I can’t let this go without commenting on it. For those who haven’t heard (and you are the lucky ones) there was a recent controversy on the Dallas city council over one commissioner[white] using the term “black hole” to describe the city’s central collection office… because paperwork goes in and never comes out. Another commissioner[black] and a judge[black] who sits on the council took exception to the “racially offensive” term. (!?) Re-read that however many times you need to… it reads right and it did happen. Surely, the Dallas city council is an intellectual black hole.
From the Dallas City Hall blog:
A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.
County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections “has become a black hole” because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud “Excuse me!” He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a “white hole.”
That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.
Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster’s, is perhaps “the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape.”
Other county officials quickly interceded to break it up and get the meeting back on track. TV news cameras were rolling, after all.
How stupid do Price and Jones have to be? And you’d think that after being educated on what a black hole is (and its common colloquial use) Price would have said “Oh… okay, my bad.” Nope, instead he stands by his opposition to black holes, and also throws “devil’s food cake” and “angel food cake” under the bus. Mr. Price, sir, are an idiot!
If you visit the city hall blog post and read the comments, you’ll see the overwhelming majority of folks angry at Price for being an ignorant windbag. Of course, you’ll see a few folks inexplicably defending Price, and then you’ll see a few idiots attributing Price’s ignorance too ALL black folks - and that’s obviously a gross error, too.
Here’s a few of my favorite comments from the town hall blog:
Price needs to learn the difference between a “black hole” and a “black a-hole”…the former is a figure of speech; the latter describes jerks like him.
It’s not like they called it a nappy-headed hole. Now THAT would be outrageous.
My goodness, it seems that Mr. Price needs sum edumacation vout the compression and densifications of stellar ojcectifacations. Go back to schoo; bozo and try this time to pass 5th grade science instead of making a career avout demonizing whitey
Bwahahaha! It’s like on the first Apprentice show when Amorosa got her nose out of joint when someone used the old expression “the pot calling the kettle black” that has nothing to do with race, but with someone accusing someone of something they are also guilty of. Beauty and color are only skin deep, but stupid goes all the way to the bone.
Sounds like Commissioner Mayfield is getting blackballed. He may even be blacklisted over this! This whole affair is a bonafide black cloud over Dallas politics. You might even say they’re suffering from a common sense blackout.
No, no ,no - the politically correct term would be “hole of color”…
Wait a minute… how can anything “black” be “of color”, since black is the absence of incident photons having wavelength in the visible spectrum?! People “of color” would actually be THE OPPOSITE - people WITHOUT color… while the lighter your skin is, the more diversity of photo-wavelengths are reflecting off your pearly sheen into the darkened eyes of others.
[if you can't see any sarcasm in the previous paragraph, don't respond - just kill yourself]
Price and Jones should apologize to Mayfield, then immediately step off the council pending an upgrade in civility AND in elementary science.
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Ok, I understand the intellectual capacity of the people involved in this event, doesn’t surpass that of the average grade-schooler. But that doesn’t mean everyone needs to get low-brow and retaliate with race-charged comments. In a sense aren’t we becoming more like those who find a reason to make these comments and essentially lowering yourself to their level of cultural thinking?
I’m not the best with my grammar so I hope this made sense and I’m not defending Price or Mayfield … I’m trying to defend those of us who don’t want to be like them.
PS_I did find this article very comical, thank you for posting it.
I don’t cast any aspersions on the intellectual capacity of the two clowns making a fuss over the use of the astronomical terminology. They’re not stupid, they’ve just learned how to work the system. Lefties feel guilty about everything and several public figures make a pretty good living by capitalizing on that and being professionally offended.
It is very sad that people in Dallas, and especially on internet blogs, rush to explain Mayfield’s meaning. Price knew exactly what he meant but has a sleeve full of Racial Victim cards and felt like playing one to make Whitey apologize for something. Even when people call Price an idiot, Price still wins because people are taking him seriously. They REALLY believe he was offended. The best reaction is the other commissioners’ reaction at the time – just laugh!
Apparently, Price never read Obama’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling that Guantanamo detainees were entitled access to the courts: “The Court’s decision is a rejection of the Bush administration’s attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo.” What? Oh no! What a racist!
Price and Jones should apologize to Mayfield, then immediately step off the council pending an upgrade in civility AND in elementary science.
Price and Jones should apologize to the good people of Dallas for being really, really stupid. Then they should write 100x on a blackboard, I will not disrupt the council with stupidity
@Jason, who said “But that doesn’t mean everyone needs to get low-brow and retaliate with race-charged comments.”
Oh yes it does. What planet are you from? This is Amurika….when people do stupid things, we ridicule them for it in hopes that either (a) public ridicule will prevent them from reproducing and passing on their idiot genes and/or (b) they might just learn not to be such an idiot.