# Guess who: Racism is funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996 "2005-04-06T04:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/61 "2005-04-07T18:59:43Z")
According to Douglas Brinkley;s biography, most of Rosa’s family died from cancer in the late 1970s. Rosa and Raymond Parks never had children. Her closest family consists of her late brothers’ children and grandchildren, close friends and church members. This may be where the complaints originated but I don’t see where the song’s lyrics are that objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/62 "2005-04-07T19:04:39Z")
I actually meant the complaints about the movie, but that answer’s probably just as relevant. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/63 "2005-04-07T19:36:39Z")
From a 2003 [article](http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/65252p-60791c.html)… > [@](#): > > Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will not attend Saturday’s NAACP Image Awards because the event’s host, Cedric the Entertainer, made jokes about her in the film “Barbershop” that she considered offensive. The article only quotes Elaine Steele, who runs her institute, so maybe it was a smokescreen for her illness. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton complained, too, so my point still stands. I think. Criticizing a stupid comedy can only lead to pain. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/64 "2005-04-07T19:59:28Z")
In your same article, then-NAACP President Kweisi Mfune said the controversy was “overblown.” while Elaine Steele (a very close personal friend of Mrs. Parks,’ not just a employee) may have spoken for Parks, that doesn’t mean Parks was aware. As you note, there is the matter of her illness. I note they didn’t sue Ice Cube or the other film producers, unlike Outkast. If they were concerned with defamation, the movie instance was a bit stronger. Weren’t there cracks directed at Jackson and Sharpton, too? ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/65 "2005-04-07T20:16:53Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Weren’t there cracks directed at Jackson and Sharpton, too? Calling the criticism of a movie overblown doesn’t make it…not overblown. I don’t think Jackson and Sharpton’s opinions are justified any more than **SenorBeef** ’s original supposition or the Outkast lawsuit, but they reacted, even trying to get the film edited, and I offered a theory as to why–Not understanding the larger context of the work they were criticizing. I’m not sure why you’re upset. Aren’t we on the same page? I don’t know if the character in the movie criticized Jackson specifically (since I didn’t see it), but the character went after [others](http://www.eightballmagazine.com/diatribes/volume01/diatribes019/diatribes1043-1063/diatribes1051.htm): > [@](#): > > The scene in question has Eddie, deliberately breaking African American taboos by saying Rodney King deserved to be beaten, O.J. Simpson was guilty of murder, not just the unflattering remarks about King’s alleged promiscuity. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/66 "2005-04-07T22:10:15Z")
We ARE on the same page, mostly. I’m suggesting that Kweisi Mfune is right, the controversy was overblown and Jackson and Sharpton’s criticisms were possibly motivated by the fact that **Barbershop** (I think) went after them, too. Nobody is above reproach, yet black American leadership is rarely openly criticized in the press or popular entertainment unless they’re conservative. BTW – what on Earth did I type that implied or made you infer I was upset by any of this? ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/67 "2005-04-07T23:52:49Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > BTW – what on Earth did I type that implied or made you infer I was upset by any of this? Um, lack of smilies? I’m really not sure…Maybe it was someone daring to question my hastily-Googled cites with a logical analysis. I probably overreacted and I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/68 "2005-04-08T00:03:37Z")
No need to apologize. I rarely use smilies and it’s not the first time someone’s mistaken my tone in my posts because I refuse to do so. I figure most people will “get” me in another year or so of posting. No worries. \>Insert Grin icon here.\< ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/69 "2005-04-08T23:50:08Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > If they were concerned with defamation, the movie instance was a bit stronger. Neither one sounds remotely defamatory to me. The suit over the song also said her right to privacy was violated, which I find confusing. Not sure if the movie violated her privacy somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996/70 "2005-04-09T01:10:36Z")
**Marley23.** There’s the right-wing conspiracy minded nuts who insist Mrs. Parks’ whole refusal to vacate her seat and arrest was an orchestrated stunt by the Alabama NAACP as a test case against the Montgomery bus system, and that was alluded to by Cedric the Entertainer’s character, Eddie. So to _that_ extent I think it’s more defamatory to her reputation - but not much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-who-racism-is-funny/297996.md?page=3)