How about a Dose of Racism with Your Dessert

I swear I wonder how it is that all smart or even vaguely aware Black people don't just go crazy. I mean can I please just get some ice cream without having to wonder if one of the options will include a racial epithet.

Timothy Noah over at slate.com generally has an interesting take on politics, but I am (and here I am searching for exactly the right word) happy...proud...comforted by the fact that he has now taken up a sideline of pointing out how racially insensitive language is being used in a "joking" fashion by some companies.

I know this controversy mostly occurred in August and that Dairy Queen has already "dealt" with the issue, but seriously there is no way I could ever spend another dollar at the DQ. Not to harp on this issue, but I am absolutely sure that somebody at Dairy Queen knew what they were signifying when they named the "MooLatte." For one thing, just type this word into any spelling check program and tell me what the first suggestion is. Second, having grown up in the South I can say that Dairy Queen seems to have a very good understanding of those markets (where by the way it is part of the very fabric of small communities like the one I grew up in) and no doubt understood that many of its consumers would be in on the "joke."

However, I feel less comfortable with the whole controversy with the Swedish company. I have less of an understanding of whether or not the average Swedish person would have the same interpretation of the name and logo for their product. Nevertheless, here's a suggestion maybe companies should stop trying to sell "black, urban culture" especially in situations where there are no black, urban people who will benefit from that choice.

I mean it's one thing if MC Lyte wants to sell out to the Old Navy by remaking "Bust a Move" to "Bust a Tunic," in my opinion this is a positive sign. It shows that black artists are now able to sell out in the same way that so many white rebels of the 1960s and 1970s are now advertising for Cadillac.