On the persistence of bigotry, Western-style

[Shallah Kali]

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_11149645

Q: What's Barack Obama's new Chinese name?

A: Coon Soon Die.

Work on it a little bit. You'll get it. I got it while I was eating eggs over-medium, hashbrowns and bacon at a restaurant in Hotchkiss, a town of less than 2,000 people in western Colorado. The waitress who was pouring coffee asked who we had voted for in the election and my friend and I said, "Obama."

"Oh, well, then I probably shouldn't tell you this joke."

"No, no," we urged her. "Go for it."

And then she took us on a journey into the land of punch lines featuring assassination.

I grew up here on a small farm outside of town. I know this country, rural and isolated, far from the urban zones of Denver and liberal Boulder. In this part of the West, we're mostly small towns of mining, ranching and farming communities. We're what Sarah Palin was probably thinking of when she said, "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity and dignity."

The people around here would agree. Delta County is deep-red Palin Country. As Obama was turning Colorado's ski towns and gentrified urban areas blue and winning the state, Delta County, like much of rural Colorado, remained a stubborn red. Here, we voted 65 percent for McCain and rejected every candidate who was a Democrat. It's no secret we're a conservative county. But this breakfast conversation presented a new and surprising facet for someone like me. I thought I knew the place.

"My daughter told me that one," our waitress said, "She heard it in school. Most of them, they're not that funny, but that one, I had to give her credit."

[ezgoingrl]

1. Ugh.

My son tells me almost every day about some new joke or comment he hears at school. We live in Oklahoma, and he is one of very few Obama supporters at his junior high. I have to give him credit, though he doesn't back down and he stands up for what he believes in. Although it does scare me a little because I know how crazy people can be, especially right now.

[dipsydoodle]

2. At least the N word

was only derived from its original meaning of black whereas coon is a really nasty racial epiphet. x(

[MasonJar]

3. That is not funny.

[juno jones]

4. I guess I'm lucky

I've only had to argue with one guy, and even he was open-minded and said he would support Obama because he was pres. and would cheer if he managed to do the right thing. A little backhanded, but not overtly gaggingly racsist or anything. Just another child who was raised to think Reagan was a hero.

He likes to read. I think I can corrupt him. I'm gonna start with Tim Powers 'Declare' (he likes spy and horror novels) move into Neal Stephenson and then start hitting him over the head with Brian Inglis's 'Poverty and the Industrial Revolution' (he's studying economics...ugh).

I got a plan, and I hope it plays....:evilgrin: