[Newsbot]

Title: Tory MP makes racial gaffe.
Category: Political
Posted By: DerbyX
Date: 2009-05-30 06:59:01
Canadian

[maldonsfecht]

I'd never heard the term before and so I looked it up... there was ONE definition given:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tar%20baby

tar baby 
–noun a situation, problem, or the like, that is almost impossible to solve or to break away from.

Also, tarbaby.


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Origin:
after the tar doll used to trap Brer Rabbit in an Uncle Remus story (1881) of Joel Chandler Harris
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source |Link To tar baby
tar baby
n. A situation or problem from which it is virtually impossible to disentangle oneself.

[After "Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby," an Uncle Remus story by Joel Chandler Harris.]

this is a non-issue...

It's similar to in the States when a pubic official got in trouble for using the word "niggardly"

nig⋅gard⋅ly  /ˈnɪgərdli/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [nig-erd-lee] Show IPA
–adjective 1. reluctant to give or spend; stingy; miserly.
2. meanly or ungenerously small or scanty: a niggardly tip to a waiter.

–adverb 3. in the manner of a niggard.


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Origin:
1520–30; niggard + -ly

Washington, DC's black Mayor, Anthony Williams, gladly accepted the resignation of his white staff member, David Howard, because Mr. Howard uttered the word 'niggardly' in a private staff meeting.

Webster's Tenth Edition defines the word 'niggardly' to "grudgingly mean about spending or granting". The Barnhard Dictionary of Etymology traces the origins of 'niggardly' to the 1300's, and to the words 'nig' and 'ignon', meaning "miser" in Middle English. No where in any of these references is any mention of racial connotations associated with the word 'niggardly'.

people are just LOOKING for controversy rather than opening a dictionary

[DerbyX]

Its always a non-issue when its a conservative gaff. The offended MP didn't think so.

[maldonsfecht]

the offended MP doesn't know the dictionary as well as she might then...

if I said that something was a white elephant...

(A white elephant is a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness.)

I would hope that the large blonde lady with the sausage fingers in the room doesn't get upset

[raydan]

maldonsfecht maldonsfecht:

(A white elephant is a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness.)

That's what we call the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

[DerbyX]

Was the term white elephant ever used to derogatively describe black children?

In addition, its not the first time for this person.

$1:

Last June, hours before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic apology to generations of Canadian aboriginals for residential school abuses, Poilievre went on a talk radio show and made controversial comments about natives.

He said: "We spent $10 billion -- $10 billion -- in annual spending this year alone for budget year 2007-08. Now along with this apology comes another $4 billion in compensation for those who partook in the residential schools over those years. Some of us are starting to ask, are we really getting value for all this money? My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. That's the solution in the long run -- more money will not solve it."

[EyeBrock]

Whatever it means, it was a stupid thing to say in this day and age of rampant political correctness. He should have know better and deserves a good kick up the arse.

[poquas]

maldonsfecht maldonsfecht:

…. people are just LOOKING for controversy rather than opening a dictionary

The vast majority of people don’t need to open a dictionary to understand the colloquial meaning of the term. Would you seriously suggest you don’t understand the term “nigger” because it has no racist definition n the dictionary?

With all my distrust of Wikipedia, even they got it right.

$1:

Although the term's provenance arose in African folklore, some Americans now consider "tar baby" to have negative connotations revolving around negative images of African-Americans.[2] In recent years, several politicians who have publicly used the term have encountered some controversy, mocking, and censure from African-American civil rights leaders, members of the popular daily media, and other politicians.[3][4][5][6][7][8]. Regardless, the history of 'the tar baby' in its original form by far precedes the accusations of its racist associations.

In an interview, Toni Morrison said the following of its use in her book, in an acting of reclaiming: "Tar Baby is also a name, like 'nigger,' that white people call black children, black girls, as I recall…. At one time, a tar pit was a holy place, at least an important place, because tar was used to build things…. It held together things like Moses' little boat and the pyramids. For me, the tar baby came to mean the black woman who can hold things together." ("An Interview" 255) [9]

It’s just another case in point to justify an exorcism of some of the moronic clods in the Conservative party.

[maldonsfecht]

poquas poquas:

maldonsfecht maldonsfecht:

…. people are just LOOKING for controversy rather than opening a dictionary

The vast majority of people don’t need to open a dictionary to understand the colloquial meaning of the term. Would you seriously suggest you don’t understand the term “nigger” because it has no racist definition n the dictionary?

With all my distrust of Wikipedia, even they got it right.

$1:

Although the term's provenance arose in African folklore, some Americans now consider "tar baby" to have negative connotations revolving around negative images of African-Americans.[2] In recent years, several politicians who have publicly used the term have encountered some controversy, mocking, and censure from African-American civil rights leaders, members of the popular daily media, and other politicians.[3][4][5][6][7][8]. Regardless, the history of 'the tar baby' in its original form by far precedes the accusations of its racist associations.

In an interview, Toni Morrison said the following of its use in her book, in an acting of reclaiming: "Tar Baby is also a name, like 'nigger,' that white people call black children, black girls, as I recall…. At one time, a tar pit was a holy place, at least an important place, because tar was used to build things…. It held together things like Moses' little boat and the pyramids. For me, the tar baby came to mean the black woman who can hold things together." ("An Interview" 255) [9]

It’s just another case in point to justify an exorcism of some of the moronic clods in the Conservative party.

Toni Morrison is hardly impartial...

and in your quoting of this wikipedia article, it states that the historical terms far outweigh any ACCUSED racist associations

[maldonsfecht]

DerbyX DerbyX:

Was the term white elephant ever used to derogatively describe black children?

In addition, its not the first time for this person.

$1:

Last June, hours before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic apology to generations of Canadian aboriginals for residential school abuses, Poilievre went on a talk radio show and made controversial comments about natives.

He said: "We spent $10 billion -- $10 billion -- in annual spending this year alone for budget year 2007-08. Now along with this apology comes another $4 billion in compensation for those who partook in the residential schools over those years. Some of us are starting to ask, are we really getting value for all this money? My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. That's the solution in the long run -- more money will not solve it."

your stated example does not show any racial terminology in use, it's a financial discussion... it's a poor back-up argument to state precedent with this politician.

[maldonsfecht]

furthermore, he was in no way referencing a person, group of people or organisation... he was using regarding a policy.

[DerbyX]

maldonsfecht maldonsfecht:

Toni Morrison is hardly impartial...

and in your quoting of this wikipedia article, it states that the historical terms far outweigh any ACCUSED racist associations

Actually it says "precedes" not "outweighs" which are distinctly different in terms of meaning.

Language is an evolving beast and words can and do come to represent something else and sometimes a word that wasn't bad becomes bad.

[DerbyX]

maldonsfecht maldonsfecht:

DerbyX DerbyX:

Was the term white elephant ever used to derogatively describe black children?

In addition, its not the first time for this person.

$1:

Last June, hours before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic apology to generations of Canadian aboriginals for residential school abuses, Poilievre went on a talk radio show and made controversial comments about natives.

He said: "We spent $10 billion -- $10 billion -- in annual spending this year alone for budget year 2007-08. Now along with this apology comes another $4 billion in compensation for those who partook in the residential schools over those years. Some of us are starting to ask, are we really getting value for all this money? My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self-reliance. That's the solution in the long run -- more money will not solve it."

your stated example does not show any racial terminology in use, it's a financial discussion... it's a poor back-up argument to state precedent with this politician.

Then examine the reference in that the man has racial issues.

[maldonsfecht]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

Whatever it means, it was a stupid thing to say in this day and age of rampant political correctness. He should have know better and deserves a good kick up the arse.

I'd agree but rearrange a few words here Brock... he said something in this age of stupid, rampant political correctness...

[DerbyX]

Do you recall the conservatives on this forum going apeshit when the Liberal MP incorrectly named the first chinese MP?