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Racial slur on sofa label stuns family

quote:

Racial slur on sofa label stuns family Mother had to explain to daughter, 7 origin of 'totally unacceptable' word on wrapping of furniture built overseas April 06, 2007 Jim Wilkes Staff Reporter When the new chocolate-coloured sofa set was delivered to her Brampton home, Doris Moore was stunned to see packing labels describing the shade as "******-brown." She and husband Douglas purchased a sofa, loveseat and chair in dark brown leather last week from Vanaik Furniture and Mattress store on Dundas St. E. Moore, 30, who describes herself as an African-American born and raised in New York, said it was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out the label just after delivery men from the Mississauga furniture store left. "She's very curious and she started reading the labels," Moore explained. "She said, `Mommy, what is nig ... ger brown?' I went over and just couldn't believe my eyes." She said yesterday each piece had a similar label affixed to the woven protective covering wrapped around the furniture. "In this day and age, that's totally unacceptable," Moore said. Douglas explained the origins of the word to daughter Olivia, telling how it was a bad name that blacks were called during the days of slavery in the United States. "It was tough, because she really didn't understand," Moore said. "She'd never heard that word before and didn't really understand the concept of it." Moore, who has a younger son and daughter, said she's heard the word used many times, although it has never been directed in anger at her. "But it's a very, very bad word that makes you feel degraded, like you're a nobody," she said. Moore said she called the furniture store the following day and three other times since, and feels discouraged that no one has returned her calls. When interviewed yesterday by the Star, Romesh Kumar, Vanaik's assistant manager, passed the buck to his supplier, Cosmos Furniture in Scarborough. "Why should I take the blame?" he said. "I'm a trader, I don't manufacture. I sell from 20 companies, maybe 50 companies. How can I take care of all of them?" He said that he would check similar stock and make sure other labels were removed. "That's terrible, that's a racial ... something?" Kumar said. "This is entirely wrong, but it's not my fault. It's my job to sell good product to people." He said the best he could do is to give Moore the telephone number of his supplier, so she could take it up with him. The owner of Cosmos Furniture, Paul Kumar, no relation to Romesh, said he was upset to learn packing labels on products he sold carried a racial epithet. "I import my products from overseas," he said. "I've never noticed anything like that. This is something new to me." He passed the blame to a Chinese company, but apologized for the labels. He said he would contact the furniture maker in Guangzhou and demand they remove all similar labels. Moore said she's not sure she wants the sofa set in her home. "Every time I sit on it, I'll think of that," she said.

source:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/200265

LMAO....who would write something so silly?

I can think of a million other words to use to describe a brown sofa ! Espresso Brown would have been a much better choice, thats awful !

quote:

Moore said she's not sure she wants the sofa set in her home. "Every time I sit on it, I'll think of that," she said.

Yeah its bad what happened...but seriously.....

Yet if a black person uses the word ******, it's a okay?

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Originally posted by EvilTree Yet if a black person uses the word ******, it's a okay?

yup.

and to think of it...what if the person who put the label on was black? they should check it out, cuz in that case it would be "cool".

A small percentage of black people find that word cool, I am sure most find it offending !

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Originally posted by PartEgurl A small percentage of black people find that word cool, I am sure most find it offending !

yes but those who find it offending do not call the news paper or the news when they hear a black person use it.

i don't think i'd flip out if someone called a couch dago-tan...i'd probably laugh

quote:

Originally posted by Cro_Addict yes but those who find it offending do not call the news paper or the news when they hear a black person use it.

Esp. when it is so prevalent in the media, such as rap/hip hop, black comedians, etc.

I remember there was one story about some politician in NYC used the word 'niggardly' (it's a proper word) in its proper context and he got mobbed. I guess some people are politically correct about anything that sounds remotely offending.

Personally, if this story is worthy enough to be on print, The Star must be having a bad day of lacking news to print non consequential stories like this

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fast Turtle
dago-tan.../QUOTE]
Bwahahaha!!!

Word of the day!

did u guys read the whole article? it gets even more interesting as she follows the trail..

It's a nice looking couch

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree Yet if a black person uses the word ******, it's a okay?

are you referring to this ..?

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree Yet if a black person uses the word ******, it's a okay?

my sentiments exactly

the funny thing is, in my language the N-word is the proper, literature-based word to describe black people

I'm pretty sure I've seen it mentioned in of the poems of one of the greatest Russian poets

so when I come across things like that in the Western word, I simply laugh

I laughed. Oh Chinese furniture companies, what won't you do?

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew my sentiments exactly the funny thing is, in my language the N-word is the proper, literature-based word to describe black people I'm pretty sure I've seen it mentioned in of the poems of one of the greatest Russian poets so when I come across things like that in the Western word, I simply laugh

Yup..i Was going to say that..my russian/ukrainian friend told that the N-word is the proper word to describe it.

Since the couch came from overseas it could just be a mis-translation...

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Originally posted by exstasie Yup..i Was going to say that..my russian/ukrainian friend told that the N-word is the proper word to describe it. Since the couch came from overseas it could just be a mis-translation...

yeah exactly... and I mean, we use it in news too, there is a male and female version of it too... just a perk of the language

I'm putting my bets on the sign being made/translated in China

WOW!!! ROFL I fuckin' cracked up... that's the type of shit you see in emails that have been forwarded a million times...

And yet, here we go again with the whole racial discussion about who can use the "N" word. So useless.

my ppl are so racist! FUCK YO COACH NIGGA! It's NIGx2ER BROWN!

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew my sentiments exactly the funny thing is, in my language the N-word is the proper, literature-based word to describe black people I'm pretty sure I've seen it mentioned in of the poems of one of the greatest Russian poets so when I come across things like that in the Western word, I simply laugh

But in our language it refers to the color of the skin. Its the equivalent of simply saying black person, Ni**er is an alteration of the word used to subjugate and label slaves. Much different, yet funny nonetheless, russian fobs can get in trouble sometimes when they use that word....

quote:

Originally posted by above'N'beyond But in our language it refers to the color of the skin. Its the equivalent of simply saying black person, Ni**er is an alteration of the word used to subjugate and label slaves. Much different, yet funny nonetheless, russian fobs can get in trouble sometimes when they use that word....

no no I know! I'm just saying it's very different else-where

and no, they are not fobs, they are just unaware that it's offensive here, because it's a normal word back at home for them

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew my sentiments exactly the funny thing is, in my language the N-word is the proper, literature-based word to describe black people I'm pretty sure I've seen it mentioned in of the poems of one of the greatest Russian poets so when I come across things like that in the Western word, I simply laugh

lol, this reminds me of the scene in BRAT 2, where they are sitting eating crayfish or w/e down at the waterfront and a bum comes by.

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Originally posted by smuncky lol, this reminds me of the scene in BRAT 2, where they are sitting eating crayfish or w/e down at the waterfront and a bum comes by.

HA!

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Originally posted by VERTiG0 I laughed. Oh Chinese furniture companies, what won't you do?

Exactly...it's clearly something that was lost in translation.
If it came from a furniture store located anywhere but on Dundas, I'd point the finger at the store for purchasing such an item, but if english is not their first language I can see how this might get overlooked.

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