-ist

[raudf]

Maybe the guy with the 'gay NBC peacock' just got his first color TV?

This was a popular theory on the post, actually. Another was the guy is colorblind and one of his "good ol' boy*" friends just got around to telling him the peacock had a rainbow tail. Of course, this meant that it must have suddenly changed because of Gay PRIDE!!

But all signs point to him just being an 'ist and an ijit. At least, that's what my magic eight ball says.

* in my neck of the woods, the "good ol' boys," are the worst sort of 'ists. They are the ones that will say, "I'm not 'ist, but..." and go on to tell the most 'ist jokes ever. Why bother claiming you're not, if you're gonna tell the joke anyways? We'll just add hypocrite to the list of things they are. These are also the ones that treat the lowly wage slave as slaves in truth. *sigh* I hate them, I do.

[otakuneko]

I get that...like the whole "black people love fried chicken and watermelon" thing. I read somewhere that some company banned these food items from company picnics so as not to offend their black employees, but...who doesn't like fried chicken and watermelon?"

I don't like watermelon.

Now I'm really curious about the whole black people and fried chicken/watermelon thing. I first encountered it in *ahem* 70s porn mags, and it seems like the sort of thing 70s-era crackas would come up with (especially since the usual depiction was with the iconic KFC bucket), but I'm betting it goes back a lot farther than that. NPR says the fried chicken part goes back to Birth of a Nation, watermelon goes back farther but it doesn't say when.

The article includes this quote from Dave Chapelle: "The only reason these things are even an issue is because nobody knows what white people eat,"

Oh come on, Dave. Everybody knows us whities eat nothin' but cheeseburgers.

[protege]

That's true, I'd also point out that Jews were restricted from entering many professions as well so some of them had to go down that career path.

Even now, there are a LOT of Jewish people in the financial world. When there's a Jewish holiday, trading tends to cease But seriously, up until WWII, their activities were heavily restricted. In the years leading up to the war, their businesses were seized (or destroyed) because they were blamed for the economic problems (mostly massive poverty and hyperinflation in Germany) of the 1920s and '30s. All of it bullshit, but they were a convenient scapegoat, because they came through the difficult period relatively unscathed.

On a different note, I had some asshole give me shit about my German-sounding last name. It's not German, or Austrian, or even Hungarian--remember all of those countries were one and the same years ago. No asshole, my name is Norwegian. So you're calling me a "dirty Kraut Nazi." You're from West Virginia--do you *really* want me to start on *those* jokes?


Back on topic, I'm sure that plenty of people give cashiers shit about various stereotypes...simply because they can. Think about it--for the most part, the cashier has to basically kiss their ass, and management usually sides with the customer.

[Boomslang]

What bugged me though was when someone on the radio got on her for the spelling of her new name. How else would you spell Caitlyn? That is the correct spelling, as far as I know.

Kaitlin, Katelyn, Catelyn, Catelin, Caitlyn, Kaytlin, Katelynn...

[Ironclad Alibi]

Click here for way too much information about usury.

[Soulstealer]

I happen to know the origin of the 'jew' one.

For a long period of time, Christians in Europe were forbidden to loan money for interest, with excommunication as one of the possible punishments. Jews, on the other hand, didn't have to obey the Pope or the Christian rules: and since the wealthy and the nobility wanted to be able to borrow money from someone, a class of Jewish moneylenders developed.

This is also the reason for Shylock, the stereotypical 'Jewish moneylender' of the Shakespearean play "Merchant of Venice".

I'm sure there's a great deal of detail to the situation that I don't actually know; but this is the basic background.

That's true, I'd also point out that Jews were restricted from entering many professions as well so some of them had to go down that career path.

[EricKei]

What bugged me though was when someone on the radio got on her for the spelling of her new name.

Sometimes, when you don't have anything newsworthy to run, you run with what you've got. Sad.

[Minflick]

Maybe the guy with the 'gay NBC peacock' just got his first color TV? Because I can remember watching the peacock spread it's tail back when I was small, and then color came around, and - wooo, it has COLORS! And I was still young, but no longer small.

[Hermione]

Miss Manners recommends a chilly "I beg your pardon?" to such remarks. If the remarks were supposed to be a joke, she says a silent, cold stare that lets the remark hang in the air while you are visibly not laughing is also effective.

I am stealing this idea! That is fantastic!

[Shalom]

I never cared about Jenner back when she was a he; why should I care about her now? Just another celebrity that has no relevance to my life. I don't watch TV (I don't even have a TV), so basically all I know about the situation is what I hear on the radio. I gathered that there seems to be some connection to the Kardashian family; wonderful, more people who are famous for being famous.

What bugged me though was when someone on the radio got on her for the spelling of her new name. How else would you spell Caitlyn? That is the correct spelling, as far as I know.

As far as bigotry in the workplace ... hasn't really happened to me, as far as I remember. As I am visibly Jewish (I wear the yarmulke at all times, and have had a more or less full beard since 16, though I don't have the long sidelocks), people don't tend to tell me ethnic jokes to my face. I did have one elderly Gazan come in my store and start ranting at me out of the blue, back in the early 90s, but I wouldn't call that bigotry as such (more like we were on opposing sides of a war), and in any case I was the target, not the audience for slurs against some other target.

[gerund]

gay pride rainbows that show up in the sky after it rains.... who's responsible for THAT recent development?

It's been like that for a while.

[Seshat]

I don't even understand where half these slurs/stereotypes come from (think specifically of the jew comment). I'm always like, "Huh, I don't see it." Like, where did people even get the idea? I think next time someone uses a term like that I'll ask them about the etymology, all curious-like, and make them think about what they're saying.

I happen to know the origin of the 'jew' one.

For a long period of time, Christians in Europe were forbidden to loan money for interest, with excommunication as one of the possible punishments. Jews, on the other hand, didn't have to obey the Pope or the Christian rules: and since the wealthy and the nobility wanted to be able to borrow money from someone, a class of Jewish moneylenders developed.

This is also the reason for Shylock, the stereotypical 'Jewish moneylender' of the Shakespearean play "Merchant of Venice".

I'm sure there's a great deal of detail to the situation that I don't actually know; but this is the basic background.

[Agent Paperclip]

Back to Caitlyn Jenner...

A coworker got a verbal warning when a male SC came through her lane and started talking about Jenner in a very negative way dropping every slur you could imagine and when the SC finally stopped and asked coworker the infamous, "Am I right?" she replied, "Well I don't know but if that sort of thing floats your boat then go for it." Cue SC tantrum about how he wasn't gay (not the word he used btw) and that's not what he meant and he wasn't into guys blargh blargh blargh!!

SC complained. Awesome Coworker got a verbal warning that wouldn't go into her file and the MOD brought her lunch from the Subway in our store

[Argabarga]

For the most part, I just ignore it. Sadly, I'm usually outnumbered because until recently, a lot of my coworkers WERE the ones being the bigots and were certainly not changing their ways, so it was best to just let them wallow in their ignorance since we had to work together, for the sake of peace.

Though I'd occasionally get in a good zinger when they didn't take the hint and leave me alone.

Them: You're not Jewish, are you?
Me: (ice cold) Tell a joke and find out.

He didn't :P

[Jay 2K Winger]

It was always a very rare thing I'd run into bigotry on the clock. But whenever someone said something like that at me, I tended to just switch off "friendly Jay" and turn on "coldly efficient Jay" to conclude whatever business we had to conduct, and send them on their way.