My wife won the brother-in-law minute pool this year. We always make bets on how long it will take this putz to make a racist or sexist remark at any given family gathering. Some of it depends on whether or not anyone else mentions basketball players, black artists of any kind, any minority group, etc. It doesn’t even have to be specific. For instance, the word ‘color’ in last night’s conversations evoked a racial slur which I won’t repeat. This guy can turn almost anything into an innuendo; it’s quite a talent and he works hard at perfecting it.
Last night, it took an hour and twenty-five minutes for the first one, which must be a personal all-time record. My wife had predicted an hour and a half, so she wins a dollar. The event occurred after he finished slicing the turkey in the kitchen. After about 15 minutes of running the electric knife, he emerged with a platter and commented how the turkey must have been a mulatto, since there was so much dark meat. :rolleyes:
For the next couple of hours he kept trying to insert (hah!) a lewd Monica Lewinsky joke into the conversation, but my sister, in a rare display of fortitude, put her foot down. I think she knew that any political comments would probably set me off and she didn’t want a meltdown taking place.
The fun part about this guy is that he always makes these comments in front of his grandchildren. It’s wonderful to watch the much-vaunted family values at work in this staunch Republican, and wonder what sort of impact it will have on their lives. Damn, I detest this stupid motherfucker.
Sounds like my Dad. I was a pretty accurate mirror of his attitudes until I graduated high school. But then I went out into the world, and found out that the asshole-to-person ration was the same no matter what ethnic, religious, or political group was concerned. As long as he’s the only one doing it, the kids should turn out just fine with other family members showing they aren’t with him, even if it’s subliminal disagreement. Kids are pretty perceptive, and will see very quickly that grandad is to be pitied, not emulated.
Sounds like one of my uncles. He’s not really a bigot, he’s just immature and wants to provoke people. (My favorite was when he said something about Serena Williams’s ‘nigger ass’ a couple of years back, but by then I’d figured I should just hold my tongue.) He bugs my brother more than me these days, since the bro has the Communist thing and he’s always on. I suspect he does this because he thinks we’re uptight. Well, you jackass, it’s not that we’re uptight, it’s that your shit doesn’t amuse us because we’re smart and you’re a fucking moron!
I gotta say, being ~900 miles away from him, his kids and his little gremlin LhasaPoo dog made Thanksgiving a lot better this year.
I’m actually impressed. Who knew that something as simple as slicing a turkey could provide fodder for racist jokes? :smack:
(I’m kidding, of course. Your BIL would get along great with my FIL. He’s full of the racist comments, but isn’t quite bright enough to come up with the jokes.)
Oh, he’s an evil genius, no doubt about it. There is nothing you can say that he can’t turn into some sort of insulting slur. Mention going to the bank? “There’s not a white person working in there.” It’s literally endless.
Yep, sounds just like my FIL. We were at their house once, and the TV was on (as it always freaking is), and there was a bit on the news about Ben Carson, the world-renowned neurosurgeon here in Baltimore (at Johns Hopkins) and he off-handedly commented, “I wouldn’t let no ni**er operate on me.”
The mind boggles.
Ah, the family jerk. No holiday dinner is complete without one.
My sweetie’s Uncle Dick (not his real name) was in rare form Thursday night. He dragged out his old “Hitler had the right idea, trying to kill all the Jews, but after he went insane and started killing other people the whole thing went too far, but he started off okay” gem.
This comes from a man who emigrated with his family as a child to escape Stalin’s attempt at Ukrainian genocide. You’d think he might be able the draw the parallels…aaah, but there’s no arguing with Uncle Dick, Jews are different from other people, evil, and deserve it. And this is far from his only objectionable rant, just one of his worst.
Sweetie’s one of the few that WILL argue with him, usually after they’ve both had a few drinks. I’m trying to break him of this; responding to such garbage merely implies to the spewer that his position actually has worth. And I know at least part of Uncle Dick’s enjoyment comes from getting someone to take the bait. I’d derive great pleasure to see him frustrated in that endeavor. DNFTT and all that.
It’d still be nice to simply say, “Shut the fuck up and die off, ya old rat bastard” but he’d probably take it as a compliment.
My first thought for a reply was “I’m sure he wouldn’t want to dirty his hands touching you, either.”
Our family jerk is in the process of being divorced out of the family, so I can simply sigh with relief and view these other idiots with the dispassion of distance.
BiblioCat. My comments would be smewhat…longer. And initially supportive of his views.
“You heard him, family. Nobody lays a finger to save this bigot’s life except for rednecks, hillbillies, peckerwoods, wetbacks, wops, krauts, micks, spics, chinks, gooks, japs, kikes, poles, russkies, injuns, dykes and the occassional ass bandit! That okay with you, O Cream of the Gene Pool?”
My neighbor’s are really nice kids but his mother manages to interject at least one perky little racist comment every time we see her.
Nothing completely scurrilous-just a nasty little jab to illustrate inferiority of every other race.
I should start laying odds on how long it’ll take.
We went over for the A and M/Texas game yesterday and out of a clear blue sky, she chirped, “Have you ever noticed how blacks just can’t say some words properly?”
My reply was, of course “No, not at all.”
I just don’t get it.
My husband’s grandmother is the sweetest little old lady - I love her to death. However, she grew up in Canton, OH, which is a really, really white area. For me, it’s awfully strange after living in Brooklyn. For her, it’s normal.
Anyway, my ILs and his grandmother were on their way to Richmond, VA for our wedding two months ago. Grandma was in the back seat, and as they drove through downtown Richmond, Grandma looked at my mother-in-law and said “There sure are a lot of coloreds here, aren’t there?”.
None of us think she meant it in a mean way - she’s just 86 years old and has lived most of her life in this community that has no diversity.
At one point in the event, after a couple of comments about “the dike who lives down the street”, his son said something about the color of something. BIL actually snickered at the word. His son said something to the effect of “well, you’ve always had something to say about color, Dad.” He replied, “Well, it has its place.”
You know, my FIL is a lot like your BIL, only opposite. He’s against religion, Republicans, and racism - but he sometimes is such an ASSHOLE about it that it makes him no better than your BIL.
We had a fairly uneventful Thanksgiving, except when he found out that my husband and I are attending midnight mass at the Catholic Church, he got completely bitchy about it. He wants everyone in the family to be against organized religion like he is. Aside from that, he’s a really good guy.
My mom’s BF is like this. He’s a very helpful and smart guy, but man is he bigoted! :eek: I used to argue (unsucessfully) with him about it, until I realized that it is as if he lives in his own little bizarro world where all of his beliefs are totally rational. I guess part of it had to do with him growing up- him and his family members getting treated badly by people of different races (hey, it happens) and cementing his own racist beliefs as a result.
Dealing with folks like this can be a bitch, Chefguy.
I wonder, though, why what political party he votes for has any bearing on this discussion. There are but two major parties in this country, so each one attracts decent folks and assholes alike.
FWIW, most really racist people I know (unfortunately, this includes some family members) are union Democrats.
