http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/02/gibson.charged/index.html
We all know about his anti-Semitic tirade. But what did he say that was sexist? Did the sheriff’s deputy venture a critical comment about “What Women Want,” perchance?
Well, didn’t he call a female LEO “Sugar Tits”?
He did indeed.
Well, then, she shouldn’t have been wearing that candy necklace.
This site
has a link to " four pages of the original report prepared by the arresting officer in the case, L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy James Mee", if you want to try to decipher a badlay scanned document in .PDF format. Also, from the article:
The article also contains further description of his drunken behaviour at the police station.
Just out of curiosity . . .
Was the female sargeant black? When I first read the comment I wondered if there was a racial undertone to the statement.
(I guess I’ve heard the song “Brown Sugar” by the Stones too many times.)
“Sugar tits” = black? 
Where’s the “racial undertone”?
If "f** Mee" is wrong, I don’t wanna be right?*
Are you kidding?
Have you ever listened to any R&B music?
Have you paid any attention to black speech idioms?
Did you ever noticed that black boxers that adopt the nickname “Sugar” outnumber white boxers by at least 50-1?
It’s sort of like the Southern/rural use of the word “darling”.
No.
Not a whole lot.
Apparently not enough.
Offhand, I can think of only 2.
Which is . . . ?
A lot.
A lot.
Cite? And so what? Sugar Ray leonard is black so Sugar Tits is racist? You have to be kidding, right?
And that makes it racist?
Get a clue.
Brilliant. I responded to your questions. You respond with an insult. How about you answer my question? And while you are at it, point me toward R&B tunes that use “Sugar Tits” in a racist way.
I’m from the South. I live in the South. 30 years ago I called my white girlfriend “Sugar Tits.” It is not racist, and the rhetorical questions you posed do not prove otherwise.
Do really think you have mounted a serious argument here?
Are you deliberately asking for a pitting? It sure seems like it.
Getting back to the OP: To the best of my knowledge, Mel Gibson is neither black nor southern (US). I don’t know what music he listens to, or whether he’s a boxing fan.
So does the term “sugar tits” have racial overtones?
Only to some fraction of the people who know whether it does or not. That’s not a large subset of the US population.
OK, I’ll explain it to you.
First, go back to my original question. Was the female sargeant black?
I’m trying to establish the CONTEXT of the situation. Remember that word “CONTEXT”.
Gibson was horribly drunk and was spouting anti-Sematic and sexist comments. If he was directing the comment at a white, Hispanic or Asian officer I’ll accept that he was being condecending and sexist. If he was directing the comment at a black officer the CONTEXT of the situation would suggest that he was also being racist
BECAUSE:
The term “sugar” in addressing someone is used more commonly (but not exclusively) in the black culture to address someone instead of using their name. If you really listened to R&B music or paid any attention to black speech idioms for many years you would be aware of this.
To make an analogy:
If the sargeant was a male and Gibson called him “boy” it would make a huge difference if he was white or black. If he was white, it would show that he was being condecending. If the sargeant was black it would indicate that he was also being racist. It’s not the word “boy”, it’s the CONTEXT in which it is being used.
You’ve called your girlfriend “sugar tits”, I’ve called my son “boy”. That means nothing. If Gibson is drunk, obnoxious and hurling insults, I’m curious as to the CONTEXT under which he’s carrying out his behaviour.
I don’t know.
Your patronizing attitude is beginning to wear thin.
I’ll ask you again for cites that the words “Sugar Tits” are used in R&B in a racist way. One will suffice.
“Boy” is established as an insult to black men. You have failede to establish “Sugar Tits” as an insult to black women.
Unless you can cite 50 plus years of living in the South, as I can, or some other credentials, I will respectfully submit that you are ill-informed as to Southernisms.
From this thread we’ve learned that any reference to any darkly colored substance is a racist term. Now I learn that sugar is also a racist term. Apparently there is no place on the color spectrum that we can be safe from accusations of racism. :rolleyes:
Unless you can cite 50 plus years of living in the South, as I can, or some other credentials, I will respectfully submit that you are ill-informed as to Southernisms.
[/QUOTE]
For cripes sakes, I’m not talking about Southernism I’m talking about trying to establish whether Gibson’s comment had racist overtones. (BTW and FYI a lot of the R&B music and black cultural idioms didn’t originate and aren’t exclusive to the South.)
You don’t know the answer to the original question so why are you even making an issue?
Tell me if the female sargeant was black or not and I can form my own opinion as to whether the outburst had racial overtones. You can agree with me or disagree with me. I really don’t care.
Brown Sugar
Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields,
Sold in a market down in new orleans.
Scarred old slaver know hes doin alright.
Hear him whip the women just around midnight.