A confused man question???

[Vanzazikon]

One time, i was going through the posts and i saw a phrase that i didn't get, even more confusing, i heard that it was perceived as racial, The phrase is, "Imma chargin' my Lazers". At first i just thought it was a saying, so i didn't care that much, but after hearing that it was racist i really want to know what that phrase means now, i got some idea's but i don't thinkl it means it. So come on, someone fill me in, so i can sleep at night. What does this phrase mean.http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_confused.gif

[Kylie]

I wasn't sure either, so I did a google search. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif Apparently, there's a picture of a black-faced guy saying that phrase, and it's so random that people started saying it too. But "black faces" are people that are painted up like black people to make fun of them in a theatric or something, so I guess that's why it's racist.

[Ketchup345]

Its not so much the phrase as the picture that goes with it most of the time, it was discussed in depth here:
http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=171231&forum=11&49

[HUnewearl_Meira]

For what it's worth, I submit that anyone who is offended by the meme (in a racial context), is someone who is deliberately looking for something to be offended by.

[Randomness]

On 2008-04-02 14:31, HUnewearl_Meira wrote:
For what it's worth, I submit that anyone who is offended by the meme (in a racial context), is someone who is deliberately looking for something to be offended by.



I'd have to agree... blackface is ancient, and I doubt more than a quarter of the population even knows what it is. (Barring some recent scandal...)

[Kylie]

On 2008-04-02 14:35, Randomness wrote:

On 2008-04-02 14:31, HUnewearl_Meira wrote:
For what it's worth, I submit that anyone who is offended by the meme (in a racial context), is someone who is deliberately looking for something to be offended by.



I'd have to agree... blackface is ancient, and I doubt more than a quarter of the population even knows what it is. (Barring some recent scandal...)


I wouldn't if it wasn't for Sarah Silverman.

But I agree as well. I don't think the people that say it mean for it to be racist, and the people that do should just be ignored anyways.

[ngagerebel]

its retarted, that just like the woman who tried to sue nintendo because Jinx was a black pokemon with big lips. hence why in pokemon pearl and diamond jinx turned purple

[Solstis]

On 2008-04-02 14:35, Randomness wrote:

On 2008-04-02 14:31, HUnewearl_Meira wrote:
For what it's worth, I submit that anyone who is offended by the meme (in a racial context), is someone who is deliberately looking for something to be offended by.



I'd have to agree... blackface is ancient, and I doubt more than a quarter of the population even knows what it is. (Barring some recent scandal...)



Whatever happened to white guilt?

Not quite fair to define what people should and should not find offensive.

I don't think that most people using the meme think of it in a racial context, but that's all the more annoying to me. Same kind of people that claim that the 50s were great, but don't know anything about lynchings.

[astuarlen]

Perhaps I overestimate the imagination of the average person, but I think even most folk who are unfamiliar with the history of blackface (and, to be honest, the idea that people in the U.S. wouldn't recognize it surprises me, as I'd think it would come up in social science or history classes) can figure out its original intent, even if it's repurposed and reposted without overt malice. Basically, it would be cool if people thought a little about the implications of what they're passing on.

Also, I am highly suspicious of those who project their own opinions on how others should think from an inherently privileged position.
If you fancy this post is irony-flavored, help yourself to a cookie.

[Scrub]

If you see someone saying that, they are probably not the type of person you want to hang with.

Just a warning.

[Weeaboolits]

On 2008-04-02 19:19, ngagerebel wrote:
its retarted, that just like the woman who tried to sue nintendo because Jinx was a black pokemon with big lips. hence why in pokemon pearl and diamond jinx turned purpleSome psychic tried to sue because Alakazam had bent spoons, which he considered his trademark as well.

Also I remember people blowing a gasket over Kadabra having a star on his forehead, then people were throwing a fit over the fact the evolutionary stones used a power other than got to evolve things or some such.

People are stupid.

[Kent]

On 2008-04-02 23:22, Ronin_Cooper wrote:

On 2008-04-02 19:19, ngagerebel wrote:
its retarted, that just like the woman who tried to sue nintendo because Jinx was a black pokemon with big lips. hence why in pokemon pearl and diamond jinx turned purpleSome psychic tried to sue because Alakazam had bent spoons, which he considered his trademark as well.

Also I remember people blowing a gasket over Kadabra having a star on his forehead, then people were throwing a fit over the fact the evolutionary stones used a power other than got to evolve things or some such.

People are stupid.


Specifically, it was Uri Geller that had a problem with the appearance of Kadabra, because of the Japanese name of the Pokémon, Yungera, which looks visually similar to how Uri Geller's name, if written in katakana. His panties got in several knots based on the presentation of it, somehow linking attributes of it to Nazis.

He sued and failed, much like someone else who likes to bring meaningless and groundless claims against video game companies.

[Vanzazikon]

I see it was perceived as racist because of the picture of the "black face" so the phrase was imitating the accent of an african american.

You know this is a coincedence, one of my instructors told a story about another crackpot in the internet. There is a Martin Luther King website that is actually hosted by a white supremist. I don't remember the sites address, i'll try to find it.

[Zorafim]

I saw that on my comp class, it was borderline funny. They tried to link Luther with a typical black gangster, even going so far as to make rap lerics. Now, did rap even exist back then?

[Vitamin_D]

I'm with Solstis on this. Saying that because the majority of people don't know about something makes it less relevant is a scary train of thought. Not only that, but things like this should be more known but simply aren't, which I think is a shame. It's also useless, indeed impossible to determine what everyone should or should not find funny or offensive.

On the Jynx thing though, I disagree that the decision to change its color was "retarded". It was one of the smartest things Nintendo's ever done. The design is Japanese I'm well aware, but it was careless on Nintendo of America's part to let it stand like it was. Imagine someone who was aware of the history of Blackface and the first thing they see from Pokemon is Jynx. It's easy enough to see how controversy could arise from it. Now granted... using it as a way to get money is a different situation altogether, but from a racism standpoint it's damn sure worth the changes they made. Anyway, whether people intend to be racist offensive or whatever or not, it doesn't make it any less critical.

Lastly, this was pretty unorganized overall, but I pretty much typed out the majority of what was on my mind. Anyway, yeah.