# Urgh! Enought with the "black people" examples! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907 "2003-10-01T12:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/21 "2003-10-02T05:05:44Z")
Ah, this is a rant I have ranted myself! [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=156372](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=156372) Of course, if I had been _black_ when I posted that, I’ll bet people would have taken me a lot more seriously! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/22 "2003-10-02T06:46:33Z")
Right, because it’s a black thing. Excuse me. I mean it’s a Zenogular thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/23 "2003-10-02T10:09:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > **Person A: I hate Indians! They’re all stuck up and rude! > Person B (with new “black people anology filter”): What a dumb thing to say. You don’t even know all Indians. You hardly know any! Besides, is there anything about yourself that you can say every single person of your nationality also shares? I thought not!** Must just be me, _Person B_’s response seems, if anything, understated. I’m sorry, I lost your point here. Making crappy analogies involving race, yes, that’s naff, distasteful, and probably indicates a lack of understanding about race issues, taking someone to task for racist generalisations, fair game. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/24 "2003-10-03T06:00:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _The Great Unwashed_ > Must just be me, Person B’s response seems, if anything, understated. > > I’m sorry, I lost your point here. Making crappy analogies involving race, yes, that’s naff, distasteful, and probably indicates a lack of understanding about race issues, taking someone to task for racist generalisations, fair game. My point was that it’s possible to take someone to task for bigoted statements (in this case, regaurding nationality) without bringing black people into it. **Lamia.** Wow. You certainly did mention this already. Laid out every single issue too, right in a row. _Weird!_ ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/25 "2003-10-03T11:49:48Z")
If I told a Black person I always thought of him as white, would I be denigrating him? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/26 "2003-10-03T12:08:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > \*\*My point was that it’s possible to take someone to task for bigoted statements (in this case, regaurding nationality) without bringing black people into it. \*\* Now you’ve really lost me, your “Person B” didn’t mention black people, perhaps you meant to type something more, but you didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/27 "2003-10-03T13:12:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*No, no. The Irish need a new jig. \*\* Don’t bring us into it. Stick to the Zenogulars. Some have even speculated that they only exist for exemplification purposes. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/28 "2003-10-03T16:29:28Z")
> [@](#): > > If I told a Black person I always thought of him as white, would I be denigrating him? I would be bothered by that. It’s sort of like if you someone said they always thought of you as a woman (when you’re man). Wouldn’t you feel like something essential in your identity was being taken from you? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/29 "2003-10-03T16:29:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*Now you’ve really lost me, your “Person B” didn’t mention black people, perhaps you meant to type something more, but you didn’t. \*\* That’s because Person B’s response was an example of the sort of response \*_pizzabrat_ would _prefer_ to see, not an example of a person making a dumb “black people” analogy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/30 "2003-10-03T16:38:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*That’s because Person B’s response was an example of the sort of response \*_pizzabrat_ would _prefer_ to see, not an example of a person making a dumb “black people” analogy. \*\* Ah, good, I’m up to speed now, I think. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/31 "2003-10-03T16:54:23Z")
**Pizzabrat** have you seen all attempts at “black people examples”? No? I thought not. So how can you say they are all cliches and make the same assumptions. Imagine if instead of “I hate black people examples” you had said “I hate black people”. I think you can see how bigotted your OP sounds. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Angel\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Heart)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/32 "2003-10-03T17:00:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CarnalK \* > \*\ ***Pizzabrat** have you seen all attempts at “black people examples”? No? I thought not. So how can you say they are all cliches and make the same assumptions. > \*\* Remember, all generalizations are false! 🙂 But seriously, I’m an idiot, but what’s a Zenogular? I keep thinking Xenogears 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/33 "2003-10-03T19:45:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > \*\*I would be bothered by that. It’s sort of like if you someone said they always thought of you as a woman (when you’re man). Wouldn’t you feel like something essential in your identity was being taken from you? \*\* While I understand what you’re saying–and I don’t disagree that a lot of people (including you, of course) feel this way–it wouldn’t bother me a bit. Neither the color or the gender aspect of that would slow me down. Maybe, years ago, a comment questioning my race or gender would start an internal bonfire of anger or confusion (or both), but now…? Nah. I like thinking that I’m me because of the choices I’ve made and continue to make in my life. I like to think that I can say that I’m **SkipMagic** because I’ve either rejected or accepted things about my culture; and about other cultures, too. Besides, beyond that, what other people tend to say in judgement of you is usually not worth (if I may paraphrase John Nance Garner here) a bucket of warm spit. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/34 "2003-10-03T20:57:51Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Malacandra_ > \*\*If I told a Black person I always thought of him as white, would I be denigrating him? \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > \*\*I would be bothered by that. It’s sort of like if you someone said they always thought of you as a woman (when you’re man). Wouldn’t you feel like something essential in your identity was being taken from you? \*\* Umm… you’ve been whooshed 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907/35 "2003-10-03T21:26:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > \*\*People can’t discuss [MP3 downloading](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=4032281#post4032281) without a “black people” example popping up! > > First of all, it’s cliche now. Apparently it’s way too easy to come up with a “black people” analogy, so lets try to be a bit more intellectually rigorous from now on and avoid them, even when a situation seems to beg for one. Example: > > Person A: I hate Indians! They’re all stuck up and rude! > Person B (with new “black people anology filter”): What a dumb thing to say. You don’t even know all Indians. You hardly know any! Besides, is there anything about yourself that you can say every single person of your nationality also shares? I thought not! > > Attention is nice but it gets annoying being constantly invoked for analogies over the slightest, irrelavant disagreement. \*\* Sounds like we have a varaition of Godwin’s Law at work here. “As a SDMB discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving black people approaches one.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-enought-with-the-black-people-examples/204907.md?page=1)