Evolving Cultural Viewpoints

[Azastan]

Huh, were we supposed to like him? I remember him as a villain who was extra villainy in that he usually 'won'. Then again, at the time, villains never won in these cartoons, so I guess his victory was supposed to indicate that he was the good guy all along. eww.

If my friends are any indication (and they are all progressive, we're not talking TFG lovers here), I suspect they consider him to be one of those 'misunderstood bad boys with a heart of gold who eventually gets the girl because he doesn't give up on his dream' or some such drivel like that.

[Suranis]

Pepe Le Pew was very much the villain. The humour was that he was so oblivious to the fact that the "woman" didn't want anything to do with him, even when she beat the shit out of him, which happened 2 to 5 times an episode. It very much was a satire of the narcissistic idiots who thought they were gods gift to woman even though they never actually got the girl, which he never did.

Plus, in one episode the cat actually got attracted to him, at which point he recoiled in panic and tried to get away from her, and failed. There was nothing admirable about him as a character, and in fact he was portrayed as rather pathetic.

The message - don't be like this bloody idiot.

[neeneko]

If my friends are any indication (and they are all progressive, we're not talking TFG lovers here), I suspect they consider him to be one of those 'misunderstood bad boys with a heart of gold who eventually gets the girl because he doesn't give up on his dream' or some such drivel like that.

Yeah, I have run into the idea that he is supposed to be an icon of overcoming prejudice since he is physically repulsive but through force of will wins 'the girl' anyway.

[Volkonski]

Dr Seuss 'cancelled'? There’s nothing new about cutting racism from children’s books
Pundits up in arms about removing offensive tropes from his books forget this is part of a long tradition, from Mary Poppins to Nancy Drew

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/ ... rens-books

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, which debuted in 1927 and 1930 respectively, were originally packed with unflattering portraits of ethnic villains, who were “swarthy”, “hook-nosed”, or “dark, and rather stupid looking”. In The Hardy Boys’ Hidden Harbor Mystery, the criminal exploits are executed by Luke Jones, a Black man who wears stolen diamond rings, speaks in a heavy dialect and refers to himself in the second person: “Luke Jones don’t stand for no nonsense from white folks! Ah pays mah fare, an’ Ah puts mah shoes where Ah please.” Meanwhile, Nancy Drew solved The Mystery at Lilac Inn by means of racial profiling: spotting a “dark-complexioned” girl at an upscale dress shop, Nancy notes: “Surely a girl in her circumstances cannot afford to buy dresses at such a place as this.”

Publishers Grosset & Dunlap did more than just change “chums” to “friends” and give Nancy Drew a convertible and Joe Hardy an electric guitar when they updated the books in 1959. Gone are the dialects and the people who spoke them, as the characters were changed to white, or eliminated altogether. In the case of The Hidden Harbor Mystery, the entire plot was rewritten, as the cartoonish Luke Jones was so inextricably tied to it. As a result, the books became more homogeneous. As Andrea Ruggirello wrote of Nancy Drew on Electric Lit: “River Heights became less overtly racist but also more white.”

Anyone who read Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory after 1973 knows the Oompa-Loompas as “rosy-white” and hailing from the fictitious Loompaland. Pick up a first edition from 1964 and you’ll find that the Oompa-Loompas are pygmies from “the deepest heart of Africa”, depicted in illustrations as coal-black people with broad grins. Originally, the Oompa-Loompas were brought to work as slaves by Willy Wonka, who smuggled them to the UK on a ship, packed in cases with air holes. That they are not fanciful creatures from an imaginary land but actual Africans, makes it all the more disturbing when Veruca Salt demands that her father buy her one. (“I’ll see that you have one before the day is out,” he replies.) After complaints from the NAACP, Dahl made the revisions himself.

Hugh Lofting’s The Story of Dr Dolittle won the prestigious Newbery medal in 1923, but was allowed to go out of print in the 1970s in the US due to its racist tropes and slurs. Prince Bumpo, an African native who wishes to be white, was decried in a 1968 paper from the National Council of Teachers of English as “one of the cruellest stereotypes in the realm of children’s literature”. The book was extensively revised in 1988 (Bumpo now wishes to be a tiger), and the unexpurgated edition is rare. Mary Poppins was similarly revised in 1981, this time by author PL Travers herself, who was upset to find that some teachers were uncomfortable reading a passage about a “negro lady” holding a “tiny black piccaninny” in front of Black students. Travers completely reworked a chapter in which the children travel around the globe, replacing all of the people with animals.

[Volkonski]

Houston still most diverse city in America; 3 other Texas cities on top 25 list

https://www.khou.com/article/news/local ... d54f60df1a

A number of Texas cities are some of the most diverse in the country, a new report from WalletHub found.

Houston, Dallas, Arlington and Fort Worth all made the top 25 most diverse cities in America.

Here's how they stacked up:

1. Houston

4. Dallas

8. Arlington

25. Fort Worth

The personal finance website added up scores across five diversity categories with 13 metrics to come to its ranking of more than 500 cities in the U.S.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Happy my granddaughters live near the three most diverse cities with open-minded parents.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.fodors.com/world/north-amer ... ucky-derby

The Forgotten Jockeys of the Kentucky Derby

Because of the color of their skin, the keepers of Derby history largely erased these jockeys' accomplishments.

A painting of 11 young Black men each sporting a different color silk shirt hangs above a booth in an upscale Louisville restaurant. Only six men have riding caps on, but they are all wearing white riding pants and riding boots. The two fabled spirals of Churchill Downs can be seen peeking out over their shoulders in the background. These are 11 of the Kentucky Derby’s first winning jockeys. They were champions at the very beginning of what has become one of the most prominent sporting events in America but, because of the color of their skin, the keepers of Derby history largely erased their accomplishments.

The Kentucky Derby is well-known as the most prestigious annual race in America. Every first Saturday in May, hundreds of thousands of racing fans huddle together at Churchill Downs to watch 20 thoroughbreds race for one-and-one-quarter miles. In the 1880s, Black equestrians played a critical role in forming what is now a multi-billion dollar industry; 13 out of the 15 original jockeys during the first Kentucky Derby in 1875 were Black, including the Derby’s first winner Oliver Lewis. African American horsemen dominated the beginning years, winning 15 Derbies in the first 28 years. The winning streak abruptly ended in 1902 when Jim Crow laws swept the nation, barring African Americans from any prominent roles in horse racing and locking them out of the growing economic revenue the sport was bringing in. A handful of the jockeys moved overseas to race in other countries, but most were never able to race again.

Louisville entrepreneur and restauranteur Tawnana Bains wanted to pay homage to these early riders, hosting an event with The Project to Preserve African American Turf History (PPAATH), a local organization dedicated to publicizing the role of Black jockeys in the Kentucky Derby. At the event, PPAATH set up a mobile art museum with paintings representing several of the original jockeys.

[Annrc]

Love this. Thanks for sharing.

[Azastan]

The International Museum of the Horse, part of the Kentucky Horse Park, located in Lexington, KY, has a permanent exhibit dedicated to Black jockeys:

http://imh.org/exhibits/current/black-h ... ucky-turf/

It's a fabulous place to visit.

(Of special interest to fellow fanciers of Arabian horses, it has a permanent exhibit on Arabians--the Al-Marah Arabian Horse Gallery. Homer Davenport was a famous political cartoonist and also had a great interest in Arabian horses, and was one of the first breeders of Arabians in the United States.)

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Love this. Thanks for sharing.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

The International Museum of the Horse, part of the Kentucky Horse Park, located in Lexington, KY, has a permanent exhibit dedicated to Black jockeys:

http://imh.org/exhibits/current/black-h ... ucky-turf/

It's a fabulous place to visit.

(Of special interest to fellow fanciers of Arabian horses, it has a permanent exhibit on Arabians--the Al-Marah Arabian Horse Gallery. Homer Davenport was a famous political cartoonist and also had a great interest in Arabian horses, and was one of the first breeders of Arabians in the United States.)

I have visited there and would love to go back!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.treehugger.com/what-is-carm ... ts-4868638

What Is Carmine—And Why Is It So Controversial?

If you’ve ever wondered what gives some of your favorite designer drinks, strawberry yogurt, or even shades of lipstick that deep crimson color, the answer may surprise you.

The secret behind many of these products is carmine dye—a colored extract that comes from the dried and crushed shells of female cochineal insects.

Cochineal bugs are part of the Coccidae family, a type of scale insect closely related to aphids, mealybugs, and whiteflies. They have flat, oval-shaped bodies about the size of a grain of rice and are native to tropical and subtropical South America through North America.

These bugs invade and live off the nopal cactus, otherwise known as the prickly pear cactus, accumulating in large clusters on the cactus pad to feed on the plant’s natural moisture and nutrients.

Specifically, carmine dye is produced from the acid that females naturally secrete to deter predators (the insects themselves are more of a gray-white color). Up to 20% of the insect’s body weight is made up of carminic acid. The insect typically used is the Dactylopius coccus species,​ the females of which are mostly immobile and live around 90 days in the wild.

► Show Spoiler

Most concerns over carmine dye lie in its source. An estimated 22 billion to 89 billion adult female cochineals are killed each year to produce carmine, and those who live a vegan lifestyle felt misled by companies that didn’t disclose the specific nature of their additives. It’s also concerning among followers of religions with dietary restrictions.

There have been health risks connected to cochineal products as well, with research showing that exposure to the ingredient can cause severe anaphylactic reactions, contact allergies, and even asthma. In 2009, the FDA began requiring companies that produced carmine-containing food and cosmetics to disclose the ingredient on the label.

Others claim that carmine is better for the environment than artificial alternatives since it is completely natural. Artificial colorings are often made using coal or petroleum byproducts. Studies have linked even the most common food dyes to hyperactivity in children as well as allergic reactions and other adverse effects.

There are many cultures around the world that have embraced eating insects for thousands of years. Bugs have even been promoted as a protein-rich superfood of the future. From the Maya to the Aztecs, indigenous people of Central and South America have used carmine to dye their fabrics for generations. It also serves as an important source of income for those countries today.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... -new-york/

A statue of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was removed overnight Wednesday from its spot outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The towering bronze statue depicts Roosevelt riding a horse, as two nameless African and Native American men flank him on foot.

It has provoked strong debate in the city, as many criticized the apparent subservience of the pair to the White man in the center — calling the scene a symbol of racism and colonialism.

“The statue was meant to celebrate Theodore Roosevelt … as a devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history,” the museum website has said about the removal. “At the same time, the statue itself communicates a racial hierarchy that the Museum and members of the public have long found disturbing.”