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Farewell
Dear Larry: You are the sanest man in America! I look forward to your columns because I ALWAYS agree with your answers. Great work! Thanks for speaking the simple truth about all issues — racial, political, parental, common sense, etc.
I often …Read more.
Hate Groups
Dear Larry: I want to forget for a moment that it is their constitutional right, because I detest the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and all other groups that preach hate. A long time ago, they came into cities across America without any protest. Now …Read more.
Troubles With Raising Teenage Son
Dear Larry: I am African-American and a single mother with three children, ages 15, 10 and 8. All of them are boys. I am having a lot of problems with them, especially the eldest.
He argues with me about almost everything. He thinks he is the man/…Read more.
How To Get Race Relations Back on Track
Dear Larry: So many of my friends are upset with the way things are going, especially race relations. They are not saying anything openly, but among themselves there is constant complaining and fear. There is something simmering and brewing that …Read more.
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Ethnically Speaking, December 20Dear Larry: For nearly 20 years, I have seen different groups argue that some minute issues are offensive or not politically correct. I remember one fad during which some people wore T-shirts with pictures of the characters from "The Little Rascals/Our Gang." One of the members of the gang was called "Buckwheat." The T-shirt was discontinued because many black groups found the shirts offensive and demanded that they be banned from society. Obviously, that was done. A few years ago, an earthquake hit our area. Local T-shirt companies profited from the earthquake and printed the words "Shift Happens." It is a pun on a famous slogan. My nephew got one of those shirts for his birthday and wore it to school. He was told to cover up the shirt or to go home because the shirt was insinuating. Obviously, he removed the T-shirt. At the same high school, a student wore a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt one day. Why not? Other students wear rock T-shirts of the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, AC/DC and Def Leppard; country music shirts of The Judds, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks; and hip-hop shirts of their favorite artists. Like my nephew, he was told to cover his shirt or be sent home because one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's logos is a Confederate flag. The administrators feared the shirt would offend some African-American students. Larry, what difference do logo images make when some students are wearing hip-hop T-shirts of people whose music insinuates violence, degrades women, and constantly uses the N-word? The student asked the faculty how his shirt differed from those that bear the logos of sports teams that are offensive to Native Americans.
The school staff's only reply was no Native American students have complained. Maybe the students at that school haven't complained, but I know the Native American community has complained, because other schools have changed their mascots. Another issue along the same lines concerns the former Washington Bullets, who changed their name to the Wizards. Many black groups found the name offensive because "wizard" is the title of a leader in the Ku Klux Klan. The team's publicist reminded the protestors that the name only refers to a magician or sorcerer from folklore. I don't know whether they still are arguing about that case. Here's my question, Larry: Why does society tend to be sensitive to one group but turn its back on another? — Pat Dear Pat: The problem with trying to please the politically correct is there are no standards. The only standard is how someone happens to feel about a situation. If a person who is a member of the "put-upon" group complains, then appeasement methods are initiated. What is a shame is how certain "put-upon" groups fall in and out of favor. There is no consistency, and there are no definitions of what is acceptable. What is also shameful is how there is seemingly no rational discussion of the issues. Everything is about feelings. Too many people say, "If I think it is wrong, then it is wrong." To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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