"Tar-Baby" a racist term?

Wagner · #1 07-31-2006, 02:18 PM

Some people would consider Tar-baby a racist term, I guess if you use it in a very derogatory manner however when Mass Gov. Mitt Romney said:

"The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can"

I don't believe he meant it to offend blacks, but apparently some couldn't wait to jump on the band wagon.

Kind of like saying "I lit a faggot on fire to heat the flu" well Faggot in the dictionary means "bundle of sticks". Again, I wouldn't come out and say that if I wanted to run for office though.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/....ap/index.html

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JV · #2 07-31-2006, 02:26 PM

Depends on your educational background and life's experience as to whether or not you think it's a racist term. Depends on your opinion of Mitt Romney as to whether you think he meant it as a racial epithet. In this particular context, he very likely didn't mean it as racist at all. His interpretation of Uncle Remus is also very likely not the same as a black person's is. We all see it our way, sometimes we miss it altogether too. Hell, I remember when I
used to think George Micheal was singing those songs about chicks...

blondboinsd · #3 07-31-2006, 02:29 PM

I've never even heard that word doesn't mean its not offensive, if someone said Fag I get automatically furiously mad, so I can semi-relate I suppose, idiotic move on his part but they are human too

Quicksilver · #4 07-31-2006, 02:36 PM

The problem with using anything from the english language is that one needs to know what the words mean before using them. In this case there is only one meaning according to Websters Dictionary. In this case the primary meaning would be first thought of. The second meaning if there is one would not be known. Therefore this gentleman has what we all can acknowledge is foot in mouth disease. For the sake of peace It's a phrase better left alone.

Tar baby
One entry found for tar baby.
Main Entry: tar baby
Function: noun
Etymology: from the tar baby that trapped Brer Rabbit in an Uncle Remus story by Joel Chandler Harris
something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself

Random House develops the though a bit more.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/inde...?date=19990212

NextGen · #5 07-31-2006, 03:36 PM

Why not just say "sticky mess" instead of "tar baby"? The way I see it is that once people get to talking they will eventually let their guard down and say what is really on their minds. He is just another politician who talked so much that he forgot that certain words and phrases he says among his "people" can't be said in public. Now he is following the typical damage control path by saying he is sorry. I would have some respect for him if he stood his ground and said something like "you should not be offended by this term" instead of saying he was sorry.

It would seem to me that a smart politician would be very aware of problematic language and steer clear of it. They are saying that this guy is interested in running for president in 2008? I don't think McCain has anything to worry about here.

motordavid · #6 07-31-2006, 03:46 PM

Speaking of weird words, how 'bout...
that word meaning, "cheap", that sounds
like the N Word?

Niggardly

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Niggardly is a word synonymous with stingy and miserly, and a niggard (noun) is a miser. They are both derived from the Old Norse verb nigla, meaning "to fuss about small matters". (The English word "niggle" retains the original Norse meaning.) The word is not related to the word nigger, though among those unfamiliar with the word "niggardly" might take offense due to their similarity.
[edit]

David Howard incident

On January 15, 1999, David Howard, a white aide to Anthony A. Williams, the black mayor of Washington, D.C., United States, used the word in reference to a budget. This apparently upset one of his black colleagues (identified by Howard as Marshall Brown), who incorrectly interpreted it as a racial slur and lodged a complaint. As a result, on January 25 Williams forced Howard to resign.
However, after an internal review into the matter and pressure from the gay community (of which Howard was a member), the mayor offered Howard the chance to return to his position as Office of the Public Advocate on February 4. Howard refused but accepted another position with the mayor instead.
The Howard incident led to a national debate in the U.S., in the context of racial sensitivity and political correctness, on whether use of the word niggardly should be avoided because of its potential association with the extremely pejorative racial slur nigger, despite the entirely separate and unrelated etymologies of the two words ("nigger" derives from niger, the Latin for "black").

Driver8 · #7 07-31-2006, 05:00 PM

MD - you beat me to it! Good call

Curious Joel · #8 07-31-2006, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blondboinsd

I've never even heard that word doesn't mean its not offensive, if someone said Fag I get automatically furiously mad, so I can semi-relate I suppose, idiotic move on his part but they are human too

If someone within earshot says "fag" I get pretty cranky. I don't think he meant it as a racist term, it's probably just something he's used to saying out of the public eye. But one would think that someone running for office would be a little more careful before he opens his mouth.

JV · #9 07-31-2006, 06:34 PM

Buddy of mine is a local DC news anchor- says they float around the phrase "tar-baby" on the Hill all the time. Staffers, Senators, Congressmen/women- of any race- all use the term. Not as often as they use "filibuster" or "pork-barrell", but it's a common political term for something that's a quagmire.

BradATL · #10 07-31-2006, 11:33 PM

I've heard the phrase many times... I never would have realized there were any racial connotations associated with it whatsoever. My guess is that Romney didn't realize it, either, and has been blindsided by this.

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