Poll of the Day > A Black Employee was given THIS by her BOSS!! Do you think this was a joke???

(+) Yeah! (+)

Rob Hearit, the manager at Darb's Tavern & Eatery in Michigan has apologized after a bi-racial employee was given this watermelon on Martin Luther King Day as a "joke" gift as she was the ONLY minority employee!!

He wrote on FB to confess that he participated in a "joke" and admitted it was in "poor taste"

Kelly Martin Aimery, the mother of an employee there posted these images of the offensive gift to FB and said "I've sat and stewed on this and am furious about this. Decided to post and see what everyone thinks. My daughter got this on MLK Day because her work, including her boss thought this was OK. it is NOT. Come on people. This is awful on so many levels. She is biracial, hence the Happy 1/2 MLK Day. This is on top of many comments her boss feels free to say to her, including 'halfsy'"

Rob replied and said "I would like to address a recent event that happened between employees here at Darb's Tavern & Eatern this past weekend. A Wonderful minority employee at Darb's was recently given a watermelon as "gift" from our employees that, while intended to be a friendly joke, was in poor taste and offensive to say the least. Many of you have expressed outrage over this incident, and you are right. As owner and manager, i take full responsibility. I saw the "gift" and i didn't stop it. In fact, in a lapse of judgement, i also joined our employees in signing it. While i thought it was an innocent inside joke between employees who are friends, as the owner i should have recognized the inadvertent message, stepped in and stopped this behaviour"

There will now be diversity training with the owner himself and the staff

Do you think was an "innocent joke"? let's see what people think.

The pictures -

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/02/01/17/48CBB2A900000578-5340957-image-a-56_1517504565914.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/02/01/17/48CBB2AD00000578-5340957-image-a-57_1517504571797.jpg

Cheap Restaurant -

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/02/01/17/48CBB4A100000578-5340957-image-a-54_1517504534049.jpg
---

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.
---

Wasn't this a 'news' story a while ago? Seems to me these tabloids just rehash the same story over and over. Anyway it's a joke. Some folk need thicker skin.
---

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

Ehh I dont see the harm
---

Whether or not it was a joke has no bearing on whether or not it's offensive. Comedy is routinely racist, sexist, "ableist", etc, after all. However, it's the kind of comedy that co-workers/bosses should probably avoid.

wwinterj25 posted...

Wasn't this a 'news' story a while ago? Seems to me these tabloids just rehash the same story over and over. Anyway it's a joke. Some folk need thicker skin.

Different watermelon story. That was the fire house one and it was waaaaaaaaay more benign than this. In this case, the humor comes from the David Brent-levels of "Why the fuck did he think this was a good idea?" The fact that they signed the watermelon, "Happy Black Day," puts it completely over the top. That's some poor decision-making.
---

knivesX2004 posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

No because ive been told its racist to be afraid of other races even when their commu ities spout hatred against your communities.

Just turn the other cheek you bigot! Trust that the government will protect you.
---

Seems pretty racist but even if it wasnt why are people even trying to give a watermelon as a present its freaking weird
---

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

This.

It honestly sounds like her mother was offended for her. I can't imagine her boss doing this unless they were chummy.

Granted, there are people dumb enough to be blatantly hateful, but considering there's no word from the employee herself, I imagine she wasn't all that personally offended.
---

Joke was in poor taste? Watermelon tastes good
---

knivesX2004 posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

The first world has fringe outposts outcast by society and hunted by law, there's no reason to be hypervigilant. We aren't Hutus living with Tutsis.
---

Usually I can kind of see both sides on things like this and chalk it up to poor judgement, but this is clearly offensive and disrespectful, joke or not.
---

I feel so many of these jokes are running the fine line between being racist and a simple humorous jab that it's easy to go in either directions depending on one personal view point. If my coworkers make any stereotypical Chinese jokes with me I laugh with them cause I know some are true and my coworkers themselves are still good people.

I guess it really comes down to how well the people involve knows each other. To me, one should avoid such jokes until a solid connection exist. One person once commented about us Asians often preferring tea over coffee. There was nothing offensive about that as he based it on observation. Myself and majority of my Asian coworkers drank tea with only a few drinking coffee.

wwinterj25 posted...

Anyway it's a joke. Some folk need thicker skin.

I'll agree with you on this but I feel it goes both ways. Everyone should have thicker skin but everyone should also be mindful of whether or not said joke/comment might cross the line and part of that depends on the current people you're around. We don't need to live lives like we're walking on egg shells but there are time and place for said jokes.
---

InfestedAdam posted...

There was nothing offensive about that as he based it on observation.

To be fair, the fried chicken and watermelon thing was an observation too.
---

It's not really funny though, is it?

It's a watermelon gift because there's a stereotype about black people liking watermelons.

It may or may not be racist, but it's objectively not funny.
---

SpaceBear_ posted...

It's not really funny though, is it?

It's a watermelon gift because there's a stereotype about black people liking watermelons.

It may or may not be racist, but it's objectively not funny.

You don't get to apply objectivity to jokes.

Objectively, they were being shocking with intent to amuse, and subjectively, shock factor helps delivers jokes.
---

Kyuubi4269 posted...

knivesX2004 posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

The first world has fringe outposts outcast by society and hunted by law, there's no reason to be hypervigilant. We aren't Hutus living with Tutsis.

Lol keep playing that card like Neo Nazis and KKK aren't marching in the streets still.
---

EvilMegas posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

knivesX2004 posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

The first world has fringe outposts outcast by society and hunted by law, there's no reason to be hypervigilant. We aren't Hutus living with Tutsis.

Lol keep playing that card like Neo Nazis and KKK aren't marching in the streets still.

They aren't. Anti-fa are. And rioting.
---

Kyuubi4269 posted...

EvilMegas posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

knivesX2004 posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

The first world has fringe outposts outcast by society and hunted by law, there's no reason to be hypervigilant. We aren't Hutus living with Tutsis.

Lol keep playing that card like Neo Nazis and KKK aren't marching in the streets still.

They aren't. Anti-fa are. And rioting.

K
---

I get if it was a good friend but in a professional environment it is really unacceptable

InfestedAdam posted...

I'll agree with you on this but I feel it goes both ways. Everyone should have thicker skin but everyone should also be mindful of whether or not said joke/comment might cross the line and part of that depends on the current people you're around. We don't need to live lives like we're walking on egg shells but there are time and place for said jokes.

Yeah just like a good comedian should know their audience. Still I'm bound to offend someone somewhere without meaning to.
---

wwinterj25 posted...

InfestedAdam posted...

I'll agree with you on this but I feel it goes both ways. Everyone should have thicker skin but everyone should also be mindful of whether or not said joke/comment might cross the line and part of that depends on the current people you're around. We don't need to live lives like we're walking on egg shells but there are time and place for said jokes.

Yeah just like a good comedian should know their audience. Still I'm bound to offend someone somewhere without meaning to.

The point being that you go to a comedian's show expecting to hear jokes that may or may not be provocative. When you go to work you don't have that same expectation and when this happens it's not funny, it's just inappropriate. How this employee reacted and her relationship with her co-workers are not described though, so maybe it's not a big deal. Sounds like only the mom had an issue with it.
---

Super_Thug44 posted...

you go to work you don't have that same expectation and when this happens it's not funny, it's just inappropriate.

Depends I mean they are apparently friends too. I get your point though.
---

As someone who does not like to jump on the "thats offensive train", the workplace is not the sort of place for this.

EvilMegas posted...

Lol keep playing that card like Neo Nazis and KKK aren't marching in the streets still.

Speaking of nazis...
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/charleston-blm-activist-took-confederate-flag-live-tv-shot-killed-riding-bike/

knivesX2004 posted...

EvilMegas posted...

Lol keep playing that card like Neo Nazis and KKK aren't marching in the streets still.

Speaking of nazis...
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/charleston-blm-activist-took-confederate-flag-live-tv-shot-killed-riding-bike/

Speaking of Nazis, they're all dead or in retirement homes now. More importantly, trying to presumptively blame the incident on race relations when little is known about the shooting and the incident occurred in a place known for gun violence (and has one of the highest murder rates for cities in its segment) is shitposting of the very worst kind. Shame, sir. Shame.
---

Zeus posted...

Speaking of Nazis, they're all dead or in retirement homes now.

https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/961591482531696641?s=17

knivesX2004 posted...

Zeus posted...

Speaking of Nazis, they're all dead or in retirement homes now.

https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/961591482531696641?s=17

I remember once upon a time when literal actually meant literal. Instead, we went from a point where "literal" and "literally" were being misused to a place where the misuse was mocked then to where it was being used ironically to poke fun at the misuse but now we're hit a point where the misuse is stronger and more prevalent than it was before, and used without the slightest trace of irony or self-awareness.
---

He's literally a Nazi dude.
He fucking identifies as a Nazi.
Your opinion of him doesn't mean jack fucking shit when he himself is claiming to be a Nazi.

Crappy joke - and shouldn't be part of a workplace. Shut it down!
---

knivesX2004 posted...

He's literally a Nazi dude.
He fucking identifies as a Nazi.
Your opinion of him doesn't mean jack fucking shit when he himself is claiming to be a Nazi.

And if he claimed to be a 20-ft tall, firebreathing dragon, would he literally be a 20-ft tall, firebreathing dragon? Your opinion and his opinion don't mean jack shit when it conflicts with reality. Otherwise we'd letting people out of asylums to rule over England because they're convinced they're a king.
---

Zeus posted...

knivesX2004 posted...

He's literally a Nazi dude.
He fucking identifies as a Nazi.
Your opinion of him doesn't mean jack fucking shit when he himself is claiming to be a Nazi.

And if he claimed to be a 20-ft tall, firebreathing dragon, would he literally be a 20-ft tall, firebreathing dragon? Your opinion and his opinion don't mean jack shit when it conflicts with reality. Otherwise we'd letting people out of asylums to rule over England because they're convinced they're a king.

That depends on if he's really 20 feet tall and breathing fire.
In this case yes. I would believe it if he was publicly doing it on TV and there's proof of him doing it in the past.

Zeus posted...

Otherwise we'd letting people out of asylums to rule over England because they're convinced they're a king.

Also that is a garbage and incorrect analogy because to be a king you need to have a kingdom and followers and lineage. To be a Nazi you just need to hate everyone who isn't a Nazi.

oh look, zeus is defending nazis

again

The craziest part is someone went through the trouble of obtaining a watermelon at this time of year, in that part of the country, localized entirely in a racist gift.
---

knivesX2004 posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

I miss when we could be offensive in ludicrous ways and have it be seen as a joke because it's so obviously a piss take.

The world is filled with racists who legitimately want to kill people for being different. Can you fucking blame someone if they're a little offended/scared?

in terms of blacks getting murdered in the USA, the vast majority [85%+] of the perpetrators are other blacks.

go ahead and explain that to us.

Man, I want some watermelon now.
---

Why does this guy constantly post articles from such a scummy newspaper?

danny_S_06 posted...

Why does this guy constantly post articles from such a scummy newspaper?

How are people still asking this question?
---

hypnoticspector posted...

in terms of blacks getting murdered in the USA, the vast majority [85%+] of the perpetrators are other blacks.

go ahead and explain that to us.

"But what about this only tangentially related inaccurate statistic that is irrelevant?"

knivesX2004 posted...

hypnoticspector posted...

in terms of blacks getting murdered in the USA, the vast majority [85%+] of the perpetrators are other blacks.

go ahead and explain that to us.

"But what about this only tangentially related inaccurate statistic that is irrelevant?"

neither tangential, nor inaccurate, nor irrelevant. you must not be familiar with chicago, baltimore, detroit, st louis, etc.

real men don't just dismiss claims out of hand like that, they ask for sources, they reference sources, and then they attack those data points.

https://goo.gl/mGFNgV [link to offical 2013 fbi data, URL is too long for gamefaqs posting, anyone can easily google that year or any other year if they don't like shortened URLs]

year after year after year after year, the vast majority of murders are committed by one race against their own race. this is simply fact. it means the idea that the world is full of people trying to kill a particular race that isn't their own is completely delusional. real men aren't delusional.

So your argument is this black person shouldn't be cautious of this "joke" because #NotAllWhitePeople kill black people, just some?

knivesX2004 posted...

That depends on if he's really 20 feet tall and breathing fire.
In this case yes. I would believe it if he was publicly doing it on TV and there's proof of him doing it in the past.

And yet somehow you believe he has access to a time machine so he could go back in time and join the Nazi party.

knivesX2004 posted...

Also that is a garbage and incorrect analogy because to be a king you need to have a kingdom and followers and lineage. To be a Nazi you just need to hate everyone who isn't a Nazi.

So you're saying that they'd let blacks and Jews into the Nazi Party? >_> More importantly, you seem to simultaneously acknowledge things like lineage and a following, yet completely (and rather ridiculously) ignore that for Nazis. Just like a king has to be accepted by his people or he's not a king, a person would have to be accepted by the Nazi Party to be a Nazi. And, I know you're bad with history, but the Nazi party died out in 1945 and almost all of its members are dead now.

likehelly posted...

again

Oh look, Helly is trying to become relevant by throwing around baseless accusations to get senpai to notice him. Again.
---

All I'm saying is this person has the right to be paranoid, afraid, whatever of this joke because things aren't necessarily safe for people these days and all I'm seeing is #NotAllWhitePeople hate everyone.
But this guy is most definitely a Nazi. You don't need to be in ww2 to be considered a Nazi, that's absurd.

if you don't type out everything 100% correct, zeus will not understand you. so you have to say "Arthur Jones does not identify as a nazi, but still holds beliefs that are in line with nazis".

it's a round-about way of saying "He's a closet neo-nazi".
---

Super_Thug44 posted...

it's a round-about way of saying "He's a closet neo-nazi".

But he's not even a closet one, he was the leader of the American Nazi Party lol
---

Zeus posted...

Oh look, Helly is trying to become relevant by throwing around baseless accusations to get senpai to notice him. Again.

it's not baseless though

you're in this topic defending a nazi

again

it's pretty clear cut

you have a track record of doing this, and it's very...unsurprising.

RCtheWSBC posted...

Super_Thug44 posted...

it's a round-about way of saying "He's a closet neo-nazi".

But he's not even a closet one, he was the leader of the American Nazi Party lol

He was the leader of the National Socialist White People's Party, which used to be called the American Nazi Party. So while he was in charge of a party that was obviously Nazi from the beginning, I guess you can't really say he was in charge of the American Nazi Party, so Zeus kind of has a point. A lot of news outlets are saying he was the former leader of the "American Nazi Party" which isn't true, and likely only being said to get click-bait views because it sounds a lot worse than "National Socialist White People's Party" (which still sounds bad).

But he's still a neo-Nazi based on his beliefs whether he identifies as one or not.
---

Super_Thug44 posted...

A lot of news outlets are saying he was the former leader of the "American Nazi Party" which isn't true, and likely only being said to get click-bait views because it sounds a lot worse than "National Socialist White People's Party" (which still sounds bad).

I think the latter one sounds worse, lol
---

RCtheWSBC posted...

Super_Thug44 posted...

A lot of news outlets are saying he was the former leader of the "American Nazi Party" which isn't true, and likely only being said to get click-bait views because it sounds a lot worse than "National Socialist White People's Party" (which still sounds bad).

I think the latter one sounds worse, lol

Not to news outlets. I think (and they do too) people will react more to hearing someone was a former Nazi than to hearing they were a former White Supremacist. If they didn't they'd be saying he was a former member of NSWPP and not the American Nazi Party.

I really don't get why they choose to do this because it doesn't affect how people would perceive Arthur Jones either way. It will just make Trump supporters want to shout "fake news" even more when they catch wind of this.
---

Told you: everyone on gamefaqs knows everything but when it comes to racism everyone draws blanks and relys on "statistics" to prove themselves
---