RE: RARA-AVIS: Marlowe as racist?

From: Anthony Dauer ( anthony.dauer@erols.com)
Date: 04 Sep 2000


What's racist in these comments? Back then calling a Black person "colored" was the "accepted" or polite reference to a person of color ... 'course if that "little colored boy" was actually a 30 year old man, then the context has changed as well as the meaning ... while the term may change over time and the acceptability of it as well, within the context of its time period the meaning remains the same regardless of how repulsive it might now be
(which I doubt that it is considering that today's favorite term is "person of color" among polite society which is not much different than saying colored in the long run). And there's nothing racist at all in calling a building dingy ... it's the same as calling it dirty or old and decrepit.

I think Marlowe is probably about as none racist as anyone was at that time and might be (having worked in the DA's office) more of a jaded attitude than a true racist one. Having the same opinion that even Black police officers have for members of their own race today after working the streets for awhile.

--
Anthony Dauer
http://www.adau.net/judas_ezine/


-----Original Message----- From: Frederick Zackel Sent: Monday, September 04, 2000 11:36 AM
An elderly white woman has "a little colored boy that goes errands for me." A beautiful young blonde sees a beer joint as "a very dingy place."
Chandler's Los Angeles has changed, though, since then.
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