Is this racist?

I'm driving behind a white GMC Jimmy SUV and it has exactly one bumper
sticker on it that says, "I hunt black and tans". I'm looking at this
with my mouth open thinking they MUST be talking about dogs, they
can't really be talking about lynching, can they? I look closer to see if
there's a tiny "with" in there. Nope, but there's a silhouette which I
finally figure out (at a stop light when I can study it) is a dog barking
up a tree trunk.

I told my husband how scandalized I was by the poor taste of this bumper
sticker. He said that he didn't take it that way and he couldn't imagine
that the people who put that bumper sticker up thought that way. I said
that the double entendre was the whole POINT of putting up that bumper
sticker. He said I was off my rocker and way too cynical.

Opinions? Am I just nuts to think anyone would be that horrid? I *do*
tend to be cynical (and that's a trait my husband deplores.) I'm also
putting together a study unit on the Restoration of the American South
through to the Civil Rights movement, so racism is on my mind.

Wendy, see red

x-no-archive:yes

I think you are seeing things that aren't there. Black and tans can
refer to a couple of different things and people aren't one of them
that springs to mind.

Wendy Marsden wrote:

I'm driving behind a white GMC Jimmy SUV and it has exactly one bumper
sticker on it that says, "I hunt black and tans". I'm looking at this
with my mouth open thinking they MUST be talking about dogs, they
can't really be talking about lynching, can they? I look closer to see if
there's a tiny "with" in there. Nope, but there's a silhouette which I
finally figure out (at a stop light when I can study it) is a dog barking
up a tree trunk.

I told my husband how scandalized I was by the poor taste of this bumper
sticker. He said that he didn't take it that way and he couldn't imagine
that the people who put that bumper sticker up thought that way. I said
that the double entendre was the whole POINT of putting up that bumper
sticker. He said I was off my rocker and way too cynical.

Opinions? Am I just nuts to think anyone would be that horrid? I *do*
tend to be cynical (and that's a trait my husband deplores.) I'm also
putting together a study unit on the Restoration of the American South
through to the Civil Rights movement, so racism is on my mind.

Wendy, see red

grandma Rosalie

Wendy Marsden wrote:

I'm driving behind a white GMC Jimmy SUV and it has exactly one bumper
sticker on it that says, "I hunt black and tans". I'm looking at this
with my mouth open thinking they MUST be talking about dogs, they
can't really be talking about lynching, can they?

I'd do a double-take myself, so I don't blame you at all for being
sensitive about it. But, your interpretation would likely only be
correct if it said "blacks" instead of "black", semantically speaking.
I'm not sure what "black and tans" are, though.


P.
Tierney

On Sat, 9 Aug 2003, P. Tierney wrote:



Wendy Marsden wrote:

I'm driving behind a white GMC Jimmy SUV and it has exactly one bumper
sticker on it that says, "I hunt black and tans". I'm looking at this
with my mouth open thinking they MUST be talking about dogs, they
can't really be talking about lynching, can they?

I'd do a double-take myself, so I don't blame you at all for being
sensitive about it. But, your interpretation would likely only be
correct if it said "blacks" instead of "black", semantically speaking.
I'm not sure what "black and tans" are, though.



My dad had a black and tan. It's a coon hound

That said, I'm not so sure such a bumper sticker isn't meant to
have more than one meaning.

No. Black and Tans are coonhounds, they hunt raccoons by chasing them up
trees. Stating "I hunt Black and Tans" is like stating "I show Poodles".



"Wendy Marsden" wrote in message
...
I'm driving behind a white GMC Jimmy SUV and it has exactly one bumper
sticker on it that says, "I hunt black and tans". I'm looking at this
with my mouth open thinking they MUST be talking about dogs, they
can't really be talking about lynching, can they? I look closer to see if
there's a tiny "with" in there. Nope, but there's a silhouette which I
finally figure out (at a stop light when I can study it) is a dog barking
up a tree trunk.

I told my husband how scandalized I was by the poor taste of this bumper
sticker. He said that he didn't take it that way and he couldn't imagine
that the people who put that bumper sticker up thought that way. I said
that the double entendre was the whole POINT of putting up that bumper
sticker. He said I was off my rocker and way too cynical.

Opinions? Am I just nuts to think anyone would be that horrid? I *do*
tend to be cynical (and that's a trait my husband deplores.) I'm also
putting together a study unit on the Restoration of the American South
through to the Civil Rights movement, so racism is on my mind.

Wendy, see red

On Sat, 09 Aug 2003 03:03:19 GMT, Wendy Marsden
wrote:

I'm driving behind a white GMC Jimmy SUV and it has exactly one bumper
sticker on it that says, "I hunt black and tans". I'm looking at this
with my mouth open thinking they MUST be talking about dogs, they
can't really be talking about lynching, can they? I look closer to see if
there's a tiny "with" in there. Nope, but there's a silhouette which I
finally figure out (at a stop light when I can study it) is a dog barking
up a tree trunk.

A black and tan is a dog (usualoly used for hunting, but the
description of my beagle colors are black and tan(

Barb

"Barbara Bomberger" wrote

A black and tan is a dog (usualoly used for hunting, but the
description of my beagle colors are black and tan(


Heh. In my world a "Black and tan" is either a drink (half Guinness and
half ale) or a British soldier from the period of the Irish War of
Independence (1919-1921).

Jean


--
"And he said:
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of
Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and
though they are with you, yet they belong not to you." Khalil Gibran

Return address is unread. Replies to firstnamelastname @eircom.net.

Iuil wrote:

Heh. In my world a "Black and tan" is either a drink (half Guinness and
half ale) or a British soldier from the period of the Irish War of
Independence (1919-1921).

So maybe the double entendre makes sense if you know the driver to be
Irish?

Wendy

"Wendy Marsden" wrote

Heh. In my world a "Black and tan" is either a drink (half Guinness and
half ale) or a British soldier from the period of the Irish War of
Independence (1919-1921).

So maybe the double entendre makes sense if you know the driver to be
Irish?

Oooh yeah. But still not PC :-).

Jean


--
"And he said:
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of
Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and
though they are with you, yet they belong not to you." Khalil Gibran

Return address is unread. Replies to firstnamelastname @eircom.net.

"Iuil" wrote:


Heh. In my world a "Black and tan" is either a drink (half Guinness and
half ale)

So how does that work -- are they just mixed and stirred together in
the same glass? I like my Guinness quite a bit, but I've never tried
mixing it with anything.


P.
Tierney