# Hoops and yoyo: Cute greeting card characters or HEARTLESS RACIST BASTARDS?? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601 "2010-06-10T01:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/21 "2010-06-10T13:37:22Z")
> [@](#): > > National Lampoon has jokes? News to me. Natoional Lampoon had what they thought were jokes. Occasionally they were actually funny. More often then seemed to be shock for shock value and outrageously racist/sexist/tasteless jokes that they ran with the attitude that it was meta-humor --“We _know_ that this is racist/sexist/tasteless, but we clearly don’t really mean it, so it’s OK when we do it.” ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/22 "2010-06-10T14:26:46Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > There’s the rub – this does nothing to combat racism, but it _does_ make racists feel vindicated about their mindset. I hear people say stuff like this a lot, and my response is always the same; Who gives a fuck what racist morons think? Black folks are not going to make adjustments in their actions to work hard and make sure a bunch of drooling hicks aren’t ‘vindicated about their mindset’. Fuck their mindset. With that off my chest; PlainJain, you know what the problem is about blacks shouting down the NAACP? The NAACP are the ones with the megaphones. We\* _do_ get upset when they do this dumb shit! We _do_ cringe to see them embarrass themselves. We do wish they would focus on real issues of racism in society. But they are already established in the media, and I don’t know how they work as a group, but I am betting they are all on some kind of payroll where they have to keep making noise to get paid. Grrr. \*I don’t speak for all blacks, of course. Just lots of blacks that I know. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/23 "2010-06-10T14:31:33Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > And fuck you too Hallmark for grabbing ankles over this. Since you wi[del]t[/del]se folks got this one, I just wanted to say I giggled over this sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/24 "2010-06-10T14:32:14Z")
It’s a good thing that card didn’t mention orbiting Uranus, or Hallmark would have to deal with the homophobes screaming bloody murder, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/25 "2010-06-10T14:38:12Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I hear people say stuff like this a lot, and my response is always the same; Who gives a fuck what racist morons think? Black folks are not going to make adjustments in their actions to work hard and make sure a bunch of drooling hicks aren’t ‘vindicated about their mindset’. Fuck their mindset. It’s not about what the racist morons think. Obviously, barring an _American History X_ moment, they’re never hopping off the asshole train. It’s about what the people in between think - those who are neither predisposed to racism nor necessarily believe that minorities still have it tougher than white people. In simple terms, look at it this way: white-person-in-the-middle watches the news, sees a Klan rally. Klansman says, “black people want you to think they still have it tough!” Now, the next news story our middling white person sees might have an impact if it’s race related. Maybe it’s “unarmed African-American male shot by police while sitting at bus stop”, in which case he’ll go “pfft” at the Klan guy. On the other hand, maybe it’s the “NAACP lashes out because Samuel L. Jackson can’t get a cab in New York City”, and now he internalizes the Klansman’s message a tiny bit. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/26 "2010-06-10T14:58:05Z")
RNATB, I hear you, but that’s just not my bag. I’m not doing shit to sway a hardcore racist, I’m not doing shit to sway a fence riding racist. Let racists work out their own race issues and battle those issues head on, just like I do. No way am I going to ever alter my behavior in the idea that a borderline racist may need me to be a credit to my race to keep them from buying their first white hood. When I was a kid, and you may think I’m making this up, it is so sick, there was a common saying in the black community… If kids were cutting up in public, the grownups might say, “stop showing your color!” or [“act your age, not your color”](http://books.google.com/books?id=lZu5-oqFMdYC&pg=PA275&lpg=PA275&dq=act+your+age+not+your+color&source=bl&ots=e15egcH3Rn&sig=5XHiiWqyLYOfDPi-SEdqYjq7CQk&hl=en&ei=h_sQTOyCDZn4MpijjLMC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCAQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=act%20your%20age%20not%20your%20color&f=false) Now, of course this was some dumb shit to say, period. But the idea behind it was disturbing. In my opinion, all humans should live up to their own best. That is just the right thing to do. No one should base their behavior on whether or not someone may decide that racism is ok, because certain blacks do dumb shit, or bad shit, or whatever. That should not be a motivation for changing one’s behavior. But hey, like I said, taking into account racist attitudes is just not my bag. That just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/27 "2010-06-10T15:19:27Z")
OMFG, this has got to be a joke. PLEASE someone tell me it’s a joke! Otherwise the goddamn NAACP of LA is not only insulting black people who face real racism every day, but actually undermining them by giving the impression that black activists are just searching for something piddling to whine about. (It also doesn’t say much for the reading comprehension and science knowledge of the NAACP of LA either, and/or their integrity.) ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/28 "2010-06-10T15:29:39Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > RNATB, I hear you, but that’s just not my bag. I’m not doing shit to sway a hardcore racist, I’m not doing shit to sway a fence riding racist. . . . This times ten. And **RNATB** , if you think a black male (or anybody on a regular basis) not being able to get a cab in the pouring rain or late at night, as five or six empty ones go by, either on-duty or their on-duty light goes off just as they spot you,\* is not a big deal, then perhaps this country hasn’t come as far as we thought. This Hallmark business is some silly, uninformed shit though and the NAACP would do well to re-think this one; unfortunately, they won’t. - Then used to happen to me quite often when I worked late night’s and the company policy was to reimburse for cab fare. I must say that the NYC Taxi & Limo Commission eventually really cracked down on this one once the complaint become highly vocal and publicized. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/29 "2010-06-10T15:35:52Z")
Un-fucking-believable. Seriously. There was a press conference over this? I really want to support the efforts of the NAACP, but shit like this is just embarrassing. “You can clearly hear the word ‘whores’! There’s an ‘R’ in there!” No there isn’t. Shut the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/30 "2010-06-10T15:46:52Z")
Oh my gods. See, this is why we’re never going to have another black President. Cut this shit out, already. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/31 "2010-06-10T15:48:48Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > OMFG, this has got to be a joke. PLEASE someone tell me it’s a joke! > > Otherwise the goddamn NAACP of LA is not only insulting black people who face real racism every day, but actually undermining them by giving the impression that black activists are just searching for something piddling to whine about. > > **(It also doesn’t say much for the reading comprehension and science knowledge of the NAACP of LA either, and/or their integrity.)** This. I’m imagining racists laughing their asses off: “Hurr, hurr, hey sister-wife, lookit them dumb niggers what don’t even know what a black hole is…” While Neil deGrasse Tyson :smack:s to the tenth power. Meanwhile, just where in this solar system does one go to find a black hole, hmmm, Hallmark? Looks like the NAACP isn’t the only group that needs to brush up on their Astro 101. That’s the part that offended me. It’s just like one of those old cartoons showing spaceships passing Saturn on their way to Mars. (Full disclosure: It did sound a little like _hoes_. But I’m writing that off to listening for that in the context of the story. Whores, though… nope.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/32 "2010-06-10T15:51:50Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > This Hallmark business is some silly, uninformed shit though and the NAACP would do well to re-think this one; unfortunately, they won’t. And I’ll state this one more time, in case the hijack blurred it. We both agree that the NAACP is retarded on this. Actually, I’ve gone from thinking they are retarded to thinking they are just greedy, malicious and vicious. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/33 "2010-06-10T16:24:41Z")
Islam is the light! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/34 "2010-06-10T16:58:57Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > RNATB, I hear you, but that’s just not my bag. I’m not doing shit to sway a hardcore racist, I’m not doing shit to sway a fence riding racist. Let racists work out their own race issues and battle those issues head on, just like I do. No way am I going to ever alter my behavior in the idea that a borderline racist may need me to be a credit to my race to keep them from buying their first white hood. I’m not even talking about fence-riding racists. I’m talking about simple ignorance, rather than malice. Look, the history- at least in America- of improving race relations shows that nothing eradicates racism faster than propinquity. Eisenhower supported integration because he personally saw that integrated military units performed as well or better than segregated ones. White Southerners stopped thinking blacks were an inferior breed because they watched people like MLK make better speeches than their elected leaders. These people weren’t inherently racist; they were just ignorant. These people still exist. I’m not saying that _you_ need to act like an ambassador for your race at all times, lest whitey be discomfited and judge all black folk by your example. That’s (a) retarded, (b) impractical, and (c) manifestly unfair. I’m saying that _the NAACP_ needs to act like an ambassador for your race, since it has appointed itself in that capacity. Stupid shit like this does nobody any good. > [@descamisado](#): > > And **RNATB** , if you think a black male (or anybody on a regular basis) not being able to get a cab in the pouring rain or late at night, as five or six empty ones go by, either on-duty or their on-duty light goes off just as they spot you,\* is not a big deal, then perhaps this country hasn’t come as far as we thought. I actually wasn’t yet a US resident when that thing with Samuel Jackson happened, so I may have recalled it incorrectly. The impression that I got, though, was that every other black resident of New York City said, “that’s bullshit, we can always get a cab”. If that’s not the case, I apologize. If Samuel L. Jackson (or any other black guy, for that matter) actually can’t get a cab, that is indeed a big deal. > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > And I’ll state this one more time, in case the hijack blurred it. We both agree that the NAACP is retarded on this. Actually, I’ve gone from thinking they are retarded to thinking they are just greedy, malicious and vicious. Well, alright then, although I’m voting for retarded in this specific instance. I don’t see the NAACP as all bad; most of the stuff I’ve heard Julian Bond say seems right on point, for example, ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/35 "2010-06-10T17:33:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > White Southerners stopped thinking blacks were an inferior breed because they watched people like MLK make better speeches than their elected leaders. These people weren’t inherently racist; they were just ignorant. > > These people still exist. If there are still people thinking that negroids can’t read until proven otherwise, “ignorant” is probably not the right word. > [@](#): > > I’m saying that _the NAACP_ needs to act like an ambassador for your race, since it has appointed itself in that capacity. For who? The people whose ignorance has not yet allowed them to realize that some colored people can read and talk good? > [@](#): > > Stupid shit like this does nobody any good. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/36 "2010-06-10T17:40:03Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > For who? The people whose ignorance has not yet allowed them to realize that some colored people can read and talk good? I said the same people. I didn’t say they held the same opinions. It’s no longer, “blacks are an inferior race”. It’s “I don’t see why there are so many more black criminals and underachievers than white ones; after all, they have the same opportunities.” ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/37 "2010-06-10T17:45:34Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > For who? It’s “for whom.” You’ve just embarassed our entire race in front of the worldwide interwebs. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Spoonful_of_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/38 "2010-06-10T17:58:55Z")
I’m not familiar enough with the NAACP to determine if this is an isolated sect, or if the group as a whole is perpetually this trigger-happy but I do sympathize with black people and activists engaged in the fight against racism, only to have kooky folks like this take a big steaming dump of stupid on their public perception. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/39 "2010-06-10T18:52:48Z")
Given that I’m as white as hard boiled egg, feel free to disregard what I say, but it seems to me the concern that RNATB and other are suggesting is the following scenario. Reasonable white person who is not particularly racist but who doesn’t have much experience with blacks, thinks to himself the following. Now that we have a black president in the white house and integrated schools its clear that racism dead. All of this so called discrimination is just silly whining. See even the NAACP can’t come up with any better proof of racism than mishearing a greetings card. He then proceeds to vote against any form of affirmative action and ignore complaints of racial profiling. Outside of the hijack, if I received such a card I would be offended not because it mentions Black whores, but because its stupid, annoying and feels vaguely patronizing. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601/40 "2010-06-10T19:05:34Z")
It seems to me that just about everytime the NAACP appears on my personal news radar its uber retarded shit like this. Maybe its my own confirmation bias or maybe the only time they make it big on the news is WHEN they pull stupid shit like this… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoops-and-yoyo-cute-greeting-card-characters-or-heartless-racist-bastards/542601.md?page=3)