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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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When a fast food chain went broke because name "Sambo" was widely judged a racial slur, how can "mumbo-jumbo" be less than doubly un-PC? It did Sambo's little good to point out
that "Little Black Sambo" was Indian, not African.
Which reminds me: How many of us put "ghee" on our pancakes?
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Carpal Tunnel
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From the Internet:
"OFFENSIVE SNACKS OF YORE
Sambo's restaurant was weird all around, however. As you can see from the picture above, there was nothing more than some happy Indian lad eating pancakes with a tiger by his side. But Sambo's roots in the story "Little Black Sambo" made it too sensitive of a character to last. The book, which featured a nappy haired black boy with stereotyped features, and parents named Black Mumbo and Black Jumbo, was offensive enough to eventually spell doom for the restaurant chain. Of course, blacks have been no strangers from offensive foods, with grinning characters from Cream of Wheat, Uncle Ben, and Aunt Jemima still happily serving white folks breakfast to this day."
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Well, Bill, you're right in the historical sense, but I can't help thinking that if black faces or figures on advertising is un-PC, then you're cutting a huge swathe through the marketing potential in many countries where a large percentage of the population, the US included, are not WASP. I think it's how it's portrayed that matters, surely? Having Paul Newman's face grinning at me from a jar of dressing shouldn't be any "better" (or more PC) than having, say, Lenny Henry's face doing the same thing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Both uncle Ben, and aunt jemimma (and "columbia, in the beginning of movies, and Betty Crocker) have all been updated..
Uncle ben now looks like a chef, not a cook, and aunt Jemimma is younger, thinner and lighter!
while they do exhibbit some racial sterotyping, for too long a time in US, being a cook was a good job (often the best job) blacks could hope to get-and there are enough 'white faces' hawking food, its not as if its a purely racial sterotype.. we have mama leonne, and Francesca Rinaldi, and mrs. buttersworth, as well at the old standby, betty crocker.then there are 'faceless women', too, Mrs. Pauls, and Sara lee.
no one thinks the worse of 'whites' for selling food..
part of the problems of sambo's was there was a book, (or song? no i am sure it was a book) about 'little black sambo' and yes, he was indian, but, he looked more african, (broad nose, nappy hair.. and he was black sambo.
as for him actually being indian ... ghee was the only hint. (and in the book, that was anglisized to 'golden butter')
(and dr bill you asked if any one put ghee on there pancakes, no.. but i have used clarified butter on crepes!)
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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Dear of troy: in the story book, the dentral figure of the
tiger, and the bazaar alos located story in India. I think his father was shown wearing a turban. Nothing to suggest
Africa, which does not have a monopoly on the word black.
There are even so-called black Irish.(just to tease you.)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Little purple slippers with upturned toes....
I loved the story.
Huge tiger pancakes.
How wonderful!!!
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Carpal Tunnel
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There are even so-called black Irish.(just to tease you.)Yeahbut®, the "Black Irish", Dr. Bill, are so-called because they trace their ancestry back to the influx of Spanish Moors centuries ago, who were actually of black African descent, so there is a touch of African blood there. Eugene O'Neill's family were considered "Black Irish." Today the "Black Irish" have features strikingly darker than the usual fairer Celtic look, but that's about the only difference. Here's a picture of a young Eugene O'Neill to see an illustration: http://www.irishfilm.net/Documentary/EO.html
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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The Black Irish are a myth from your side of the pond, Juan. Both the negro connection and the Spanish armada connection are a bit of a crock. The term is never used in Ireland or Irish literature. I googled this one to make sure that what I thought was generally correct. Just google "black Irish" ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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I have heard the term "Black Singers" for the Welsh? anybody got anything about that?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Here's a site I found, Cap, that offers some of the theories. The O'Neill family was from County Tyrone, and the biographies I read that mentioned this usually pointed to the Moors story: >10) What are black Irish and shanty Irish? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This question has come up fairly regularly on the newsgroup but has never been resolved definitively. Neither "black" or "shanty" are used much in Ireland. They seem to be mainly used in America. "Shanty Irish" was used to describe the poorest of the poor Irish immigrants, the kind who ended up in shanty town (the origin of the word "shanty" is not known, but it might come from the Irish "sean tí", meaning "old house"). Today "shanty" in the States is a derogatory term for people who in Ireland might be known as culchies but the people so described need not necessarily be of Irish descent. "Lace curtain Irish" could be as poor as the Shanty Irish but they had notions of being more respectable. They were called that because they would put up lace curtains for appearances sake, even in a shanty town. Thus the term is far from being a compliment. { Thanks for clarification to Neil Cosgrove. } "Black Irish" is often taken to mean Irish people with dark hair and eyes. One romantic story is that they are the descendants of shipwrecked sailors of the Spanish Armada. Unfortunately for the story, it is very unlikely that enough of the sailors survived for their genes to be in the population visible today. A variation on this theme says they are descended from Spanish Moors who traded with people on the west coast of Ireland. Another explanation is that it's common in Irish to give people nicknames based on their hair, such as Seamus dubh and "black Irish" is just a carryover of this into English. Some people say that the "black Irish" were the original inhabitants of the island and all the rest were just blow-ins. One other interpretation is that "black Irish" refers to the descendants of Irish slaves taken to the Caribbean island of Montserrat during Cromwell's time. The descendants of these slaves and black slaves from Africa live there to this day. The surprising thing is that they still speak with an Irish accent!< http://www.faqs.org/faqs/cultures/irish-faq/part08/section-10.htmlAnd here is an engrossingly detailed and thorough investigation and discussion of all aspects of the myth: http://www.darkfiber.com/blackirish/
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