Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 09:25:06 -0700 From: "CAVEMAN -- San Bernardino, Calif. USA" Subject: Re: offending idioms . . . snip, snip . . . > nobody has mentioned "nigger rig" yet. > --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu) This is a tangent, sorry, but I was offended by this: When my grandfather and grandmother were building Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam is the proper name) on the Colorado River, they had a camp mascot. It was a jet black dog -- I've seen many pictures -- named "Nigger." In the thirties, I suppose that was acceptable. Anyway, during the construction, the dog got run over and died. The workers buried the dog in the dam, sealing his tomb with the concrete you see nowdays. They marked Nigger's resting place with a plaque -- something to the effect of: Here lies Nigger, who helped build this damn dam. Don't quote me on that, but it was something like that. The plaque was about halfway up the dam and could not be seen unless you were looking for it. (I saw it through binoculars once as a child.) Somebody complained -- I don't know how they saw the marker, unless they knew about it before looking -- and the plaque was removed. Offensive or not, that was a small part of history. The plaque was *NOT* in plain sight where everybody *HAD TO* look at it. (You could just barely see it if you knew it was there!) I find it offensive that a piece of history was removed in the name of political correctness. If the federal government feels the need to stop the use of the word "nigger," how about they start in my neighborhood where the black people call each other "nigger." (I also object to the politcally correct term African- American -- the only true "African-Americans" I know are of European ancestry many generation back, and they are whiter than I am. I don't personally know any black African-Americans.) (I think I mispelled plaque, but I don't feel like getting my dictionary out right now. :-) ) Maybe "nigger" doesn't seem worth fighting over to me because I'm part white and part Indian (oops, Native American). By the way, I am *NOT* racist. Here's some offensive idioms (?) for your list: Indian Giver Apple (red on the outside, white on the inside) Coconut (brown on the outside, white on the inside -- my wife is Mexican) Hey, how about sports teams: Atlanta Braves, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, etc., etc. We need, just to be fair, the Nashville Niggers and the Hoboken Honkies. Chuck Coker CJCoker[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CSUPomona.Edu =============================================================================== There have been no dragons in my life, only small spiders and stepping in gum. I could have coped with the dragons. Anonymous (but wise) ===============================================================================