On Sat, Nov 15, 1997 at 02:38:48PM +0000, Paul Bradley wrote:
find Tim`s post an example of what the developed world knows as humour, not a serious attack on any ethnic group.
Tim May's post seems funny to you? Not a racist comment?
It seems like something which has been blown out of all proportion by a few over-zealous pinko-liberal members of the list who support free speech right upto the point where someone says something which upsets them, then they run crying to mommy or hide under the bed.
So far as I know, there hasn't been a single post suggesting that Tim's freedom of speech be curtailed. Nobody is running to mommy, or hiding under the bed. And in the context of this list I have no idea what "over-zealous pinko liberal" means.
Racist comments to me would be those that generalised the opinion to all Japanese, Tim insulted one particular person.
I don't base my assessment of Tim on that single incident -- it's based on a history of his comments going back some time. And I only bring it up now because others have.
If you are going to become oversensitive about such comments the cypherpunks list is probably the worst place to be.
I'm not oversensitive -- just stating the obvious to the oblivious. It is an unfortunate fact that a large percentage of the population is racist without even being aware of it, and, like you, vigorously deny it.
His imitation of a Japanese accent is purely offensive. Paul, would you feel comfortable offering this kind of "humor" in a gathering which included Japanese visitors, perhaps potential customers?
No, because most people would misinterpret it in the same way you, and some other list members have, if I could be assured they would understand it as a light hearted mild insult rather than a racist remark I would have no problem saying it in those circumstances.
Quit a few years ago I was at a Cray User Group meeting. Mike Booth, a very bright technical guy who realized where the money was, and was transitioning to sales, was giving a presentation on an idea he had that Cray was marketing as "Microtasking". It was a very large hall; there were probably 700 people in attendance, largely white male. I was sitting way in the back; I had already seen the presentation. Mike was describing how the processors find work: "It's like a Chinese fire drill." A slight figure in the front, about the 15th row, stood up and said something I couldn't hear. Mike couldn't hear it either. He asked the individual to speak up. The crowd was quiet, and a thin, heavily accented voice floated over it: "Please not to use the term 'Chinese fire drill'". I have come to appreciate the level of courage involved. It's not like spitting out obnoxious statements to a friendly crowd of toadies on cypherpunks. -- Kent Crispin "No reason to get excited", kent@songbird.com the thief he kindly spoke... PGP fingerprint: B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44 61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55 http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html