Made a new thread to avoid derailing rodney's...

Cage, I don't remember enough of you, honestly, to have any idea about whether you're joking or not, so take this seriousness with a grain of salt, if you will.

What phorbie quoted, on behalf of the black man who called manual labor "slave labor," is something that I have heard before as well.

In Indianapolis, there are several affluent black neighborhoods--the loveliest of them is jokingly referred to by its residents as the "golden ghetto." Very nice homes on large lots, but no landscaping aside from mowed grass and some trimmed hedges. A friend of mine from high school lived in one of the nicer homes there, and she commented on all of the flowers in my parents' yard when she came over for the first time.

"Who does your yardwork?" She asked.

"My parents. Some guys come and spray for weeds once a year, and someone comes at the beginning of the summer to aerate the soil."

"Oh. "

I kinda thought that was strange, so I asked if her parents had hired yard guys, and she said that they did, for the hedge trimmings and the lawn mowing. She said that her parents had told her that when black people rise in society and/or start making more money, that it's the "right" thing to do. A way of breaking ties with memories of what their grandparents and great-grandparents went through as agricultural slaves.

I was kind of cheeky, and said, "Well, who cleans your house then?" She laughed and said that she and her mother and sister did. I think the difference is that if you're out in your yard doing work, everyone can see you, whereas in the house, nobody does.
In some of the less affluent neighborhoods, I'll see potted plants, hanging and standing, on porches, but no flower beds. The grass is mowed and the hedges are clipped, but I've never actually seen anyone out tending to their own yards.

So be it--their political and cultural feelings hurt nobody. But I can understand what they're saying, where they're coming from, in that sense. I think refusing to help out at work when everyone else is pitching in is inexcusably lazy, though.

But I also wanted to make sure that phorbie's comment didn't come off as some isolated incident, or deemed racist.

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Manual labour would probably be called 'slave labour' because it was the sort of stuff that people wanted to get slaves to do.

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im a slave

and it sucks

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Thanks for that lady

youre the bestest.

here was my response to Cage's (who I like a lot) comment:

quote:

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Originally posted by euphorbia
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cage


Those damn uppity negroes! Slave work, indeed. And to protest out fucking loud?! The nerve.

Im sorry, you misunderstand. It was one example and one excuse used. When you’re part of a team trying to do a job and the rest of your team is doing work you feel you are above I take issue with it. But certainly there are other issues I take, I just gave the affirmative action example in this case, and I don’t think people who aren’t given something on their merits respect it or value it very much, and I don’t think the inability to fire someone who does not produce is very constructive or fair to the rest of the workers.
The job I’m working now is all white people and the ones I take issue with are just as big shit bags as any black person I have taken issue with. Don’t let my limited example make you think I only have problems with black people hired because of affirmative action (I would place women in this same category/which I have ranted about before), I just didn’t feel like typing out a 5 page rant bitching and moaning about merit and work ethics. I’m sure you appreciate that.

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quote:

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Originally posted by bunkum
. . . I think refusing to help out at work when everyone else is pitching in is inexcusably lazy, though.

But I also wanted to make sure that phorbie's comment didn't come off as some isolated incident, or deemed racist.

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No question about it. The lazy always have an excuse. In Phorbie's anecdote, the black man merely took advantage of his skin color to support his excuse. It could've just as easily been the "bad back", etc., excuse, too. With his attitude, he'll go far; the chip on his shoulder makes him strong.

I've also seen cases of union mentality run amok. For example, an electrician refusing to pick up a hammer because he "ain't no carpenter". While I understand the logic behind it, like so many things, we see it taken to illogical extremes.

Phorbie may be a 'ho, but she ain't no racist.

Amen.

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For continuity's sake, this was my last reply from that other thread:

quote:

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Originally posted by euphorbia
Im sorry, you misunderstand. It was one example and one excuse used. ...

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quote:

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Originally posted by J E B Stuart



I've also seen cases of union mentality run amok. For example, an electrician refusing to pick up a hammer because he "ain't no carpenter". While I understand the logic behind it, like so many things, we see it taken to illogical extremes.
.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cage
especially the part where you were incredulous that he had the audacity to say it out loud, while the other African Americans in your experience usually have the decency to mutter it like they're ashamed.

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Last edited by euphorbia on 11-20-2002 at 05:25 PM

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As I said, I objected -- and still object -- to the tenor of the post. I don't see someone's refusal to do work that you're willing to do as an implication that they feel you are beneath them. And if they did see it that way, I'm not sure why they would feel that having that opinion demeans them -- and therefore tend to make that statement under their breath.

Regardless, I'm not charging you with a lynching. I was just commenting on a post that I felt made some common assumptions and over-simplifications with which I tend to take issue and which -- in my experience -- are typically indicators of a certain mindset.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cage
assumptions and over-simplifications

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See if this don't perk you up.

Attachment: icyhotstuntaz.jpg
This has been downloaded 92 time(s).

__________________

[Ignore Sig]

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thats so hot

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