# Barbra Streisand's racist ass **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777 "2004-03-22T22:38:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/1 "2004-03-22T22:38:33Z")
I don’t know whether her head was swollen from having just been inducted into the Actors Studio by a gushing James Lipton, but something must have possessed this woman. Here’s is my own transcript, taken from DVR, of a portion of The Actors Studio with Barbra Streisand. Lipton: Shortly after your Broadway success, with Marty at the helm, with you, you signed a record contract, with what company? Streisand: Columbia Records. Goddard Lieberson… Lipton [talking over her]: The great Goddard Lieberson. Streisand: …a wonderful guy. But first, he turned me down. Didn’t he? He thought I, he didn’t know if I was black or white. Lipton: From the sound of you… Streisand [talking over him]: Yeah. Lipton: …or the look of you? Streisand: The sound of me. [laughter] Well… She laughs, the audience joins the laughter, Lipton looks confused. She stands and turns her butt to the audience, shifting her hip to reveal, evidently, that her ass is not large enough to be mistaken as black. A hearty round of laughter and applause ensues as Streisand takes her seat. Why this was funny, much less deserving of delighted cheers of encouragement, escapes me. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/2 "2004-03-22T22:49:59Z")
Ah, friend **Libertarian** , got a case of the jaws with Ms. Streisand? Looking for something to be offended about? Spend too much time in dim little bars with nothing on the juke box but _People Who Need People_, did we? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/3 "2004-03-22T22:57:20Z")
Hmm. Would it be racist for, say, Sir Mixalot to make a joke about “skinny ass white girls”? Not that he has, specifically; just that some things are more in fun than malice, and winked at by all but the most reactionarily PC. It seems to me. I mean, is Karen on Will and Grace homophobic when she refers to Jack as her “girlfriend”? I don’t think so. Wonder how closely the line between liberal and conservative Dopers who respond to this thread will follow the line between winking and outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/4 "2004-03-22T23:08:46Z")
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m still angry at her for “Hello, Dolly”, if only because no one else is. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/5 "2004-03-22T23:18:20Z")
If **pizzabrat** or I had posted the OP, we’d get labeled “hypersensitive PC wankers”. I won’t do that to you (though it’s tempting), but I will say this: Are you serious? Are you really offended by what she did, or are you whooshing us? Maybe you didn’t paint a clear enough picture, but I’m really not seeing what’s so racist about what she did. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/6 "2004-03-22T23:19:00Z")
> [@](#): > > She stands and turns her butt to the audience, shifting her hip to reveal, evidently, that her ass is not large enough to be mistaken as black. To me, the transcript suggests that she was demonstrating that her ass had some quality that _wouldn’t_ be out of place on a black woman. 😕 Or was that “Well…” more of a “Well, what do you think…?” “well” than a “Well, possibly…” “well”? Strangely I don’t have a current mental picture of Barbra Streisand’s ass. So many things don’t come through in that transcript. ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/7 "2004-03-22T23:32:07Z")
Is it true that James Lipton is 77 years old? That doesn’t seem right. But the [IMDB](http://imdb.com/name/nm0513851/) has his birthdate as 9/19/1926. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/8 "2004-03-22T23:36:05Z")
Either I have been WHOOSHED, or Libs a whackjob, I am not sure which. I am leaning towards WHOOSH though. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/9 "2004-03-22T23:36:25Z")
Ok Lib, which thread are you parodying this time? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/10 "2004-03-22T23:38:29Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Strangely I don’t have a current mental picture of Barbra Streisand’s ass. You say that like it’s a **bad** thing. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/11 "2004-03-22T23:46:26Z")
She has a bad case of noassatall. She was showing that her ass wasn’t big enough to be black. And the whole audience got it. If this were Ann Coulter swinging her ass on Fox and Friends to show the absurdity of confusing her as black by sight, would it still be just for fun? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/12 "2004-03-22T23:57:30Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > To me, the transcript suggests that she was demonstrating that her ass had some quality that _wouldn’t_ be out of place on a black woman. 😕 > > Or was that “Well…” more of a “Well, what do you think…?” “well” than a “Well, possibly…” “well”? > > Strangely I don’t have a current mental picture of Barbra Streisand’s ass. > > So many things don’t come through in that transcript. People, who haven’t seen Streisand’s ass are the happiest people! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/13 "2004-03-23T00:01:18Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > She has a bad case of noassatall. She was showing that her ass wasn’t big enough to be black. And the whole audience got it. If this were Ann Coulter swinging her ass on Fox and Friends to show the absurdity of confusing her as black by sight, would it still be just for fun? Context is not irrelevant, Lib; you can’t just plug the situation into another setting and pretend it proves your point. Ann Coulter is a nutso whackjob who works very, very hard to support a political agenda that wants to limit the rights of minorities, like blacks. Ann Coulter would come into the discussion with a pre-existing impression, to many, that she IS a racist. Her statements would of course be judged according to her history. Streisand, too, has been public enough about her political opinions that many people would be comfortable assuming–for example–that she’s probably not racist. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying you can’t pretend that context is utterly irrelevant. (Think of several different contexts, for example, wherein the phrase “Hey, Nigger!” could suggest vastly different levels of racism.) ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/14 "2004-03-23T00:01:31Z")
“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatum” — “Do not multiply entities beyond necessity”, or in other words, “When in doubt, do without.” In the theory of knowledge, it means that among theories that equally explain the facts, always choose the simplest. OK, I guess I wasn’t whooshed. That leaves only one other alternative… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/15 "2004-03-23T00:02:26Z")
I don’t suppose there’s any chance, any hope at all, that she’ll change political persuasions? Offhand, I can’t think of anyone else I’d more rather be a Republican. Well, maybe Al Sharpton. Pretty close call. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/16 "2004-03-23T00:08:54Z")
Dave Chappelle makes fun of black people on a regular basis. Asses and more. Where’s the thread against him? ---
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/17 "2004-03-23T00:53:21Z")
Well if it’s not right, **lissener** , then what is it? Exactly? I saw that part of the interview and I was shocked. :eek: What Barbra did is unthinkable to any southern woman I know or work with! I’d take a poll of my fellow black co-worker women, but I wouldn’t want such an insulting remark brought to their attention just to prove my point to y’all. Who is Dave Chappelle, **monstro**? We’ve never heard of him. You should start a thread on him since you know of him. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/18 "2004-03-23T01:22:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Offhand, I can’t think of anyone else I’d more rather be a Republican. O-o-o-o-oh, no you don’t. Y’all built her, y’all can keep her. Maybe we can shunt her over to the Greens. They seem like they’d accept almost anybody. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/19 "2004-03-23T01:25:16Z")
> [@Edlyn](#): > > Well if it’s not right, **lissener** , then what is it? Exactly? Tacky? Silly? Goofy? Not funny? There are a lot of choices before “racially offensive OMG!!!” Note that **lissener** didn’t say it was “not right” either. He was deliberately vague. > [@](#): > > Who is Dave Chappelle, **monstro**? We’ve never heard of him. You should start a thread on him since you know of him. Chappelle is a comedian with his own show. Why would I pit him when I’m not genuinely bothered by his act? That would be **trollish** , would it not? For the record, this black woman has no problem with people who dare to suggest that black women have booties larger than average. Out of all the things in the world that you can attribute to black women, this is not only the mildest generalization, but it’s probably one of the most accurate.\* Yentel is just hatin’, anyway. She _wishes_ she was black so she could get to sing with Ja-Rule and do a rump-shake video. \*says the black woman who has a backside so flat it’s practically concave. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbra-streisands-racist-ass/235777/20 "2004-03-23T01:30:17Z")
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