Do you consider this a racial slur?

[8circles]

I think in the context it isn't meant to be a racial slur but because of history it shouldn't be used anyway. There are other words or phrases to mean "a sticky situation".

:iagree:

[Spy Car]

Yep, :tongue_smilie:. My apologies to Mark Twain. But back to the question, does it damage the original intent and story line when we 'clean up' a story?

 

Actually there are "cleaned up" versions of both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn that are intended for use in the class-room.

 

Bill

[JudyJudyJudy]

dp

[JudyJudyJudy]

Where I grew up, it is definitely a racial slur.

[deacongirl]

:iagree::iagree:

It's a literary allusion, but to a set of stories that are generally considered racially charged and inappropriate now, so it's best to avoid it-at least in my part of the country. At best, you'll come off sounding insensitive.

[Pretty in Pink]

I've only ever heard it used as a racial slur. I wouldn't stand in the middle of Wal-Mart and say it. I think most black people would be offended by the term, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Peela]

I remember it from my childhood- my grandmother telling me the Brer Rabbit stories. A bit like the original Noddy and Big Ear stories- (they slept together- uh oh)- very politically incorrect nowadays.

I wouldn't use it because of possible racial associations, but it probably isn't racial at all. Although political correctness gets really overdone, racism is still very alive and well, even in the subconscious of most white people who wouldn't consciously want to be racist, so I just wouldn't use it.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I had to put other. It sounds like the way your neighbor used it was not intended as a racial slur. But set out alone-yes, the phrase can be used as one. It all comes down to context and intent as well as a healthy dose of local culture/usage.

[stripe]

I also think there's a difference between calling someone/something a tar baby, and reading Brer Rabbit stories.

[stripe]

Lester's version isn't exactly dialect-free.

I think one can have a character speak in a black dialect without it being racist or obnoxious.

 

I think Harris' version is obnoxious. I can't read it.

"Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy the next evening.

 

"He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun w'at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be. En he didn't hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit pacin' down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity -lippity--dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

 

"`Mawnin'!' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee - `nice wedder dis mawnin',' sezee.

 

"Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox he lay low.

 

"`How duz yo' sym'tums seem ter segashuate?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.

 

"Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'.

 

"'How you come on, den? Is you deaf?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Kaze if you is, I kin holler louder,' sezee.

 

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

 

"'You er stuck up, dat's w'at you is,' says Brer Rabbit, sezee, 'en I;m gwine ter kyore you, dat's w'at I'm a gwine ter do,' sezee.

 

"Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nothin'.

 

"'I'm gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter 'spectubble folks ef hit's de las' ack,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Ef you don't take off dat hat en tell me howdy, I'm gwine ter bus' you wide open,' sezee.

[BigMamaBird]

I tend to think that a lot of "racial slurs" are just people being over sensitive, but this does seem a bit too out there, even for me.

[stripe]

Yes, I'm sure you're right. I just always figured, since I first heard them as a kid, that the original children listening to these would be black children, and imagining them as "black" animals :)

 

You're right in that they probably have no real "race", and surely they weren't meant to create a white/black conflict in any case.

Well, despite how I see it, I can see that one could read them in a deeper way, as a racial allegory.

 

For example, this website (from which I got that Harris dialect I just posted) poses the question, "If the tale is to be read as the depiction of one race triumphing over another, who is the victor in Tar-Baby?"

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/remus/anatar.html

[LidiyaDawn]

I was an adult before I knew that "tar baby" could have any racial implications.. as a kid, that was a kind of candy. I'm not familiar with these Brer Rabbit stories - I know OF them, kinda.. in the way that I know OF Moby Dick.. never read them… but yeah, it was just a candy to me as a kid.

[leeannpal]

I know they are animals.:lol: I'm talking about the way their dialect sounded to me. In no way was I trying to offend anyone. I personally just did not care for the story, and in fact my kids were dumbfounded after hearing it. I also do not think any kid is going to become a terrible trickster after reading it.;)

 

There are several Uncle Remus tales. I happen to live in the town where Joel Chandler Harris was born. As a child, Harris grew up on a plantation as a white child. He played with the slave children and often visited their shacks to listen to the stories that the older adults would tell. Some of these stories were folktales brought from Africa. As an adult, Harris felt it was important to preserve these stories, since none of them had been written down. He created the character of Uncle Remus, an older black slave to tell the stories.

 

While the stories aren't necessarily racist, the fact that they were written down by a white slave owner's son has been touted as racist. However, if you read Harris' writings about why he went to the trouble to record these stories, it is evident that he felt it would be a shame if the stories died out with slavery.

 

In the Tar Baby story, Brer Fox wants to eat Brer Rabbit. With a bit of trickery, Brer Rabbit outfoxes the fox. I loved the story as a kid and can see quite a bit of a moral lesson from several of the stories.

[Paula in MS]

I had no idea. I've lived in the South my entire life and have never heard the term used at all (outside the story, of course.)

 

Paula

[Melissa in Australia]

the only time I have heard the expression "tar baby" is in Brear Rabbit.

[Rhonda in TX]

I only know it as a literary allusion. I've never heard anybody use it as a racial slur.

[Crissy]

I tend to think that a lot of "racial slurs" are just people being over sensitive, but this does seem a bit too out there, even for me.

 

Oh, that is interesting. Maybe I grew up around particularly cruel and thoughtless folks when it comes to race, but there is nothing in the phrases and terms they used with regard to certain groups that anyone could be over-sensitive about.

[Slartibartfast]

Actually there are "cleaned up" versions of both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn that are intended for use in the class-room.

 

Bill

 

Hey! Let's fight about that again! That was fun!

 

 

 

:lol:

[Ginevra]

I hesitate to ask this, but I'm curious.

 

Do you consider the term "tar baby" a racial slur? I have only ever heard of in the context of something being a sticky situation that you don't want to get involved with, but we were watching something the other night and some politician or other said it (in ref to a sticky situation) and everyone was saying this was a racial slur.

 

We live in stairwell housing (military) and two of my neighbors (in separate apartments) were going at each other all the time. It got to the point where I didn't want to go up and down the stairs for fear of being cornered by one of them so they could talk bad about the other. My downstairs neighbor (not one of the ones fighting) saw me literally running down the stairs one day to get to my car and asked me what was going on. I looked around, hesitantly, and she asked me to come in (she could tell I didn't want to talk in the hall). I told her I was trying to avoid neighbor A and B and she laughed and said "Yeah, that's like fighting a tar baby. You don't want to get your hands in that mess because you'll only get stuck." We laughed, had a nice chat and then I dashed out to my car. It never occurred to me that this was thought of as a racial slur. The neighbor who used it was (is, really, but they've moved :( ) one of the kindest most generous people I've ever met. She's the kind of neighbor everyone loves to have and the kind of neighbor everyone should aspire to be. I can't think she possibly meant this as a racial slur.

 

So, yes or no?

 

Yes. If I heard someone use that term it would not occur to me that this was anything but a racial term. The neighbor most likely meant it the same as it means to you. I suppose there is a region that thinks of it as you do. The region is probably not the uptight northeast, though. ;)

[Spy Car]

I think one can have a character speak in a black dialect without it being racist or obnoxious.

 

I think Harris' version is obnoxious. I can't read it.

 

"Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy the next evening.

 

 

 

"He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun w'at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be. En he didn't hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit pacin' down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity -lippity--dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

 

 

 

"`Mawnin'!' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee - `nice wedder dis mawnin',' sezee.

 

 

 

"Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox he lay low.

 

 

 

"`How duz yo' sym'tums seem ter segashuate?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.

 

 

 

"Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'.

 

 

 

"'How you come on, den? Is you deaf?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Kaze if you is, I kin holler louder,' sezee.

 

 

 

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

 

 

 

"'You er stuck up, dat's w'at you is,' says Brer Rabbit, sezee,,23 'en I;m gwine ter kyore you, dat's w'at I'm a gwine ter do,' sezee.

 

 

 

"Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nothin'.

 

 

 

"'I'm gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter 'spectubble folks ef hit's de las' ack,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Ef you don't take off dat hat en tell me howdy, I'm gwine ter bus' you wide open,' sezee.

 

 

 

Here, for sake of comparison is an excerpt fom Lester's version, which to my mind lacks something compared with the Joel Chandler Harris version:

 

BRER RABBIT AND THE TAR BABY retold by Julius Lester

 

Early one morning, even before Sister Moon had put on her negligee, Brer Fox was up and moving around. He had a glint in his eye, so you know he was up to no good. He mixed up a big batch of tar and made it into the shape of a baby. By the time he finished, Brer Sun was yawning himself awake and peeping one eye over the topside of the earth. Brer Fox took his Tar Baby down to the road, the very road Brer Rabbit walked along every morning. He sat the Tar Baby in the road, put a hat on it, and then hid in a ditch. He had scarcely gotten comfortable (as comfortable as one can get in a ditch), before Brer Rabbit came strutting along like he owned the world and was collecting rent from everybody in it. Seeing the Tar Baby, Brer Rabbit tipped his hat. “Good morning! Nice day, ain't it? Of course, any day I wake up and find I'm still alive is a nice day far as I'm concerned.” He laughed at his joke, which he thought was pretty good. (Ain't too bad if I say so myself.) Tar Baby don't say a word. Brer Fox stuck his head up out of the ditch, grinning. “You deaf?” Brer Rabbit asked the Tar Baby. “If you are, I can talk louder.” He yelled, “How you this morning? Nice day, ain't it?” Tar Baby still don't say nothing. Brer Rabbit was getting kinna annoyed. “I don't know what's wrong with this young generation. Didn't your parents teach you no manners?” Tar Baby don't say nothing.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Spy Car
Added text

[stripe]

Here, for sake of comparison is an excerpt fom Lester's version, which to my mind lacks something compared with the Joel Chandler Harris version:

 

Yes, the word "gwine."

 

Shudder.

 

I'm sticking with Lester.

 

(You don't actually read Brer Rabbit in dialect, do you?)

[Spy Car]

Yes, the word "gwine."

 

Shudder.

 

I'm sticking with Lester.

 

(You don't actually read Brer Rabbit in dialect, do you?)

 

I have read some of the stories aloud to my wife, but not to my child. I'm sensitive to the problem.

 

I think there is room for another re-telling that retains the spirit of the Joel Chandler Harris without making it bland. I don't particularly care for Lester's version.

 

Bill

[justasque]

(You don't actually read Brer Rabbit in dialect, do you?)

 

Lester's version is available on audio, read by Lester himself. He does a great job with the accent, and it comes off as more storytelling than reading a book, if you know what I mean.

 

My kids loved these stories. They were just the right length for listening to in the car.

 

My experience is that hearing them on audio removed a lot of the dialect issues you'd have if you read them in a book. The dialect comes off as just the storyteller's normal way of speaking (in an exaggerated, storyteller-performance kind of way), and Lester's modern updates to the stories, and asides here and there (explaining conflicting stories or timelines), also help make the stories appropriate for a modern audience.

[Mrs Mungo]

I have heard it used more as a racial slur than to describe a sticky situation. Time magazine did an article on it several years ago after a certain someone got some bad press for using it.

[Spy Car]

I'm not familiar with these Brer Rabbit stories - I know OF them, kinda.. in the way that I know OF Moby Dick.. never read them…

 

Are you baiting me? :D

 

Bill

[Geo]

I've lived in the south my entire life, even before civil rights...never heard the term, "tar baby" used as a racial slur. This sorta reminds me of:

 

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1725/is-niggardly-a-racist-word

Edited August 30, 2011 by Geo

[LucyStoner]

There are a lot of trickster tales out there besides these.

[Mom in High Heels]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I found it interesting how so many people saw it one way and so many saw it another.

FTR, I love the Uncle Remus stories. I also like the original dialect. I think putting it in pc speak (as opposed to the dialect that it was originally told in) diminishes the cultural and historical importance and significance of the tales. These are not tales the tales of white Americans. They are the tales of African slaves and are important for that reason.

 

BTW, in the Disney ride, Splash Mountain (a favorite of ours) is based on the Br'er Rabbit (Song of the South) stories, though instead of a tar baby, B'r Rabbit gets suck in a beehive. Song of the South has never been released on DVD, as it is considered too racial. I dare you not to sing Zip-a-dee-doo-dah though when you hear it. :D

 

I should have said in my original post (I'm going to go back and edit it to add this) that it never occurred to me that my neighbor meant it racially. Until I heard the news story, I never thought of it as a racial slur.

[asta]

Referring to an African American as a tar baby is racist.

 

The original Br'er Rabbitt (Uncle Remus) stories represent a very important part of our cultural heritage coming from West African and Native American roots. These are legitimate folk-tales that need to be preserved. That many were collected and popularized by Joel Chandler Harris, a "white" journalist who rendered the stories in (imperfectly) heavy "black dialect," does not make the stories "racist."

 

Joel Chandler Harris was, in fact, an an opponent of racism and a voice for racial reconciliation. If the dialect is a bit much, it was not rendered with an intent to lampoon or parody.

 

To lose these stories as part of out cultural heritage would be a shame.

 

Bill

 

:iagree:

 

Every culture has something -- some word or words that one group is going to decide, years on, for whatever reason, is/are now completely offensive. So then, what? Down the memory hole?

 

What I find particularly offensive about people being 'particularly offended' about 'tar baby' is that, generally, they don't even know what it means! Like previous posters said: it is a literary allusion. So what does a person have to do - first define what a literary allusion is, then describe the concept of 'the trickster' in literature, and only THEN be allowed to use the words 'tar baby' (which, let's face it, immediately conjure up images of a baby covered in sticky goo that you can't let go of - what else honestly conveys that idea as quickly? Gum on a shoe? Take your shoe off.).

 

Perfect example of a word that was also in the news lately -- not a literary allusion, but also one that left people screaming RACISM:

 

Niggardly.

 

It means miserly. But do you know its origin? (from Dictionary.com)

 

1325–75; Middle English nyggard, equivalent to nig niggard (< Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish nygg; akin to Old English hnēaw stingy) + -ard

 

1325!

 

And it came from a Scandinavian word before it hit Middle English.

 

Sometimes I think people want to put ill intent on words that have been in use for bleeding forever simply because they don't understand what they actually mean. Heck, we could eliminate a goodly portion of our language simply because it 'sounds like' something someone has 'decided' is racist to 'someone'.

 

Sigh.

 

 

a

[Mom in High Heels]

Asta, I ♥ you.

[stripe]

FTR, I love the Uncle Remus stories. I also like the original dialect. I think putting it in pc speak (as opposed to the dialect that it was originally told in) diminishes the cultural and historical importance and significance of the tales. These are not tales the tales of white Americans. They are the tales of African slaves and are important for that reason.

 

I don't agree that Harris's style is "the original dialect" or that he somehow is the authentic voice of African slaves speaking in dialect. He wrote them down in a certain way, which many white people have done and continue to do ("The Help"), and not only are they rarely able to actually capture true black speech patterns, but the way of writing them down often brings its own emotions with it. So a black person says "wuz", which implies something other than a white person saying "was" -- even though everyone says the exact same sound for this word!

 

I don't feel Lester is bland, but I can see that normal, but energetic speech patterns seem bland compared to Harris' over the top style, which to me is clown like, just like homemade food might tastes bland compared to overly sugary, brightly colored stuff from a box.

 

I think it's great he wrote down the tales, but they are utterly unusable in their form. I find Lester a suitable substitute, and one that has an authentic black voice and warm dialect to it. Suggesting one read Harris in the original is just not realistic for most people.

 

Getting rid of racism (what you suggest is a negative thing by dismissing it as going PC) is, to me, an important goal.

[Mom in High Heels]

 

Getting rid of racism (what you suggest is a negative thing by dismissing it as going PC) is, to me, an important goal.

 

Please don't put words in my mouth. I never suggested getting rid of racism was a bad thing (please quote where I did). I do however believe that making EVERYTHING pc (who, by the way, gets to decide what is pc and what isn't?) diminishes the cultural and historical importance of things. What makes literature pc? Should everything be in the Queen's English? Why? I would think people of all races would find THAT offensive. My grandparents had a AA neighbor (though she probably would have laughed if you'd called her anything but black) who was old (probably in her late 80's) when I was little (in the late 1970's/ early 1980's). She was a kind, sweet, funny lady, but spoke in a way that is certainly not the Queen's English. She would say things like " It sho' is hot today" "Honey chil' you look a might bit peeked" "That ol' dog's gunna get himself sprayed if'n he don't stay away from that there skunk." She would NOT have said "Well, it certainly is a hot day" "My dear, you look positively unwell" "If that old dog doesn't stay away from that skunk, he's sure to be sprayed." That's just not how she talked. If *I* were writing a story that has a character based on her I'd have that character speak in a dialect that reflects her.

In many novels set in England (pick almost any time period) there are always characters who speak with poor grammar or strong cockney accents, Irish or Scottish accents and yet they're not called racist. In Wuthering Heights one of the characters speaks with a strong accent and yet that's not considered racist. In Pygmalion, Henry Higgins and Col Pickering make fun of Eliza's accent. The play (and later the movie My Fair Lady) are written so that Eliza must speak with a hard accent. Should that be changed too? Of course not because it takes away from the story and the cultural significance.

 

BTW, I live in Europe where you don't call people African American (because they aren't American). They are black, just like I'm white. Several that I know think the whole pcing of their race in America is ridiculous. Many people over here think Americans are negating and destroying many cultures due to the excessive need to make everything pc. There are of course certain words that almost everyone considers bad form to use, but not everything should be cleansed so as not to offend.

[Scuff]

I chose other because I've never heard that term and don't know. :)

[akmommy]

I've never even heard of it in that sense. The only tar baby Ive ever heard of is in the stories about Brer Rabbit my grandpa told use to tell us (since then I've seen the stories in books and cartoons). I can see where the exspession would fit a sticky situation. I guess it could be used as a slur, but context would be the key factor, I think.

[Murphy101]

I heart Asta.

[Unicorn.]

Yes, the word "gwine."

 

Shudder.

 

I'm sticking with Lester.

 

(You don't actually read Brer Rabbit in dialect, do you?)[/QUOTE]

 

Why wouldn't you? When I read Harris's version, I lose myself and travel back in time. I'm right there listening to the original story, and can see the storyteller in full animation, see the look of awe on the boy's face, and feel the heat from the campfire around which the story is being told. Lester's version is boring and cold, imho.

 

It's how people talked. Why would you change it? Do you not read Twain w/ dialect either? (asking seriously, not being snarky)

[stripe]

Please don't put words in my mouth. I never suggested getting rid of racism was a bad thing (please quote where I did).

 

I did not say you said racism should live on. I said eliminating racism is my goal, and I then was responding to the idea that any effort to deviate from Harris' original would be going PC, instead of, perhaps, addressing the possible racism (or incomprehensibility) of Harris', or anyone else's, work.

 

I like the tales. I like a good dialect. I don't like Harris' dialect, and I think the way it is written is very hard to understand and is not appropriate for today's children because one must consider what the implications of an overdone dialect (we have no way of knowing if that's how people spoke, AND the are certain ways of writing black dialect that are not done for white dialect even when people pronounce the words the same way, such as "was" vs. "wuz") . I also don't know that I would take a white or black European's view on American race relations very seriously. I know non-Americans with dark skin too. They see black /white issues differently than Americans do. These tales carry with them emotional and psychological import. It is easy to dismiss them if one has not been affected by these matters, and to say "That's just PC," if one wants to even look at race issues, is, I think, a bit tiresome. Any deviation from an old fake negro dialect written down by a white guy, with whatever motivation, is not bowing to the PC crowd or putting it in PC speak, and to phrase it that way is dismissive of the underlying issues.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mom in High Heels

FTR, I love the Uncle Remus stories. I also like the original dialect. I think putting it in pc speak (as opposed to the dialect that it was originally told in) diminishes the cultural and historical importance and significance of the tales. These are not tales the tales of white Americans. They are the tales of African slaves and are important for that reason.

[stripe]

 

Why wouldn't you? When I read Harris's version, I lose myself and travel back in time. I'm right there listening to the original story, and can see the storyteller in full animation, see the look of awe on the boy's face, and feel the heat from the campfire around which the story is being told. Lester's version is boring and cold, imho.

 

It's how people talked. Why would you change it? Do you not read Twain w/ dialect either? (asking seriously, not being snarky)

 

I haven't read Twain to them, they are too young.

 

I don't "do" fake negro dialects.

 

Here are two versions of Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman Speech. Her first language was Dutch, by the way, and she apparently spoke with a Dutch accent.

 

"If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder (and she glanced her eye over the platform) ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now dey is asking to do it, de men better let 'em."

 

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them."

 

I don't think every time a French man says "the" it should be written as "zee," either.

[Unicorn.]

I haven't read Twain to them, they are too young.

 

I don't "do" fake negro dialects.

 

Here are two versions of Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman Speech. Her first language was Dutch, by the way, and she apparently spoke with a Dutch accent.

 

"If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder (and she glanced her eye over the platform) ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now dey is asking to do it, de men better let 'em."

 

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them."

 

I don't think every time a French man says "the" it should be written as "zee," either.

Ahh, I get it. I guess I never considered it to be a "black accent". Although I did think Harris's dialect was exagerated I always looked at it as an unrefined, uneducated, poor southern person accent. Some of the terms, and accents I have heard actual people (of white and color) use. So to me it was just a southern thing.

 

Sort of like when movies are made about Texas, and the actors have these really bad accents and portray us all to be ignorant cowboys. :tongue_smilie:

[YLVD]

uh, yes, of course it is

[akmommy]

uh, yes, of course it is

 

Is it?:confused: I had never the term used as a racial slur or otherwise. My grandfather was a storyteller and the Brer Rabbit stories were some of my favorite. Until this thread it never occurred to me as a child or adult that there might be anything racial in them other then they were said to be African American in origin.

 

I wonder if this is one of those regional things or am I just very naive. I've never lived in the south and my experience here is that where racism exists here it tends to be much more covert (not really something that's openly expressed, but does exist).

[Mom in High Heels]

uh, yes, of course it is

 

 

Why?

[BabyBre]

Although I grew up in an area with little racial bigotry (or diversity), I learned that phrase in a derogatory context and know it to be such a term. I don't know it any other way.

[Murphy101]

Ahh, I get it. I guess I never considered it to be a "black accent". Although I did think Harris's dialect was exagerated I always looked at it as an unrefined, uneducated, poor southern person accent. Some of the terms, and accents I have heard actual people (of white and color) use. So to me it was just a southern thing.

 

Sort of like when movies are made about Texas, and the actors have these really bad accents and portray us all to be ignorant cowboys. :tongue_smilie:

 

Me too.

 

Course, I can't wrap my brain around the idea of being too young for Mark Twain so my opinion is probably moot. I have a dd who has decided my red and gold hardback of Tom Sawyer is hers. She carries it around all the time pretending to read it. It's in her pink princess purse right next to her littlest pet shop kitties - the highest honor she can give it. Saying a kid is too young for Twain is like saying a person gets too old for chocolate. I'm sure some people hold to those views, but I can't imagine it in our home.:D