Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!apple!vsi1!ubvax!ardent!sim!kmw
From: kmw@sim.ardent.com (Ken Wallich)
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: Re: REMOVAL OF RACIST JOKES
Message-ID: <727@ardent.UUCP>
Date: 18 Nov 88 18:06:07 GMT
References: <8011@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <17117@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <8016@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <1211@fig.bbn.com> <8028@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Sender: news@ardent.UUCP
Reply-To: kmw@sim.ardent.com (Ken Wallich)
Organization: Ardent Computer Corp., Sunnyvale, CA
Lines: 40

In article <8028@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> richmond@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) writes:
>
>In response to Rich Salz' questions, I am not currently going to 
>answer the first three.  

Why not?  You make vague and threatening statements that imply you want to put
a gag on Brad by putting thumbscrews on his employers, and then simply refuse
to answer direct questions as to your intentions?

>My ultimate goal -- to reply to question 4 --
>is the elimination of racist jokes from rec.humor.funny.

Oh boy, here we go again.  Ok Mr. Richmond, who is going to be the arbitor of
what is considered 'racist' and what isn't?  Obviously, you don't think Brad
is doing a good job (the joke that seems to have sent you off was accidentaly
not 'rot13ed', but you don't want them encrypted, you want them ELIMINATED).
Perhaps *you* are the only person who can *censor* things appropriately?
Then what if you post something that offends me?  Then perhaps I can have
a gag put on you, and then I post something....

>In reply to #7, I was simply saying that I wish to consider some
>action which will result in the elimination of racist "humor" from
>rec.humor.funny.

In other words make his employers put a gag on him so he won't publish anything
that could possibly offend *you*.  Sounds like suppression to me.

>[...] That would seem to me to be enough reason not to propagate
>such material.

I have found a few jokes in rec.humor.funny to be mildly offensive (I don't
offend easily, mind you), but I have seen no jokes in recent history (including
the one that seems to have set you off) that made *me* feel bad stereotypes
were being propagated.  Your narrow, reactionary point of view does more harm
to the image of Jewish folks than any joke can.  Fortunatly, I don't let
the opinions of one man color my perception of a group of people.

Ken Wallich 			 	
Ardent Computer Corp		kmw@ardent.com
Sunnyvale, California, USA      "chance is the fool's name for fate"