# I think december has Jungle Fever **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 18, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749 "2002-06-18T21:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/21 "2002-06-21T16:18:12Z")
Now that I see several of the most respected black SDMB posters are all in this thread, I’d like to invite you all to my Pit thread about the term [wigger](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121702). Thank you ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/22 "2002-06-21T16:19:17Z")
Beeble, Your theory is proven with this adendum. Geri Halliwell is Evil Spice. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/23 "2002-06-21T16:41:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stuffy \* > \*\*Typical exchange: > > Poster A: We should spend more funds educating children. > > Poster B: Well, that’s true but where do we find the money. > > **december** “Well if the NAACP, would listen to me, they’d be pushing vouchers, that’s why I’m no longer a member.” Which is another thing entirely. \*\* You’re getting all pissy because he mentioned vouchers in a thread regarding funds for education? How is that “another thing entirely”? If that’s typical, you need to find more significant things to complain about. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/24 "2002-06-21T17:25:01Z")
december is needin’ him some mint flavored shoes. absolutely brilliant meltdown of the first order. he appears to have no shame, however, so he won’t slink away with his tail between his legs like he should. get lost, pops. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/25 "2002-06-21T17:25:51Z")
**Shodan** , why don’t you look at the linked thread in the OP? Then you’d find that in a thread discussing the Nickelodeon program about gay parents, **December** posted this: > [@](#): > > In fact, with the success of _La Cage aux Folles_ as a movie and a musical, I would say gay parenting has been publicized far in excess of its importance. The mystery novel, _Reflex_, by Dick Francis also features a hero who was raised by a gay couple. > > OTOH, how many TV shows, books and movies have their been about Black on Black crime or teen-age pregnancy – problems that affect millions of Americans. This is his standard MO. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/26 "2002-06-21T17:30:35Z")
**Shodan** that was an example albeit a poor one, you need but do a search on december to find more egregious examples of the behavior I wrote about, for instance did you even lookt at the linked thread? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/27 "2002-06-21T17:34:48Z")
That’s okay, december, you just know that Stuffy and the other posters “of color” have to hire white people to type coherent arguments for them. So it’s only natural that they’d sometimes seem white to you. As a blonde female, myself, I’ve had to hire a brown-haired man to come argue in my name when I go to the serious forums. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/28 "2002-06-21T17:46:37Z")
> [@](#): > > As a blonde female, myself, I’ve had to hire a brown-haired man to come argue in my name when I go to the serious forums. And when I told you the check you wrote me bounced, you said “I can’t be out of money, I still have checks in the check book!” ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/29 "2002-06-21T17:55:53Z")
Wonderful Cranky! Not only did you let the cat out of the bag about them having to hire white people to write for them you told everybody about the blondes as well? I think the union will have to look into this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/30 "2002-06-21T17:58:03Z")
I’m curious how our “posters of color” feel about **december** ’s (and some others’) capitalization of “black”—as in Black people. It seems somehow wrong to me, and smacks of racism, but I’m not sure exactly why. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/31 "2002-06-21T20:08:46Z")
First off, I’m a white guy and I realize this is only armchair psychology. OK, now the disclaimer is out of the way, I believe **december’s** capitalization of the word “Black” indicates a kind of inherent racism, but I don’t think he’s even aware of it. When the rest of us type “black”, we are using an adjective in the same manner as “blonde”, “brunnette”, “redhead”, etc. It’s a simple descriptor. When “Black” is capitalized it becomes a proper adjective in the manner of “American” or “Christian”. Proper adjectives such as “Brazilian” can be one of the defining characteristics of a person, while common adjectives such as “hazel-eyed” usually aren’t. This is a very important distinction and indicates that **december** puts a great deal of weight on race. By using proper adjectives, he is subtly (perhaps even unconsciously) stressing the belief that race is one of the defining characteristics of an individual, rather than simply a skin color. This viewpoint dovetails with his apparent “white man’s burden” attitude because it stresses the races, and by extension, the differences between the races. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/32 "2002-06-21T20:34:37Z")
I never thought I’d find myself in a position to defend december, but _pushing the brown-haired man away from her keyboard_ I’d thought that capitalizing “black” was a convention that showed respect, maybe for the idea that it was a culture and identity instead of just an adjective. I can understand why it might seem to some that it is overemphasizing a characteristic that shouldn’t matter that much. I’d always thought it was the other way around, though. Not sure where I got that impression, or if it’s defendable. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/33 "2002-06-21T20:48:41Z")
**Ferrous** , I hadn’t actually thought about it until you mentioned it, probably because anytime december uses the word “black” the remainder of the sentence is likely to piss me off. I’m not sure what to make of it, so I’ll defer to the posters who beat me in answering your question. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/34 "2002-06-21T20:57:16Z")
Thanks all. I have to say, my feelings are similar to **Beeblebrox** ’s, although **Cranky** may have a point, too… Perhaps I’m reading too much into it. If **Stuffy** doesn’t have a problem with it, I guess there’s no reason for a white boy like myself to get hot and bothered by it. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/35 "2002-06-21T21:08:54Z")
After going back and looking at some of **december’s** posts, I noticed an interesting thing I perhaps should have mentioned in my earlier post. **december** will capitalize "Black’, but he will not capitalize “white”. Again playing armchair psychologist, this seems to indicate to me that he is subtly implying that there is something fundamentally special about being black, while there is nothing fundamentally special about being white. Special isn’t always a good thing. _However_, and this is important, the dangerous thing about armchair psychology is that I may be reading far too much into something so small. **december** doesn’t capitalize “white” and he capitalizes “Black”, but he also capitalizes “Asian” and “Hispanic”. The practice may mean something, but it is just as likely it doesn’t mean anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/36 "2002-06-21T21:17:20Z")
don’t forget he also doesn’t capitalize “december”… ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/37 "2002-06-21T21:36:51Z")
How I feel about “black” being capitalied or not depends entirely upon context. In **december** ’s case, the capitalization becomes yet another item on the list of things about the sentence that pisses me off. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/38 "2002-06-22T00:13:47Z")
What I love is when he defends himself by explaining he’s old. Turns out, he’s 59. Sorry, that ain’t elderly, **december**. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/39 "2002-06-22T00:36:15Z")
I like these let’s-talk-shit-about- **december** threads. Reminds me of the gossip here at work. I have to be honest; it never bothers me when people capitalize “black” or “white”. If you open up any Ebony magazine, you’ll see the same thing. I think **december** has a crush on his sister-in-law, who he’s always holding up as an example of a “good” black person. So yes, the man has jungle fever. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Belowjob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749/40 "2002-06-22T13:57:32Z")
And how does jungle fever relate to the rockin’ pneumonia and the boogie woogie flu? Just curious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-december-has-jungle-fever/114749.md?page=3)