Judge Suspended For Wearing Blackface To Party

[clydefrand]

POSTED: 6:52 am EST December 14, 2004

NEW ORLEANS -- The Louisiana Supreme Court has given a judge a six-month suspension for wearing blackface makeup, handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit to a Halloween party.

<Snip>


Ellender, who is white, said the costumes worn by him and his wife were meant as a joke. She dressed as a policewoman. And the party's host, Ellender's brother-in-law, was dressed as Buckwheat.

The justices agreed Ellender did not mean to insult blacks. Still, they ordered him to take a sociology course to get "a greater understanding of racial sensitivity."

If he didn't mean to insult them, why in hell didn't he go as a white man led by the policewoman!

Who believes this BS?



















http://www.nbc4.tv/news/3994952/detail.html

[flamingyouth]

1. Blackface? Is this 1920 or something?

He should be pulled permanently off the bench. :grr:

[Cyrano]

2. Meant as a joke???

We are not amused.

It's becoming more and more apparent that now that the Rethugs control all three branches of government, any gains made from FDR through LBJ are no longer operable. These right wing swine are going to take us right back to the age of robber barons and lynchings.

[ClintonTyree]

3. That's the deep South for you.......................

now don't all you southern DUers jump down my throat, but you don't find stuff like this going on in the Blue States. Racial stereotyping and bigotry are alive and well in Dixie.
...."the costumes worn by him and his wife were meant as a joke". Very funny. :eyes:

[Call me Deacon Blues]

4. I'm not jumping down your throat

because I find it offensive too. But songwriter Randy Newman had a pretty good point -- that we're ALL guilty of it.

Rednecks -- Copyright 1974, by Randy Newman

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well he may be a fool but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song

We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we're keepin' the niggers down

We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And college men from LSU
Went in dumb. Come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they're keepin' the niggers down

CHORUS
We're rednecks, rednecks
And we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
And we're keeping the niggers down

Now your northern nigger's a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free

Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage on the South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down

CHORUS


Hope that doesn't offend anybody.

[skypilot]

5. ...a sociology course...

That's funny.

[ChairOne]

6. ya gotta love white folks....

it's always a joke to them....

kinda like the nanny excuse...

I think swaggart's recent "it was just a joke" - about killing gay folks was more classic - this one's just standard white-folks-are-racist-but-it's-just-a-joke-so-lighten-up-will-ya....

[newyawker99]

9. Hi ChairOne!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[ChairOne]

11. lol - that's like the 10th "Hi" I've gotten...

Thanks! I appreciate them all!

[trof]

7. True Confessions:

<sigh>
I was in a minstrel show once.
Blackface, kinky black wig, the whole nine.
Circa 1950.
Fund raiser "revue" for our school (Birmingham, Alabama).
Wore a straw sailor hat/skimmer a la Durante, white shirt and pants, red vest and bow tie, and carried a cane.
Sang and danced the Hokey Pokey in front of a chorus line of little girl pickaninnys also all done up in blackface.

Just one of my dirty little secrets.

I'm happy to say that I've grown and learned a lot since those days of yore, but I still secretly wish I had pictures.

BTW, friends in the audience had absolutely NO idea who I was.

[Red State Rebel]

12. Mel Carnahan did it too.....

During one of his campaigns pictures surfaced of him in blackface at some party or talent show during the 60's. Attitudes have changed a lot since then. I don't think either you or Mel meant it to be offensive, it was just a different time.

This judge, however, is alive and aware that it is 2004 - absolutely crazy.

[T Town Jake]

8. Definitely not funny - He should be removed, not just...

..."suspended" from the bench, IMO. I wonder if they took the time to review his docket to see if the attitude apparent in this kind of "humor" carried over into decisions in cases where African-Americans were involved?

[Guarionex]

10. OH...MY...GOD...

HELLOOOOOOOOO....SENSIBILITY!!!!!!

Wow...I could have told you that would piss off people. If Ted Danson from Cheers couldn't do it when he was GOING OUT with Whoopi Goldberg, NO white guy can do it!

[Pattib]

13. OT: Anyone have a link to the judge in AL wearing the 10 commandments on

his robe. I live in North Florida and caught a breif story on local news. I wanted to see the whole story. Is it national news yet? I believe they said he had the ten commandments in gold letters on the front of his robe and the defense lawyer filed a complaint. I didn't want to start a whole topic but didn't see anything at DU. Thanks.