# Limbaughs racist comments about segregation in Survivor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888 "2006-08-31T07:03:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/1 "2006-08-31T07:03:59Z")
How the hell does a radio anouncer get away will saying something as racist and inflammatory as these comments regarding [racial segregation in Survivor TV show](http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2006/08/nyc_civil_right.html): [QUOTE=Rush Limbaugh] Hispanics, he said, “have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders” and “will do things other people won’t do.” Asians are “the best at espionage, keeping secrets.” Blacks “lack buoyancy” and are “more likely to drown,” while the white man’s burden will weigh down the last team with “guilt over the fact that they run things.” [/QUOTE] Will he be dragged through the courts over this. Or am I missing something? Was he using irony? Mother Jones suggests he is being offensive and I would be surprised if popular US radio announcers did irony. [This](http://mediamatters.org/items/200608240003) transcript doesn’t appear to be ironic. Looks like the guy is a complete idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/2 "2006-08-31T07:32:00Z")
I agree Rush is an idiot but even idiots have their right to free speech. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/3 "2006-08-31T07:41:07Z")
If only Reggie White were alive to reprise his insightful remarks about race. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/4 "2006-08-31T08:30:59Z")
I’m not at all a fan of the guy, but I happened to overhear him talking about the controversy and he replayed some of the statements he made. Yes, he was just being sarcastic, and was just doing a standard stand-up comedian type bit. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/5 "2006-08-31T08:58:05Z")
‘Hispanic’ is a race? ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/6 "2006-08-31T09:15:40Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] ‘Hispanic’ is a race? [/QUOTE] Genetically, nothing is a race. Just [haplogroups](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup). ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/7 "2006-08-31T10:44:00Z")
I find it really scary that people think he could be in jail for this. He is an idiot however. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/8 "2006-08-31T11:14:21Z")
There’s no way that even Rush Limbaugh could have ben saying that without joking. The things he says that are racist are much more subtle. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/9 "2006-08-31T12:12:41Z")
He was probably just high. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/10 "2006-08-31T13:55:12Z")
[QUOTE=antechinus] How the hell does a radio anouncer get away will saying something as racist and inflammatory as these comments regarding [racial segregation in Survivor TV show](http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2006/08/nyc_civil_right.html): Will he be dragged through the courts over this. Or am I missing something? Was he using irony? Mother Jones suggests he is being offensive and I would be surprised if popular US radio announcers did irony. [This](http://mediamatters.org/items/200608240003) transcript doesn’t appear to be ironic. Looks like the guy is a complete idiot. [/QUOTE] My God! He’s obviously joking! And how the hell would he be taken to court for that, even if he wasn’t??! ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/11 "2006-08-31T13:59:04Z")
I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh, but that really sounds like an intentially over-the-top satire of racial stereotypes. Maybe the context was misleading, but from what you quoted, I’d say it’s pretty obvious he was joking. (Also, I don’t like to play this kind of card, but in this case I can’t help it-- if Chris Rock or Margaret Cho had made similar comments, would anyone assume for a minute that it was anything but sarcastic humor?) ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/12 "2006-08-31T13:59:14Z")
He has talked frequently about “using absurdity to illustrate absurdity” and talked about how people would take his comments about this out of context to try and attack him. If you take those comments seriously, you need some help. He doesn’t believe that at all. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/13 "2006-08-31T14:02:37Z")
And hey, while we’re on the subject of inflammatory statements, what’s with using the word “segregation” to describe the rules of a game show? Overheated much? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/14 "2006-08-31T14:25:24Z")
[QUOTE=antechinus] How the hell does a radio anouncer get away will saying something as racist and inflammatory as these comments regarding [racial segregation in Survivor TV show](http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2006/08/nyc_civil_right.html): Will he be dragged through the courts over this. Or am I missing something? Was he using irony? Mother Jones suggests he is being offensive and I would be surprised if popular US radio announcers did irony. [This](http://mediamatters.org/items/200608240003) transcript doesn’t appear to be ironic. Looks like the guy is a complete idiot. [/QUOTE] Rush Limbaugh can be a huge, overbearing ass, but it’s over the top obvious this was sarcastic. He’s reciting a litany of prejudicial stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/15 "2006-08-31T14:30:02Z")
I agree that Rush was just playing on stereotypes. However, [QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] (Also, I don’t like to play this kind of card, but in this case I can’t help it-- if Chris Rock or Margaret Cho had made similar comments, would anyone assume for a minute that it was anything but sarcastic humor?) [/QUOTE] That’s because Chris Rock and Maragret Cho are sometimes, well, funny. Not often in the case of Ms. Cho, but it has happened and could, conceivably, again. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/16 "2006-08-31T14:32:41Z")
His mere existence is enough to get one’s ire up. These comments, not so much. I see much worse racial humor on Comic View. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/17 "2006-08-31T14:36:16Z")
The fact that some people think that saying what he did should be worthy of jail time scares me. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/18 "2006-08-31T14:51:19Z")
[QUOTE=antechinus] Will he be dragged through the courts over this. [/QUOTE] Dragged through WHAT courts? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/19 "2006-08-31T14:53:38Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Dragged through WHAT courts? [/QUOTE] Racquetball courts. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888/20 "2006-08-31T15:09:42Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Dragged through WHAT courts? [/QUOTE] That was exactly, my thought, until I saw that **antechinus** is from Sydney. I don’t know about Aussie law, but I know many European countries have laws against hate speech. Kinda took the wind out of the snide question I was all set to ask him about what laws he thought Rush was breaking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaughs-racist-comments-about-segregation-in-survivor/370888.md?page=2)