Louisville, Kentucky, our car broke down and my husband had the hood up and was tinkering. I watched a young black man hesitate before offering to help. (His mother was right behind him and gave him a good poke in the ribs. One helped people in need, one didn't stand there and worry about getting shot for being the wrong color helper in her world.) But the look on this young man's face stayed with me. He offered help and soon he and my husband were having fun under the hood tinkering while I chatted with Mom. Louisville was an education in racisim, though. I got to see it in action. It was...horrifying is the only word that could come close to describing it. Racism is alive and well and still just as ugly. Just watch the news. A "male suspect" is white. Nobody ever says "a white male suspect." But the race is always mentioned if the person is of color, any color. That isn't to help in the spotting of the suspect, either. It's to inflame the audience. If they wanted to help in the spotting, they'd save it for that little "description" screen they always show on the local news. (What the hell does "dark skinned" mean in a country like America? Italians have dark skin as far as I'm concerned.) We're a "melting pot," we're a "stew," we're totally fucked. The freedoms afforded all of us allow some of us to have legally protected bigotry. Dravyk...please calm yourself. Like I said previously, we don't get to decide when when someone else has the right to be offended. The offended person gets to decide that. I've known you for a very long time and would have bet my last nickel that you aren't now, nor have you ever been, a racist. But, as Timon said - quite fairly - he hasn't known you since 1997. (I'm paraphrasing there.) He's really not either a racist or insensitive, Timon. What he is is a man who enjoys his sense of humor and playing with the South Park character maker. He made characters for a lot of people. Leaving you out would have been rude. He attempted to play off the running gag you have with voodooman by adding a dildo. (I didn't even know that was a dildo until you pointed it out, Drav.) The joke fell flat...just like a lot of mine have a regrettable tendency to do. I was recently on the receiving end of a one liner that caused the board to erupt. The poor individual who delivered the line had absolutely NO idea why everyone was upset...because he had intended it to be funny and gave it no further thought. Apology given, apology accepted, onward we all went back into the groove. (Note: an apology was given for hurt feelings accidentally caused because he is a gentleman, not because he "owed" me an apology. It is debatable whether or not apologies are "owed" for acts that are not deliberate. They're nice, though.) When you put up the photo of you and your wife, I was happy because I do like to see the people to whom I speak. I saw a damned fine looking man. Yes, I noticed the difference between you and your wife. I thought to myself "ah, yes...big man, smaller woman." (I've known a lot of big. gentle bears - as in "teddy" - that have much smaller wives. I notice because I've always been too damned big to be swept up in a man's arms and carried up the stairs ala "Gone With the Wind" and have a wistful admiration for women who can be.) You are all now returned to your previously scheduled programming....