Amazon adds Tom & Jerry to its online streaming service – but warns users the classic cartoons are RACIST

Fans of classic Tom and Jerry cartoons have been warned that episodes of the iconic show may depict scenes of 'ethnic and racial prejudice'.

Subscribers to Amazon Prime Instant Video are now met with a caution before viewing certain episodes of the long-running cartoon.

It follows concerns that the representation of a black maid on early episodes of the cartoon show - which made its first episodes in the 1940s - was an example of the era's prejudices.

Tom and Jerry: The Complete Second Volume is accompanied by the caution: 'Tom and Jerry shorts may depict some ethnic and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in American society. Such depictions were wrong then and are wrong today.'

One fan took to Twitter to say: 'watched Tom and Jerry since the 60s this is the 1st time I've ever heard the R word in relation to it. PC madness!'

Another fan wrote: 'I loved Tom and Jerry as a kid and it never made me think poorly of ethnic minorities or want to smoke cigars.'

Cultural commentator and professor of sociology Frank Furedi, of the University of Kent, said that the warnings show a 'very sad' tendency to read history backwards by judging people in the past by our current-day values.

He said: 'These warnings caricature and misinterpret what 40 year old cartoons communicated. 'Through reading history backwards novels, films and cartoons can be denounced for the language they use and for communicating values that appear to violate those of today. 

The cartoon has attracted controversy in the past over racial stereotyping

The warnings follows concerns that the representation of a black maid on early episodes of the cartoon show - which made its first episodes in the 1940s - was an example of the era's prejudices

'Even Tom and Jerry cartoons are carefully vetted to warn the current generations about images and words that contradict 21st century sensibilities.'

'Amazon's warnings are in fact a performance of false piety,' he added. 'Its purpose is to indicate that Amazon is 'aware' and takes its responsibilities seriously.

'Instead of engaging with the moral predicament of our era it prefers to moralize about the attitudes expressed by Tom and Jerry.'

Never short of an opinion, self-styled social commentator Katie Hopkins also expressed outrage at the warnings.  She Tweeted: 'Old Tom and Jerry cartoons to carry warnings of 'racial prejudice'. Give me strength. I am a foreigner in a culture I no longer understand.'

Tom and Jerry was first produced by the MGM film studio in 1940 with a series of 114 shorts that ran until 1957.

The cartoons, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby, included slapstick comedy and chase scenes set in the homes and gardens of suburban America.

Since the there have been numerous re-launched television versions of the series with varying styles and in 1992 Tom and Jerry: The Movie became the series' first feature length film.

The original shorts have been subject to controversy on several occasions over themes including representation of women, the glamorization of smoking, racial stereotypes and even cannibalism.

In 2006, scenes that appeared to glamorize smoking were edited out of the cartoons following complaints to Ofcom, saying that they are not appropriate to be shown to children.

In Texas Tom, the cat tries to impress a female feline by making a rollup cigarette. Then in Tennis Chumps Tom's opponent is seen smoking a large cigar in a match.

In its ruling, Ofcom said: 'We recognise that these are historic cartoons, most of them having been produced in the 1940s, 50s and 60s at a time when smoking was more generally accepted.

'We note that in Tom and Jerry, smoking usually appears in a stylised manner and is frequently not condoned.'

Last year, Tom and Jerry fans were infuriated to hear that two 'inappropriate' episodes were removed from a new collection because they feature the cat and mouse 'blacked-up'

Warner Brothers' Golden Collection Volume Two was intended to be an uncut series of the popular animation in chronological order. But offending episodes Casanova Cat made in 1951 and Mouse Cleaning from 1948 were pulled.

Fans posted angry messages on websites where you can pre-order the Blu-ray DVD such as Amazon explaining why they will not be buying the discs.

One message reads: 'Culture is always reflected in cartoons, and while this may not have been right, it existed.

'It is a shame to omit pieces of history in a collection simply due to PR getting shaky boots over the past.'

When a Looney Tunes Golden Collection was released in 2005, actress Whoopi Goldberg was asked to explain why certain episodes were kept in the collection.

She said at the time: 'Removing these inexcusable images and jokes from this collection would be the same as saying (these prejudices) never existed.

'So they are presented here to accurately reflect a part of our history that cannot and should not be ignored.'

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Poverty In The Black Community Is The Result of Culture Not Racism


The Author, Patricia L. Dickson

I have often been accused by friends (black, white and all others in between) of being too logical, to the point that I am inhibited from seeing other people’s point of view ( I am not sure if that is a compliment or insult). They say that I enter into discussions with the false assumption that others are just as logical and rational as I am. I have been told this so often that I have conceded that perhaps they are telling the truth (they know me well enough to make such claims). Because I have finally accepted the charge against me, I often consult friends on matters that I find perplexing.

A black female friend and I once discussed how our historically unemployed (lazy) relatives often claimed that we were rich simply because we had things that they did not. I said to her that surely they understood that we worked for everything that we have. Her response to me was that they did not understand how we acquired what we had. I told her that it was illogical for someone not to correlate money or possessions with work, and I refused to believe it. Well, a short time later, my friend’s comments proved true.

 A female relative of mine came to live with me for a short time. One day when I came home from work, she asked me where everyone in the neighborhood was. She said that during the day, she would go outdoors looking for someone to talk to and no one was around. I told her that they were at work, and I asked her how she thought the neighbors could pay for their homes if they did not go to work (just as I was going to work every day). She looked at me with a confused look on her face. Up until that point (she was nearly sixty years old), she had lived in neighborhoods where everyone (including her) received some kind of government check and therefore did not work. She always had someone to shuck and jive with because everyone was at home all day long. She told me that she was bored living in my (middleclass working) neighborhood.

 A male relative of mine once tried to play the guilt trip on me in order to get money from me by lamenting about how tired he was of being broke. He told me that I did not know how it felt to be broke because I have always had money. He was in his early fifties and had spent his entire adult life mostly unemployed and in and out of jail for petty crimes. I asked him: did he think that money grew on trees? I told him that I have worked all of my life for everything that I have. He walked away with his tail between his legs.

If poor blacks cannot correlate money and possessions with work, there is no wonder that they think that they are entitled to the same things as working people. Most liberal voters are immature and live in a fantasy world. They believe that everything that working people have fell from the sky, and they somehow were not around to catch some of it. Therefore, they believe that it is not fair that they do not have the same things. Is that why it is so easy for the race baiters to go into these communities and claim that the rich have stolen from them?

Many black conservatives have said that Republicans need to go into the black communities in order to win the black vote. However, my concern is with how our message of hard work will be received by individuals in these liberal bastions who have never witnessed anyone consistently going to work every day.  Liberals have inoculated these individuals against work and responsibility by continuously plying them with government handouts.

I once had a discussion with another black female friend about the unemployment history in the black inner city neighborhoods. I asked her why the blacks in these neighborhoods did not apply for jobs at the establishments that they frequent. She told me that the reason why they did not apply for jobs is that poor blacks do not think that the jobs are for them. I asked her what she meant by for them. She explained that poor blacks have been programmed to believe that jobs are only for white people and not for them, so therefore they do not apply.  I do not know how my friend came to that conclusion; however, it was not long before her statements also proved true.

A young black man was lamenting to me about the lack of job opportunities for black men in corporate America. He told me that although he had a college degree, he was unable to obtain employment. Assuming that he had been applying for jobs, I asked him where he had applied. He told me that he had not applied anywhere. I asked why had he not applied and he said that he did not fit the description that the employers were looking for. He went on to claim that society, through television and movies, portray white men in suits as successful executives, therefore, he concluded that he did not fit the description for corporate America. I will concede that there is some merit to the argument that television and movies portray white businesspersons in suits as successful; however I cannot logically understand why someone would not at least apply for jobs. If poor blacks really believe that jobs are not for them, who is it that taught them that?

Most of the things that individuals are taught comes from the culture in which they were raised, whether it be work ethic, habits, or beliefs. Growing up in the South, my parents could not afford to buy me designer clothes and shoes. After joining the military, I purchased my first pair of designer sneakers and wore them home on my first leave after boot camp and job training.  My older male cousin looked down at my sneakers and asked me what I was doing wearing them. He said that black people were not supposed to wear those type of shoes. It has been over 26 years since he made that statement and I remember it just like it was yesterday. He had been programmed by the culture that he was raised in to think that even if you have the money to purchase something, you were not supposed to have it. I often talk with successful blacks who think that they do not deserve what they have. One black male friend that lives in an affluent neighborhood told me that when he and his family are walking around in the town center, he feels that he is not supposed to be there.

Until the black community looks inward to solve its problems, nothing will change. Many problems in the black community are the result of a self-imposed inferiority complex. That is why it infuriates me so much to hear race baiters telling poor blacks that they are victims. The victim mindset causes complacency and impotence of action in an individual. One reason that the black community has regressed instead of progressed is due to the victim mindset that has caused cognitive blindness and mental paralysis. Blacks cannot continue to blame society for how blacks Americans are perceived.  The black community must examine its culture and its effect on the lives of the individuals in the black community.

SOURCE






Bill Maher: ‘Liberal, Western Culture is Not Just Different – It’s Better’

Comedian, political commentator, and outspoken atheist Bill Maher strongly defended the right to free speech in Western societies versus the limited speech and draconian legal practices in some Muslim countries, stressing that, despite some of the distasteful displays of expression in America, “liberal, Western culture is not just different – it’s better.”

Maher, the host of HBOS’ Real Time With Bill Maher, often mocks Christianity and other religions. In the “New Rule” segment on his Sept. 26 show, Maher showed a picture of a 14-year-old boy from Everett, Penn., who had been arrested for desecration: He had climbed atop a statue of Jesus on church grounds and simulated oral sex. (The boy later apologized to the church.)

Maher said the teen’s actions “may not be in good taste” – then joked about praying -- and then used the photo as a starting point to riff on why the freedoms, culture,  and legal structure in Western societies are better than in some other countries that brook no tolerance for certain types of speech or political expression.

“It may not be in good taste, I certainly don't condone this type of behavior — praying, I mean,” said Maher, in reference to the boy atop the statue.  “But it speaks volumes about why liberal Western culture is not just different.  It's better.”

“Saudi women can't vote, or drive, or hold a job, or leave the house without a man,” he said.  “Overwhelming majorities in every Muslim country say a wife is always obliged to obey her husband.  That all seems like a bigger issue than evangelical Christian bakeries refusing to make gay wedding cakes.”

Maher continued, “91% of Egyptian women have had their clitorises forcibly removed.  98% of Somalian women have.  Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Somalia, and is one of them.  She was scheduled to speak at Yale last week, but the school's atheist organization — my people — complained that she "did not represent the totality of the ex-Muslim experience.”

“Meaning what?” said Maher.  “The women who like mutilation?  You're atheists!  You should be attacking religion, not siding with the people who hold women down and violate them, which apparently you will defend in the name of multiculturalism, and then lose your s---  when someone refers to Chaz Bono by the wrong pronoun. “

“Donald Sterling isn't allowed to own a team because he told his mistress not to post pictures with black guys.  Okay,” said Maher.  “But if we're giving no quarter to intolerance, shouldn't we be starting with the mutilators and the honor-killers?  Or will that divert us from the real problem:  that when Mel Gibson drinks, he calls women ‘sugar tits’?

Maher describes his political views as “progressive,” and he regularly criticizes conservatives, although he occasionally takes a few swings at liberals on his program. He publicly supported Barack Obama for president in 2008, and he thinks marijuana and prostitution should be legal. Maher wrote and starred in the 2008 film, Religulous, which mocked religious belief. He is a graduate of Cornell University, class of 1978, where he double majored in English and History.

SOURCE






Racial Disparity is a Bitch

No matter how hard the president tries to persuade the country that black people are the real victims of racial violence, black people will just not cooperate.

Saturday night the resident was telling members of the Congressional Black Caucus about how police are constantly picking on black people. For no reason whatsoever.

And this racial disparity means police have to change -- arresting fewer black people, for starters. Or more white people.

At almost the exact moment the president was repeating this standard litany of racial grievance, two black suspects in Ferguson shot a cop. They did not appreciate it when the cop found them burglarizing a business.

To some, the fact that black violent crime is wildly out of proportion might disrupt the resident’s carefully crafted gospel of grievance. But to this crowd, it was easily explained. Congressman John Conyers did just that just a few weeks prior.

Conyers was reminding the audience of a congressional hearing about the ins and outs of racism: How it is conscious and subconscious. How it is everywhere. All the time. And how that explains the enormous disparity in crime rates between black and white people.

“With enough time and officers in a certain location, it is only a matter of time before they find reasonable suspicion to stop, detain and arrest someone -- or many people,” said Conyer, presaging the president’s remarks.

This was not gotcha moment: The racist criminal justice system was all Conyers and the other member of the Black Caucus talked about during this hearing.

No one is denying that protestors in Ferguson, unhappy with shooting of Michael Brown, have been threatening police with violence. Regularly for weeks. They just say this shooting had nothing to do with that.

And neither did another shooting later that night: A carful of people shot a gunful of bullets at an off-duty Ferguson officer while he was driving on the freeway. Disparity is a bitch.

While the president and his buddies at the Black Caucus try to figure out whether racist conditions cause black people to commit more crime, or whether racism causes police to arrest them more often -- for no reason whatsoever -- victims of black mob violence are hoping they figure it out fast.

At the exact moment the president was hitting his stride about how black people are victims of relentless racism, members of a neighborhood group in North Minneapolis were struggling with the opposite problem on their Facebook Page:

A friend and I were leaving Fair State Brewing Coop around 9:30 pm (on Central and Lowry) tonight and were both assaulted by a group of 5-6 young men. We got away without more than 1-2 punches each, and quickly had the Police there to make a report (since the station is not much more than a block away).

As we were waiting for the Police to arrive one of the workers of the brewery said it has been happening often there. It was completely unprovoked and without reason.

[Admin: Also, nearly a week after a male had his skull shattered by 3 males with a baseball bat, on Sept. 18 at 26th/University, we still have zero media coverage on that incident, nor any alerts from the MPD about it, nor about any of the other incidents, if, in fact, this type of thing is regularly occurring in the area. Why?]

The administrator wondered why no one thought that was important. But this much we know for sure: Everyone involved was black. Except the victims. And oh yeah, that has been happening there for a long time. Not just in that neighborhood. But throughout Minneapolis.

That did not matter much to some members of this largely white neighborhood group. Several did not deny the criminals were black. Or deny black violence was astronomically out of proportion in Minneapolis. They just denied that anyone should notice.

One member of the group offered her solution: Add more “No Parking at Any Time” signs. Denial is not limited to public officials and reporters.

Another piped up with her story: “My neighbor told my husband and I tonight that 3 young males mugged her mother,” she said, almost apologetically. “A neighbor saw it happening and tried to interject but the 3 guys threatened him as well.”

Still others posted links to other Facebook pages where people were beat probably by the same group of people. At least one member of this group tried to inject some reality into the discussion: “It's called the knockout game,” said Mark LeVitre “You’ve really never heard of it?”

The president and John Conyers never have. At least to speak of.

Same in Seattle: Just a few days before the president’s speech, a large group of black people surrounded and taunted and beat a gay white man walking through a park in a predominately white neighborhood.

A surprising number of people at the KOMO news web site declared the victim was at fault because he had no business being in that park in the middle of the day. He was probably trying to buy drugs or cause trouble, said another.

Whatever he was doing there, he ended up in the hospital beaten so badly he does not remember it. But the neighbors remember. They saw it. And they say it was the same group of black people who “are always causing problems” there. Other neighbors did not deny it. They just condemned anyone who noticed the perpetrators were black.

It surprises many to hear that Seattle is a center of racial violence -- and media denial. But both are documented in that scintillating best seller White Girl Bleed a Lot, and in several articles by that bold, award-winning author thereafter. Or on that same intrepid reporter’s YouTube channel: What is up with Seattle?

Surely you have not forgotten about the group of black people who attacked the pregnant woman on a Seattle bus? On video? Or the group of black people who killed a white soldier? Or the … aww, just look at the stories and videos.

And you will wonder why Seattle has gotten such a pass for so long.

The night before the resident and the Black Caucus were reveling in the enormous amount of racial violence directed at black people, it happened again, this time in Kansas City.

Readers of American Thinker will not be surprised to hear about another episode of black mob violence in Kansas City. It was documented here, not too long ago.

But people who live in Kansas City by now know their town is a center of racial violence at the upscale entertainment district called the Country Club Plaza, the Zoo and neighborhoods throughout the city.

Yes, even the Zoo.

They tried everything to fix it: Get a new police chief. New mayor. New tactics. But nothing changed: Black mobs continued rampaging, assaulting and creating violent mayhem at The Plaza. Finally they tried a curfew -- against the advice of a former mayor of Kansas City, Emanuel Cleaver, who is now a member of the Congressional Black Caucus:

 “All we are going to do is make a lot of black kids angry,” said the Congressman. He was right.  Black mob violence proceeds in Kansas City and no one seems to be able to stop it.

Over the weekend, at a black high school, several people were arrested after large-scale violence disrupted a football game. A teacher was attacked and taken to the hospital after “several people took issue with her telling them what to do,” i.e. asking for tickets.

Several others were arrested after “conflicts” with police, i.e. they assaulted the police.  (This Google translator comes in handy.) All the while, black mob violence and mayhem continued in and out of the stadium. One local observer, the wag at Tony’s Kansas City website, was not surprised at the violence. He was surprised that anyone in Kansas City might be surprised.

In Providence, black mob violence was so widespread and intense Saturday night that state officials called an emergency meeting for Sunday to close one of the night clubs at the center of the mayhem.

In Indianapolis, a few hours after the president’s speech, large-scale black mob violence ensued when a group of black people tried to enter a birthday party at the VFW club.  Police say more than 50 shots were fired and four people were wounded.

In Miami, a few hours after the president’s speech, black mob violence preceded a gun battle where 15 black people were wounded. Most were teenagers or pre-teens.

At 3:15 a.m., the morning after the president’s speech, four black people were wounded with a knife, one fatally, after a large fight broke out at a teenage birthday party.

Closer to the president’s speech, 18.5 miles away at Six Flags America amusement park in suburban Maryland, a large group of black people fought and created mayhem during and after Fright Fest -- and during the president’s speech.

A spokeswoman for the park said nothing much happened, despite what anyone might have heard on TV or in the newspapers. The Washington Post attributed some of the violence to the “teenagers” whose parents dropped them off at the park while they attended the nearby Evangel Cathedral for Saturday night services.

The church has a white pastor but the congregation is predominately black. The Friday Night service is called R.I.O.T. Youth Service.

Parents and witnesses to the mayhem at Six Flags took to the NBC News website to tell what really happened.

 One black parent was not buying the “nothing to see here” explanation from the park: “This spoke person lied. My children and their friends was there and they were not top priority as stated. My son was running with the crowd so he would not get tramped on and a cop/guard tacked him to the ground. Handed cuffed him, cut up his card and put him out the park. This was done to several of the people there. It was more than a fight because someone was stabbed and shot.”

Another parent called it a mini-riot. Others said it was a full-blown riot, “just like you see on TV.”

Still others (that’s reporter talk for me) said this was just another night, in another week, in another month, where black mob violence is now so common it is considered normal. At the football game. The park. The fairgrounds. Big cities. Small cities. And a dinner featuring the President of the United States.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here. 

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