# How offensive is this bumper sticker? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239 "2006-04-04T12:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/61 "2006-04-05T04:51:02Z")
> [@bluethree](#): > > I keep thinking, “Suuuuuuuure you would have picked your own cotton.” > > I’d like to see them do it. [slight hijack]Well, while modern day racists likely would not, their ancestors sure would have before the wealthy plantation owners destroyed the free market for unskilled labor by bringing in slaves. [/hijack] And I also interpretted it as **Belladonna** did. Highly offensive, not at all confusing. The battle flag is a decoration to get you in the frame of mind to read the message, not a direct part of the message. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/62 "2006-04-06T00:38:35Z")
I’m a born Californian, but have lived in the South since adolescence, so have matured into it, with great appreciation. I really have come to love the South. When, at a gas station, saw the aforementioned bumpersticker on the next car over; ie “would’ve picked my own cotton”… we were chit chatting, a local guy I’ve seen about, he was decent enough. I was feeling sassy as he was familiar, and said, “Man, that bumpersticker, you know your momma would have Made you pick that cotton if you had to, right???” He said, Yep, then a bit embarrassed about it all, kind of blushing about it, but not nasty. The South is very complicated with it’s racial boundaries, from my experience, so don’t broadly judge. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/63 "2006-04-06T02:42:44Z")
> [@Charger](#): > > That’s the only interpretation that makes sense to me. With the assumed racist interpretation, it would have said “I’d have made them keep picking cotton.” How can “I’d have picked my own cotton” be a pro-slavery message? It is NOT a pro-slavery message. It is a message about the inherent inferiority and foulness of blacks. “If I had known the Yankees would free the slaves, and we’d end up with n_gg_rs having the right to vote and marry our daughters, and pop out babies while smoking crack and collecting welfare, and turning this great country into a damn trash pile- well then I’d have left you spear chuckers back in Africa raping chimps.” ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/64 "2006-04-06T15:39:49Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > The battle flag is a decoration to get you in the frame of mind to read the message, not a direct part of the message. Exactly what I came in to say. It’s not “If I’d known that the confederate battle flag, I would have picked…” It’s “If I’d known this, I would have picked my own cotton,” with the battle flag included as decoration meant to symbolize, “Hello there. I am a racist. I am very unhappy that there are black people in my country. The implication of the word ‘this’ therefore clearly means something bad about black people.” ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/65 "2006-04-06T15:50:55Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > Durned white supremacists – never war any good at semiotics. Which is too bad; that is the perfect word to refer to bumper stickers displayed by semi-idiotic racists. > [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Thanks to this I just snarfed Elixer. It hurts. I hope you’re happy. 😉 Try a spoonful of sugar… ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/66 "2006-04-06T16:03:30Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Nobody is naive or excusing racism; the phrasing of the message is illogical, that’s all. You needn’t beat that straw man so hard. Being pedantic is no excuse for not acknowledging the obvious. This is the “Navin Johnson” (Steve Martin in The Jerk) excuse. If I am the one standing in front of the pop machine with bullets whizzing around me, I’ll conclude that someone really, really doesn’t like me. You go ahead and stick with Navin - “He hates these cans!” ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/67 "2006-04-06T18:32:49Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > It is NOT a pro-slavery message. It is a message about the inherent inferiority and foulness of blacks. Then why not just have a bumper sticker that clearly says “blacks are inherently inferior and foul,” rather than one that is so open to interpretation? I prefer seeing racism that’s blatant, instead of confusing. Unless the owner of this bumper sticker was _trying_ to come across as stupid and/or cowardly, I don’t see why there is a need to make it so cryptic. I think the image of the flag is so wide open to interpretation that it makes the bumper sticker more or less incoherent. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/68 "2006-04-06T18:54:23Z")
> [@Charger](#): > > I don’t see why there is a need to make it so cryptic. Cryptic can be very useful. It reminds me of the late '70’s & early '80’s. The New Age movement had this little rainbow symbol. Gays had a rainbow flag. You could get a tacky car air-freshener for your rearview mirror in a rainbow shape. If you were gay and kinda chicken about declaring it, you could just display that little rainbow air-freshener in your car. A fellow gay might be all “ooh, I like your little rainbow air-freshener.” And then you’d start dating. Or, a redneck homophobe might be all, “hey, that’s a rainbow thing, you a fag?” And you could reply, “no, no! It’s just a New Age thing.” Or just an air-freshener. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/69 "2006-04-06T21:15:05Z")
> [@Charger](#): > > Then why not just have a bumper sticker that clearly says “blacks are inherently inferior and foul,” rather than one that is so open to interpretation? Because racism is strongly frowned upon today. Most people aren’t going to say “black people suck” for fear of the response they’d get. In that respect, this sticker is surprisingly clear. > [@](#): > > I think the image of the flag is so wide open to interpretation that it makes the bumper sticker more or less incoherent. You can take that flag in a number of different ways. When you put the flag together with a remark about picking cotton, the other interpretations are eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/70 "2006-04-06T22:12:57Z")
> [@Charger](#): > > Then why not just have a bumper sticker that clearly says “blacks are inherently inferior and foul,” rather than one that is so open to interpretation? I prefer seeing racism that’s blatant, instead of confusing. While the owner of the bumper sticker may or may not be stupid or cowardly, the reason it is written as is it is is simple - it’s supposed to be a joke. It makes other racist people guffaw. A non-offensive comparison might be the Calvin peeing on the Ford symbol stickers. Sure, you could have a sticker that just said “I don’t like Fords”, but thet’d be pretty boring even for other people who don’t like Fords. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239/71 "2006-04-06T22:47:46Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > While the owner of the bumper sticker may or may not be stupid or cowardly, the reason it is written as is it is is simple - it’s supposed to be a joke. It makes other racist people guffaw. > > A non-offensive comparison might be the Calvin peeing on the Ford symbol stickers. Sure, you could have a sticker that just said “I don’t like Fords”, but thet’d be pretty boring even for other people who don’t like Fords. Thank you…I’d been trying to figure out a clear way to state that, and you put it perfectly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-this-bumper-sticker/351239.md?page=3)