County Commish's Black Racist Tender Sensibilities Erupt in Texas

Tiimes have changed with comments. African americans now have some financial power where a boycott could make a stock go down a couple points and with profit margins so small these days, no one wants to risk it.

There are a lot of things people are sensitive about and if someone says to you "that offends me" unless you're trying to offend just simply stop saying whatever you were saying.

I didn't know the term Jew was a negative term until I called someone who was Jewish a jew. He was a friendly acquaintance so I simply stopped using that term.

By your article its obvious you think Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are looking for fights and like being on TV so that shows you won't get this statement and don't get that what they are doing is positive.

Why do you like to use offensive terms for other races and think its ok is really the question?

The good Reverends are positive??????

Warner, your arguments are not all convincing. You declare men race mongers, but your declaration is not enough. Facts actually need to be established. Moreover, do you only see Black people as race mongers? I note that you haven't cited any white ones.

The colloquy was ridiculous, I'll grant you. Black hole is a legitimate term in science. But how was the term uttered? Was it spat out? Was the word "black" exaggerated? There are many ways to insult a person--some are literal, some covert, some elliptical (like use of the term "niggardly," meaning in a very cheap way, but clearly this word can be emphasized to imply a racial epithet). Based on the snippet of information you've supplied, I won't denounce Commissioner Price or Judge Jones because I wasn't there to hear how the conversation went down. But what is obvious is that Price didn't believe that "black hole" was inoffensive in this context, and that the judge responded to this perceived slight. Doesn't make either one of them "stupid," as you've concluded.

A girlfriend once referred to me as a "skinny bit@h. It wasn't said in anger, and I had a laugh. But on other occasions, including here on the Vine, I was called that same epithet. Then, it was an insult.
So, yes, the judge and commissioner reacted to a legit term, but might Comm. Mayfield have been baiting them? Hmmm...

"Black hole" doesn't seem offensive in the context in which it apparently was used. It's disappointing to see allegedly grown-up people behaving like children. Reacting to non-incidents of racism with such outrage diminishes and demeans real incidents - and silences real victims, not to mention real opportunities for learning and for change.