tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post798957646608436201..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Who Is Actually Offended?Assistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-83750715326318331762013-09-30T12:13:54.778-04:002013-09-30T12:13:54.778-04:00Right, I know where it comes from. (Or supposedly ...Right, I know where it comes from. (Or supposedly does.) The person in Seattle who was promoting a workplace ban on the phrase didn't, though.<br /><br />What I found sort of interesting was that this person seemed to have assumed that discrimination on the basis of skin shade *must*, simply *must*, have been done by white people.jaedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03328666344764784829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-31932038655563140982013-09-15T19:36:28.440-04:002013-09-15T19:36:28.440-04:00No, it was the old "negro" elite, such a...No, it was the old "negro" elite, such as Colin Powell's family, Bill Cosby's wife Camille, that supposedly had clubs where you (informally, surreptitiously, of course) couldn't join unless you were lighter than the bag.<br /><br />It may indeed be urban legend, or only approximately true.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-5652967004859065802013-09-15T19:10:16.989-04:002013-09-15T19:10:16.989-04:00Is that what the brown-bag ruckus was about? I won...<i>Is that what the brown-bag ruckus was about? I wondered. I thought the idea was that we couldn't use the word "brown" any more for some reason.</i><br /><br />There was some minor kerfuffle in Seattle a few weeks ago with this phrase. The person promulgating the ban on "brown-bag lunch" seemed to be confused, and think that segregationists had used a brown bag to distinguish between black and white people. Or something (Confusion begets confusion.)jaedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03328666344764784829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-30004992790089839362013-09-14T12:24:43.691-04:002013-09-14T12:24:43.691-04:00Texan 99 "...Aggies as the butt of the humor....Texan 99 "...Aggies as the butt of the humor."<br /><br />As they should be, according to my son in The Woodlands.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-56490904148499217782013-09-13T23:37:47.613-04:002013-09-13T23:37:47.613-04:00The whole brown bag complexion thing sounds like i...The whole brown bag complexion thing sounds like it's made up. I smell urban myth. It's probably just my urban myth scented deodorant. <br /><br />I suppose if the sandwich in the bag was peanut butter, that would make it worse. Dubbahdeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00075702513873912334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-89689410360830860862013-09-12T16:31:31.407-04:002013-09-12T16:31:31.407-04:00I think I said it here before: I first heard the ...I think I said it here before: I first heard the term in Tim Reid's show, Frank's Place. 26 years ago, or 25.<br /><br />I've misunderstood the Dutch uncle term all these years. I though it was someone who just gave it to you straight, unvarnished.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-59384034407422382512013-09-12T15:22:34.805-04:002013-09-12T15:22:34.805-04:00Is that what the brown-bag ruckus was about? I wo...Is that what the brown-bag ruckus was about? I wondered. I thought the idea was that we couldn't use the word "brown" any more for some reason.<br /><br />Along those lines, I realized only recently that a lot of expressions with the term "Dutch" in them began life as digs at the Dutch: Dutch treat, Dutch uncle, maybe even Dutch cleaner, I don't know. I remember my mother remarking that she was "too Scotch" to throw away leftovers. But when I was growing up, all the standard jokes had Aggies as the butt of the humor.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-12981931747407906022013-09-12T11:28:54.304-04:002013-09-12T11:28:54.304-04:00I thought at the time "$100 says no black per...<i>I thought at the time "$100 says no black person was ever offended by the phrase brown bag lunch. This is a white person showing off that he knows that particular bit of A-A cultural history and trying to play a trump card of being 'more-sensitive-than-thou.' Profoundly irritating."</i><br /><br />In support of your hypothesis, I recall a conversation with a neighbor who was also a Tuskegee airman. Within days of having retired from the Air Force, a nearby government entity offered him a management position, a position which he had not applied for. He accepted the position: "I'm brown-bagging it."<br /><br />Richard Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02815508395644671620noreply@blogger.com