http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=9655036&nav=menu33_2

Quote :

"Montgomery, Ala. (WSFA) -- They're part of a long standing tradition that will soon become a part of Presidential history. The head of the Alabama NAACP, however, wants Mobile's Azalea Trail Maids to stay home on Inauguration Day, claiming the group reminds him of slavery. "These are not just regular costumes. These are the costumes that remind someone of the plantation in Gone with the Wind," Edward Vaughn said in a phone interview. Vaughn went on to say the group would be the laughing stock of the Inauguration. County leaders say nothing could be further from the truth. "We want everyone to know that these young ladies do not need to be identified with slavery," said Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine. "I don't see what the dresses have to do with racism. I don't see it. It's just a regular dress to me. Just a dress they wore back in the day," said Carolyn Tius of Montgomery. Organizers stand behind the tradition, but opponents say tradition is the problem. "We needed something that could show Alabama's great progress rather than something that shows a shameful past," Vaughn said."

[Edited on January 13, 2009 at 9:12 AM. Reason : .]

1/13/2009 9:11:44 AM

while I dont agree with the NAACP, I see their point.

plus, new costumes might have a little cleavage.

1/13/2009 9:34:32 AM

after a quick image search to see what they actually look like i find the entire thing to be absurd.

however i concur with ^ that i would like to see some newer costumes that might be closer to a 'naughty' Azalea Trail Maid

1/13/2009 10:38:03 AM

Absurd comedy. Except the scary part is, they aren't joking.

1/13/2009 10:39:28 AM

Quote :

"Absurd comedy. Except the scary part is, they aren't joking. "

Yep. Its a good thing that this group is becoming more irrelevant every year.

1/13/2009 11:07:27 AM

While I've never really cared for anyone who relishes in the history of the antebellum south, this sets an ugly precedent of ignoring the history of half of the country prior to 1865.

I could just as easily get pissy about anyone in costume from the Revolutionary War, as the founding fathers implicitly supported slavery.

1/13/2009 12:46:51 PM

I feel at this point they are just trying to pick fights. Was the whole Free Expression Tunnel thing legit? Maybe. Is this? I doubt it.

1/13/2009 12:54:31 PM

^^

well, at least the Revolutionary War army was 'integrated'... last time til after ww2

1/13/2009 1:04:00 PM

Well then what would Mr. Vaughn prefer them to wear?

Cotton? oh wait...

1/13/2009 1:23:49 PM

THIS JUST IN: CLASSIC CARS BANNED FROM PARADE, BRING BACK PAINFUL MEMORIES OF JIM CROW LAWS

1/13/2009 1:42:04 PM

Personally, the hilarity of the NAACP really peaked with this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Riordan#California_Secretary_of_Education

Quote :

"Not known for his eloquence, Riordan became the center of a media circus, due to a remark made July 1, 2004 to a 6-year-old girl, Isis D'Luciano, in Santa Barbara. During a children's library event, she asked Riordan if he knew what her name, Isis, meant. Riordan responded, "it means stupid, dirty girl," laughed with several others in the crowd, and then asked her what it really meant. She then replied, "It means 'Egyptian goddess'," to which Riordan stated, "That's nifty." He later explained it as a failed attempt at humor. Although Governor Schwarzenegger continued to support him, Riordan's resignation was demanded by State Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally, citizens' rights groups, and civil rights groups, including the NAACP, and LULAC. The NAACP, however, rescinded their insistence after learning that the girl was white."

1/13/2009 1:53:17 PM

Quote :

"I want you all to think about this - would the world be better off without black people? My opinion is that it would be absolutely brilliant if we didn't have to clean up after blacks and put up with they juvenile antics. Any contribution that blacks make to society is so, so heavily outweighed by their negative and destructive impact on our civilization. Is it something ingrained in their DNA that they can't help? Look at Africa and all the problems they have over there. Such violence and lack of respect for life, they often slaughter their own people without a second thought and for no good reason. They are so easily manipulated by the alpha blacks and few seem to be able to think for themselves...mob mentality. Damn Mr. Vaughan you make me sick!"

Taken from the comments on that story.

[Edited on January 13, 2009 at 1:57 PM. Reason : asdf]

1/13/2009 1:56:47 PM

Quote :

"D'Luciano"

lol, the last name didn't tip em off?

1/13/2009 2:00:25 PM

Quote :

"Was the whole Free Expression Tunnel thing legit? Maybe."

um, how could you even say "maybe" to that? what happened there was fucked up.

in regards to the topic, the naacp is crying over nothing and it detracts from the real issues they should be or are focusing on.

1/13/2009 2:02:53 PM

I agree with DaBird in that I see their point.

I also agree with Mr. Joshua in that I think it's unwise to ignore history.


And I'm guilty of romanticizing the Antebellum Period. I mean, come on, the chicks got to wear pretty clothes from France and have hot sex with dudes who curse in pitcher shows!!!

[Edited on January 13, 2009 at 4:44 PM. Reason : hot sex!]

1/13/2009 4:43:41 PM

I bet this was all just some local Alabama reporter stirring up trouble. He probably got on the phone with the NAACP dude for a normal interview and said, "Hey what do you people think about these costumes that white people wore in slavery days?" and the guy bit on it.

Shit like this plays big in Alabama.

1/13/2009 4:53:49 PM

EVIL RACIST RACISTS!!!1

lol. What a bunch of dumbasses.

1/13/2009 5:06:23 PM

THis strikes me as a very anachronistic complaint.

I've never seen Gone with the Wind, and I don't associate that style of dress at all with slavery. I would also wager the vast majority of people, colored or otherwise, don't associate that with slavery either.

This particular NAACP representative needs to acknowledge the progress that has been made on race relations since his time (which may be difficult living in Alabama...), and try to let this current generation forget about those things on the past, so they can focus on newer issues.

Making a mountain out of this mole hill serves no one.

1/13/2009 5:07:31 PM

you had me until

Quote :

"try to let this current generation forget about those things on the past"

1/13/2009 5:09:36 PM

Well fuck, let's go ahead and ban Renaissance Fairs so that people don't think that we're endorsing feudalistic serfdom and geocentrism.

1/13/2009 5:19:40 PM

^^ By "forget" I mean to acknowledge that history has moved on. No one seriously thinks of blacks in the context of slaves anymore. I did not mean to ignore, or pretend it didn't happen.

[Edited on January 13, 2009 at 5:29 PM. Reason : ]

1/13/2009 5:29:26 PM

wait, so this guy wants to get rid of things that might remind people of slavery... but isn't he reminding people of slavery by pointing this stuff out?

[Edited on January 13, 2009 at 6:09 PM. Reason : interesting position]

1/13/2009 6:09:14 PM

I'm surprised the NAACP does not sue Tylenol b.c having to "pick the cotton" is a reference to black slavery or some shit

1/13/2009 6:32:33 PM

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/master.asp

Quote :

"The County of Los Angeles has requested that equipment vendors avoid using the industry term "Master/Slave" in computer hard drive descriptions and labeling."

1/13/2009 6:51:31 PM

LMAO

1/13/2009 6:56:46 PM

The NAACP would also like to ban the wearing any clothing made out of cotton.

[Edited on January 13, 2009 at 9:41 PM. Reason : .]

1/13/2009 9:40:49 PM

I saw NAACP and absurd described my feelings pretty well.

1/13/2009 10:26:53 PM

^4 Master/Slave is also a term sometimes used in the lighting industry

^6 very true.. most of the time people create their own problems.

1/13/2009 10:45:12 PM

when i was quoting our new cluster, they are called "nodes" now, not slaves

1/13/2009 10:57:18 PM

I'm ready for a female engineer to bitch about how our thermocouples are insensitive b.c we call the part with the hole the "female connector" and the actual thermocouple with a lead at the end is the "male" connector.

1/13/2009 11:09:36 PM

Racists! Don't they know bright colors only look good on dark folk!

1/13/2009 11:33:43 PM

^ not all the girls are white~

1/14/2009 7:33:48 AM

I think crap like this actually hurts the cause of the Alabama black community and further fuels racist sentiment amoung the whites in the community.

Unlikely is it Sally Sue and Billy Bob while watching the morning news in their trailor park home thought about the issue and were like "oh those gowns are not sensitive to the feelings of the african american community for the period of history when slavery existed."

more likely they were like "damn n**gers bitching about shit again causing trouble tryin to ruin our tradiations and society thanks to Al Sharpton blah blah blah"

1/14/2009 8:54:37 AM

I could see making an issue if it was a bunch of girls walking around dressed like Mrs. Butterworth, but this is just silly.

1/14/2009 9:05:32 AM

I think the NAACP takes what would be an otherwise benign issue and turns it into a "racial issue" to keep themselves employed.

IMHO most the "racial tension" outside of podunk USA is self-created by those crying foul.

1/14/2009 9:46:53 AM

one of the things it does

is give a false sense of validation to people who already harbor such racist feelings

so when the NAACP comes to town, instead of just ignoring their rants, they put them on a pedestal, write stories, make threads, etc and yell SEE? SEE? SEE?

and you fucking love it

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 10:23 AM. Reason : +]

1/14/2009 10:03:13 AM

1/14/2009 11:15:08 AM

Quote :

"is give a false sense of validation to people who already harbor such racist feelings "

I heard there was an orgainization with the same purpose but for white people.

what was this group called again??

hmmm...

oh yeah the KKK

but those people are evil bad racists and NAACP is a rightous orgainiazation fighting a gov't of white people that holds them back. oh wait a second the next president is half black.

1/14/2009 12:21:34 PM

lol

you're gonna start that old tired kkk = the current state of the naacp garbage again?

hanging + burning folk = imagined persecution in regards to reading too much into pop culture

Quote :

"oh wait a second the next president is half black."

and hur we are again

1/14/2009 12:31:19 PM

Quote :

"I think the NAACP takes what would be an otherwise benign issue and turns it into a "racial issue" to keep themselves employed. IMHO most the "racial tension" outside of podunk USA is self-created by those crying foul."

You are the most tense person in this thread... perhaps the problem lies within.

1/14/2009 12:42:12 PM

you aren't kidding. the guy has a literal stick up his ass about anything regarding black folks, i dont care who he voted for.

and hey, by the way HUR you fuckwit : "Trailer" is spelled with an "er"

not "Trailor" ... like you've been consistently spelling it for the past several years. I've only pointed this out to you about 5 times. So get it through your retard cracker head, okay?

[Edited on January 14, 2009 at 7:05 PM. Reason : ]

1/14/2009 7:04:14 PM

don't you mean "retarded crackor head?"

1/14/2009 7:12:51 PM

Quote :

"not "Trailor" ... like you've been consistently spelling it for the past several years. I've only pointed this out to you about 5 times. So get it through your retard cracker head, okay? "

nice ad hominem attack; i must have hit the thumbscrew in your whiny liberal douchebag brain

1/15/2009 12:47:48 PM

yeah, sure.

just next time you insult people for being "trailer trash" ... don't spell it "trailor". because it makes you look like you grew up in a trailer park.

mmkay?

1/15/2009 3:30:37 PM

Here's a good This American Life episode: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=364 that's slightly related to this issue.

You can listen to it free there (and download free if you know what you're doing...) if you want.

1/15/2009 4:09:36 PM

<3 This American life

1/15/2009 4:27:11 PM

Pastoral scene...of the galant south...

1/15/2009 6:26:41 PM

unbelievable. they are regressing by pointing this out. did anyone stop and think for a second before making this announcement? ridiculous

1/15/2009 7:09:28 PM

wow, how stupid

Quote :

"wait, so this guy wants to get rid of things that might remind people of slavery... but isn't he reminding people of slavery by pointing this stuff out?"

haha, exactly

1/15/2009 7:54:08 PM

^^ who is regressing?

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bc11c60b57/racism-in-an-elevator-psa-and-now-you-know-from-recklesstortuga?from=player

1/15/2009 8:45:39 PM