Some commentators say that the "Monday Night Football" segment featuring actress Nicollette Sheridan (search) coming on to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens (search) was racially insensitive in addition to being in poor taste, reports The Associated Press.
The promo for ABC’s "Desperate Housewives" program featured a towel-draped Sheridan, one of the show’s stars, hitting on Owens in a locker room. Many people thought the skit a bit too sexually suggestive.
But Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy went one step further, calling the segment racist.
Commentator Jenice Armstrong of the Philadelphia Daily News said having Owens stare at the nearly nude Sheridan played into "the usual stereotypes about black men" as hypersexed, irresponsible bucks.
Someone else even suggested that it encouraged violence against women!
Where's the Outrage?
A Muslim imam brought in to lecture students at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo apparently generated no controversy when he said women were suitable only for administrative jobs and should cover themselves in public because they are too tempting to men, reports the Kalamazoo Gazette.
Imam Siraj Wahhaj of Masjid Al-Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, N.Y., told about 400 students, faculty and staff at the college that women should never sacrifice their primary role as caregivers and mothers for a secondary one in a career. He also said women in administrative roles makes sense but "would you want to work with or depend on being saved by a woman firefighter?"
The event was described as an "evening of education, free-form discussion and a sumptuous Middle Eastern dinner." Instead of sparking paroxysms of rage among the audience and women on campus, however, the reaction as described by the paper was downright civil.
Surely the response would have been the same to anyone expressing such sentiments? A Christian, say, or a young Republican?
Delayed Offense
A Kentucky high school student of American Indian heritage described herself as mortified and distraught by a pep rally skit in which her school’s football players pretended to scare off students dressed as Indians in the lead-up to a game against an arch-rival, reports the Bowling Green Daily News.
Sarah Berry, 16, a member of the Choctaw Nation, said the Sept. 24 pep rally at Bowling Green High School was offensive to her heritage and made her cry. "It was discriminatory and horrible," she said.
Berry said she was hurt and angry and wanted to go to the administration and complain immediately. For some reason, though, she waited until early November to do so.
Tar Baby
Use of the term "tar baby," described as a racial slur in an e-mail circulated by a Florida utility board official, led to a shouting match about racism during one of the board’s meetings, reports the Fort Pierce Tribune.
The offending term was used in an e-mail from the Fort Pierce Utility Authority’s spokesman to a member of the board. He apparently wrote that a "reporter is calling a PCA increase a 'rate increase.' This is a tar baby."
The spokesman apologized for using the term, saying, "My choice of words was poor, and I do apologize to anyone I've offended."
Those Dastardly Scouts
The Pentagon will soon start warning military bases worldwide that they should not directly sponsor Boy Scout troops because the group requires its members to believe in God, reports The Associated Press.
To settle a 1999 lawsuit from the ACLU, the Pentagon agreed to warn bases not to officially sponsor groups of boys who pledge to do their duty to God and their country, to help other people at all times and to stay physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
"If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based on religious beliefs," said ACLU lawyer Adam Schwartz.
One Never Knows
Police in Atlanta were called to a dormitory at Emory University and spent an hour investigating and taking photographs of dry erase boards on which someone had scribbled the word "gay," reports the Emory Wheel.
University officials said they are required by the school’s code of conduct to call police for any "act of intolerance." Emory’s code defines an act of intolerance as any act "that has the effect of creating an offensive, demeaning, intimidating or hostile environment."
Assistant Dean for Campus Life and Director of Student Conduct Andy Wilson said that because the word refers to sexual orientation, a protected class at Emory, Residential Life officials "had to err on the side of caution."
For more doses of politically correct nuttiness, head on over to the TongueTied daily edition.
Mailbag:
Andrew L. writes:
Why is it that most of this country is traditional but...a small and apparently loud minority has problems with things like the homecoming King and Queen win all the time?
As much as people think this is making things better and more tolerable, it isn't. You are going to see a revolt in this country against the left. I am Jewish and I don’t care one bit if Christmas displays are out. But if [Christians] are not allowed to show their religion, why aren’t Kwanza celebrations stopped? Or any parade in NYC, since someone out there doesn’t support it?
People need to remember liberty is not easy, and tolerance of everyone’s views includes the ones that liberals don’t like!
Jim B. writes:
Since the Eden Project forbids the use of the word "Christmas" on its premises to avoid offending non-Christians, will it also be changing its own name? After all, what best-selling book popularized the word "Eden" to begin with?
Ed. T. writes:
If we must remove the mention of Christmas from a public display so as not to offend non-Christians, can we assume that we will rename Ramadan "the month of fasting" so as not to offend non-Muslims or Chanuka as "the oil lamp phenomenon" so as not to offend non-Jews? Nah, didn't think so.
Lionel P. writes:
Interesting solution to a non-problem. If it is a scholarship program that is not gender specific, and is based on merit to reward the top two students, why not just refer to the folks as "our Homecoming Scholarship Winners"?
If, in fairness, the school wished to reward the most scholastically meritorious person of each sex, the same scholarship announcement could be made. Are "roles" really changing, or is the school just redefining a scholarship program where beauty and popularity are not considered? I take it the student body does not get to vote, right?
Kevin M. writes:
One of the things about the whole PC culture that irritates me most is the double standard. The display that was so "disgusting" and "hateful" to the students would be perfectly OK with some variations.
Say it questioned and/or mocked something like Christianity or heterosexual marriage. Then, no matter how cruel or sarcastic, it would be "brilliant" and "insightful." But question the homosexual agenda or any other liberal cause and it's hate. What disturbs me most is that so many young people are buying into this. I can only hope that they will eventually be enlightened as this former liberal was.
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