Man Fired For Calling Watermelon Obama Fruit

Originally posted by tsurfer2000h
reply to post by evil incarnate

 

I wasn't saying that calling other folks derogatory names is funny, because it isn't.I was just saying that it was funny that a single word can get people mad enough to fight.

To be honest, I totally agree. I would like to think everyone could shrug off a word but context has meaning and meaning has power.

It kind of goes back to this when I was young I would say most children said the same thing and that is sticks and stones may break my bones,but names will never hurt me. Kind of childish but it is the truth. Names have never hurt me like a stick or a stone has.

It also reminds me of how when we were kids we used words like fag to insult anyone that was being less than cool without giving any thought to sexuality. That is the world I would like to live in but unfortunately, most people's bosses live in this one.

I do not disagree with you idea. In another 400 years will it still have a racial connotation? There was a time when lobster was peasant food and fed to prisoners because who wants to eat cheap bottom feeding waterbugs, right? If all those prisoners had been one particular race, we might have lobster slurs today. That would be more fun.

Originally posted by Grand Master
Sorry Guys, But this can only happen in the USA....

What's NEXT!

Wana play Black Jack! oops I just got fired for playing cards on my break!

Look. We do not have royalty. We do not have really cool super old architecture. We do not have vast swaths of exotic land left unexplored. We do not know how to make a movie that was not already made at least once. We do not have thousands of years of history. We get bored. If only John Smith had been a better talker, we would be all over this Jesus in America thing but eh.

We have slavery, prohibition, and '80s music. Cut us some slack will ya.

I don't see any problem here.

Watermelon is made of 70 % water, Obama is made of 70 % water.

Watermelon has seeds. Obama has seeds.

Watermelon is red on the inside. Obama is red on the inside.

Nope.. no problem at all.

reply to post by evil incarnate


Racism will never go away, it may hide but it will never go away. It will be here in some form all the way to the end of the earth and even longer than that. So there will always be those that are branded a racist.

I've been hiring and firing for myself or others for most of my adult life.

First violation of office or workplace conduct you warn.
Second time you fire.

Unless, the person has a history of creating problems.

Not knowing in this case the whole story there is another possibility that is very real to an employer. Another employee threatened a suit against the company if he was not terminated.

As to his comment. Any American who does not know that is an offensive comment is either closeted or lying. Yes people are way to sensitive and yes there is a difference in how humor is viewed, but a mature adult deals with it by not offending others.

We know if a Black person makes White jokes it is viewed differently than the other way around. We know how hypocritical and wrong that is. As adults we should also know that behaving like an adult and respecting other peoples sensitivities is the right thing to do. If we do that eventually it might change.

I'd say the firing was justified considering it was a company sponsored affair.

reply to post by theonlyrusty


You are a racist. I am sure you are tired of having to pretend not to be. It must be really hard for you.

Give me a minute while I go find my little violin.

reply to post by acrux


LOL!

Obama fruit...

Wow.

reply to post by Blaine91555


I think it is hard to be on one side or the other with not having more info on this man and his background. Without that I find it hard to agree with either side in this situation.

reply to post by aching_knuckles


I've noticed a pretty blatent trend with your posts.

So, it is okay for a guy like Chapelle to crack white jokes, but whitey can't make fun of a president with a dual meaning joke?

Hmm...good thing YOU aren't racist...

It's hard to take this as seriously as some of you. I think it's funny simply because the knucklehead said it. Obama fruit, lol. Does that make me a racist too? Sorry if I offend someone's delicate racial sensibilities by laughing.

Hey, did anyone laugh when he said it? Shouldn't they be fired too? Hell, just fire everyone, just to be on the safe side. The sacred principle is much more important than anything else, like a guy's ability to feed his kids.

All those war-hawks better stop calling Obama a chicken. That's so racist!! Fire them!!

reply to post by acrux


How dare he call the poor watermelon that!


I would be offended to if someone compared me to Obama.

I guarantee what this man said is nice talk compared to what a majority of the people have said about him. I can promise I have said things about Obama that makes this remark seem like baby talk. Just because I say something about him doesn't mean I am a racist. Being a racist should not be determined by a simple remark. I have known many racist in my time and if they heard that remark they would laugh at it. Just like someone has said earlier in this thread when did naming fruit or talking about fruit make someone a racist. I guess I have to call my fruity ice tea something else,because god forbid someone thinks I am making a racist remark about the rapper/actor by talking about drinking my fruity ice tea. I hope I don't get in trouble for that. People give names to all sort of things does that make them racist.

Originally posted by tsurfer2000h
reply to post by Blaine91555

 

I think it is hard to be on one side or the other with not having more info on this man and his background. Without that I find it hard to agree with either side in this situation.

Everything you've said throughout the thread makes me think you a)support the racist, b)are a racist.

But alas, my view is just 'POLITICALL CORRECTNAS GONE MAD!' Bring back the days where we could degrade people because of the colour of their skin without public backlash!

Damn commies. Hur!

Originally posted by peck420
reply to post by aching_knuckles

 

I've noticed a pretty blatent trend with your posts.

So, it is okay for a guy like Chapelle to crack white jokes, but whitey can't make fun of a president with a dual meaning joke?

Hmm...good thing YOU aren't racist...

White people do make black jokes. The difference is its subtle and well done, thus racists like yourself miss them. They go over your head, as they're light hearted jokes with no ill intent.

You'd only notice the 'joke' if it involved words like ''n-word'' and 'coon' and was downright offensive.

If you can't see the difference between the likes of Chapelle and say Bernard Manning you have something seriously wrong with you.

It's real easy to dress this up as innocent, isn't it?
Poor guy was just crackin' jokes, y'all. Cain't say nuthin' these days, huh?
Is that what you guys really think?

I shall point out the difference, in the collective consciousness, between a black man making white jokes, and a white man making black jokes. A black man making white jokes hasn't got much history behind it. A white man making black jokes, however, has 400 years of slavery behind it. 400 years of slavery still ain't funny, no matter how long it's been.

That's not to say that it's right to make jokes about white people. But it is to say that those don't come with the same weight. That's a fact. You can pretend it isn't, but you're just lying to yourself.

So, being at a work sponsored event, and hearing someone cracking that tired old black people/fried chicken/watermelon nonsense would offend me. Yes, it sure as hell would.

I remember sitting at my desk at my old job. There was a new temp in to do some admin work for my boss. He comes out and asks her what her ethnicity was. When she told him she was Korean, he says to her,

"Why ain't you workin' in a convenience store, then?"

Nobody found that funny either.

Originally posted by tsurfer2000h
I guarantee what this man said is nice talk compared to what a majority of the people have said about him. I can promise I have said things about Obama that makes this remark seem like baby talk. Just because I say something about him doesn't mean I am a racist. Being a racist should not be determined by a simple remark. I have known many racist in my time and if they heard that remark they would laugh at it. Just like someone has said earlier in this thread when did naming fruit or talking about fruit make someone a racist. I guess I have to call my fruity ice tea something else,because god forbid someone thinks I am making a racist remark about the rapper/actor by talking about drinking my fruity ice tea. I hope I don't get in trouble for that. People give names to all sort of things does that make them racist.

You miss the point completely, no doubt purposely.

He called a watermelon an obama fruit. He didn't call an apple an obama fruit. He didn't call his tuna sandwich an obama sandwich. He called a watermelon an obama fruit.

Every honest person in the thread knows why.

Seriously, I would have laughed. I'm not a racist, but I really love racist jokes. As long as it stays a joke, then what's so bad about it?

Really, just stop being a bunch of uptight sods. There's too many of them in society as it is. They're offended by everything that they shouldn't be offended by, but when your own government takes away your freedom they still support the ones in power. Hypocritical pricks the lot of them.

reply to post by HeavenlyDivine


Who is this post directed towards? I am interested to know.

reply to post by acrux



Oh come'on, what he said was taken out of context. Will he get a call from the white house offering his job back?

Also, the reason why no one makes racist jokes against white men is because it's really not funny. It's not because they're superior, it's because they're boring as hell.