Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Crazy Crap / Kotz / Legislature / Politics Thanks, Rep. Eric Watson, For Reminding Us Of the Yellow Man's Sins
Posted by Pete Kotz on Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 5:28 AM
Watson didn't elaborate on his discovery -- believed to be part dog, part human, with an ability to both fetch and do lawn work. But the ensuing excitement obscured his reference to a forgotten species: the "yellow man."
The yellow man was also responsible for slavery, according to Watson. During the mid-1800s, when he controlled the Greater San Francisco laundry market, the yellow man could be seen emerging from his shanty to say things like, "Where the white women at?" and "I'll take the egg drop soup."
History books are sketchy, since they're naturally slanted against the Caucasian. But it's believed the yellow man was a menacing figure of that time, says Watson. He took our jobs, didn't speak English and occasionally wore a weird-looking ponytail. Sometimes he would enslave stray dogs and exotic fish.
So while the legislature continues to debate whether it regrets slavery, we owe a thanks to Rep. Eric Watson. If not for him, we would have forgotten that servitude came in a rainbow of colors, and could be way more insidious than the garden variety slavery we've all come to know and love.
Comments (16)
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What the "yellow man" means in the context of apologies for slavery is discussed here.
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John, I read your blog and you are either very naive or are one of Watson's people doing a very poor job of damage control. Referring to Asians as "the yellow man" is a very well-known slur. Just because you haven't heard of it does not make it any less hurtful...especially when used in public by an elected official. Arguing that it isn't one makes me think you are most likely one of Watson's cronies.
I think the specific reference to Sumterville trumps any other possible meaning. Here is the relevant excerpt from the Sumpterville "yellow man" story:
"On June 20, 1820, April appeared in the Sumter District courthouse in Sumterville. Described in court papers submitted by his attorney as a 'freed yellow man of about 29 years of age'..."
Watson specifically mentioned Sumterville, and this particular "yellow man" story is commonly used to resist apologies for slavery. Watson is not talking about "yellow" people in general; he is talking about a specific "yellow man" and his specific story.
For the reasons I articulated in my post, I'm troubled by Watson's referring to this story in the state legislature.
John, you're an idiot. No one needed it explained to them. AND your explanation is wrong.
The giant picture of an Asian man painted yellow didn't tip you off? You realize Watson was just talking out of his ass and that Gilmore was just trying to get him to shut up, right?
Wait, wait, does the Sumterville story refer to a "high yeller?" This is even worse than I thought!
Am I thte only one who hopes The Yellow Man cross-breeds with the Blue Man Group to see if we get Little Green Men?
You sure he didn't mean this Yellowman?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko46_aXW_94
Smashville, they were both around when I was a kid in the mid-to-late '80s. I even had a Disney sing-along tape that featured Uncle Remus and oh, sweet baby jesus, a 45 that told the fucking tar baby story and it came with a picture book. This was like 1987. I forgot I even had that until now. Clearly my family was trying to make me racist.
Appreciate the attempt to find meaning in Watson's meandering, John, but at the bottom of all this is a very weird resistance to simply regretting slavery. I'm not a big fan of playing the race card, but that's the only motive I can come up with for their strange resistance. And when the guy starts talking about the yellow man, he seems to be locking up my thesis.
Pete, thanks for the comment. I encourage you to read the description of my research on the popularity of the Sumpterville reference, and also my conclusion, over at my original post on HispanicNashville.com.
I read your story, John. Good job of fishing out the back story. I'm not so much offended by what he said. The bigger worry is that all these people are spending all this time avoiding simple regret for slavery, and that's his motive here. Who doesn't regret slavery? It's scary that so many of our legislators believe it's politically popular to resist this. That doesn't speak well of the Tennessee countryside.
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