January 27, 2007

Here's a Question...

Let's say a high school is built in a predominately-black neighborhood. The school needs a mascot/nickname, and the kids vote to be the "Crackers" and have someone dress up in a Revenge of the Nerds type getup to be the mascot. Or they call themselves the "Wops" and have a Godfather-type mascot, except without any guns or violent imagery.

Would you have a problem with this? Why or why not?

Posted by Jenelle at January 27, 2007 11:55 AM | TrackBack
Comments

There's a huge difference between choosing a name that other groups find offensive after the fact and choosing a name deliberately in order to offend.

Posted by: Rev. Mike at January 27, 2007 02:23 PM

That's the answer to a different question.

And I have to say that "cracker" is not a word that particularly offends me.

Posted by: Jenelle at January 27, 2007 08:42 PM

Oh, does it bother me personally? Not really. Although I'm a southerner, I spent my formative years in WI and MN, so a lot of that stuff is lost on me. However, I also think that people in the north have no idea how close southerners hold that stuff to their chest. I grew up around all manners of ethnic humor, e.g., Swedish vs. Norwegian in the Midwest, Polish vs. Italian in PA. There is no sense of humor about ethnicity in the south.

Posted by: Rev. Mike at January 28, 2007 08:17 PM