# "Tanned ... darker than our president" - perfectly OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472 "2009-12-08T17:58:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/41 "2009-12-08T19:36:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > And - like I said - given that poster there is no way he used that term as an innocent descriptor, which I thought BS in that thread. But I should have passed it by. IMO, it would have been a better thing to do, to not bring it up in that thread. As I said, let Shodan have the joy of having his son home without raining on it. There’s nothing wrong, again, IMO, with you looking askance at the comment. And bringing it here as a separate thread for discussion is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/42 "2009-12-08T19:37:40Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > What’s perfectly INDECENT is you threadshitting in Shodan’s thread. > > Shodan is rightfully overjoyed that his son, who he loves is home and safe. So even if his description isn’t “perfectly decent” (whatever that means), he can be forgiven it considering how he feels. Perhaps. But he has consistently been a HUGE supporter of the policies that created an easily avoidable situation, and a HUGE dick towards folk who express what I consider to be reasonable disagreements with those policies and that situation. Actions and beliefs such as his contributed significantly to there being any reason for his having to serve there. I don’t know that poster personally, and I have no reason to think I know exactly how he feels about his son or the reason he posts anything in particular on these boards. I’m glad to know you possess the knowledge I lack, or are at least willing to accept his utterances at face value. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/43 "2009-12-08T19:53:53Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > P > I don’t know that poster personally, and I have no reason to think I know exactly how he feels about his son or the reason he posts anything in particular on these boards. I’m glad to know you possess the knowedge I lack, or are at least willing to accept his utterances at face value. You’re not being reasonable. You don’t need to know someone personally to understand that a) most parents love their children b) most parents want their children to be safe and c) parents are usually very happy when their children are home and safe. Maybe you’re not a parent, but as a parent myself, I almost implicitly understand this. And I’m NOT accepting his comments at face value. I’m chafing at the idea that you seem to think it’s perfectly acceptable to shit on someone’s happy thread because you’re making assumptions as to what Shodan meant. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/44 "2009-12-08T19:55:26Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > I don’t think that was the intent, either. (Did you read the rest of what I’ve written in this thread?) Well,I replied to you, but I was combining two ideas at once. The main reply to you was disagreeing that it implies that Obama is Super Dark[sup]TM[/sup]. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/45 "2009-12-08T19:55:32Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > See, I think that’s not the point, though. Obama is black (by whatever definition you want to give. He has African heritage and has dark_er_ skin). Shodan and his son (I’m assuming) are white. If Standard White Dude gets so tan that his skin is darker than a light-skinned African American, I can understand the comparison since SWD is nowhere near as dark usually. It’s no value judgment on skin color and not implying that Obama is Super Dark. Right. Obama is simply the most visible\* black man on earth. 10 years ago it might have been “my son is darker than Michael Jordan!” ---
**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:** [December 8, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/46 "2009-12-08T20:02:22Z")
It is a perfectly good descriptor. That said, a smart man knows that he can get away with saying something that will sound grating to race-sensitive ears and be able to defend it. So, I vote it was kind of weird to drop that bit of purposefully jarring term into a celebratory thread. But, hey. No big deal. Our president _is_ black. Nothing to be ashamed of hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/47 "2009-12-08T20:04:52Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > And I’m NOT accepting his comments at face value. I’m chafing at the idea that you seem to think it’s perfectly acceptable to shit on someone’s happy thread because you’re making assumptions as to what Shodan meant. Once I have developed pretty firm opinions about someone, I find those opinions tend to color the way I interpret and respond to that individual’s words and deeds in the future. If someone is a big enough dick, I find myself questioning whether or not something is simply an innocent “happy thread” - especially when it includes what I thought at the time to be a questionable reference. Perhaps I’m overly judgmental/cynical - in addition to any number of unfavorale traits I undoubtedly possess. However, I do generally strive to adhere to common MB etiquette, which would have had me stay out of that thread. I’m glad I limited my post to an emoticon, but I should have resisted even that. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/48 "2009-12-08T20:05:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Right. Obama is simply the most visible\* black man on earth. 10 years ago it might have been “my son is darker than Michael Jordan!” And 10 years before that Michael Jackson! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/49 "2009-12-08T20:11:21Z")
I would say that, at worst, it’s mildly crass, but not really anything worth getting worked up about, and not worth making an issue of in a celebration thread. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/50 "2009-12-08T20:24:57Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > This is pretty much how I feel. And I am a brown person who is determined to get people to use more color descriptors; after all, I am brown and there is no getting around it. > \ Sounds fair; I’d like to get people to start calling white people pinkish-beige; very few of us are actually white. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/51 "2009-12-08T20:31:38Z")
So, some of you more sensitive and perceptive types suspect he wrote that to yank your politically correct chains. Well, if so it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/52 "2009-12-08T20:47:32Z")
[Blazing Saddles] Hast du gesehen in deine Leben. They darker than us! Woof! [/Blazing Saddles] ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/53 "2009-12-08T20:47:46Z")
\ This is Pit material. Moved. IMHO \> Pit \ ---
**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:** [December 8, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/54 "2009-12-08T21:12:49Z")
> [@Slypork](#): > > [Blazing Saddles] Hast du gesehen in deine Leben. They darker than us! Woof! [/Blazing Saddles] Thank God I’m not the only one that occurred to. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/55 "2009-12-08T21:18:21Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Thank God I’m not the only one that occurred to. 🙂 My first thought as well. At most, the comment in question deserves an eyeroll and then being rapidly forgotten as people get on with their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/56 "2009-12-08T21:18:22Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Cool. > I had mixed motivations. > > I have long considered that OP to be a jerk, and I generally avoid his posts/threads. But I looked into that out of curiosity, and probably would have left it without replying but for that comment. Well, I do think some people post things that are kind of inflammatory and that colors (so to speak) how we view other things. Another poster once mentioned that he thought that Obama didn’t look as good in a tux because black people wearing tuxedos tended to look like waiters, and I remember thinking WTF at that. If I saw said poster making a questionable statement, I’d be less likely to err on the side of “Oh, he didn’t mean anything by it\>” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/57 "2009-12-08T21:33:48Z")
Yep, that was a dickish comment. More to the point would have been asking **Shodan** about his fantasy-based but adamant support for the Bush-Cheney policies that put his son in such peril in the first place. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/58 "2009-12-08T21:53:52Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Another poster once mentioned that he thought that Obama didn’t look as good in a tux because black people wearing tuxedos tended to look like waiters, and I remember thinking WTF at that. " Yeah, see, the problem with this is that it’s hilarious. Hahaa! ---
**Author:** ![Cort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Cort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cort)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/59 "2009-12-08T22:00:15Z")
Munch nailed it in post 9 ---
**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:** [December 8, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/60 "2009-12-08T22:03:46Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Yeah, see, the problem with this is that it’s hilarious. Hahaa! The first thing I thought of was Timothy Dalton (succesfully) pretending to be a waiter in _License to Kill_. Perhaps the unblackest man ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472.md?page=4)