[Vision2020] Rick Perry's Newest Problem

Sunil Ramalingam sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
Tue Oct 4 08:07:26 PDT 2011


Can you see that people with more empathy may disagree with you completely? I guess I'm assuming that you cannot empathize with those on the receiving end of these slurs, or maybe don't understand the baggage these things carry. I suppose you might, but don't think it's important enough to cause inconvenience to those who might not want to change their address from 'Niggerhead' to 'Pheasant Meadows.'

I don't think I'd use the law to force someone to change the name. But I do feel free to make assumptions about the people who could have walked by that stone and not seen anything wrong with it. Maybe that applies more to Perry's parents than to him, I don't know.

I think it's worth considering how these insults allow us to make people 'the other,' and how from there we can get to treating them as less than human, and where that can lead. Social pressure to stop this, to say 'It's not all right to do that,' is a good thing. 

Sunil

Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 07:29:48 -0700
From: godshatter at yahoo.com
To: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Rick Perry's Newest Problem



  


    
    
  
  
    Of course I'm not saying that they shouldn't be offended or
    insulted.  I'm saying that shouldn't be enough to force the people
    who named the place to have to change it, either through the law or
    through social pressure.  Can't we live in a world that has things
    others find offensive?  People fight to keep books containing
    material that others find offensive from being banned, why is it
    different with mascots or place names?

    

    Paul

    

    On 10/03/2011 09:50 PM, Sunil Ramalingam wrote:
    
      
      
        Paul,

        

        Just so I'm clear, are you saying that African-Americans, or
        anyone else, should not be offended or insulted by someone
        naming their place "Niggerhead?"

        

        Is that it?

        

        Sunil

        

        
          Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 21:38:31 -0700

          From: godshatter at yahoo.com

          To: kfreitag at roadrunner.com

          CC: vision2020 at moscow.com

          Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Rick Perry's Newest Problem

          

          
          
          
          

          White males are constitutionally unable to understand any
          aspect of racism, sexism or discrimination.  It's true.  They
          can't dance, either.

          

          I still think it's a bad idea to continue this Political
          Correctness path that we're on.  

          

          Paul

          

          On 10/03/2011 08:43 PM, Kris Freitag wrote:
          
            
            Paul,
             
            I think that's pretty easy
                for a white male to say.  
             
            Kris
             
            ----- Original Message ----- 
            
              From: Paul Rumelhart
              
              To: Tom Hansen ; Kenneth Marcy 
              Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
              
              Sent: Monday,
                October 03, 2011 9:23 AM
              Subject: Re:
                [Vision2020] Rick Perry's Newest Problem
              

              
              
                My sometimes roundabout way of making a point
                    isn't endearing me to some of the readership out
                    there in Viz-land, so I'll just come out and make my
                    point.  Which is that almost everything is offensive
                    to someone on some level, and those things that are
                    not currently offensive may become offensive in the
                    future because language and culture changes.  We
                    have two choices as I see it - either we whitewash
                    everything to the point that we might as well not
                    have mascots or place names more descriptive than
                    "Idaho Creek 1347", or
                    we grow a thicker skin and not get so worked up
                    about these kinds of things.  

                  
                

                  
                Paul

                  
                

                
                
                  
                       From:
                      Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>

                      To:
                      Kenneth Marcy <kmmos1 at frontier.com>

                      Cc:
                      "vision2020 at moscow.com"
                      <vision2020 at moscow.com>

                      Sent:
                      Monday, October 3, 2011 9:08 AM

                      Subject:
                      Re: [Vision2020] Rick Perry's Newest Problem

                    

                    Mr. Rumelhart -

                    

                    If victims of bear/cougar attacks or descendants of
                    fourth- or fifth-century Roman ancestry feel
                    disrespected by the University of California
                    (Berkeley) mascot . . . or the Washington State
                    University mascot . . . or the University of Idaho
                    mascot . . . like us, they are free to exercise
                    their first amendment right and loudly (and proudly)
                    express their discomfort with those mascots.

                    

                    Tom "not holding his breath" Hansen

                    Moscow, Idaho

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    

                    On Oct 3, 2011, at 8:49, Kenneth Marcy <kmmos1 at frontier.com>

                    wrote:

                    

                    > On Monday, October 03, 2011 07:26:10 AM Paul
                    Rumelhart wrote:

                    >> It makes you wonder if someday descendants
                    of the people murdered by an

                    >> ancient East Germanic tribe when they
                    sacked Rome and Carthage might

                    >> someday look in horror upon a small college
                    town in Idaho that had the

                    >> gall to name their sports team after their
                    killers.

                    > 

                    > The biggest problem with the Vandals sacking
                    Rome is that they didn't do it 

                    > often enough. It's too bad they didn't get to
                    Nicaea and Constantinople in the 

                    > century and a quarter prior to the Roman sack,
                    as that may have prevented a 

                    > lot of grief all around.

                    > 

                    >> Same thing with people that have been
                    mauled by cougars or bears.

                    > 

                    > The descendants have less about which to
                    complain in face of the realities of 

                    > their ancient enemies being hunted and heated
                    to extinction.

                    > 

                    > 

                    > Ken

                    > 

                    >
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