Re: Character name advice wanted.

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:59:59 -0700 (PDT), J.Pascal wrote:

On Sep 25, 7:50 am, Remus Shepherd <re...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
James A. Donald <jam...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Remus Shepherd
Everyone's fair game for a joke.
Not blacks, Mexicans, or homosexuals, however.
The only kind of 'hate speech' that is illegal in
America is race-based, and only when it is clearly not
parody or satire.
Does the word "niggardly" ring any bells?
In America you can get in trouble for reading forbidden
books in public ("hostile reading") - you do not have to
say a word out loud.  The censors cannot burn books that
report forbidden truths, but they can fire people who
silently read them in public, thereby offending other
people by causing them to suspect forbidden thoughts.

   I honestly don't see this.  Maybe it's a regional thing.
In the Midwest where I live, there's nothing wrong with
good-hearted jokes.  Blacks may be off limits due to
oversensitivity, but mexicans and homosexuals are fair game.
It's rude to make those jokes in public but you're not going
to get in any trouble for it.  And I don't know any 'forbidden
books'.  I've walked through college with a copy of Mein Kampf
under my arm with no ill effect.  (That was in Philadelphia,
and it was for a sociology course.)

   Where in the country do you live, Jim?  I've never heard of
anyone getting in trouble for reading when it did not directly
impact their job.  I can't read at work, regardless of the
content, because I shouldn't be reading at work.  But I can't
imagine be persecuted for reading anything in public in my
free time.

J.Pascal <ju...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I've never been in a place where race-based "fun" jokes were
acceptable because "we know we're all equal."    I suspect that you
belong to a privileged class that isn't accused of racism for uttering
secret codes?

   Nope, caucasian male, mostly heterosexual.  (Although that 'mostly'
gives me license to make any queer jokes I want.  ;) )  I'm half
Italian, that's as close as I get to an ethnicity.

I wasn't thinking caucasian. I was mostly thinking social class and
political orientation.

   Don't get me wrong -- race-based jokes are rude.  But sometimes
being rude is okay.  People are rude on television, comedians are
rude in their acts.  Politicians are not allowed to be rude, ever,
and they pay for off-color jokes.  But normal americans can be rude
if they want to be, with no legal repercussions.  And I've never,
ever heard of someone getting in trouble for reading without
extenuating circumstances.

It seems to me that I heard about the hostile reading thing but I
don't remember for certain and any details are long gone.

And yes, of course politicians aren't allowed to be rude, ever. But
even private people I know avoid un-funny references to (for example)
the Special Olympics. A politician who *slips* in that regard
suggests to me that the politician is often in company where it's
acceptable to make short-bus jokes. And that just astounds me. Not
that it happens in private company, but that someone can make a joke
*without* consciousness of how naughty it is.

-Julie

His name is Keith John Sampson. He is (or was) a janitor:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25680655/

He didn't get arrested. He did get threatened with being fired, and
almost was -- if the incident hadn't been publicized, he would have
been.

Also note that the book is AGAINST racism as expressed by the KKK.

Then there's Don Imus, who was in fact fired for repeating a joke the
subjects use among themselves. When the girls on the team refer to one
another as "nappy-headed hos" it's a joke. When a white sportscaster
repeats it, it's "racism".

You may call those isolated incidents, and you might be right -- but if
you genuinely believe in free speech, one such incident is too many.

Regards,
Ric
.

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