White Power Suspension

[doc47]

No, that's not a newspaper headline.

I just discovered there is an outfit making motorcycle shocks, forks, etc. Apparently good quality.

HOWEVER, it blows me away that anybody could name their company anything so f---ing tasteless, unless they are in the KKK.

[smiller]

No, that's not a newspaper headline.

I just discovered there is an outfit making motorcycle shocks, forks, etc. Apparently good quality.

HOWEVER, it blows me away that anybody could name their company anything so f---ing tasteless, unless they are in the KKK.

They are based in Europe and were originally unaware of the negative connotations of that phrase in the US. That's why they changed their name to WP (actually WP Suspension) several years ago.

[DavidEBSmith]

The Netherlands, to be precise.

 

There's this little bit of trivia from their website:

 

Right from the beginning, the springs that were used on WP shock absorbers were white, which became the typical WP colour. There’s a nice anecdote to the circumstances that led to the "choice" that was made for this colour. In the beginning the springs were coated by a company that produced hospital beds and white was the only possible colour for them (!). Although, nowadays the coating is done by special spring coating companies, the WP shock absorbers can still easily be recognised by the white springs. The white springs also introduced the original brand name of "White Power" which we are not using actively in the market anymore since 1991.

[Dave McReynolds]

Alternatively, could be the name of a jock strap company?

[EffBee]

Yeah, I'm kinda pissed off at Stuart Anderson for the same reason.

 

What about all them White Angi? Don't they deserve their own restaurant?

 

And don't even get me started on White Castle.

 

WHERE ARE THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS WHEN WE NEED THEM?

[russell_bynum]

Yeah, I'm kinda pissed off at Stuart Anderson for the same reason.

 

What about all them White Angi? Don't they deserve their own restaurant?

 

And don't even get me started on White Castle.

 

WHERE ARE THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS WHEN WE NEED THEM?

 

 

You have to choose to be offended.

[Lawman]

There's simply no excuse for this crap..

 

http://www.mywhitecloud.com/

[David]

Do you feel the same way about the word "Black" in the name of things?

[rob1100r]

There's simply no excuse for this crap..

 

http://www.mywhitecloud.com/

 

 

 

:rofl:

 

What about these guys?

 

http://www.whitebros.com/

[Tony_K]

[Tony_K]

[Tony_K]

This one maybe too difficult... it's a type of homing pigeon.

[Hermes]

Sc%$w It!

 

at the risk of being labeled politically incorrect and insensitive and many other things allow me to explore the adjective white:

 

White Dove, White Ash, Whitener, White Teeth, Whiter then White, White skin colour, White Paper, White House ....OMG, White Trash, White gown, White as a ghost, White Wall (on a black tire), White Powder and White Power (as in the color used to paint their instruments).

 

Three cheers for the adjective 'WHITE'.

Three cheers for all adjectives, they describe stuff. No more, no less, unless they are used in a derogative and demeaning way, and then we know why we object to them.

[Tony_K]

[David]

White House. Yeah, baby. That's a perfect example.

[Firefight911]

Oh man, this is it!!!

 

WHITEcastle

 

[Art..]

White House. Yeah, baby. That's a perfect example.

 

Oh snap!

 

Now you've gone too far!

 

[Kitsap]

 

And...White Chocolate

[vizhip]

 

And...White Chocolate

 

Now you guys are making me HUNGRY again... good thing I changed from a normal diet to a SEE FOOD diet... )))

 

Regards -

-Bob

[doc47]

Give me a break! Gee, you conservatives are a touchy bunch!!

No problem with the adjective WHITE. None at all.

The phrase WHITE POWER, at least in the English-speaking world, has specific connotations associated with WHITE SUPREMACY, racial hatred and intolerance.

David, if I had criticized a political party for calling itself National Socialist would you have queried me for questioning the use of the word "National"?

If there was a White Castle here I'd go have a burger and cry in my milkshake....

[doc47]

Hermes: In Moby DickMelville has an entire chapter called "The Whiteness of the Whale" in which he explores the quality of "white". Enjoy!

 

And thanks to EeBee who posted the link to the WP page. I had actually gone to their web site but missed that piece of info. It isn't clear from their web site that they are in Holland. (At least I couldn't find where they are located.) It would have spared me my rant and all the replies, but then everybody would have missed the fun of getting to rant back at me.

 

During the '60s the Dutch anarchists had a "white" campaign where, among other things, they painted bicycles white and left them all over the towns for people to use as they saw fit then leave them for others to use when they were finished. There was a white house campaign for homeless people, etc.

[beemerman2k]

Such cultural sensitivities will someday pass -- within my lifetime, I hope. We have an ugly racial history in this country, but it is "history" nonetheless. For my children, they would no more look twice at such a name as they would any other. The term "White Power" or "Black Power" or any other such "power" means nothing to them. They, like me, are concerned about one thing: "USA POWER" -- and I fear that it is fast fading from the world.

 

Our traditional racial divides are now an anachronism; they are obsolete battles that no longer apply in our societies today. So when I see such race based symbolism, it only reminds me that there are still elements of our country that are still trapped in the obsolete past (yes, I realize that the example that started this thread has nothing to do with race, but I am speaking of the topic in general). Does that mean life in our country is "fair"? Of course not, life isn't fair and it never will be. I am simply pointing out that there is no longer any known or legitimate effort or policy in this country to institutionally discriminate against anyone on the basis of their race.

 

This is a great thing, but it's not for nuthin' in my view. It's time we set our sights on issues of much greater importance: how our country is going to continue to prosper and remain a world power as the world is constantly changing at such a rapid pace? As Americans, we all have much bigger fish to fry nowadays.

[Tony_K]

Getting back to the thread topic sort of...

 

Back in the mid ninties, in my home town of Glendale, CA and new trendy clothing store opened. The owners were younger immigrants from Armenia and they were excited to open their shop.

 

In huge letters spanning 60 or so feet across the front top of the building they brandished their name...

 

"The Final Solution"

 

Though they come from a culture that had been victim of genocide (Armenian genocide) they didn't seem to know that the phrase "the Final Solution" applied to the Nazi genocide of the Jews.

 

!!!

 

Needless to say it became news. They changed the name to "The Smart Solution" and closed shortly there after.

 

 

 

[Hermes]

"The Final Solution"

 

Therein lies the dilemma. Perfectly inocceous phrases that have been used to describe some terrible event in human history or, described at one time a particular offencive association, become a 'no go' zone for many generations.

 

In addition, even similar sounding phrases, as in White Power vs Black Power, become off limits. We see it often with Politician when making a quick remark during a scrum, stepping into the perverbial doggy do and the media having a righteous drawn out field day with it.

 

Me thinks, there ought to be a sunset clause after which any phrase can be used for the purpose of conveying ones thoughts without having to fear to be scorned by the language police, and without atomatically beeing labelled a symphatizer for its former associaton.

 

Just saying...

 

btw doc 47,

 

I did read Moby Dick (50 years ago), cover to cover and we had the obligatory endless discussions in High School as to what he (Melville)could have meant etc.

In a word, from todays enlightened perspective, pretty dated stuff. Colonial, subserviant, superstitious comes to mind. I'd rather read the scientific version of the rare genetics of any Albino or even on the(dimishing) Alboa. Gets us further, keeps us focussed.

 

The past has stayed in the way of the future for too long. We got a big mess to worry about today without harking back to Melville's 1851 Novel. But then, you, of all people know that and experience that every day. You got my admiration.

[steve.foote]

Doc, that is simply the most rediculous thing I've ever seen you post. I would argue that there are bigger fish to fry than this.

[doc47]

Doc, that is simply the most rediculous thing I've ever seen you post. I would argue that there are bigger fish to fry than this.

 

Thank you.

[beemerman2k]

I don't think this is a bad post. If this company were all that doc47 initially thought it was, it would be no big deal in the grand scheme of things. They simply chose a name that will cut them off from a segment of their potential market, that's all. And that's their problem, no one else's.

 

Nonetheless, it would have been interesting to point out the existence of such a firm if for no other reason than to remind us all of the fact that there are still some holdouts from the battles of yester-year.

 

No need to call Dr Henry Louis Gates, Jr, no need to call Al Sharpton, no need to call the President, it would simply be an item of interest and conversation, that's all.

 

[Albert]

They simply chose a name that will cut them off from a segment of their potential market, that's all. And that's their problem, no one else's.

 

I would agree with this asseessment. However the real sadness here isn't some lost business or some sorry misunderstanding via semantics or language barriers. The true casualty is that the word "white" has now come to connote something other than merely 'a' color (or a lack of one).

[AZKomet]

Hmmmm...who would have thunk?? I guess an earlier post has the answer. CRAZY!!!!

[beemerman2k]

The true casualty is that the word "white" has now come to connote something other than merely 'a' color (or a lack of one).

 

Well, that's our modern day, knee-jerk, reactionary society at work!

[Twisties]

The true casualty is that the word "white" has now come to connote something other than merely 'a' color (or a lack of one).

 

Well, that's our modern day, knee-jerk, reactionary society at work!

 

Well, I think it's not the word "White", but the phrase, "White Power" that's at issue. Let's face it, we still have, shall I put it this way, "racial supremacists" of all ilks around, and the name begs the question, are these some here. Since they changed it, we can assume not, and move on.

[DavidEBSmith]

The true casualty is that the word "white" has now come to connote something other than merely 'a' color (or a lack of one).

 

Well, that's our modern day, knee-jerk, reactionary society at work!

 

Well, with all due respect to my friends on this DB, I think it's the anti-liberals who are oversensitive about liberal PC oversensitivity. I have never heard anybody take offense at the name of White Castle, only the food they serve. There is no movement whatsoever to change the name of the White Sox to something more politically correct - even from our socialist communist foreign-born black president who actually wore a White Sox hat to the All-Star game. Nor can I find any indication that any sane person has ever expressed offense at the name of White Cloud (either the toilet paper or the city), Wite-Out, Justice Byron "Whizzer" White, the White Album, white dwarf stars (doubly non-PC) or the White Mountains.

 

Really, whatever silliness there was in doc47's post (and we have to give him some slack because the news that WP changed their name probably travels slowly to Gambia), the hysterical anti-PC reaction is ten times sillier.

 

[smiller]

Just what I was thinking, and well said. Sometimes people use the most oddly inappropriate examples to take a stand against 'PC.'

[David]

Hysterical anti-PC reaction is ten times sillier.

 

You're a trip, Dave.

[EffBee]

No need to call Dr Henry Louis Gates, Jr, no need to call Al Sharpton, no need to call the President, it would simply be an item of interest and conversation, that's all.

 

I disagree. There might be a free beer and a photo op in it.

[doc47]

Eebie, I agree. It's the phrase. Heck, I don't think there's any onus on the word "white". At least not that I'm aware of. Any more than a negative connotation to the word "national". Link "national" up with "socialist", though, and you've got something politically loaded.

 

That being said:

 

What's white and ten inches long?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing.

 

 

Anybody blow food out their nose on that one?

 

James, I wish I could agree with you that the battles are over. Personally, I don't give a rip about being PC. There are still some pretty scary, well-armed people out there who hate people of color and are disappointed that Hitler didn't get to finish the job on the Jews. These are the same folks who blew up the Murrah Center in Oklahoma City, gunned down little girls at the Jewish Community Center in LA, and who, if not under careful surveillance, will commit more such crimes.

 

It is a well-accepted hypothesis in linguistics that language shapes our thinking. (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) Some may think it is trivial, but I disagree. Words have power. Specific words and phrases have great power. Rhetoricians know this and use language to convince or dissuade.

Nope, I don't think it's trivial.

 

In the case of this particular company I definitely went off half-cocked by not adequately investigating the context.

[Dave McReynolds]

I guess in suggesting that "White Power Suspension" could be the name of a jock strap company, I should have said a jock strap company that specializes in small to medium sized jock straps.

[beemerman2k]

James, I wish I could agree with you that the battles are over. Personally, I don't give a rip about being PC. There are still some pretty scary, well-armed people out there who hate people of color and are disappointed that Hitler didn't get to finish the job on the Jews. These are the same folks who blew up the Murrah Center in Oklahoma City, gunned down little girls at the Jewish Community Center in LA, and who, if not under careful surveillance, will commit more such crimes.

 

Unfortunately, for many of these types, they'll continue do so even though they are under surveillance. And in fact, I am certain that the targeting of black Americans just moved up the list of priorities among certain groups because of either the fact that the President is a black man, or because the policies being promoted are being done so by a black President. Even still, these radical groups are not representative of the vast majority of our countrymen. You and I are old enough, doc47, to remember a time when both of our people would be openly and callously treated with a terrible amount of distain by mainstream American society purely because of our race, religion, or national origin. That day is gone (with very few exceptions), and for that I am very thankful.

 

It is a well-accepted hypothesis in linguistics that language shapes our thinking. (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) Some may think it is trivial, but I disagree. Words have power. Specific words and phrases have great power. Rhetoricians know this and use language to convince or dissuade.

Nope, I don't think it's trivial.

 

Why someone would go into the the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with the intent of commiting murder is beyond me. What pursuasion could possibly have motivated someone to do such a thing? That there are people capable of such evil is quite sobering to say the least. So no, it is not trivial. But such groups do exist, and there isn't a whole lot we can do about it as long as we live in a free country. They are not guilty of any crimes until they actually commit a crime. So while we can keep an ear to the ground and listen for indicators out there, I don't know of much else we can do.

 

I am very very thankful, though, that the vast majority of Americans object to the singling out of any group of people for the purposes of scapegoating and/or persecution. Some Americans do live by these practices for sure -- even among blacks, I might add (I'm sure you can think of a few noted examples). And that's yet another reason why we cannot stigmatize colors such as "white" or "black" or "red" or "yellow" or ...; there is nothing about one's race that makes one any more inclined to commit evil than there is with any other.

 

You know these things better than I do simply based upon your travels, education, and experiences, so I am not sitting here thinking I'm telling you something you don't already know quite well. You see the way the various tribes in Africa regard each other for reasons that seem down right foolish to our way of thinking.

 

OK, every battle is not over, so in that sense, it is unwise to get too comfortable I suppose. But I have to guard my heart against becoming too unsettled as well. We have much to be thankful for nowadays. Let's make sure we don't forget to count our blessings as we assess our situation.

[doc47]

Well put, James.

 

 

Time to put this one to rest.