JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for December 13, 2021

At least it wasn’t the worst thing he said

Black might actually be more accurate. A lot of White European countries colonized Africa. Could now be a number of White African Americans here now?

?

Sarah, it’s going to be hard for Kris to play ping-pong if he keeps sticking his foot in his mouth…

Nowadays, if you mention somebody’s race, it will get you cancelled in the blink of an eye.

I have no issue w the term black, being black myself. African American just sounds too pc

Not the point, Kris.

When describing a white person to another, I will use the word “white” or “Caucasian”. Is that so wrong?

Now we know why Mortimer is growling. Kris is a racist, unconscious or otherwise.

“African American”. When did Joe come over from the old country ? Irish-Italian American here and don’ you fer-gee-it-it !

Considering Kris’s backround, calling Joe a “black cop” is probably his nice way of saying things.Yesterday Joe brought up the subject of Kris making amends with people in his past. Turning his life around will be a long process.

Robb Armstrong, You got a lot of interesting comments here today, & all very Civil & polite. Race discussion does NOT have to be racist.

Calling someone Black is an insult? I don’t get it. Joe IS a Black cop.

He’s black???

(just joking, I noticed eventually)

How do yor call an african native?. Africa african?Let’s stop being absurd and call people just by their names or their occupations, etc.On the other hand, there’re african natives of any color you name. People just like you and me.

I have a Cambodian friend, born in Cambodia, escaped from Cambodia, amazing story. When he retired I asked him if he was going to go back and visit he said there wasn’t anything that he felt tied him to there, he was an American.

Back when I lived in Orlando and their was a navy base there, I was at a dinner party when I met a new guy. There were four of talking when the new guy mentioned that one of the ladies that was there before but left shortly after dinner had invited him to join her coed softball team whose season was getting ready to start.

Basically the conversation went thus:“‘X’ invited me to play softwall. Any of you playing?”“really. Did not hear of it? Which ‘X’? there were 2 here with that name?”“I don’t know her last name. She left early”“They both left early”“She is a single mom.”“They are both single mom’s, that is why they left early. Both kids are boys; one is pre-k and the other in elementary school. "“Oh I don’t know. She is in the navy.”“They are both in the Navy, one is an officer and the other enlisted.”“Oh I don’t know.”“Hold it, was she black or white?”

Yes, 3 of us (one of whom was black) knew both women but could think of no unique identifying feature for a few minutes. Both single moms in the Navy with the same first name. All of that considered before race was considered.

I cannot remember the last time I was in a conversation with someone I have known for a while where anyone was identified by race unless a person’s name is unknown. I do work in a multiracial department and have had people in other departments identify someone in my department by their race when the person cannot remember the individual’s name. But quite frankly, it is usually no more relevant than their hair color. And I do have a person in my department who is usually referred to as “the gray haired one” and one as the heavyset one. I have no idea what they call me when I am not around.

When I did my first comment near the top, I was a little worried about how some might react, & be the start of some unpleasant replies. I am happy & pleased that so many of you have replied with some really great & non confrontational comments, & shared nice & interesting personal experiences. This strip has some really great readers/commenters & I am proud of all of you!!! Let common sense & love of all prevail I hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37PxEqRde-Q

If you and the other person know someone’s name there’s no reason to mention their physical attributes like race, gender, age, etc. Reading Facebook statuses, you’ll see that a lot. A few years ago, an acquaintance of mine told a story of a recent car crash they were in and for some reason made a point of telling us the other driver’s race like that had something to do with it (which it didn’t). Unless the person’s physical attributes play into the story in some way or if you’re giving a description of a missing person, there’s no reason for it. “A nice Asian woman let me cut in line” is unnecessary. Why not just “Someone let me cut them in line today, it was awesome!” But I know we learn descriptors as young children, so it’s baked into our storytelling a lot but it’s definitely something we need to think about and make a careful decision as to the necessity of it.

Playing ping pong in a wheelchair seems like a pretty serious challenge.