Mighty white of you, brother
blah
Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
otherwise?
Thanks,
- Mike
Kay Freeman
David Carson wrote:
> expected from a white person." End of story.
>
> David Carson
And then there is the scathingly ironic usage. For example: A (who is
white) makes an offer or concession or promise to B (who is not). It is
abundantly clear to B that while A wants this offer to appear
magnanimous (and believes that B will perceive it as such), the offer is
either paltry in the circumstances or contains an advantage to A and
disadvantage to B. Later, B relates A's offer to C (also not white,
or--much more rarely--white, perceptive, and extremely close to B). C
also immediately recognizes A's "magnanimous" gesture for the sham it is
and comments, "Damned white of him!"
Kay Freeman
Bob Cunningham
bdon...@execulink.SPAM-OFF.com (Bill Donovan) said:
>ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net (blah) wrote:
>>> Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
>>> I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
>>> otherwise?
>
>David Carson wrote:
>> It is racist. "That's a mighty admirable gesture, one which could only be
>> expected from a white person." End of story.
>
>What are the origins? Is it racist?
It can be bilaterally racist. A classic example comes from the "All in
the Family" TV show. Sammy Davis, Jr., after visiting Archie Bunker and
being exposed to his bigotry, sent Archie a note addressed "To Archie
Bunker, the whitest man I know." Archie took it as a great compliment.
(I think I posted this in AUE at least once before, but I hope it's
worth repeating.)
J. Ogando
On Fri, 30 May 1997 12:26:35 -0500, ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net
(blah) wrote:
>Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
>I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
>otherwise?
I am only guessing... but since WHITE has always MEANT or been implied
into meaning "clean, truthful, with no faults" I can understand that
that's what I mean. It could also mean honest, considerate. All of
those. The origin probably just comes from 1400's on or something.
Gut feeling on that one.
Jonathan Mason
ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net (blah) wrote:
>Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
>I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
>otherwise?
>
to do the decent thing. This phrase is sometimes used by my girlfried
(who is black) when I take out the trash.
J. Ogando
On 31 May 1997 13:38:14 GMT, Jonathan Mason
<j...@sunline.net.spamchopper> wrote:
Jonathan.. hehe.. Maybe you should go ahead and cover yourself w/
chocolate and see what she says. :)
carlosk
ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net (blah) wrote:
>Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
>I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
>otherwise?
>
>Thanks,
>
>- Mike
I don't know about the origin, but it goes back at least about fifty years.
I heard it in an old black-and-white movie a couple weeks ago. I think it
was the Cary Grant character in _Bringing Up Baby_, which I recall was made
in the late thirties. (Not that I personally was alive then....)
--carlos
Duncan McKenzie
>David Carson wrote:
>> >Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white
of you"?
>> >I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
>> >otherwise?
>>
>> It is racist. "That's a mighty admirable gesture, one which could only
be
>> expected from a white person." End of story.
>>
>> David Carson
There's a similar expression from England -- "Play the white man," which
manages to be both racist and sexist in one go. The meaning is, basically,
"Do the decent/honourable thing."
I think the contrast in this case is not so much white versus black as
British white versus everybody else in the world.
Duncan McKenzie
Toronto, Canada
Barbara Briggs
blah <ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net> wrote in article
<ubcomm-3005...@nb-dialup-73.superlink.net>...
> Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of
you"?
> I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
> otherwise?
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Mike
>
I've always heard it used in a sarcastic way. If someone has given or
helped a little, when they could have given or helped a lot more, a
sarcastic "Thanks, that's mighty white of you." might be in order. The
phrase certainly seems to be racist. To me it implies that the person has
control of something or has power and is hoarding it to himself as was and
may be is still the case.
B Briggs
Alan Pollock
J. Ogando (le...@tiac.net) wrote:
: On Sat, 31 May 1997 01:56:21 GMT, david...@neosoft.com (David
: Carson) wrote:
:
: >On Fri, 30 May 1997 12:26:35 -0500, ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net (blah) wrote:
: >
: >>Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
: >>I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
: >>otherwise?
: >It is racist. "That's a mighty admirable gesture, one which could only be
: >expected from a white person." End of story.
: well.. racist or not.. could you say that to anyone? I mean, it's
: probably "weird" to say that to a black man.. but I wonder! :)
No, don't say it. There are probably certain instances where it can be said
in parody, or in irony, but it's better to stay away from it, unless you (all
of the below) drive a pickup with 4 rifles in the window, chew tobacco, listen
to country music, and tend to use words under two syllabels in length. Then
you may be admired for saying it. :) Nex
Albert Marshall
Duncan McKenzie <dun...@cable.com> wrote
>
>There's a similar expression from England -- "Play the white man," which
>manages to be both racist and sexist in one go. The meaning is, basically,
>"Do the decent/honourable thing."
>
>I think the contrast in this case is not so much white versus black as
>British white versus everybody else in the world.
>
established phrases is that people usually try to apply current
attitudes to the originators of such phrases.
There are many "...ist" sayings which are nowadays dying out, but which
represent the mind-sets of the people who originated them. If you read
Kipling,for example, you will find a bewildering mixture of white
supremacy and genuine respect for (in his case) Indians (real ones).
In late Victorian times the attitude was that we should "take up the
white man's burden" because spreading European culture was seen (by
Europeans) to be the best way to improve the lot of the millions of
"less fortunate" inhabitants of the world.
Today this attitude is seen as wrong in all sorts of ways, but at least
the underlying belief that the world could be made a better place is
worth holding on to, even if blind faith in racial destiny is clearly
misguided, to put it mildly.
--
Albert Marshall
Executive French
Language Training for Businesses in Kent
01634 400902
Anandashankar Mazumdar
In article
<86518035...@optional.cts.com
>,
ne...@reprieve.cts.com (Alan Pollock)
wrote:
>
> J. Ogando (le...@tiac.net) wrote:
> : On Sat, 31 May 1997 01:56:21 GMT, david...@neosoft.com (David
> : Carson) wrote:
> :
> : >On Fri, 30 May 1997 12:26:35 -0500, ubc...@jupiter.superlink.net (blah) wrote:
> : >
> : >>Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white of you"?
> : >>I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
> : >>otherwise?
> : >
> : >It is racist. "That's a mighty admirable gesture, one which could only be
> : >expected from a white person." End of story.
> :
> : well.. racist or not.. could you say that to anyone? I mean, it's
> : probably "weird" to say that to a black man.. but I wonder! :)
>
> No, don't say it.
Am I mistaken in thinking that the
opposite of "That's pretty white of you,"
is "That's pretty _red_ of you"?
Ananda
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Anandashankar Mazumdar
In article
<19970602214...@ladder02.new
s.aol.com>,
kim...@aol.com (KimFore) wrote:
>elderly couple and used the phrase quite unselfconsciously. My husband
>and I shot each other a glance, both of us glad that our realtor wasn't
>with us on that tour--he was black.
Recalling another thread: "Realtor" is a
trademark of the National
Realtors Association or whatever it's called and
should be capitalised. If
you're not sure whether the agent is a member
of the appropriate
organisation, then the appropriate term is "real
estate agent."
SLHinton17
I think this phrase goes back to "Pagan" days in Europe, when
"black-white" had a connotation of "evil-good." There were the "forces of
darkness" to reckon with, as there was "black magic." It's probably no
accident that today the word "fair" can mean "honest, unprejudiced",
"beautiful," or "light-skinned." Rather than originally referring to black
people, the ingrained mistrust of darkness caused a mistrust of "black"
people, and caused untold suffering among the latter. And phrases such as
"mighty white of you" add to this suffering, and will, I hope, die out.
Sam Hinton
La Jolla, CA
O.Det
> > > Can anyone tell me the origin of the expression, "That's mighty white
> of you"?
> > > I can only imagine that it has racist implications. Can anyone tell me
> > > otherwise?
I believe that "brother"s (nowadays, "bro'") are black, and that the
phrase originated as a spoof on white people taking advantage of the
niceness
of whatever native people upon which they happened (i.e., Native
Americans,
Blacks, etc.) It is commonly used when someone offers to do you a
dubious "favour."
While its origins are almost certainly racial, I'm pretty sure that (at
least among white people) it's become non-coloured, and just means the
equivolent of "yeah, thanks, pal..." said in a put-upon voice with a
half-
sneer.
As in:
"Hey, Bob, I'll give you back the $20 you loaned me if you mow my
lawn..."
"Wow, Tim, that's mighty white of you..."