What makes people think this is OK?

[Flystripper]

It seem like you are always on the racist side of these arguments JL. Why is that? What does it say about you?

[JohnnyLingo]

It seem like you are always on the racist side of these arguments JL. Why is that? What does it say about you?

Are you saying I am a racist? If that's what you're saying, come on out and make the accusation, Flystripper.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

You sure pick some stupid battles to fight.

Lingo is incapable of keeping his powder dry.

[TripletDaddy]

Which has exactly what to do with lingering grudges and guilt about prejudcial misdeeds?

Many Mormons reference pioneer tales of woe as evidence of the divinity of the mission of said pioneers. Martin Handcart is simply one set of such tales of woe. Other pioneer stories involve what you refer to as "prejudicial misdeeds" (a redundancy if there ever were one...), some stories involve lingering grudges. Not all stories encompass every aspect of this thread.

[JohnnyLingo]

Lingo is incapable of keeping his powder dry.

More true than not. I enjoy constantly picking at convention and seeing why things are the way they are. Not good for making friends, but I find it intellectually stimulating.

[Flystripper]

Are you saying I am a racist? If that's what you're saying, come on out and make the accusation, Flystripper.

I am asking why you always try and make this argument? Your posting style in these threads appears racist to me. Supporting what those people did is a racist thing to do. If that makes you a racist then so be it.

[Pheidippides]

Are you saying I am a racist? If that's what you're saying, come on out and make the accusation, Flystripper.

I am going to rename all JohnnyLingo threads the "Almost-Socratic Quasi-Rhetorical Question Thread, No. 459" (where "459" refers to this thread in particular).

In fact, I think that may be one of the reasons why JL gets picked on so much. Maybe nothing is wrong with him at all, except for the fact that he has unwittingly chosen to argue almost, but not quite, exactly like all of the smarmy law professors I had in law school. Maybe he's not smarmy at all but the unintentional choice of argument style makes it seem that way.

(I am being serious, at least with respect to the second paragraph.)

[JohnnyLingo]

I am asking why you always try and make this argument? Your posting style in these threads appears racist to me. Supporting what those people did is a racist thing to do. If that makes you a racist then so be it.

Thank you for being clear.

I don't think I'm racist. I just don't buy the argument that what these kids did was wholly offensive. I asked Tim if a black person dressing up as a stereotypical white guy would offend him and he didn't answer. It would not annoy or anger me, and I think the same could be said of any white person who posts here. The double standard annoys me and I'm not afraid of appearing racist while I explore this social construct.

[TheBYUGuy]

They look like homeless Ferengi.

LOL! Seriously.

[TripletDaddy]

More true than not. I enjoy constantly picking at convention and seeing why things are the way they are. Not good for making friends, but I find it intellectually stimulating.

Come on, guys. This is temptation beyond that which I can bear!!!

[JohnnyLingo]

Maybe he's not smarmy at all but the unintentional choice of argument style makes it seem that way.

Maybe the problem here is that sometimes I'm really not arguing anything. I may have my own ideas about a topic, but I'm willing to dig around in other people's brains to see if they have anything that can affect my preconceived notions.

If that comes across as a smarmy way of pushing my own rhetoric, I apologize. I have been guilty of this in the past, but I am trying to get away from it.

[TheBYUGuy]

We had some good friends in our ward where the husband was white and the wife was black. On Halloween one year, they dressed up as Kip and Lafawnda (sp?). The next year, they came as Dr. Phil and Oprah.

[Pheidippides]

Maybe the problem here is that sometimes I'm really not arguing anything. I may have my own ideas about a topic, but I'm willing to dig around in other people's brains to see if they have anything that can affect my preconceived notions.

If that comes across as a smarmy way of pushing my own rhetoric, I apologize. I have been guilty of this in the past, but I am trying to get away from it.

If true, it's as much a product of our educational backgrounds as it is your argument style. I am going to eat some popcorn and further study this.

[falafel]

Thank you for being clear.

I don't think I'm racist. I just don't buy the argument that what these kids did was wholly offensive. I asked Tim if a black person dressing up as a stereotypical white guy would offend him and he didn't answer. It would not annoy or anger me, and I think the same could be said of any white person who posts here. The double standard annoys me and I'm not afraid of appearing racist while I explore this social construct.

What would dressing up as a steriotypical white guy entail? Wearing a baseball hat and a NFL sweatshirt? Maybe stuffing your gut a bit? Really, there's not much you could do but paint your face cream colored.

Contrast that with what these people (at least the chick) did. But butt, big boobs. Now we're not just dressing in a certain way, we're making fun of the physical appearance of black people (notwithstanding that many black people don't even share those characteristics).

[Jeff Lebowski]

Come on, guys. This is temptation beyond that which I can bear!!!

Release the hounds!