Ebay auction Title

[barrysloate]

Happens to be a pretty cool photo. And the seller could have used "African-American", but other than that not a big deal.

[steve B]

Any term leads to trouble.
One radio call in show locally had a guy call in who claimed he'd nearly been arrested over filling out a form as "african american" the problem? He's white. He also was born in South Africa and has become an American citizen, so in his mind there was no more logical choice.

I view such things as an identifier, something my wife and I have discussed a few times as she doesn't agree. The example I use is that it's no different from saying other stuff that isn't seen as being wrong. Lets say you're sending someone to an auto parts store, and there are 3 employees, all roughly similar physically, size weight etc. One is a kid, one an older guy and the third black. The black guy knows more, so you want him helping pick a part. So how do you quickly describe who to talk to? I see no issues saying talk to the black guy he's the smartest one.

Perhaps someday we'll find a way to avoid needing such terms, but if it's the simplest way of differentiating among similar people I don't see any easy way around it.

Steve B

[barrysloate]

Steve- when you're speaking informally I suppose saying "speak to the black guy" is perfectly fine. But the title of an ebay listing is a little more formal, since it's in print and may be seen by a large audience from different social backgrounds. In that case "African American" would be better. I'm sure the seller meant no harm when he listed, he may have just done it quickly without giving it any thought.

[slidekellyslide]

He doesn't need "Rare", doesn't need "A's", and doesn't need "Black"...easily he could have made the title "1908 Connie Mack w/African American kids Photo"...with that said I don't think there's any intent at all to be offensive with his title...it's just not how I personally would have written it.

[mr2686]

Well, he could have just listed it by the title on the back of the photo: "Connie Mack mgr of the Athletics and some admirers". That would have solved everything.

[D. Bergin]

Yes, in the world of niche collectibles........we're all just one big part of the human race.

Keywords, please do not apply.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Well, he could have just listed it by the title on the back of the photo: "Connie Mack mgr of the Athletics and some admirers". That would have solved everything.

Except for the fact that a photo of Connie Mack with African American kids will most likely sell for more than a photo of Connie Mack with white kids.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Except for the fact that a photo of Connie Mack with African American kids will most likely sell for more than a photo of Connie Mack with white kids.

Add to that the fact that nobody ever searches for baseball "admirer" photos, so any potential bidders would have to just spot this one while browsing through thousands of photos being listed, and you see how important keywords are whether they are PC or not.

"Black Americana" is a very commonly-used term in the titles of items which feature African-Americans, whether the item itself is racially insensitive or not.

Either way, it's still probably better than the term Mack would have used himself.

[howard38]

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