# Anyone remember the specifics of this childhood racist joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709 "2015-05-10T16:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/1 "2015-05-10T16:33:32Z")
All I remember is putting pepper in liquid, maybe milk…and then maybe salt? Or maybe it was the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/2 "2015-05-10T16:35:36Z")
Yes. But I’m not going to post it. And frankly I don’t see an acceptable reason for anyone to know the details. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/3 "2015-05-10T16:43:02Z")
Your upbringing must have been more colorful than mine, because all I’m thinking is that that drink sounds like it would taste awful. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/4 "2015-05-10T16:51:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes. But I’m not going to post it. And frankly I don’t see an acceptable reason for anyone to know the details. Thptth. All the African-Americans I asked at work were very curious. Myself, I was just trying to remember the physics. Something about salt making pepper scatter. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/5 "2015-05-10T16:56:29Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Thptth. > > All the African-Americans I asked at work were very curious. Myself, I was just trying to remember the physics. Something about salt making pepper scatter. I’m sure some of your best friends are African-American. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/6 "2015-05-10T17:05:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m sure some of your best friends are African-American. Nope. In college yes, but we drifted apart. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/7 "2015-05-10T17:31:01Z")
Me Chinese, me play joke? That’s the only racist drink joke I know. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/8 "2015-05-10T19:18:13Z")
I learned it as a Polish joke. The set-up is a bowl of water. In the patter it is the community swimming pool. Some salt is sprinkled onto the water surface, this being the white kids swimming in the pool. Of course the salt can’t actually be seen. Then some pepper is sprinkled in, this being the black kids joining the whites (the patter can refer to desegregation, if desired/appropriate). The pepper flakes can be seen spread along the surface, and now visually represent the whites and blacks mixing and playing happily together. Then one drop of dishwashing liquid is dropped into the center, with the patter “then one Polish kid came along…” The pepper flakes (i.e. all the black and white kids) are seen to instantly travel to the edge of the bowl. Not the best Polish joke, but an interesting demonstration of surface tension. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/9 "2015-05-10T20:55:21Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Thptth. Thank you. Somebody needed to say it… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/10 "2015-05-10T22:11:17Z")
It’s been said [better.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/65/8e/40/658e40b32264af34e3b37d18156aa0be.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/11 "2015-05-11T02:50:49Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I learned it as a Polish joke. > > The set-up is a bowl of water. In the patter it is the community swimming pool. Some salt is sprinkled onto the water surface, this being the white kids swimming in the pool. Of course the salt can’t actually be seen. Then some pepper is sprinkled in, this being the black kids joining the whites (the patter can refer to desegregation, if desired/appropriate). The pepper flakes can be seen spread along the surface, and now visually represent the whites and blacks mixing and playing happily together. Then one drop of dishwashing liquid is dropped into the center, with the patter “then one Polish kid came along…” The pepper flakes (i.e. all the black and white kids) are seen to instantly travel to the edge of the bowl. > > Not the best Polish joke, but an interesting demonstration of surface tension. This is the version my dad performed when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/12 "2015-05-11T13:31:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes. But I’m not going to post it. And frankly I don’t see an acceptable reason for anyone to know the details. 😕😕😕 I remember it pretty much as Gary T explained it. Is this what you’re recalling? If so, what about it cause such a dramatic response on your part? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/13 "2015-05-11T13:50:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > 😕😕😕 > > I remember it pretty much as Gary T explained it. Is this what you’re recalling? If so, what about it cause such a dramatic response on your part? I’ve heard much more offensive versions and it evoked an emotional response. I should have just shut up and said nothing. **Dale** , I apologize for my hasty responses. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/14 "2015-05-11T14:19:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ve heard much more offensive versions and it evoked an emotional response. I should have just shut up and said nothing. > > **Dale** , I apologize for my hasty responses. No problem mate. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/15 "2015-05-11T14:54:36Z")
Mr Rogers did a little trick like this on his show (minus the racial aspect). I think it was adding dishwashing detergent to the water that made the pepper swarm away to the edge of the bowl. Then Mr McFeely added something else and the pepper came back. I can’t think how the racist joke would make sense given how this particular trick worked. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-the-specifics-of-this-childhood-racist-joke/719709/16 "2015-05-11T18:14:47Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > I can’t think how the racist joke would make sense given how this particular trick worked. In the (very lame) racist version, it wasn’t dish liquid that was added to the bowl of pepper water, it was white soap flakes. :rolleyes: