West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Train of Thought => Topic started by: Real American on January 08, 2004, 04:35:51 PM
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NEW YORK (AFP) - New York Senator Hillary Clinton (news - web sites) has felt obliged to apologise for making a joke about Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi having worked as a gas station manager in Saint Louis, Missouri.
"I have admired the work and life of Mahatma Gandhi and have spoken publicly about that many times," the former US first lady said in a statement.
"I truly regret if a lame attempt at humour suggested otherwise," the statement said.
The apology followed Clinton's remarks at a weekend fund-raiser, where she joked that Gandhi once "ran a gas station down in Saint Louis" -- a stereotypical job for South Asians in the United States.
At the time, Clinton had qualified her joke by adding that Gandhi was a "great leader" of the 20th century.
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BORING
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The FULL Story
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor."
The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis."
After laughter from many in the crowd of at least 200 subsided, the former first lady continued, "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." In a nod to Farmer's underdog status against Republican Sen. Kit Bond, Clinton quoted the Indian independence leader as saying: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
The director of a U.S. center devoted to Gandhi's teachings called the remarks stereotypical and racially insensitive, while an educator said the flap underscored the need for politicians to be cautious when trying to get laughs.
"Political speeches can't be like episodes of The Simpsons," said David Robertson, a University of Missouri-St. Louis political science professor.
After being approached by The Associated Press to clarify the remarks, Clinton suggested in a statement sent late Monday that she never meant to fuel any stereotype -- often used as a comedic punch line -- that certain ethnic groups were synonymous with operating America's gas stations.
"I have admired the work and life of Mahatma Gandhi and have spoken publicly about that many times," Clinton said in a two-sentence statement. "I truly regret if a lame attempt at humor suggested otherwise."
So does Michelle Naef, administrator of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, the Memphis, Tennessee-based nonprofit group founded in 1991 by a Gandhi grandson to promote his grandfather's teachings, including nonviolent resistance.
While crediting Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton, as long having "supported the Gandhi message," Naef said Saturday's remarks "could be incredibly harmful" in perpetuating racial myths.
"I don't think she was, in any way, trying to demean Mahatma Gandhi," Naef said. "To be generous to her, I would say it was a poor attempt at humor. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but I find it offensive when people use stereotypes in that way."
To Robertson, the professor, the flap demonstrates the potential peril of when humor by politicians falls flat.
"The more prominent the politician, the more they've taken positions on equality in the past as Mrs. Clinton has, the more this is going to be troubling to some people," he said. "It's understandable that groups want to make sure they're treated with complete respect."
When it comes to Hillary Clinton, he said, "there's no reason to think she doesn't admire Gandhi, like so many people do. After all, Gandhi was influential to Martin Luther King Jr., and I know she respects King."
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/elec04.s.mo.farmer.clinton.ap/ (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/06/elec04.s.mo.farmer.clinton.ap/)
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She's not racist, but it was a racist joke.
Trent Lott said about a racist running for president 50 fucking years ago, "If you had been elected, things might have been different". He went on to apologize on BET and all kinds of shit, and was eventually kicked out of his leadership position in congress.
Hillary does something 10 times worse, and she doesn't get any flack at all over it. Why? Because dumbasses assume conservatives are all racist and liberals can't be. The truth is, neither of them were racist, but they're treated differently simply because of their party. Fuck her, and her cheating ass husband.
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She's not racist, but it was a racist joke.
Trent Lott said about a racist running for president 50 fucking years ago, "If you had been elected, things might have been different". He went on to apologize on BET and all kinds of shit, and was eventually kicked out of his leadership position in congress.
Hillary does something 10 times worse, and she doesn't get any flack at all over it. Why? Because dumbasses assume conservatives are all racist and liberals can't be. The truth is, neither of them were racist, but they're treated differently simply because of their party. Fuck her, and her cheating ass husband.
please...and I thought you were black ;)
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man clinton was the greatest president of all
so what he wanted a lil sucky sucky we all make mistakes
its fucked up how he almost ruind his marrige but that doesnt show how he leads the country
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i don't get how that joke was racist.......people need to get their dicks out of their asses and take it for what it was a joke. there's a lot of indians in the medical field aswell....what's different from over charging flew and cold patients than running a successful business. people give racism too much power.
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hmmm....
hillary clinton makes a joke about a minority = racist
bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
seem wierd?
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She's not racist, but it was a racist joke.
Trent Lott said about a racist running for president 50 fucking years ago, "If you had been elected, things might have been different". He went on to apologize on BET and all kinds of shit, and was eventually kicked out of his leadership position in congress.
Hillary does something 10 times worse, and she doesn't get any flack at all over it. Why? Because dumbasses assume conservatives are all racist and liberals can't be. The truth is, neither of them were racist, but they're treated differently simply because of their party. Fuck her, and her cheating ass husband.
hold on, one was a joke, the other was suggesting that whites and blacks stay seperate. which is worst again?
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face it, its a white manz world, nuff said.......cats like y'all who claim not be racist may not be, who knows, if u aint, i respect y'all, if, but where it counts, them high muthafuckers with power, all be racist........sounds harsh, but aint no nigga livin in a plaanet of his own here, thats truth......
may sound contraversial(however the fuck u spell that) but its real
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hmmm....
hillary clinton makes a joke about a minority = racist
bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
seem wierd?
lol
they're too politicly correct
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bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
Back this up with ONE shread of evidence
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bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
Back this up with ONE shread of evidence
Ummm...WE WENT TO FUCKING WAR & KILLED A BUNCH OF THEM!
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dumb white bitch...lol
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bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
Back this up with ONE shread of evidence
Ummm...WE WENT TO FUCKING WAR & KILLED A BUNCH OF THEM!
lmao.. i see the point you're trying to make, but exactly how are the Iraqis a minority in their own country?
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bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
Back this up with ONE shread of evidence
Ummm...WE WENT TO FUCKING WAR & KILLED A BUNCH OF THEM!
lmao.. i see the point you're trying to make, but exactly how are the Iraqis a minority in their own country?
they are a minority to us. its another race. my point was hillary can't make a joke about a guy but bush can kill thousands of them. thats messed up.
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bush whipes out half of a minority = hero
Back this up with ONE shread of evidence
Ummm...WE WENT TO FUCKING WAR & KILLED A BUNCH OF THEM!
lmao.. i see the point you're trying to make, but exactly how are the Iraqis a minority in their own country?
they are a minority to us. its another race. my point was hillary can't make a joke about a guy but bush can kill thousands of them. thats messed up.
You can't call a country's people that we're at war with a minority. LOL. They're not a minority "TO US". The Iraqi people living in the United States are a minority. Iraqis in general can't be considered a minority. A minority is differs in meaning from the phrase "another race", if that helps you understand.
But yes, you're right, Bush has killed thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians for no justifiable reason.