NAACP calls Hallmark graduation card racist

Whenever someone of authority (especially the NAACP) pulls the race card on trivial shit like this, it hurts all of us minorities.

If I were white and saw this, i'd probably be thinking "Here we go again, super sensitive minorities making a big deal out of nothing..."

So, then the next time the NAACP makes a big deal of something (regardless of validity), many whites will be quick to dismiss it as another 'frivolous' accusation.

Seriously, do I really beleive that Hallmark decided to make a card that calls black women 'black whores'.

Or is it much more likely that the card (which has the theme of the solar system) says, "black holes".

The audio chips that they use for those cards are super cheap, so yes, if you really want to hear 'whores' instead of 'holes' you can.

But IMO that is a stretch.

*sigh*

This reminds me of something Al Sharpton would push for. I'm very disappointed.

Mel...

Oh good grief...

People can be really stupid.

And these people need to get their hearing checked.

Wait. Is it my Sci-Fi nature to think of Black Holes as an astronomical phenomenon?

They are astronomical phenomenon.

"ooh look! We can use this to get attention!! Maybe we can get on the TV!"

What it demeans (imho, oc) is the honest efforts and progress of the NAACP.

What's amazing to me is that the people in the clip seem to really believe what they are saying. I think that's the real story here. That they would be so ready to believe that Hallmark would do such a thing. Even after it was explained to them, they don't seem willing to believe anything except that it said what they think it said, not what hallmark says it was supposed to say.

I'm really disappointed by this. The NAACP has done some great work, and there's important work left to be done...why are they wasting their time looking for insults where none exist?

oh for fucks sake.

My Furbie[SUP]TM[/SUP] told me to go to hell, once.

dgiharris said:

If I were white and saw this, i'd probably be thinking "Here we go again, super sensitive minorities making a big deal out of nothing..."

So, then the next time the NAACP makes a big deal of something (regardless of validity), many whites will be quick to dismiss it as another 'frivolous' accusation.

Click to expand...

Sometimes known as Al Sharpton syndrome.

He occasionally points out something that really does need to be pointed out but nobody listens any more, at least not the white folk.

...Black Holes are racist?

Not as much as white dwarfs.

robeiae said:

Not as much as white dwarfs.

Click to expand...

Ha! That made me laugh!

Greeting cards aren't known for having phenomenal audio quality.

robeiae said:

Not as much as white dwarfs.

Click to expand...

*reports rob to the Dwarf Equality Commission*

The seriously think Hoops and Yoyo were saying "black whores"? WTF?

I don't get it either. It sounds like they were looking for attention especially given that card has been on the market for three years without a problem. Surely more people would have heard it if it was there.

(for my following post please note I am, in fact, an equal opportunity racist. I hate everyone, equally, including my own race.)

I do love how when the NAACP says something, they're being wronged, but when a white person says something it's being more racist.

When I was little (5 mo. to 1 yr. old) we lived in the black neighborhood. When we were being called crackers and having our door beat on with guns, being quiet and frankly fearing for our lives, the cops were called on us because, living there, we were being racist.

Not saying they are all like that, but seriously, I wish people would use their brains.
When I was in grade school I was told by teachers and multicultural friends I was strange because I didn't treat anyone *mexicans/blacks* differently from my white friends.

So maybe I'm just strange... but... I'm a saltine *cracker* and IMO, things will only be offensive if you take it as an offense. Stop thinking of it as a bad thing and turn the other cheek, you'll find less people want to slap you.

Vince524 said:

What's amazing to me is that the people in the clip seem to really believe what they are saying. I think that's the real story here. That they would be so ready to believe that Hallmark would do such a thing. Even after it was explained to them, they don't seem willing to believe anything except that it said what they think it said, not what hallmark says it was supposed to say.

Click to expand...

This actually happens all the time. I forget the scientific name given to this but human perception is extremely easy to manipulate with a preexisting bias.

One common experiment that anyone in criminal justice or psychology is subjected to comes to mind.

Imagine a classroom setting at a college lecture hall with around 40 people. In the front of the class there is a woman with a purse on the desk.

Five minutes into the lecture a man bursts through the front door, runs to the front of the class and in full view of everyone steals the purse and runs out.

Now, the experiment begins. People are then immediately isolated and asked to describe the man.

The range of descriptions are all over the place. Basic things like hair color and ethnicity are often wrong. Size, weight, facial features, hair, clothes, etc. likewise vary.

BUt what is interesting is that most people swear they are remembering correctly.

Anyways, a sorta similar thing happens in the case of someone listening to something if they are told something that biases them one way or the other.

That bias will actually impact and alter their observation.

HUman beings are funny funny animals.

Mel...

This story is just sad. Sad that an organisation that has done so much to advance civil rights in the US has sunken so low they'll rush to a press conference without apparently doing any research. Sadder that a group of well-meaning people will adhere to their story, changing it from a misunderstanding to a frank delusion, when shown up as irrational idiots at their own conference. Saddest that this story will be used by bigots to say "see? Black people are complaining about nothing! There's no such thing as racism."

I can sort of understand why Hallmark pulled the card: short-term it makes sense to pull one card line for a minimal loss to avoid months of potential bullshit. But in the long term, what? We've implicitly admitted we think black women are whores who shouldn't be allowed to graduate from university, plus we will never feature a card with a science theme again. Hooray, everyone's a winner!

Did anybody else think of the scene in Annie Hall where Alvy Singer is convinced the guy on the tennis court said, while passing him, "Jew eat yet?" instead of "'Dchoo eat yet?"

The saddest part is that somebody got paid for writing that card. Pretty lame, if you ask me -- black whores or not.