NEWS: Couch Hates Black People

Oh, gosh. You know, any time dood.

With respect, this is a discussion board, people are allowed to have opinions about things and express them.To imply that they have to be affected by something in a direct way to have an opinion on it sort of obviates the whole point of a discussion board.

But, to be clear. How is expressing understanding about how something can be offensive but discontent over the need to sue someone over being offended expressive of a ridiculous torrent of enmity and lack basic comprehension of black issues.

I believe that we - black and white - are far too litigious. It has nothing to do with race. It wouldn't matter if the couch was named "All women are whores Red." - or "All men are dicks Orange" I don't think it is something to be suing someone over.

Canadians.

And it's good to know that you've taken it upon yourself to decide what black folks should consider to be "actual racism".

So under what conditions would you think it appropriate to sue? If the shop had a sign up saying Nigger brown couch? If the shop owner had been a white North-American? Or the manufacturer? The person who wrote the translation program? Or do you think people should simply put up with any kind of abuse directed at them?

Just curious.

Yeah I got that.
The fellow Americans bit was clipped from Zarths comment.

Yeah, cause thats what I did there. Riiight.

Yes, that is what you did there.

You decided what is "pretend" racism and what is "actual" racism.

I really don't think that's what he meant, but I believe what he was trying to get across was that people who have been beaten within an inch of their lives, or actually killed, or otherwise severely verbally and physically harassed, abused and ostracized because of their race often don't get the chance (or even if they do, are too terrified) or otherwise unable to take legal action to protect themselves or get some kind of retribution, whereas this woman was indirectly and accidentally "attacked" and she is seeking damages.

I'm not saying that what happened to her doesn't matter or "well, she should just be glad that's all she got" or however you might want to twist my words around to mean, but I think we can all agree that there are billions of people suffering much, much more than she is (because of their race/culture) and they aren't in any position to do anything about it. That's why I think that it would really speak to the integrity of this woman if she did use any money she won that was leftover from her legal costs to support a socially responsible organization that promotes cultural awareness.

Yes, yes I did.
I draw, for myself, the conclusion that a poorly labeled couch with no malicious intent is likely not an actual racist.
But I have not taken it upon myself to decide for any one what they should consider to be actual racism.

George Bush turned into a couch?

Harry Potter must be a Democrat.

George Bush doesn't care about black people. There's a difference

Here is a good article about the whole affair. And if you look at the quotes from the customer/plaintiff in the article FTR points to, you can see that her main beef seems to be that nobody is owning up to their goof:

The bottom line is, my penis is so big you all can't even comprehend. Conclusion: kiss and make up or I'll smack ya cross the cheek with a haddock.

And I'm still wondering who that should be. I'm not sure there really is anyone who needs to apologize. It's possible for her to be rightly offended AND it not to be anyone's fault, both at the same time.

You're a wizard of funny!

by the way, there are racist candies and shit all over the place. "Negerkuss" is the name of these chocolate covered marshmallow things in germany...kuss means kiss. "Tête de nègre" is a similar french one. like i said, the word doesn't mean the same thing it does in america. not every black person in the world is african american.

i guess she can see if she can get some money for "damages" off the person who programmed the chinese computer program in 1982 or whatever? good luck.

i could see if it was some couch made in the US or canada...........but it isn't.

every time i see you post, you are putting words in people's mouths and "summing up" their statements for them with a negative twist.

it's his OPINION.

HE believes that when there is no hatred or malicious intent backing a term, it is not really racist.... just misinformed. He's not saying every person in the world has to believe that same thing. Jeez.

The adjective used was "nigger," which is, like the French and German words you mention, derived from the Latin "niger." You cannot deny, however, that this specific variation, i.e. "nigger," is one that carries specific racist connotations rooted in the American south.

Oh wait, you did just deny that. You can't be serious.

um, no..i didn't deny anything. words mean different things in different countries, and this couch and label came from somewhere besides the american south, didn't it? because if it came from some outlet in america that would be pretty fucked up. no denying that.

but if you are used to calling a fucking piece of candy "nigger kiss" your whole life, and maybe you have never even been to america, never met an african american, and only watched a couple movies where black people call each other "nigger" in a nice friendly manner YOU WOULD HAVE NO IDEA THIS IS EVEN A BAD WORD IN AMERICA. this is common, believe it or not.

not everyone in the world comes from america and is familiar with the history of american words. is this really that hard to understand? do you know every racist word in german or korean or japanese?

No, I don't think that they should "put up" with abuse. There are a variety of mechanism for making this business person and/or his vendors feel the outrage this person feels at this insult. Boycott for instance. Frankly, I believe that the press on this will probably do the job. (Except that I think a few of these sofas will probably show up on Ebay and turn a tidy profit.)

I believe that the marketplace is really quite capable of dealing with this kind of thing.

So, let me ask you a question. Should this woman sue everyone that insults her daughter?

Which is, of course, why you said that the woman who bought this couch and discovered that its label featured a racial epithet is just pretending to be a victim of racism, as opposed to some unspecified people who, to you, can claim to be victims of "actual racism"?

Why is there so much energy being spent on trying to blame this woman for finding the phrase "Nigger brown" offensive?

no one is blaming her for finding it offensive. the protests are because she is suing the company over it.

And she's suing the company because they ignored her and passed the buck when she tried to find out how it happened.

I do not, for one moment, believe that the shopkeeper did not know the connotations of that word (as he claims.)

that's kind of a dumb reason to sue him.

Maybe. But look at it in these terms--the customer and the shopkeeper "signed" a "contract," wherein they set their expectations of each other. She gave him money for what she assumed was a racial-epithet-free couch. She went home and when she found the couch did not satisfy her expectations of what she paid for, so she called the guy. At least four times. And he did not once return her call. What is the proper recourse for her? He dishonored her contract and refused to discuss the matter further, and when he's cornered by the media he plays dumb, "I didn't know that was a derogatory term."