Here it goes:
Kiddie show host is, um, hosting, when all of a sudden his kiddie guests (all African-American) all start laughing.
Kiddie show host inquires, “What’s so funny?”
Kiddie replies, “Leroy fahted!”
OK. I’ve heard this as having come from three different kiddie show hosts in my “extended viewing area,” so I’m a little reluctant to believe it.
Anyone else???
You know, here in the Louisville, KY area, I’ve heard that rumor myself. Hopefully we can find out for sure. When I heard it, it was the Peanut Gallery on Howdy-Doody.
“Leroy” sounds too stereotypically African-American; I smell an urban legend.
…Yes… because no one has ever been named Leroy…Not ever… It was created to be a black stereotype name.
also, true stories undergo a lot of editing when passing through the grapevine. Leroy could have been added after the fact, perhaps for racist reasons.
jb
Like Tyrone Washington? Or LaWanda Johnson?
I’m almost positive that I went to grade school with a kid named Leroy. I’ll have to check and get back to you on it though.
I think Mr. Green Fool was being sarcastic…
Besides, doesn’t “Leroy” mean “The King (Le Roi)”? Sounds like a good name to me.
No one said Leroy was not a “perfectly good name”.
okay, here’s what a little research has turned up. here’s why my cite could be authentic.
the kids name is the same, but no mention is made of ethnicity (since this took place back in the ‘good old days’, we can assume this means the kids were white). and, since Leroy is a stereotypically black name, it makes sense that this is a first-hand account, the name of the fahter was retained, and it was filled in through the grapevine that Leroy was black and that the rest of the kids were, too.
also, as i said above, this is a first-hand account. no [Dark Helmet]Absolutely nothing![/DH] attribution, no “Leroy appeared on Cowboy John’s show, and Leroy starred in Which Way to Wichita with ‘Spanky’ McFarlane, who appeared on Our Gang with Robert Blake, who’s dead ex-wife told Kevin Bacon who told my sister” crap.
then again, this thorup site seems to be the only which mentions Cowboy John, Leroy, and fahting.
i tried searching with Huntly, but nothing doing.
anybody handier with google than i?
jb
FWIW, I have an uncle who would have been about the right age to be on Howdy Doody whose middle name is Leroy. So I don’t think it would be unusual to have a white kid with the name.
no, of course not. for my part, I wasn’t trying to say that Leroy is a black name. just that it’s commonly assumed to be one.
I mean, Leroy is irish, right? like Tyrone?
jb