Sunday, March 20, 2011

Is our society hypersensitive?

Okay, today I had a few more minutes than in the past couple of weeks to participate in Facebook conversations. One of my Facebook friends posted a Huffington Post article, Lawrence O'Donnell Says He's 'Driving Glenn Beck Crazy', to which I wondered why we care about what one pundit is saying about another pundit. After several posts I made the comment "I call a spade a spade regardless of the side of the fence it finds itself" which was in response to the assertion that I always rail against the Left and primarily President Obama.

After a few more posts another Facebook member piped in calling me a racist because of what I posted. After a series of posts in all caps and filled with obscene language I was blocked from seeing this gentlemen's future posts. The conversation that led to the blocking was if the phrase "calling a spade a spade" originated as a racial slur or has it just become one over time. After a quick Google search I found several websites that point to Greek phrase of calling a fig a fig that was transformed into a spade a spade due to the agrarian culture. My question is the phrase calling a spade a spade really racist? Or is it just now considered a racial slur because of Obama becoming president?

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