US Presidential election

I have to agree with RowanThorn. Until we all realize that we don't have to vote for either of the choices we will just have to accept & eat what is served. 🤢

On a lighter side I see Cheech & Chong selling Campaign 24 shirts. It's a shame that it's just a joke. If im not mistaken back in the 60 Mad Magazine had a candidate that was at least as well qualified as either of this year's top two 🤣

Trump's claim that Haitians are eating people's pets is similar to the urban myth in the UK that Chinese restaurants catch stray cats and serve them in take aways. Totally untrue of course.

Quote by DanielleX

Trump's claim that Haitians are eating people's pets is similar to the urban myth in the UK that Chinese restaurants catch stray cats and serve them in take aways. Totally untrue of course.

Not just in the UK. I've heard the same story about Chinese restaurants here in the Netherlands at least as early as the 1980s.

These days you're more likely to hear references to this urban myth in the form of jokes, as most folks know they're just that.

Quote by DanielleX

Trump's claim that Haitians are eating people's pets is similar to the urban myth in the UK that Chinese restaurants catch stray cats and serve them in take aways. Totally untrue of course.

It's not just an urban myth, it's a racist stereotype/trope, and it's important to acknowledge it as such when referencing it. It's a racist trope in the US as well.

An urban myth is a fun story to tell at a slumber party. Racist tropes cause actual harm to groups of people.

Quote by Dani

It's not just an urban myth, it's a racist stereotype/trope, and it's important to acknowledge it as such when referencing it. It's a racist trope in the US as well.

An urban myth is a fun story to tell at a slumber party. Racist tropes cause actual harm to groups of people.

If the situation in the UK is similar to that in the Netherlands, then this particular story about Chinese restaurants has transitioned from a racial trope to an urban myth mostly. 'Mostly' because there might still be some people who believe it. But whenever I hear a reference to it, it's always in the form of a joke, by people who obviously regard it as nonsense.

Given the current situation in Springfield, in response to what Trump and Vance are claiming, it's clear that in the US there are many people who do believe this kind of nonsense though. Or who at least find it convenient to act as if they really believe it, and who choose to act on it, causing harm indeed.

I don't believe the occasional joke here causes (such) harm, as it's essentially the trope itself that has become the butt of such jokes. I could be wrong of course

Trump and his minions use lies about immigrants and the LGBTQ community to instill racist and bigoted fear in their constituent’s. They use this the same way Hitler villainized Jews and Gypsies.

I would never have believed his lies would be accepted by so many but he’s tapped into the (formally) hidden racist undercurrent in the US and brought it out into the mainstream. But even more horrifying is the almost historic support polls show he has in the black and Hispanic communities. They seem to appreciate his pseudo-tough guy image. But why even 45% of woman poll as supporting his misogyny is unfathomable to me.

Clearly this was never the nation I thought it was. And I was never all that impressed with my fellow Americans intellect in the first place

Quote by noll

If the situation in the UK is similar to that in the Netherlands, then this particular story about Chinese restaurants has transitioned from a racial trope to an urban myth mostly. 'Mostly' because there might still be some people who believe it. But whenever I hear a reference to it, it's always in the form of a joke, by people who obviously regard it as nonsense.

Given the current situation in Springfield, in response to what Trump and Vance are claiming, it's clear that in the US there are many people who do believe this kind of nonsense though. Or who at least find it convenient to act as if they really believe it, and who choose to act on it, causing harm indeed.

I don't believe the occasional joke here causes (such) harm, as it's essentially the trope itself that has become the butt of such jokes. I could be wrong of course

Basically this. Trump's comments are so egregious it barely warrants recapitulation in order to establish the racist slur that it is. While it hovers over the same subject I do think the Chinese restaurant thing is just an urban myth. It doesn't appear in the media or form part of any regular discourse that I'm aware of. Having said that, Dani is correct in that it does pander to racist stereotypes. Whether or not it was incumbent on me to state this in my original post is a moot point for the reasons above. But for clarity, if it offended anyone, I apologise.