<HTML><BODY STYLE="font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV>Dear lfalen,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think it's important to distinguish between intention and impact here. You didn't intend to be offensive or racist in telling your "joke." Nevertheless, I found it offensive. And just as I don't have the power to make you regret telling a racist joke in a public place, you don't have the power to tell me I shouldn't feel offended when you do.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Let's try a little thought experiment, shall we? Could you tell your joke without identifying it with any particular ethnic group? Why didn't you? Would it be as funny if it didn't imply that native people use broken English, hang around in bars, and could never *really* hold senior management positions? HOw would your joke sound if it started out, "This white man walks into a bar . . ."?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'd still appreciate it if you'd refrain from telling other racist jokes here.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Melynda Huskey</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message -----</DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt Arial; COLOR: black"><B>From:</B> lfalen</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, February 19, 2005 4:20 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>To:</B> vision2020@moscow.com</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] buffalo</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Re: Melynda Huskey's comment. It never occurred to me that the joke might be taken as racist. It was a joke on upper management. I think you are a little thin skinned. I hve some Indian blood and it did not even cross my mind that it might be taken as racist.<BR><BR>_____________________________________________________<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR> http://www.fsr.net <BR> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>/////////////////////////////////////////////////////<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML><br clear=all><hr>Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : <a href='http://explorer.msn.com'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>