Accused of racism on door

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my mother actually has THREE Main Coon Cats and loves them.

Check out www.pinecoons.com

they are not racist cats.

this is insanity!!

I was finally able to check out the pic. I saw this post at work but cannot click on WP links from work. So, now that I've seen it, I can say that making you take that down or getting offended in any way is f***ing ret*d. I work in a government agency, which among office settings is the most hypersensitive you can get, and I don't think anyone would get offended at that.

That is truly stupid. I think, for whatever that's worth, since I'm far removed from the situation, that you should explain it is about cats. It is a picture of a cat. Surrounded by cats.

I would also say that you are the one in the situation, and you should do what you think is best for you.

Maybe I'm just a bit simple minded. But I've been considering this. And I have but one word to explain this, what you question: cowardice. Perhaps you could do me a small favour, KingdomOfRats; print this message out, and give a copy of it to said "offendee". Not from you; from me. I say this person is a coward; you are very right; if she or he had some problem, he or she should be woman or man enough to talk to you about it. This is an astute observation on your part; your wonder is my wonder; and my wonder is explained by the word I provided: cowardice.

Good fortune,

- Icarus thinks cowardice and being easily offended are, in fact, the same thing…

Damn straight.

If I were you I would find the most racist poster I could find and hang it up right next to the coon cat poster and also put up a note between the posters that says "<-- This poster is not racist, This poster is racist -->, if you can't tell the difference, then f**k you. Oh, and have a nice day." But I doubt you are as rude as I am and it sounds like you really don't want to upset this person.

It's ironic, just as I was reading this post I was hearing on Sportcenter about how the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, is being accused of racism because of a comment he made about how Michael Vick would be able to return to the NFL after his prison sentence is over if he stays in shape and doesn't eat too much fried chicken and fries. Now if he had singled out fried chicken AND watermelon, that might have been racist, but come on, that's ridiculous. So using the words "fried chicken" can get you accused of racism now? Maybe I should sue KFC to change their name because it offends me.

Seriously though, these overly PC people need to tone it down.

are you serious? you are nonsense.

"if 100 people say a stupid thing, it is STILL a STUPID THING."

the truth doesn't actually change just because people vote it so, or because they are confused idiots.

This a perfect example of the stupidity of political correctness. There were always be ignorant cretins will interpret non-derogatory words like Maine Coon, niggardly, and "Ho Ho Ho" as offensive.

I have a Maine Coon named Princess, BTW.

Pics, Please?

Exactly.

I wish more people were willing to call a spade a spade.

I completely agree. Changing the picture makes it look like you're in the wrong, and that is clearly not the case. Giving in will only open a up gateway for more stupidity down the line.

I'm sorry but as someone who understands and agrees with the need for cultural sensitivity and often PC language-I disagree that this has anything to do with the "stupidity of PC". This is a problem of ignorance. Ignorance of language and biology.

exactly and just because two people think that the word "coon" under a picture of a Maine Coon Cat is racist doesn't make it right. Just like the "Gay 90's" doesn't refer to homosexuality or "renege" doesn't mean anything to do with Black people.

I respectfully invite you to share your understanding of this "need" with the rest of us. I see no such need; I see only control veiled thinly in some warm-and-fuzzy notion of sensitivity, which at its root simply makes us more sheepish for the shepherds. Remember, sensitivity is inherently a kind of vulnerability (which is not to say it is only a vulnerability); overly sensitive == easy to damage or rile up. And there are people who can and do know how to exploit us through this vulnerability; there are places in this world of humans where the entire power-structure of governing bodies is based on exploiting this vulnerability.

I see thought control here, just like Newspeak.

But perhaps I am confused; please, enlighten me.

Good fortune,

- Icarus knows the difference between red pills and blue pills...

Oh, and don't forget WHO invented the term political correctness, and why!

HINT: Mao!

Let's engage in a thought experiment to assess what your opinions imply.
Imagine that there is a race of friendly aliens who visit Earth, and whose language consists of English words, but with a very different syntax than that of English. For example, in their language, the combination of sounds that sounds, to us humans, like "Hello, coon", means "we come in peace" in their language. They visit earth, and the first person they come in contact with is an African American. They exclaim "Hello, coon", because they want to let the human know that they come in peace, and wish him no harm. While the combination of sounds is interpreted, by the human, as a racist statement, here's the central question: Is this statement racist?

A statement, in and of itself, is nothing more than a combination of sounds, and we would surely not reprimand the alien for saying "Hello, coon" to this African American man. Why? Because it is not the words coon, or k*e, or wetback, or n****r, that we are offended by: we are offended by the racist intentions of those who usually use them. The words themselves go hand in hand with racist intentions so frequently, that it is easy to make a mistake, such as thinking that the topic poster of this thread should be taken off the door, or thinking that perhaps the friendly aliens should change that specific part of their language to, perhaps, "Hello friend".

However, the opinion that the poster should be taken down is predicated upon the false premise that any subjective misinterpretation of a message should be grounds for one to change one's behavior.

I'd say it is different depending upon the circumstances. The word IS racist in a particular context, someone who IS representative of the group that is the target of the word complained, and the manager DID request that the poster be removed. The intent of the person who put up the poster was clearly not racist, so he is not wrong in his intent. However, the manager did request that the poster be removed, so he must have had a reason. Unless the evidence turns out to be otherwise, the manager most likely had a fear that the poster would offend someone, perhaps those black tenants in the apartment building whom the original poster of this thread mentioned. The manager has the ability to decide whether the poster should be up or down, it seems, and so he holds the power over the content of the poster. He might simply say it is offensive or impolite or simply a distraction. Because he holds the final say over whether it is or not racist, at least in effect, someone else besides the apartment tenant has the upper hand in making that judgement.

The intent was not racist, but the effect is that it WAS racist, according to the apartment manager, and an administrative response has been made by the apartment manager as a result of this perceived effect of racism. So you see how quickly something innocent took on a life of its own and grew into something seemingly malicious. The apartment tenant does have two options. He can either follow along or he change the situation. He can remove the poster, or he can question the apartment manager's authority to pass judgment on that poster (which he may have, since it is a privately owned dwelling.) Here is the problem with the latter option. The issue of race, at least in the United States, is probably so divisive and tricky that I doubt he would have much success in challenging the apartment manager's authority. If he thinks he can take on the apartment manager and be successful, he should by all means try it. In the process, however, he needs to consider the possible consequences to that, like alienating his fellow tenants, being kicked out of his apartment entirely, or even being charged with some kind of hate offense.

Race is just such a tricky and divisive issue that it is best to strive not to offend anyone by their race, whether that is the intent or not.

You seem to have misread most of this, hyperbolic. In particular, in her posts, KingdomOfRats does not mention the race of the complainer. She does mention than many black staff have had no problem with the "Maine Coon C C"'s logo, prior to this one person's irrational reaction.
The manager does not seem to have said that they believe the poster is racist. That manager has just relayed the complainants ignorant comment and gone for an "easy way out" approach - that of bullying a resident.
So far as I read it, the only racist is this entire story is the complainant.

She's with my parents, pets aren't allowed in my apartment building. And I don't have a digital camera, anyway.